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Classroom Levels

EACMSI is divided into four distinct levels, each corresponding to a specific stage in human development. The universal characteristics of each stage determine the physical environment, adult/student relationship, and curriculum delivery methods. The growth that occurs in each level prepares the student for the level that follows. These are multi-year experiences.

Primary / Extended Day  Level – Ages 3 through 6

From birth to age 6, there are two principal objectives of the human being: to bring order to the vast amount of information that comes to us via our senses and to absorb the distinctive elements of our culture. Our Primary program supports each child in meeting these objectives.

Extended Day – Transition Class

For children in the 3rd year of the Primary cycle, this afternoon-only class is designed to prepare students for the EACMSI Elementary experience. Extended Day students begin to study Spanish and have formal group lessons with specialty teachers in art, music, wellness, and physical education.

Junior Level – Ages 6 through 9

The child from 6–9 has a curious mind, an ability to abstract and imagine, a moral and social orientation, and great energy for research and exploration.

Beyond building skills in reading, mathematics, and writing, EACMSI students explore the academic world in increasing depth and build knowledge through studies that are integrated across disciplines – geography, biology, botany, history, and the physical sciences.

Junior Level lessons are designed to awaken the imagination, stimulate curiosity, and arouse admiration for the innovative capacity of the human spirit. Students develop an awareness that everything in the universe is connected, interdependent, and forms a harmonious whole, and see that they themselves are part of and contribute to that whole.

Upper Level – Ages 9 through 12

This large, dynamic program organizes students in myriad ways. Each student is assigned to a home base where they begin and end their days. From there, they are gathered into different groupings depending on the subject. As a result, children interact with a wide variety of peers/adults over the course of each week, satisfying their intense drive for social connection. Additionally, there are numerous projects during the year when students work in teams to meet goals, thus gaining valuable experience for future collaborative work, which is so critical in our connected world.

Middle School – Ages 12 through 15

The EACMSI Middle School program combines rigorous academic offerings with rich hands-on experiences on the EACMSI campus, in the greater Ithaca community, elsewhere in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic US, and ultimately, in Costa Rica.

The goal of our program is to assist the adolescent in awakening and defining their adult self through meaningful work amidst a community of learners. We guide young people on their journey toward becoming empowered, independent, and contributing adults.

Our team welcomes your inquiry.

The best way to get a sense of who we are and how we do things is to see our classrooms in action. 

Ages 3–15

Not many schools begin with a three-year-old and grow them into adolescence. Ours is a responsive environment that adapts to the changing developmental needs of each age while providing the specific matter necessary to nourish each being along the way.

 

What is a Cosmic Curriculum?

Curricula that gives the children an impression of the universal whole and an understanding of the interrelatedness between humans and all species. As future peacemakers, children are educated to be citizens of the world who find ways to live in social, cultural, and environmental harmony. Cosmic Curriculum is the “how” and “why” of an EACMSI elementary education.