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Academics
Lower School
Homeroom

Pre-Kindergarten

Three & Four Year-Olds

Berwick Academy’s Pre-Kindergarten program for three and four year-olds focuses on the social, emotional, physical, and cognitive growth of each child. In a structured yet creative program, students take part in activities that expand their social and cognitive accomplishments.
  • Half-day and full-day options: Full-day students have the option to attend after care in the Lower School until 5:15 p.m.
  • Two full-time teachers
  • Explorations (Art, Music, Science, Physical Education, World Language, Library) classes
  • A playground with varied play stations for outdoor exploration skill development
  • Campus trails for Pre-K nature walks.

Skills and Enduring Understandings

The Pre-Kindergarten students are Berwick’s youngest learners. Throughout the school year, teachers and students work collaboratively to expand upon and refine self-care, communication and problem-solving skills, social/emotional/physical interactions and cognitive development/academic readiness within a supportive and creative environment.
Children’s interests, ideas, encounters, and discoveries propel the Pre-Kindergarten curriculum as they explore a particular area of inquiry. Each year, investigations and projects differ because each child and family brings new ideas and experiences to the classroom community. The interests of the children drive the curriculum in unique directions, while classroom teachers interweave age-appropriate subject-area lessons into daily learning encounters.
 
 

Essential Questions

  • Fostering Growth & Love of Learning

    How does an early education environment foster growth, independence and a love of learning?

  • Foundational Skills

    What foundational skills (social/emotional/physical and cognitive) do we need to become productive learners in pre-kindergarten, during the Lower School years, throughout Berwick Academy and beyond?
Pre-Kindergarten students are exposed to the rich and dynamic elements of the Exploration classes for thirty minutes each day. Music, Art, Library, Science, and World Language teachers develop meaningful lessons to bring to the classroom. Twice weekly, the children also venture to the athletic center where they have a Physical Education/Movement class to promote fine-motor, gross-motor and spatial awareness development.

Sample Daily Schedule

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Pre-Kindergarten Admission Play Date

Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten applicants and parents should plan to attend a Play Date as part of the application process. We believe it is important for your child to experience our classroom, engage with his or her peers, and in turn, for our teachers to observe your child and assess his/her fit with our educational program. While your child attends class, parents have the opportunity to learn more about Berwick Academy and the Lower School curriculum with Lower School Director Joel Hawes.

Pre-K & Kindergarten Spring Play Date: Wednesday, April 17 from 8:45-10:30 a.m.

Please RSVP online here or to Admission at admissions@berwickacademy.org or 207-384-6300


Meet the Teachers

List of 2 items.

  • Nancy Loftus

    Pre-Kindergarten Lead Teacher
    I moved to the Seacoast full time in 2013 after living in Upstate New York for most of my life where my husband John and I raised our four children.
    Read More

  • Megan Clawson

    Pre-Kindergarten Assistant
    I grew up in Portsmouth, NH and attended the University of New Hampshire where I graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Human Development and Family Studies and a minor in Education.
    Read More

Berwick Academy

31 Academy Street
South Berwick, Maine 03908

Contact:
Admissions | 207.384.6300
Main Office | 207.384.2164
Berwick Academy, situated on an 80-acre campus just over one hour north of Boston, serves 600 students, Pre-Kindergarten through grade 12, from Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine. Deeply committed to its mission of promoting virtue and useful knowledge, Berwick Academy empowers students to be creative and bold. Berwick strives to graduate alumni who shape their own learning, take risks, ask thoughtful questions, and come to understand and celebrate their authentic selves. Founded in 1791 and rooted in a tradition of college preparation, our culture of innovation prepares students for a complex and dynamic world.

Find Your Path to Berwick Academy