Kindergarten
At The Avery Coonley School, gifted education for all students, all day, means an enriched and advanced curriculum beginning in Kindergarten.
Here, bright and gifted children embrace the joy of discovery and the thrill of creativity, and begin their journey as lifelong learners. We help students become creative problem solvers, critical thinkers, self-directed learners, and community contributors.
Our Kindergarten program is open to highly motivated, high-ability learners turning 5 by Sept. 1. The admission process includes IQ testing and assessment for academic, social, and emotional readiness.
Kindergarten classes have an 11:1 student–teacher ratio. Faculty create flexible groupings of students to enhance each child’s learning through differentiation.
Authentic Learning Experiences
Students worked with their Group Eight buddies to write letters to the Willowbrook Wildlife Center to find out how to support local wildlife. They then created hands-on projects to provide food for animals and nesting materials for birds, applying problem-solving strategies to address a real-world issue.
Highlights
Kindergarten at Avery Coonley is a place where community is the focus, creativity is valued, and mistakes are viewed as invitations for learning.
- Creative and critical thinking activities integrated into all content areas
- Literacy and mathematics taught in small, skill-based groups
- Deeper understanding through an emphasis on the learning process
- Kinesthetic activities integrated to enhance whole-brain learning
- Play-based learning to conceptualize content and acquire skills
- The latest educational technology integrated into content instruction
- Weekly French, computer, library, music, and art classes
- Daily physical education classes and recess
When We Need Inspiration
We take to the woods—right on campus. In the “Loose Parts” activity, Kindergarten students practice creativity and divergent thinking skills as they select objects in nature to add to their personal “loose parts” collection. They then generate ideas and create free-flowing artwork or engineered masterpieces.
