Our program format is based on age, skills, maturity and parents desire for a half or whole day program. Each year we have designed and changed the program to meet the needs of the enrolled students for the current year. We are considering going to a year round calendar year with 9-week learning session followed by 3-week inter-sessions in the future which will provide a variety of options for enrichment classes, tutoring, vacation days, daycare, or opportunities to seek classes off campus. Our 2-year-old program runs one morning a week, but may be expanded to meet twice a week. Our 3-year-old program meets 3 days (mornings or afternoons) a week.

Our Pre-Kindergarten (Four-year-olds) have a choice of a half or a whole day program.

Our full day Multiage K program combines 4 and 5 year olds in a readiness or Kindergarten format with academic skills in reading, writing, math, computers and geography in the morning and art, science, social studies, religion, and physical education and music in the afternoon. Most students stay for 2 years in the program.

Multi 1 is equivalent to a full day first grade program for 5 and 6 year olds depending on their reading ability.

Multi 2 is designed to meet the needs of students who are generally 6 and 7  years old. It is designed to encompass the skills normally taught in second and third grade. Since we do not restrict a child from moving forward, some students move up to the next level mid year or go to another level that better meets their skill level for a portion of the day.

Multi 3/4 serves students who are ready for the content taught in grade 4 and 5. Many students are also introduced to skills normally taught at grade 6 and 7, if they are ready to work at a more advanced level.

St. Mary’s School offers Multiage Classrooms in order to support the continuous academic progress of each of our students.

WHAT IS MULTIAGE?

Simply defined, a multiage classroom is a mixed-age group of children who are flexibly grouped and regrouped frequently according to the task, learning objective needs and interests of the students. These groupings are set up to allow children to move along a continuum of academic and social skills rather than be restricted to a single grade level program.

A multiage classroom is not a combination class where a teacher instructs two or three grade levels in their designated curricula. Ages and grades do not divide this community of learners within the classroom. Rather, in the multiage community, every child can become a successful learner on his or her own continuum of growth. This individual growth is supported through a process approach to learning that is child centered rather than curriculum centered. This means that teachers facilitate the learning of each child rather than instruct just the whole class based on predetermined grade-level skills and content.

WHY MULTIAGE?

Our decision to create multiage classrooms for St. Mary’s School was made based on our focus on the best interest of our students. Looking at up-to-date research, we found consistent support for the multi-age format.

Research shows increased academic achievement as a result of multi-age experiences. Students performed better on academic tests, demonstrated better higher-order thinking skills, scholastic independence, and a knowledge base greater than those children in graded classrooms. Longitudinal studies also showed positive results socially for multi-age placed students. These students were more likely to develop healthy self-concepts, leadership skills, positive attitudes toward school and good rapport with a broad age range of peers and adults.

STRENGTHS OF MULTIAGE CLASSROOMS

FAMILY UNIT. A primary goal is to establish a community of learners that support and nurture each of its members. This ‘family’ includes the children, teachers, specialists, support staff, parents, extended family members and volunteers.

RESPECT FOR THE INDIVIDUAL. Each child’s learning rate and style is honored and supported. Students may pursue their interests as far as their interest and abilities may take them. Teachers learn each child’s strengths and areas of needed development so they can support and challenge each child appropriately.

FOCUS ON SUCCESS. Each child’s progress is viewed in terms of success rather than failure. This focus on success keeps the child engaged in the learning process and provides repeated success for all children, no matter where they are on their continuum of learning.

CROSS-AGE LEARNING. Children look to each other and not just to the teacher for learning opportunities. Younger students benefit from collaborating with older children who often model more sophisticated approaches to learning. Older students benefit in their roles as mentors to younger children by becoming teachers and by modeling the learning.

MENTORING/LEADERSHIP. Peer mentoring, where a more experienced or knowledgeable student takes the initiative to ‘teach’ the less experienced student, is an exciting process. Mentoring directly benefits the mentors as well as the ‘pupil’. Higher level thinking skills and a solid knowledge base are required to teach a skill to another person. This application of skills reinforces the abilities of the mentor. In addition, the social and emotional benefits of mentoring for younger and older children cannot be overstated.

AUTONOMOUS LEARNERS. The structure of the multiage classroom develops self directing, autonomous individuals because children are invited to participate in their own learning and are offered choices in the process of learning to read, write, and solve problems. Children are given exposure to more advanced skills and information, so that when students are developmentally ready to master those advanced skills, success will be accelerated.

FLEXIBLE GROUPINGS. Groups are flexible and are based on demonstrated skills and age. Grouping is not used to define a child’s learning capabilities as children are not placed in traditional low, medium, and high groups within a grade level. Students who have advanced skills in a content area are often sent to the next level during the day to work at a more challenging concepts.

NO RETENTION OR PROMOTION. Continuous learning and success for each child is the focus. Retention is a by-product of traditional classrooms where the expectations are the same for all children. Because we know that all children do not learn at the same rate and because the research on retention shows it can be an emotionally difficult experience for children and parents, multiage classrooms do not depend on retention or automatic end of the year promotion to the next level.

Most children in the full day program spend two years at a level. Some children may spend one year, others three years depending on their individual readiness.

NO LABELING. In same-grade classes, children are typically labeled as ‘below grade level’, ‘on grade-level’, or ‘above grade level’. When expectations are the same for all children, labeling inevitably occurs in the multiage classroom, the focus shifts from getting every child to the same level of performance to encouraging each child’s individual progress on the continuum of skills.

CHILD CENTERED. Because learning is a personal construction of knowledge, multiage curriculum goals and plans are selected based on individual needs and strengths. Washington State Learning Goals are incorporated within an integrated, child-centered format. Children who move to another school will find themselves well prepared in not only the state requirements, but also in the skills and attitudes of a life-long learner.

AUTHENTIC ASSESSMENT. Teachers use qualitative reporting tools such as portfolios, anecdotal records, observations, formal and informal testing. Each child’s growth is recorded on academic and developmental continuums. Traditional letter grades are not used; rather, a check list of skills and narrative reporting give specific information of the progress being made. Older students are involved in self-assessment and are invited to help report progress and set goals. Our goal is to have each child see her/him self as a competent learner and individual. We focus on individual successes rather than by comparison to group standards.

PROFESSIONAL PARTNERSHIPS. Each child has the benefit of professional collaboration among adults who are actively working together to meet each child’s needs.

CONTINUOUS PROGRESS MODEL. As a staff we believe that grade levels can become barriers that restrict the rate of learning. We individualize as much as possible and work to design programs that will best meet the child’s individual learning style and skill level. Even when students are involved in the same lessons, teachers may hold very different expectations and give different assignments to students. Levels are designed so students may stay one, two or three years with the same teacher. Our students have made excellent progress and transitioned well to new schools all over the world.