Private school kindergarten in Florida

Kindergarten News

Kindergarten at Shorecrest

Kindergarten is a time of major developmental milestones.

At Shorecrest, it’s in kindergarten that students learn to put their voices to paper, to follow their own questions to get answers, to sort numbers and understand math concepts, and to begin to explore how they fit into the world around them. Kindergarten is also a time for balance. The kindergarten curriculum maintains balance through large group, small group and individual learning activities; a balance in content areas; a balance between work and play; and a balance between teacher-directed and child-initiated experiences.

The progressive, child-centered approach to teaching and learning at Shorecrest ensures that children in the kindergarten program have the tools and support they need at their specific stage of development to become engaged lifelong learners who respect themselves, each other, and the environment.

OVERARCHING THEMES

Social-Emotional Learning:

Social-emotional learning is integrated throughout the day in Shorecrest kindergarten. Teachers are trained in the Responsive Classroom approach, a research-based approach to teaching that leads to greater teacher effectiveness, higher student achievement, and improved school climate. From daily morning meeting to the language teachers use with their students, what’s best for students is at the heart of each student-teacher interaction at Shorecrest.

The Project Approach:

Project-based learning is an in-depth study or investigation of a topic or theme that allows students to follow their questions and to learn about a given topic of interest. Through these projects, students learn how to learn, how to make sense of what they are learning, how to apply what they learned, and how to share or teach from a place of authority about what they have learned. Projects are typically interdisciplinary, meaning they aren’t confined to simply one subject area.

Field Experiences & Guest Experts:

Kindergarten students have regular visits from guest experts, who share their area of expertise - from a doctor during a unit on healthy living or a master gardener while working in the campus garden. Similarly, classes often take their lessons outdoors or off campus to learn from other experts in the community.

Outdoor Classroom

Shorecrest started off as an outdoor school near the downtown waterfront. Students explored, conducted hands-on learning activities and had plenty of time to play, wonder and discover the world around them. That work continues in the Lower School today, embracing our history and progressive pedagogical practices. Our kindergarten teachers enjoy an additional outdoor classroom - a world of play and exploration with water tables, easels, wood working benches, tables, musical instruments, a dramatic play area and so much more. It is a place for children to imagine, collaborate and follow their individual interests.

Learn more about the kindergarten curriculum and teachers.

Lower School Traditions

Poetry in the Park

Families and friends enjoy watching as each Lower School class recites a poem at the annual, al fresco celebration of poetry.

Fall Festival & Costume Parade

Lower School students debut costumes for families, Middle School students, and Upper School Student Council as they parade through the 28-acre campus. The parade is followed by an outdoor festival with games, rides, treats and surprises.

Celebrate the Arts

A weeklong teach-in featuring local artists, a gallery walk highlighting student artworks, class performances and more. The final feature of the week is a Shorecrest Upper School Performing Arts musical production.

E-Portfolios

Beginning in kindergarten, Shorecrest teachers digitally document and archive students’ work and projects into an e-portfolio. The portfolio follows the student through the course of K-4th Grade Lower School and serves as a tool to draw connections and illustrate student progress.

HEALTH & SAFETY at SHORECREST

Shorecrest contracts with Gardaworld to provide campus safety and security. Together, we developed a school-wide comprehensive safety, security and protection program that retains the open and welcoming atmosphere of our independent school campus while enhancing all levels of safety for the Shorecrest community. Shorecrest employs two School Protection Officers (SPO’s) with unique skills, interest and training to serve as on-campus leaders for the safety, security and protection of Shorecrest students.

Shorecrest employs a full-time registered nurse and a part time nurse to manage and maintain a fully stocked clinic located in the middle of campus. They dispense any approved prescription medication, manage student health records, and handle on-campus illnesses or injuries.

About Shorecrest

As a preschool through 12th grade school, Shorecrest serves a broad range of students, from the inquisitive and wiggly 3-year-old to the college-bound and career-minded senior.

Organized in four divisions or ‘schools,’ Shorecrest Preparatory School houses The Experiential School of Tampa Bay (3, 4, and 5-year-old program), the K-4th grade Lower School, the 5th-8th grade Middle School, and the 9th-12th grade Upper School. Each school is led by experienced educators with expertise in their respective fields, be it early childhood education or adolescent brain development. The curriculum spirals upward, each year building on the previous year's experience.

Kindergarten at Shorecrest is the main entry point of the K-4th grade Lower School, a part of the preschool through 12th grade Shorecrest Preparatory School family.