1. THE STEPHEN’S PRIMARY INSTITUTE
A LOWER PRIMARY GRADE SCHOOL
FOR
GRADES K TO 2
PICTURE SOURCE: HTTP://WWW.THEFORECASTER.NET/CONTENT/N-FALART-052710
“Where Early Learning is Our Lifelong Goal”
Elizabeth Stephens
February 17, 2012

2. THE STEPHENS’ PRIMARY INSTITUTE
Vision Statement Mission Statement
In order to achieve our goal; the
The Stephens’ Learning students, parents, and staff will
Institute is a community of facilitate and encourage the following:
diverse students, parents and  Thematic unit studies of interest to
staff. We are dedicated to the the children.
early childhood development of  Group instruction focused on learning
responsible, self starting, life- objectives.
long learners. Collectively, we  Hands-on learning through play and
strive to provide an age real life experiences.
appropriate environment which  Individualized instruction.
respects each individual’s  Integrated instruction in literacy,
unique personality, set of math, science, social studies, the arts
experiences, and learning and technology.
style. Our goal is to create
individuals committed to
learning in the 21st century.

3. THE LOWER PRIMARY GRADE SCHOOL
 The Dream School created by Elizabeth Stephens is a Lower
Primary Grade School.
 This is a concept based on the fact that typical elementary
schools are loosely divided between the lower grades (K-2), and
the upper grades (3-5). The needs of a Kindergarten student are
much different than those of a 5th grade student.
 The Lower Primary School would be very developmental,
allowing for lots of play and activity in Kindergarten, progressing
to play and structure in 1st grade, and moving on to more
independent work time in 2nd grade.
 The Stephens’ Primary Institute would “hum with activity as
students busily engage in learning.”
(http://nextgenerationshcool.com/#/our-schools/lower-primary).
Each classroom would be staffed by a teacher and an assistant.
Their job would be to help each child to develop to their fullest
potential.
 The next few slides will explain the typical students in grades K
though 2nd, and how the staff would prepare these children for
the Upper Primary Grade School.

4. THE KIND KINDERGARTEN STUDENT
Kindergarten Students are typically 5 years old and may have attended preschool.
They love to help and please others. They usually like school and want to please
others; such as teachers, parents and friends. At the Stephens’ Primary Institute, we
believe that Kindergarteners are ready to move away from the preschool years and
start to establish their social groups, yet they still need the support and guidance to
accomplish this. It is the Kindergarten Teacher’s job to prepare each child for 1st
grade work. Source: www.pbs.org
Pictured: Jane Elizabeth Stephens, age 5; taken by Elizabeth Stephens, 8/2007

5. THE FUN 1ST GRADER
First Grade Students suddenly start to feel “big”. They are ready to
learn. They can work independently, but still need some playtime and
supervision from a teacher who can facilitate learning. The true magic
of 1st Grade happens as children develop the ability to understand what
letters and numbers mean. They start to understand and “crack the
code” to be able to read words and solve math problems. It is the First
Grade Teacher’s job to introduce the skills needed to begin to read and
calculate. Source: www.pbs.org
Pictured: Charlotte Ann Stephens, age 6; taken by Elizabeth Stephens, 8/2002

6. THE SUCCESSFUL 2ND GRADE STUDENT
The 2nd grade student is very confident. In 2nd grade, they practice the
skills learned in the earlier grades and begin to use them with ease.
Some children may not have been ready to master the skills in 1st grade,
but now they can. Other children mastered the 1st grade skills and they
are now ready for more challenging work. It is the job of the second
grade teacher to emphasize fluent reading and more complex math
problems. Source: www.pbs.org
Pictured: Katheryn Harvard Stephens, age 7, taken by Elizabeth Stephens, 3/2002

7. MORNING CURRICULUM
Language Arts Math
90 minutes per day 60 minutes per day
Students will: Students will:
 use their experiences to listen,  be exposed to an environment to
speak, read and write. foster critical thinking skills.
 be exposed to “print rich  be immersed in an environment
environments” to expand on their with various manipulatives.
knowledge.
 become communicators, readers and
 solve problems.
writers.  become confident in the language
 practice and master these skills in all and world of mathematics.
subjects.  practice basic skills.
Source: Microsoft Word2007 Clipart

8. AFTERNOON CURRICULUM
Social Studies Science
30 minutes per day 30 minutes per day
Students will: Students will:
 explore their immediate  predict
surrounding.  experiment
 discover the world around  test
them.
 Solve problems
 expand on their knowledge as
Source: Microsoft Word2007 Clipart
they begin to venture further
into knowledge of their
community, city and county.

9.  Art, Music, and
Physical Education will
be integrated within the
classroom activities.
 There will also be
weekly pull out
programs with a
special area teacher.
Pictured: Jane Elizabeth Stephens, taken by Bob Stephens,
2/2012
ENRICHMENT CURRICULUM
Art
Music
Physical Education

10. The Vision of the
Since students come to school with their Stephens’
different personalities, experiences, and Institute is to
remember that:
learning style; as teachers, we know that
INTERVENTION STRATEGIES
•Each child has a
they will all have different needs. unique
personality.
To address these needs, we will plan to
•Each child has a
implement Intervention Strategies. set of experiences
that they come to
When lessons are taught, children who school with.
need more help , or are ready for more •Each child has
his or her own
will be identified. learning style.
At some point each morning, children will •
be sent to different classrooms where To prepare all
they can receive the needed intervention. students to be
committed
learners for the
The goal of this is to always know what 21st century, we
each child needs, to understand that it will honor these
differences.
changes by skill level, and to be able to
address these changing needs.

11. Computers Visual Displays
Classroom sets Promethean Smart boards
In Offices White Boards
Computer Lab Easels of Paper
Training E books and Tablets
Teachers Available for checkout by the
Parents children
Students
Computer Lab
30 computers
For whole class time
research
TECHNOLOGY
Technology will be used school wide. An IT director
will be hired for the purpose of keeping all technology
up to date, and for maintaining the equipment. All
teachers and staff, and students, will be trained to use
the technology.

12. I chose this floor
plan because of the
layout of the
classrooms. I like
the way each group
of classrooms is
grouped together
with a common
area, office space
for the teachers.
These common
SCHOOL MAP
areas could be
used for gatherings,
or for teacher
meetings. In the
front of the school
there is a welcome
area with offices,
and the cafeteria
area nearby. In the
back right corner,
there is a nice area
which could be the
media center. This
map has many
multi purpose
areas.
Source:
http://www.ohcg.net/sa
nMarco/images/6floorpl
an.gif

13. SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION AND
FINANCING OF THE SCHOOL
Leadership Financing
 The school will have a principal  The plan would be for this to be a
and an assistant principal. They will public school, so there will be
divide the duties as they see fit. funding from taxes.
 There will be a curriculum resource  There will be a PTA. The PTA will
teacher, in charge of curriculum choose a project each year, with
and testing. advice from the school leaders.
 Each grade level will have a grade They will then raise funds for this
level chairperson who will receive project. They will include all of the
instruction from the principal, school community to instill a sense
assistant principal and curriculum of working together for a common
resource teacher. goal.
 The school will have a PTA, and  There will be partnerships with
the executive board of this PTA will businesses, who can assist
be leaders also, alongside, and in throughout the year with donations
respect of, the school leaders. of goods, or with money.

14. THE FUTURE
The goal of the Stephens’ Primary Institute is to
create individuals committed to learning in the 21st
century. We feel it is a MUST for our students to
leave us with the skills to learn individually and in
groups.
Since we are a school for just ages 5 to 8, our
immediate goal is for our students to be ready for
the upper primary grades, then middle school, high
school, and finally college.
The ultimate goal for our students would be for them
to be life-long learners and productive citizens able
to contribute to the global world.