Specialty Classes

Students in Kindergarten through Grade 6 take art class in our dedicated art bungalow and garden. Surrounded by flowers, birds, and fruit trees, students draw inspiration from nature. Emphasizing innovation and creativity, our art program encourages students to explore various mediums and develop their unique artistic voices. Art classes are hands-on, allowing students to experiment and learn through doing.

Early childhood students engage in wide-ranging artistic activities throughout their day in their classrooms and in the Art Atelier. 

Open Art is a popular option for students to spend some time crafting their own pieces. Open Art is available during snack and recesses.

Reading is the core of both academic and personal competencies. Students from preschool to Grade 6 have weekly library classes to develop students’ love of literature and foster their social-emotional development. 

Early childhood (EC) students have regular storytime visits where they sing and sign together. EC library lessons focus on stories with a musical connection, a social-emotional component, a hands-on activity, or a connection to a relevant theme. Our librarian makes library time a wonderful and fun experience.

Elementary students learn how to browse and check out books and are encouraged to give their input on books and topics they would like to see added to our collection. Lower elementary students focus on book care and navigating the library space. Upper elementary classes hear and discuss a novel each time they visit the library, in addition to their independent reading and browsing time. Students also have the opportunity to meet professional authors who share their writing process and experiences, and collaborate with them to refine their writing through workshops.

Open Library is a popular option for students to spend some time enjoying a book or just quickly pop in to return one book and check out another. Open Library times are before and after school and during snack and recesses. 

If you’d like to explore our collection, check out our online library catalog here.

Our students belong to Generation Alpha – the generation born into a fully internet-connected world. They are purportedly the most tech-savvy generation and are often referred to as “Generation AI” because artificial intelligence has been part of their world since they were born.

We are excited to be part of this extraordinary time with our students, making it a point to be aware of technological advancements and how they may impact a child’s learning journey.

Our digital literacy curriculum is rooted in Gillispie Values, fostering safe and responsible technology use. 

Our 1:1 technology program equips each elementary student with a school-issued iPad for in-class learning. Students use Google Classroom and a variety of resources for research and enrichment. Emphasis is placed on keyboarding and research in earlier years, and evolves to coding, digital creation, and collaboration in upper elementary. 

By integrating digital literacy into cross-curricular projects, students develop a deeper comprehension of core subjects while mastering new technologies. For instance, our sixth graders produced a podcast series to make Shakespeare's The Tempest accessible to audiences of all ages. After in-depth exploration of the play and Shakespearean theater, students crafted engaging scripts to convey key themes and characters. This project highlighted the power of podcasting as an effective communication tool.

All students, Preschool through Grade 6, take music classes. Our music program provides the opportunity for every student to explore the world of music through singing, playing instruments, composing, listening, and moving to music. Activities are designed to help each child develop musical skills, as well as know and appreciate many different types of music.

From their first music class, students cultivate a variety of diverse musicianship skills. The two most notable in the early years are steady beat and matching pitch. Beginning with Solfege singing and percussion, students establish a strong foundation for collaborative performance and composition. Our curriculum focuses on developing music reading skills and encompasses a diverse range of genres, from Beethoven to the Beatles to popular music.

Beginning in these early years readies our kindergarteners to begin reading simple music daily. This daily exposure to reading music leads to the huge success in our first to sixth-grade students in their instrumental presentations.

Music is also integrated in many cross-disciplinary projects. As an example, our 5th and 6th grade recently created their own albums. Over the course of the year, each student composed ten songs and designed their album cover in Art. They studied the relationship between music and visual art, learning how imagery can enhance musical expression.

Our Physical Education program goes beyond traditional sports instruction, incorporating a holistic approach to health and wellness. Students develop essential motor skills through age-appropriate movement and games including team sports like field hockey, kickball, lacrosse, basketball, and baseball. To cultivate a well-rounded understanding of the human body, students also explore anatomy, nutrition, and the importance of sleep. Additionally, mindfulness techniques are incorporated to build resilience and emotional intelligence.

Our program integrates cross-curricular learning opportunities. For example, students combine Spanish language practice with physical games, and explore Native American culture through hands-on activities like a water pouch relay race created in science and design classes.

Through these experiences, students develop a lifelong passion for physical activity and a strong foundation for overall well-being.

Elementary students in Grades K through 6 attend Science & Design in the Sandbox. This dedicated space consists of an airy, open-walled classroom with an adjacent Maker Deck.

Science is taught through hands-on experiences that emphasize the process of discovery and productive habits of mind. The science curriculum remains flexible, investigating topics from Earth, Life, and Physical Sciences while ready to take a deeper dive when student readiness and curiosity suggest. Maker projects are often used to render science concepts concrete, as students make cars to investigate Newton’s Laws of Motion, carefully construct functioning electric motors from scratch as they study basic circuitry, or learn about light and anatomy through the fabrication of a functioning eye model.

Design aims to extend and deepen topics of interest through cross-disciplinary projects that involve making skills and the Design Thinking model. The seed of a given project may come from a classroom social studies unit, playground need, shared ecological or humanitarian concern from the greater community, cultural event, literature study, or even an overheard conversation that leads down a fruitful path. Once conceived of and planned by the classroom and specialty teachers involved, our Science-Design teachers coordinate the project through its final showcase, which, whatever its form, aims to share the students’ learning and process.

Throughout the elementary years at Gillispie, Spanish is taught and reinforced with activities like singing, playing games, making flashcards, and practicing dialogue. Exposure to the art, music, food, and histories of notable Spanish-speaking countries around the world is also part of the curriculum. 

In our Spanish language program, students not only grasp language structure and linguistics but also gain insight into the intricacies of culture. They learn that the way a language is spoken reflects the values of a people, enabling them to develop a deeper understanding of language, culture, and community.