Our Philosophy: Integration
Our program stretches beyond ordinary academics. It is rooted in the sound principles of child development as well as in the values and traditions of the Jewish religion.
Each child’s education is seen as a whole: a complex combination of intellectual, social, emotional, physical, and spiritual growth.
Children learn best when engaged in meaningful activities. Our role as teachers is to assist them in this process. To accomplish our mission we:
- create a nurturing environment in which students feel they’re part of a learning community
- provide a challenging academic program in both general and Judaic studies
- integrate secular studies within a culture of Jewish values and ideals
- honor differing learning styles by respecting each student’s unique qualities and gifts
Combining Individual Attention
with Collaborative Learning
Our dynamic pairing of highly individualized attention with team-building collaborative experiences provides the underlying framework for a multi-dimensional Lerner School education. Our low student-teacher ratios give each student the support and self-confidence they need to master the fundamentals, tackle complex concepts and apply them to both independent and collaborative learning.
Our richly tiered collaborative culture provides multiple opportunities for students to work in pairs or groups, to mentor or be mentored, and even to work with those beyond our campus boundaries. Through group projects, students acquire essential life skills—they learn to organize, plan, prioritize, listen and respect the ideas of others. Our units include multiple venues for public performance: persuasive presentations, writing and producing plays and extemporaneous speaking. Our students emerge with the ability to defend their ideas and the confidence to lead.
Teaching for Excellence
What does “excellence” mean at the Lerner School? For starters, our teachers actively engage each student by building upon proven instructional practices. Students are compelled to apply their knowledge and skills to real world challenges. And because our dual curriculum places high demands on each student’s performance, our students consistently work beyond grade level.
Assessing our Success
The Lerner School has several ways to measure each child’s development—ways that are quantitative as well as qualitative. We start with our own curriculum-based rubric in math, grammar, spelling and vocabulary. In addition to these self-created metrics, teachers collaborate regularly, sharing insights and reporting on progress, to ensure that each and every student reaches his or her highest possible achievement level. To confirm our assessments, we administer the Iowa Test of Basic Skills and the Gates MacGinite reading test.
Where Our Graduates Go
The Lerner School enjoys a very high success rate in launching our students off to the next level of education. Our students consistently end up in the top schools in our area, including the following:
- Cary Academy
- Durham Academy
- Triangle Day School
- Duke School for Children
- Durham & Chapel Hill Public Schools