At Crossroads, we believe that young people are ready to think big thoughts. Here kindergarteners explore the continents and learn about famous presidents. First graders fashion marshmallow models of the atom and experiment with changing states of matter, while fifth graders enact a Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream with outstanding oration and humor. Our students are immersed daily in an environment that captures their imaginations, fuels their curiosity, and provides for them an ever growing and integrated knowledge base.

At our academic base is the Core Knowledge sequence, a rich and sequenced outline of content in most of the subject areas. As the first independent school in the United States to use this curriculum outline, Crossroads has matured this sequence into a curriculum. Our curriculum is now in the process of being mapped by our faculty with the hope that our program will be of inspiration and assistance to other schools. At the heart of our character education program, the Core Virtues curriculum inspires our students through cross-cultural examples from great literature. This engaging literature-based character education curriculum was developed at Crossroads by our founding Head, and is now used in public and independent schools across the country. To visit the official Core Virtues website, please click here.

We believe that a fine K-8 education speaks to the mind and to the heart of children. It instructs in the basics—in reading, writing, and mathematics and enriches with studies in history, geography, science, literature, art, French, Latin, drama, physical education, music and technology. Into each course of study, our teachers infuse our character education program. At Crossroads, our students are asked to use their gifts for the good of those around them, and they do so through daily actions and through community service.  Experienced as a whole, a Crossroads education inspires and encourages children and adolescents alike to be good and well educated people—to think of others, and to act with respect, compassion, and generosity.

For more information see Core Knowledge: http://coreknowledge.org/

Character Education

At Crossroads we believe that education is not just about “content” but about what Martin Luther King, Jr. called “the content of our character.” Our Lower School character education program promotes such virtues as respect, responsibility, honesty and compassion; the Middle School program focuses on the cardinal virtues of justice, prudence, fortitude, and temperance. The program is rooted in Jewish and Christian theological traditions, but is non-sectarian in nature. Through a morning gathering and Middle School character education classes, the posting of inspiring definitions on classroom bulletin boards, the daily reading of fine literature highlighting the virtues, and a focus on community service, the program nurtures the desire to be good as well as the habits of good behavior.