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 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 outreach 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 members of the community.
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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: Tekkie Trekkers, Chess Club, Microeconomics, SMARTBoard, Elementary Battle of the Books (EBOB), and beginning in 5th grade, some intramural sports. (After School Sports, Clubs and Intramurals, Fall 2011) There are also many After School Arts offerings, including various dance, music and art classes, for lower school students which are more fully described in this link. (After School Arts Fall, 2011)
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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 other year to celebrate people and cultures of other nations. Each grade level chooses a country and spends 3 - 4 weeks studying that country. In conclusion, we have a festival when 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, having a farm breakfast, and writing letters to Santa. Chapel buddies remain together for three years until the older student graduates. At graduation, the kindergarten – now 2nd grade – student joins his or her classmates to sing a special blessing to their departing buddies.
