Multiage
Multi-age activities provide diverse social experiences, including mentoring, cross-grade friendships, opportunities for differentiated learning, and exposure to different abilities and learning styles. Students spend a portion of their school day with their class cohort and a portion of their day interacting with students from other grades.
We have dedicated time in our school week for community connections – participating in All-School Sing and Dance, spending time with our buddies, multi-grade morning meetings, and taking mini-classes in mixed-age groups. In addition, traditions and celebrations foster close connections between grades. Activities like multiage reading groups and multiage arts and enrichment classes provide additional opportunities to broaden friendships beyond their class cohort.
Upper Elementary and Lower Elementary Pods
University Cooperative School is organized into Lower and Upper Elementary groups we call “pods”: Grades Pre-K-2 and Grades 3-5. Each pod has its own traditions, learning spaces, and lead teachers. Cross-grade friendships develop through multi-age recess, multi-age reading groups, Friday Community Time, our buddy program, and more.
Buddy Program
Every University Cooperative School student is part of a multi-grade buddy group. Pre-K students are paired with a second grade and fifth grade buddy, while Kindergarteners receive a third grade buddy, and first graders are paired with a fourth grade buddy. These buddies will stay together, building close ties as they grow through the school. Students thrive by learning from older peers and stepping into roles as mentors and leaders for younger children.
Looping
We embrace the educational practice of looping, where students from first to fifth grade spend time with the same teacher for multiple years. First and second grade students divide their day with two teachers, while third through fifth grade students split their time between three lead educators.
This continuity allows teachers to develop a deep understanding of each child’s unique needs, strengths, and areas for growth. It means that each child – and family – is understood and supported by the team over the full course of their journey at the school. It also helps prepare students for middle school – they get to practice moving from one classroom to another and become accustomed to multiple teachers.