Academic Excellence
We provide a challenging academic program to all our students.
The Merritt Advantage
Infants
As your baby’s journey begins at Merritt Academy, our early childhood and preschool programs nurture children’s natural instincts to investigate the sights and sounds of the world.
For our youngest students (6 weeks to approximately 12 months) our infant teachers have been trained to respond quickly to your baby’s unique needs.
As your child grows, so do the challenges curated in classroom activities. Our early childhood program emphasizes lessons rich in language, social, and motor skills development.
Whether listening to stories, participating in sensory, music or art exploration, your child will enjoy learning centers focused on our curricular themes and values.
Toddlers
Toddlers (12 months to approximately age 2) enjoy early childhood learning through play in thoughtfully themed lessons as well as independent exploration. Our teachers introduce basic sign language. Specialists in music and creative movement meet with your child nearly every day.
Your child will develop confidence along with social and emotional skills. Introduction of phonics, mathematical concepts, and other age appropriate academics lay a foundation for your child’s next stage of learning
At Merritt we focus on the importance of enjoying the educational journey. We keep children challenged, engaged, and supported. Every aspect of our school is designed to create the ideal conditions for success.
Our school is built upon three foundational pillars:
Infant to Toddler Program Highlights
- Storytime and singing to encourage emerging language development
- Language Arts/Introduction to phonetic sounds and letters
- Activities designed to promote sensory development
- Science exploration in the classroom supported by preschool STEAM specialist
- Gross and fine motor skill development
- Math and manipulatives
- Music and movement
- Outdoor time including nature walks/rides on our tree-lined campus
- Intergenerational Program and Project Pals (with K-8 students)
Values + Manners = Character
At Merritt Academy, we have embraced our responsibility to teach character to the next generation.
Our comprehensive character curriculum provides a challenging plan to grow strong, quality character in our students.
Our whole-school approach to character education includes
- Skills for Learning
- Empathy
- Emotion Management
- Problem Solving
These skills are taught, reinforced and role-modeled by classroom teachers, assistants and all other staff.
The goal is to teach children to treat each other with respect, kindness, and tolerance, to develop self-regulation skills, and to be able to problem-solve without escalation to violence.
This curriculum nicely supports the Merritt Academy Code of Courtesy and the character traits which are taught each month on a rotating basis.
Intergenerational Program
An important application of Merritt’s Character Education Curriculum is the schools renowned Intergenerational program
All Merritt Academy students, infants – 8th graders, participate in the school’s Intergenerational Programs.
Our Project Pals Program is designed for children of different age groups to develop meaningful friendships. Every classroom is paired with another classroom of younger or older students to meet at least once a month and collaborate on academic projects. Students discover a deeper dimension to learning based on the interactions and ideas of their Project Pal.
With our neighbors at Sunrise Senior Living and the Virginian Retirement community, our Elementary school students participate in the Seniors and Students Together Intergenerational program. Students enjoy sharing classroom lessons and discussing diverse concepts and ideas with seniors.
During their visits, students and seniors participate in a wide variety of activities, including:
- Storytelling
- Sing-a-longs
- Arts and crafts
- Literary activities
- Community service projects
Communication
We recognize that parents are the subject matter experts on their children and we value their input and participation in the early childhood educational process.
The importance of clear lines of communication between school and home is heavily emphasized by:
- Weekly Merritt newsletter from the executive director
- Weekly school highlights email from the principal
- Weekly letter from the classroom teacher
- Formal parent teacher conferences twice a year
“ Intelligence plus character – that is the goal of true education. ”
-Martin Luther King, Jr.