Lower School Life
Visitors to Canterbury never fail to comment on the joy they see on
our students’ faces. From morning carpool, when students bound
out of cars with big smiles and great enthusiasm, to the end of the
day, Canterbury students experience school as an appropriately challenging
and happy place. School life for lower school students at Canterbury
is filled with rewarding activity designed to educate the whole child.
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FAMILIES: Canterbury’s Family Program provides a wonderful connection among students across campus. A “family” consists of a cluster of approximately nine students, one from each grade level. Each family is lead by an eighth grade student. Designed to build a strong bond between students of all ages, families meet once a month to socialize, perform service learning projects, beautify the campus, and spend time together in other ways. Canterbury’s Family Program gives our youngest students the opportunity to interact with and look up to the oldest students in the school.
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AFTER SCHOOL CLUBS AND OTHER ACTIVITIES: Over the course of the year, lower school students and their families are able to choose from an exciting array of after school or extra-curricular activities. Options include Baking Club, Band, Boys on the Run, Chess Club, Elementary Battle of the Books, Girls on the Run, Jump Rope Team, Track, and Technology Club.
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MULTICULTURAL DAY: In keeping with the school's commitment "to nourishing the spirit in a diverse community," a multicultural festival is held every year to celebrate people and cultures of other nations. Each grade level chooses a country and spends 3-4 weeks studying that country. At the conclusion of this unit, there is a festival at which students "fly" from country to country and participate in a variety of activities with the assistance of special tour guides. Of course they must first stop at the customs table to stamp their "passports" and be cleared by a security guard!
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CHAPEL BUDDIES: The Chapel Buddy program pairs each kindergarten student with a sixth grade student, who serves as a companion for chapel services. The program includes many other shared activities such as reading, learning to do research, enjoying lunch together, and writing letters to Santa. Chapel buddies remain together in “families” for three years until the older student graduates. At graduation, the lower school chapel buddies sing a special Irish blessing to their departing buddies.
