Pre-Kindergarten
Children at the Center
Blake’s pre-kindergarten program is Reggio-inspired and grounded in the belief that respect for the child is paramount to a meaningful education. Teachers hold our youngest learners at the center of the educational experience. To be eligible for pre-kindergarten, children must be at least 4 years old by Sept. 1.
The Power of Play
Hands-on or imaginative experiences, experimentation and play are the most powerful forms of learning for young children and are at the heart of Pre-K teaching and learning.
Pre-kindergarten classrooms are considered “the third teachers” at Blake. In these spaces, children are encouraged to make decisions about where to spend their time and what to explore. Classrooms are designed intentionally with books, activities and materials that promote autonomous learning through play. Children may work individually or in pairs and small groups.
Small class (15 students led by a lead teacher and full-time teaching assistant) sizes mean teachers can carefully observe and interact with each student to learn their unique interests and needs. Teachers provide the scaffolding to help students reach the next level of learning while supporting early literacy, mathematical, scientific and critical thinking skills.
We've seen first-hand how kids are allowed to initiate ideas and run with them, often exploring them in unplanned ways. The teachers are amazing in terms of facilitating this type of learning process, despite it not necessarily being in a particular lesson plan. We love that this is all woven into a rigorous academic curriculum, starting with play as the foundation for the younger grades. We also love that Blake helps students apply what they are learning in the classroom to real-world situations in order to steer them to become confident problem-solvers, leaders, and scholars in life. Lower School Family
Specialist Instruction
Throughout the course of a week, Pre-K students have the opportunity to engage in all of Blake’s Lower School specialist offerings including:
Art
Music
Strings
Spanish (2x per week)
Physical education (2x per week)
Engineering & programming
Library time
Daily Schedule
Starting in the fall of 2025, a pre-kindergarten student’s day is from 8:15am to 3:15pm. Although every day can be slightly different, here’s what the typical day may hold:
7:45-8:15am: optional, complimentary care (with escort to classroom)
8:15-8:25am: Children and families play and greet each other
8:25-9am: Circle time
9-11:30am: Depending on the day, children engage in several of the following:
Gross motor activity (either indoors or outdoors) Independent exploration
Teacher-initiated literacy and numeracy activities
Small group work
Specialist instruction (PE, strings, music, art, library, Spanish, engineering & programming)
11:30am-noon: Outdoor exploration or recess
Noon-12:30pm: Healthy family-style lunch
12:30-1:30pm: Transition and quiet rest time
1:30-3:00pm: Depending on the day, children engage in several of the following:
Gross motor activity (either indoors or outdoors) Independent exploration
Teacher-initiated literacy and numeracy activities
Small group work
Specialist instruction (PE, strings, music, art, library, Spanish, engineering & programming)
3:15pm: Dismissal to carpool, bus or extended day
3:15-6pm: Optional, fee-based extended day program
Extended Day
Complimentary morning care is available from 7:45 to 8:15am on a drop-in basis.
An afternoon extended day program is offered from 3:15 to 6pm in a warm, secure environment where children enjoy friendships across age groups. The day includes snack and a variety of free play and structured activities. Families may enroll students in one or more days per week.
Students as Makers of Meaning
Students not only answer questions posed by adults, they construct their own questions and objectives. Teachers guide and challenge students as they develop an increasingly sophisticated understanding of the world.
Outdoor Education
Teachers lead daily campus activities that encourage excitement about the natural world, sharpen observation skills, enhance problem-solving and connect knowledge to new experiences.