A Foundation of Academic Excellence
Westerly School is built on a foundation of academic excellence and of meeting the needs of the “whole child.”

The Westerly program is carefully designed to develop each student’s potential in an environment where cooperation, hard work and respect for individual differences are valued.

Students thrive in small classes taught by an experienced, passionate and caring faculty. The course of study joins a deep, sequential course of study in math, language arts, history and science with expert instruction in art, vocal and instrumental music, Spanish, physical education and outdoor education.  State of the art technology supports the academic program at every grade level.

The Westerly curriculum is rigorous, but small class size permits an experienced faculty to know students very well. In this safe learning community, teachers constantly refine their lesson plans to meet specific learning needs.

Language arts, social studies, mathematics, and the sciences are complemented by integrated courses in the arts, music, foreign language and physical education.  The total program yields a coherent school experience and advances the school’s mission “to develop each child's intellectual, emotional, and physical potential”.  Westerly teaches to a diversity of interests and learning styles and encourages the development of study and planning skills along with mastery of content.

From Kindergarten through eighth grade, Westerly students follow a carefully constructed and sequential “academic roadmap” which describes the content to be studied and the skills to be mastered at every grade. The school’s highly collegial faculty constantly examines new research and pedagogy and imports that which they deem most appropriate into the school’s evolving program.

Assessment is important at Westerly. Teachers write expansive narrative comments and award grades three times per year. Twice-yearly parent conferences supplement frequent incidental contact between school and home.

The school also administers the Educational Records Bureau testing series beginning in second grade. These tests resemble and serve as practice for the SAT and ACT tests that graduates will encounter in secondary school. A typical strong performance on these tests qualifies many students for the Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth and the Junior National Honor Society. 

Kindergarten through Second Grade Program
Westerly’s Kindergarten through grade two program encourages children to develop the academic and social skills to become independent learners and responsible school citizens.

The low teacher/student ratio permits the faculty to incorporate hands-on activities, time with individual students, interactive lessons, and cooperative learning opportunities in stimulating classrooms whose activities are often organized around a central theme.

Language arts, reading and the acquisition of basic mathematical skills and concepts are especially prominent activities in these early elementary grades. Curricula in the arts, music, physical education and Spanish are carefully integrated into classroom activities.

In a safe, enriched and personal environment, Westerly’s teachers continually monitor and adjust their teaching approach to meet the needs of their students.  Westerly faculty strive for students to love learning; they want their students to believe that “it’s cool to be smart and do well”.

Westerly also encourages collaboration among teachers, teaching associates and educational specialists.

The key to individual student success in this personal learning community is often informed by input from multiple colleagues, including those who have worked with students in the past.  It is not uncommon to observe several teachers working with a small group of students or meeting after school to discuss individual children.

Westerly also engages teacher associates in training on the faculty; these teachers rotate through classrooms providing additional enrichment or support as required and participate in teacher-led seminars to build skills.

Third Grade through Fifth Grade Program
The third through fifth grade program also takes place in self-contained classrooms where a head teacher, supported by a part-time teaching associate, provides instruction in language arts, math, social science and natural sciences.  

Often these discrete subjects are integrated around a specific theme and supplemented by hands-on experience. Again, there is an emphasis on helping students to master content and also to practice the skills and organizational habits that will enable them to succeed.   

Third through fifth grade teaching methods include:  work with open-ended projects which foster problem solving skills; direct instruction to present fundamental facts; modeling to promote critical thinking skills; and teaching research skills which incorporate the use of technology. 

The grade three through five programs continue the practice of teaching from exposure to mastery and build upon a sequence of planned skills and content.  Teachers employ multiple strategies to teach reading and language arts.

Also, they include real-world problem solving in math, along with inquiry-based and direct instruction to motivate students through such critical processes as long division and manipulation of fractions. Emphasis is placed on “why” something works as opposed to just memorization.

Middle School Grades Sixth through Eighth
Early adolescence is a time of great change. Rapid physical and cognitive growth typically occurs at this time in which young people begin to individuate and separate from parents.

Effective middle schools provide a balance of structure, personal attention, patience and respect for individual differences as middle school students make the important but often complex journey from childhood to adolescence.

Westerly’s middle school teachers prefer to work with students at this age and see this developmental stage as a time of great opportunity and important growth. They have carefully planned an academic and social program to anticipate the needs of the young men and women whom they teach and mentor.

As is the case in the early grades, a more specialized and sophisticated array of vocal and instrumental music, visual arts, foreign language and physical education instruction blends with an accelerated academic core of humanities, science, and math.

Middle school especially benefits from a six day “block” schedule which offers fewer but longer classes every day. Longer classes with fewer interruptions allow a more in-depth exploration of a topic.

This student-friendly academic schedule also reserves time for students to find teachers for one-on-one support and to participate in a rich array of electives from music ensembles to student government to clubs and community service opportunities.  

Additionally, the middle school prepares students for the 21st century by integrating technology into many facets of the academic program. Middle school students receive a laptop or e-tablet and access the wireless network across the campus. Recently, classrooms have been equipped with SMART boards to further enrich the course of study. In the academic core subjects of humanities, math and science, all disciplines employ foundational textbooks and student planners to develop study and planning skills, but all of these disciplines import enriching material from the internet.

Teachers include a diversity of pedagogy from lecture to Socratic discussion to research to help students develop transferable skills.  Project-based learning marries deskwork to hands-on activities to connect different disciplines and stimulate problem-solving skills. Similarly, discussion and debate invite inquiry and develop students’ abilities to think critically and speak on their feet.

Westerly’s middle school humanities courses, combines language arts and history. This program permits an in-depth study of important historic events with readings, reenactments, archaeological digs, and the application of carefully-researched current events.

In math and science, students assimilate and analyze concepts by reading, observing, experimenting in labs or simulations, by employing the hand-held graphing calculator, and by experiencing other real-world applications to complement formal study.   

Each discipline reflects high academic expectations to appropriately challenge Westerly students and ready them for matriculation in highly selective secondary schools.

Field studies include week-long camping and curriculum-related trips to reinforce skills and to create leadership opportunities. These trips are operated by expert outfitters and also are staffed by middle school teachers who get to know student well away from campus.

As Westerly’s eighth graders near the end of their middle school career, Westerly provides careful next-school guidance. When they graduate, students possess the skills, habits, knowledge and personal ethics to successfully navigate and succeed at a diverse group of competitive secondary schools

An extensive student-driven elective program in the middle school encourages young women and men to develop leadership skills, invent and execute community service activities, or explore a wide range of additional intensive musical or artistic enrichment experience within the regular school day.

Every student participates in a popular physical education program. Westerly strongly encourages students to participate in an inclusive and skills-oriented after school competitive interscholastic sports program.