The Benefits of a Nursery Through 8th Grade Education

Parents in New York City are fortunate to have many wonderful schools to consider during the application process. When children are young, parents have the role of deciding which school complements their values, meets the needs of their child, and provides a setting that matches their own views of education and learning.

By the eighth grade, children have grown to understand themselves both as students and as learners in terms of their learning style and temperament, so they are able to help make their own assessments. The size of the school, and its educational approach; whether it is single sex or co-ed, public or private; and the quality of its teacher-student relationships can all be important factors for adolescents when thinking about the school they want for their high school years. With a sense of who they are both as students and individuals, the eighth graders at Bank Street are able to take responsibility for their education, and part of that academic responsibility is to understand how to choose and shape a learning environment to their best advantage. It can be an empowering experience for a fourteen-year-old.

While Nursery or Kindergarten through Eighth Grade schools have the same academic standards as the comprehensive schools (Kindergarten through Twelfth Grade), the look and feel of a N/K-Eighth school is very different. With the oldest children in the school being just fourteen years old, there are few direct influences on them to act older than they are. There are no older adolescents to imitate. This, in turn, allows the child in a N/K-Eighth school to stay younger longer. In our fast-paced world with its high stakes and pressures, an environment that specializes in the intellectual, social, and emotional lives of children and early adolescents is an important consideration for parents.