Lower School at Einstein

The Lower School experience at Einstein offers a careful blend of academic development and opportunity for personal growth.

Starting in 7th grade, we create individualized, 6-year plans tailored to each student and designed to grow their talents and feed their love of learning.

These plans sequentially prepare students for the rigors of High School and provide an opportunity to enroll in courses offering higher-level content designed to be age appropriate.

At Einstein we understand the importance of meeting students where they are academically, while still preserving and protecting wholesome connection with their same-age peers. Students attend Lower-School-only events, participate in clubs and activities, and have time to just be a kid!

Department

Einstein offers a robust selection of elective courses across all disciplines. The variety of our course offerings reflects both student interest and teacher passion -- at Einstein, we are always open to ideas and suggestions for new courses.

At Einstein, we have a unique way of teaching literature and literary analysis; students write academic essays, but they also express themselves through poetry, podcasts, music, videos, and even digital games. Einstein’s English Department values students’ opinions, fosters their creativity, encourages independent thought through collaborative discussion, and prepares students for the rigors of upper-level English courses.

Einstein believes all students possess innate creativity and that with the right encouragement and instruction everyone can grow artistically. Our Fine Arts Department allows students to formally explore a variety of mediums and techniques while learning to develop their natural talents.

Einstein’s Department of Languages Other than English builds fluency in a second language, creates confidence, and enhances problem-solving. We expose students to the richness of other cultures, encourage curiosity and engagement, and nurture a love of language learning.

The hallmarks of math instruction at Einstein are individualized attention, solid instruction in operational foundations, and creative, out-of-the-box thinking. In the Mathematics Department, we meet each student where they are and work with them to teach perseverance, grow their appreciation for the discipline, encourage creativity, and lay the groundwork for future success.

Our mission is to equip science students with the critical thinking skills necessary to the success of all their future endeavors by exploring problems with real-world applications. Einstein’s Science Department provides a solid foundation in STEM subjects, so that students gain a thorough understanding of the scientific method and acquire the acumen necessary to evaluate and synthesize information from a variety of sources.

LS Art

Prerequisite: None

This course is designed to improve students’ basic art skills by practicing drawing, painting, sculpting, and design artwork using a variety of media and techniques. Students will develop their creativity and self-expression, and recognize and use the art elements (line, shape, color, value, form, texture and space), as well as design principles (rhythm, balance, proportion, variety, emphasis, harmony and unity). Additional fees apply per semester.

LS Introduction to Performing Arts

Prerequisite: None

In this performance-based course, students will learn the basics of theatrical performance from all positions and lenses. Students are expected to partake in all aspects of performance from acting to technical production, pre-production design, and more. Additional fees apply per semester.

LS Science 1 (5th Grade) – Physical and Space Science

Prerequisite: None

In fifth grade, students take a deeper, more advanced dive into matter, energy, and their relationship with ecosystems and environments. They will study the characteristics and motion of objects in our solar system and examine how relative distance in space impacts light.

LS Science 2 (6th grade) – Earth Science

Prerequisite: None

This science course is an integrated course on the Earth, life, and physical concepts taught through the context of the human body, the ocean ecosystem, energy and conservation, and space. Interactions and relationships are shown in each unit resulting in students learning beyond the facts of science.

LS Science 3 (7th Grade) – Life Science

Prerequisite: LS Science 2

LS Science 3 is a course which focuses on life science by integrating chemistry, physics, and geology. The concepts emphasized include environmental interactions, systems and structures, energy, and changes over time.

LS Science 4 (8th grade) – STEM Science

Prerequisite: LS Science 3

LS Science 4 focuses on STEM science by integrating chemistry, physics, and biology. Use of laboratory equipment, safety rules, measurement techniques, graphing and recording analysis, and interpretation of data are stressed. Special emphasis is placed on environmental interactions, systems and structures, energy, and changes over time.

LS Math 1 (5th Grade)

Prerequisite: None

LS Math 1 teaches the four basic operations, place value, part-to-whole relationships and equivalence, problem solving with expressions and equations, foundations of functions through patterning, identifying prime and composite numbers, and order of operations. Students also determine and generate solutions to expressions, classify two-dimensional figures, connect geometric attributes to the measures of three-dimensional figures, use units of measure, and represent location using a coordinate plane.

LS Math 2 (6th Grade)

Prerequisite: LS Math 1

LS Math 2 expands students’ knowledge of numbers, numerical operations, computation, proportionality, expressions and equations, geometry, measurement and data, personal financial literacy, and the fundamental concepts of algebra. Students prepare for the rigor required in higher math courses through sustained computational practice and problem solving and learn that the process in mathematics is as important as the final answer.

LS Math 3 (7th Grade)

Prerequisite: LS Math 2

Math 3 develops students’ proportional thinking, algebraic reasoning, operations with rational numbers, geometric and spatial reasoning, statistical analysis, and problem solving. With emphasis on process and justification, students learn to evaluate their answers for reasonableness, draw conclusions, evaluate arguments, and make recommendations.

LS Math 4/Pre-Algebra (8th Grade)

Prerequisite: LS Math 3

Pre-Algebra emphasizes readiness for Algebra, problem solving, and geometric applications. Students study real numbers and scientific notation, linear equations, functions, graphing, angle measurements, parallel lines, triangles, the Pythagorean Theorem, volume, surface area, variables on both sides of an equation or inequality along with distributing and combining like terms, transformations, dilations, similarity, proportionality, scatter plots, trend lines, mean, absolute deviation and personal financial literacy.

LS English 1 (5th Grade)

Prerequisite: None

The purpose of this course is to expose students to an array of literature presented in a wide range of formats. Students will actively engage in reading, listening, speaking, and writing. They will analyze various authors and their works to gain knowledge of the writers’ artistic models, as well as applying real life experiences to the student’s own creative and academic writing. This course will include class discussions, writing assignments, grammar, and vocabulary building.

LS English 2 (6th Grade)

Prerequisite: LS English 1

The purpose of this course is to study age-appropriate genres of literary works to develop knowledge of and skill in the use of the language arts. Students will listen, speak, read, write, view, and represent in a wide variety of contexts and for a range of purposes — expressive, aesthetic, and pragmatic. This course will include class discussions, writing assignments, and vocabulary building. Writing assignments will include reviews of grammar and punctuation in addition to the methods of citing source materials.

LS English 3 (7th Grade)

Prerequisite: LS English 2

Students in Lower School English 3 are exposed to an array of literature presented in a wide range of formats. They will actively engage in reading, research, listening and speaking, and oral and written conventions. Students will read and analyze various authors and their works to gain knowledge of the writers’ artistic models, and then apply real life experiences to the student’s own creative and academic writing. This will enable learners to explore new ideas, develop self- confidence, and further their understanding of other’s values, which will foster curiosity, compassion, and respect.

LS English 4 (8th Grade)

Prerequisite: LS English 3

In this course, students will develop their interpretive and analytical skills through collaborative discussions and the study of major literary genres. Students continue to practice the mechanics of writing as they respond to the texts they read, then use their ideas as the foundation for their own analytical writings.

LS Structured English

Prerequisite: LS English 4

This course examines English grammar at the word and phrase level. Students develop a deeper understanding of grammar rules and parts of speech. It reinforces how the words and parts of a sentence relate to each other and how the parts of the sentence fit together. By the end of the year students should be able to analyze the syntax and morphology of most English sentences, both verbally and visually with a tree diagram. In addition, students in this course read one novel each quarter and complete several novel student activities.