Learn • Achieve • Grow

Nurturing. Creative. Welcoming. Learning.

Saint Gregory’s School provides an exemplary early childhood program that ensures individual developmental needs are met. On our beautiful 22-acre campus children engage in daily outside play, including seasonal recreational activities and nature exploration. Our early childhood teachers deliver a structured, comprehensive curriculum, and dedicate afternoons for additional enrichment activities, including science, technology, engineering, math challenges, and outdoor exploration. In addition, our qualified Pre-K through Grade 8 faculty ensures that even our youngest learners participate in Spanish, music, physical education, and art classes on a weekly basis to optimize personal development.

Our students learn what it means to contribute to the SGS family and the larger responsibilities of being part of the community. Within our nurturing and warm environment, our values of respect, empathy, kindness, and decency are modeled each day. When you step on our campus, the warmth and character of our community shines through; it is a place where your child is known and treasured.

As our three-year-old students walk through the hallways at SGS, they are filled with excitement and an enthusiasm for learning in a nurturing and supportive environment. Each day our teachers engage in active and meaningful activities. Children are eager learners who test their senses and explore their community through active indoor and outdoor play and hands-on discovery. Our teachers know and value each student, and when a child feels good about school, positive attitudes are formed that provide a lifetime of intellectual growth and curiosity.

– Children in our Pre-K3 program have the option to attend 3-5 mornings a week from 8:20am to 11:30am.

– A lunch option to stay until 12:30pm is available for a nominal fee.

– Full day options, with a 3:20pm dismissal, are also available.

Our Pre-K4 program recognizes that each child is unique, having their own ideas, preferences, interests and learning styles. Every child your child is learning and growing. We want them to feel nurtured, loved and respected. We strive to instill in them a love of learning and a confidence in their ability to learn, achieve success and overcome obstacles. We encourage kindness.

 Our students are introduced to core concepts and Kindergarten readiness skills through exploration and play. Children paint, draw, write, build, sing, count, bake, listen to stories, problem solve, share, play, create, and conduct simple science experiments; all the while gaining skills in language and literacy, numbers and math and reading readiness and writing. The goal is to learn and have fun every day!

 – Children attend Pre-K4 five mornings a week from 8:20am until 11:30am.     

– Full day options with a 3:20pm dismissal, are also available.

– A lunch option to stay until 12:30pm is offered daily for a nominal fee.

Challenging. Supportive. Innovative. Creative. Fun.

These are just some of the words parents use to describe our Kindergarten through Grade 4 experience. At SGS, we teach a rigorous curriculum and embrace each child individually, challenging all of our students to reach their fullest potential: intellectually, artistically, physically, morally, and spiritually. Our students strive to do well, and our teachers know children and curriculum, and they nurture a zest for learning. Whether it is tallying pumpkin seeds from our garden, building bridges, designing Native American villages, mastering multiplication and division math facts and geography skills, tackling public speaking, or completing an independent author study, our students are encouraged to think critically and to become independent thinkers. Our older students assist younger ones, building respect, self-esteem, and collaboration. Recess is an integral part of our daily life, giving our children a chance to play, enjoy the outdoors, be creative, and solve social and emotional problems.

SGS students create memories and carry-out traditions that last a lifetime. Our four-year-olds hatch butterflies, the kindergartners tap trees on our campus for maple syrup, first graders do an in-depth animal research projects that involves a trip to the zoo, and second graders build paper-mache models of the continents to learn geography. Third graders dive into enriched novels, and fourth graders research different Native American tribes and then design and build a model of how the tribe lived historically. Increasingly, students are prepared to tackle more varied and rigorous programs.

The Kindergarten year builds on the learning and experiences from our preschool programs. Writing and revising daily in a journal is just one way a SGS Kindergarten program fosters a love of learning while building fundamental life and academic skills.  The curriculum emphasizes Language Arts – reading, comprehension, writing, speaking, listening, and vocabulary development. Mathematical and problem-solving skills, scientific exploration, art, music, physical education and wellness, Spanish, technology, and free indoor and outdoor play fill the days with rich learning opportunities and experiences. The supportive atmosphere, predictable routines, and reasonable behavioral expectations allow students to feel secure to take on more academic and social risks.

Kindergarten is a full, five day program

First graders are eager to advance their reading and writing abilities and build on the skills learned in Kindergarten. The objective is to foster strong decoding skills, develop writing skills to respond to literature, introduce the principles of good spelling and penmanship, and continue to learn how to publicly speak and listen well. Students learn new math concepts, complete challenging word problems, and practice basic math facts. They are emerging scientists, engineers, writers, artists, and musicians, and learn through field trips, games and hands-on activities. First grade is a time of increasing independence, from walking to class without an adult to preparing for weekly spelling assessments. At SGS, we emphasize respect and what it means to be part of a community.

Second graders rush to the classroom excited to see their friends and to start their day. They have moved beyond simple words, building greater comprehension and fluency, and they have a designated vocabulary program. The writing process is taught, and students learn to write stories with a beginning, middle, and end. They are working to master two- and three-digit addition and subtraction, solving multi-step word problems, and gearing up for basic multiplication. By the end of second grade, students will have sharper, critical thinking, reading, and writing skills. Organizational skills are taught, and students are expected to be accountable for their learning and behavior.

In third grade, there are greater expectations for independence and application of foundational skills learned in the earlier years. Students are expected to use their resources to solve problems. The program emphasizes reading good novels and combining skills to read fluently with expression for meaning and purpose. Students are encouraged to read independently outside of school and be able to infer information about what they read and hear. Writing is daily and longer pieces that inform, persuade, or entertain are revised for sentence structure, grammar, and punctuation. The early foundation set in mathematics is evident as students apply their knowledge to larger numbers and more challenging topics with addition and subtraction, place value, multiplication and division, fractions, decimals, time, money, and basic geometry.

This is an age where students begin to emerge as leaders and independent thinkers who are able to express their viewpoints more clearly.

Our hard-working fourth graders are ready for and desire the challenge of being the leaders of the Lower School. Students accept more responsibility for their learning, and apply the skills learned in previous grades. Reading and writing is emphasized across disciplines. Fourth graders research and write a report on a Native American tribe and then build a historically accurate model of the tribe’s village.  Later in the year, they draft, re-write, and revise a creative piece that is then published in book form. Exploration and discovery continue with PLTW ( Project Lead the Way) science program that students began in Kindergarten, emphasizing hands-on problem solving and collaboration. Fourth graders are challenged with more complex and sophisticated mathematics and word problems. Our students leave the Lower School self-assured with a strong foundation that will serve them well in the Upper School and beyond.

Independence. Leadership. Challenging. Confidence

We pride ourselves on each and every aspect of Upper School life. Our Upper School is deliberately not called a middle school because our students are not caught in the middle – between a high school and an elementary school. We know it is the time in a young person’s life when he or she wants to become more independent, and our students are allowed take on leadership responsibilities that help them develop confidence and true sense of who they are and what they want to accomplish. At the same time, our students are allowed to be “a kid a little bit longer,” free from the social influences of high school students.

Saint Gregory’s is a place where fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth graders begin to see themselves as independent learners. The shift is developmentally appropriate and sets the the stage for success in high school. In addition to studying math, science, history, English, Spanish, religion, music, and art, our seventh and eighth grade students begin studying Latin, which increases students’ vocabulary and reading comprehension. Upper School students enhance their study of music with the handbell and chimes. Annual field trips to New York City and Boston tie in with a theme or the study of a novel, as do trips to local gems such as the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, Hyde Collection in Glens Falls, the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge and outdoor adventures in the Adirondacks. The eighth grade year culminates in a Washington, D.C.; the money for which is raised entirely by the students.

Giving back to one’s community is an important message imparted to our students at an early age. Countering the “me centered” society, Saint Gregory’s students stand apart. They volunteer outside of school, and help with jobs at school, from raising the flag and taking attendance to assisting with the delivery of our lunch program. These “chores” teach responsibility and help foster the sense of family.

In eighth grade, our students use the study of history, religion, and technology to create a year-long capstone project. Our teachers teach an advanced curriculum, and our students graduate ready for the most demanding of secondary school programs, having accomplished high school credits. Our graduates are well prepared for whichever high school they attend.

Our industrious students are primed for a year of exciting changes: a new uniform, a locker, an advisor, and traveling to different classrooms for every class. The changes symbolize the increase in expectations for independence, collaboration, and application of foundational skills learned in the Lower School. SGS strives to expose students to the highest academic standards, and teachers work across disciplines to encourage risk-taking, ownership of learning, organization, time management and hard work as students transition from concrete to abstract thinking. Putting up and bringing down the flag, distributing milk, or reading to a younger student are just a few of the ways students help out the community. As in the Lower School, learning is an ongoing journey and recess continues to be an important part of the Upper School day.

Our sixth graders continue to develop their critical thinking and creative skills. Students are expected to be more autonomous learners while handling an increased academic workload. In homeroom, advisory, and all classes, study skills, organizational skills, time management, note-taking, self-advocacy, and responsibility are emphasized. Sixth grade students are ready for a deeper understanding of  subjects, and their intellectual skills are expanding. Sixth grade students participate in a wide variety of activities with the older students, including sports teams and hand-bell ringing, that foster a sense of unity in the Upper School.

Seventh graders begin to see themselves as independent learners, which sets the stage for success in high school. SGS students continue to strive for excellence as they explore art history, world music, and the political and strategic role upstate New York played in the forming of North America. Field trips to Fort Ticonderoga, Saratoga Springs battle site, and Hyde Park help build on classroom-learning and historical empathy. Guided by teachers and advisors who know and care, students continue to grow personally and intellectually as they develop their character and sense of community and leadership responsibilities.

The eighth grade is the culmination of a Saint Gregory’s education. Faculty continue to teach essential academic skills in an environment that encourages risk taking and responsibility. Our students are well-prepared for secondary school, college, and beyond often earning them advanced placement. Experiences such as Washington, DC trip, cultural field trips, and a year-long capstone project help give our students opportunities to succeed. Equally important, our graduates are equipped with life skills, the teaching of which began in their early years at Saint Gregory’s: speak with confidence, work collaboratively, think critically, act empathetically, accept new challenges, solve problems, and use information to better the world.

Each Upper School student at Saint Gregory’s has an advisor to mentor, support, and advocate for him or her. They belong to an advisory group that meets formally once a week. The support they receive at Saint Gregory’s isn’t limited to just their advisor. Teachers are available for extra help during the early mornings, during recess, and after school. Beyond the formal Advisory times, students also meet as a group for Homeroom and Morning Assembly.