Lower School

Welcome to the Lower School!

The Kam Memar Lower School is a place of joy, purpose and belonging, where every student, teacher and parent is a welcome and important part of our community. Our youngest students enjoy extraordinary resources—people, programs and facilities—as they grow and become prepared, confident citizens of the world.

The faculty is the heart and soul of the Lower School, and our teachers are experts in how young children learn. The center of a student’s experience is the homeroom, where they develop a strong academic foundation and study habits as readers, writers, mathematicians and global thinkers. Teachers—two in every homeroom—design lessons for both whole-group and small-group instruction, meeting students at different levels of accomplishment with the appropriate amount of challenge and support. Morning meetings, closing circles and classroom contracts help students feel a sense of belonging to and responsibility for their classroom communities, and they learn to take increasing ownership of their learning.

Specialist teachers bring particular expertise and passion to their subject areas, allowing students to dive more deeply into STEAM—including Design Thinking, science, technology and art—as well as general music and strings, Spanish, library and physical education. They work collaboratively with the homeroom and associate teachers in the development of the whole child. Play is a vital part of every child's learning, and we know from experience that students learn better when they have free play during their time at school. Our students enjoy unstructured play time on the World’s Greatest Playground during daily recess, early morning drop-off and after-school Knight Crew. The Isdell Center for Global Leadership (ICGL), a signature program at Pace, is integrated throughout the Lower School curriculum and develops students’ empathy and curiosity as they engage with some of the most pressing issues of our time. Through asking questions and learning about an annual global theme, students come to understand that they can and do make a difference in the lives of others—in the Pace community and around the world. Most importantly, Pace students learn how to be good people. In the Lower School, we prioritize character education through the Noble Knights program. Students move on to Middle School as compassionate and thoughtful citizens, prepared for whatever lies ahead.
I look forward to welcoming you to the Pace Lower School!

Dorothy A. Hutcheson

Head of Lower School