The Right Fit For Slate Lower School

Slate School's admissions process is family-focused and highly personalized. We are convening families, parents, children, and educators who believe that inspired learning and creativity should be at the core of education. We believe that it is essential for a school to be the right fit for every child who enrolls. 

The Student

Who are we looking for?

  • You're passionate, curious, and creative. You love to play, imagine, and think.

  • You excel in an academically rigorous and engaging environment. You will thrive by being actively engaged as a critical thinker and real learner. Slate School does not include passive learning, memorization, or worksheet-based learning. 

  • You enjoy being in nature. It's just as much fun to be outside when it is 35 degrees as when it's warm and misting.

  • You embody kindness, empathy, and integrity. You will have no trouble upholding Slate School's central tenets. Your favorite books also embody these values.

The Family

Who are we looking for?

  • You honor childhood. You love to watch your child play, imagine, and think. You understand that children learn through play. 

  • You are looking for an academically-rigorous environment. You want your child to learn how to think, and not what to think. You want your child to be a problem solver and thinker, tinkerer and maker.

  • You are seeking a school that prioritizes the joyful learning journey. You are concerned that society focuses on the destination, always preparing for the next school, test, or college. Slate School’s community promotes the love of the journey itself, and through the exposure of diverse, enriching, and unique childhood experiences, enables one to discover and explore his or her own path.

  • You embrace the arts. You encourage your child to create art, whether visual art, music, or performance. You cringe when you see a group of children make identical artwork based on a teacher's cutouts or specific directives.

  • You appreciate nature and outdoors. You want your child to have ample recess and outdoor free play, and you know that recess is integral to a child's learning. You are excited for your child to tend to an organic garden, and to learn many academic topics through nature-based learning.

  • You model kindness, empathy, and integrity. You and your child will have no trouble upholding Slate School's central tenets. Your favorite children's books also embody these values.

  • You limit your child's technology use at home. Your child might watch educational television as a window to wonder, but screen time is limited and supervised. Screens are not common in your child's life.