A great school never sits still. It keeps going, growing, and evolving. At Graland, we go to extraordinary lengths to give every child the best education possible. Why? Because we want our students to reach higher and go deeper. We want them to pursue excellence with passion and intent. And the result? Students who Go Graland are the kind of forward thinkers who are prepared to go anywhere and do anything.
why
K-8?
Students thrive in a Kindergarten through eighth grade environment. Research proves it; Graland lives it. These are formative years and giving children a safe place to stretch and develop as individuals is essential. We are specialists, attuned to the social-emotional needs of children preschool through eighth and wholly invested in the ideas, programs, and facilities that support learning for students in this age group. Lower School students benefit from the support and care they’re shown by older students. Middle School students, in turn, thrive as they become leaders, role models, and mentors, on their way to feeling prepared – and confident – as they go on to high school.
dis cov er
a love of learning It’s our greatest hope for our youngest learners. Most children begin their Graland journey in Kindergarten. And right from the start, your child’s innate curiosity forms the foundation for investigating new ideas, from science to Spanish to storytelling.
Teachers understand and engage each student using differentiated learning techniques and crossdisciplinary approaches. Kindergartners build knowledge and skills while they enjoy math, literacy, music and movement, and art classes. Explore an overview of the Kindergarten curriculum at graland.org/kindergarten.
Preschool and Pre-K
A great school knows the power of play.
In our small, lively Preschool and Pre-K classes, young learners sing, paint, act, imagine, and move. It feels like play as they explore the world around them. In fact, they’re learning letters and numbers, animal habitats and art. Our goal? To get them ready to be students.
USING TRADITIONAL PRACTICE AND INNOVATIVE LEARNING, LOWER SCHOOL STUDENTS BUILD A SOLID ACADEMIC FOUNDATION FOR FUTURE CHALLENGES AND EXPLORATION.
grow with hands-on learning In Lower School, handson teaching approaches bring greater depth to learning. Students use creativity and collaboration to solve problems. Their minds and imaginations take flight as they learn to express themselves and engage with the world beyond our campus.
You’ll find Kindergartners reading Rapunzel and then building her an escape tower in our makerspace. Second grade students film a short story in Spanish after studying Costa Rican rainforest animals. Teams of third graders hike Chief Mountain as they study life zones and ecosystems. And fourth grade students perform a full stage musical.
our teachers
above and beyond The best teachers never stop learning. Graland faculty actively pursue opportunities to grow professionally, training in their subject matters and beyond, such as understanding the latest on brain research, differentiated instruction, and culturally responsive practices. They seek out the most effective ways to engage each child as they guide their classes. Best of all? They love teaching – and they’re some of the most inspirational “students” your child will ever encounter.
rise
to the challenge Middle School students hone their critical thinking and problem-solving skills as they face more complex academic challenges and grow into thoughtful young leaders. They’re pushed to take their thinking to higher levels as they tackle new languages. Students test their engineering skills against tower crushing machines and explore civic history as delegates debating issues in a simulation of the Second Continental Congress.
And they become poets, finding different vehicles for self-expression. Middle School also means overnight learning adventures. From the Rocky Mountains to Washington, DC, to the eighth grade’s capstone retracing of the Freedom Trail as they study civil rights, your child’s understanding of the world will go far beyond what can be learned in books.
TO ENHANCE CLASSROOM LEARNING EXPERIENCES, MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS PUT THEIR IPADS, LAPTOPS, AND OTHER TOOLS TO GOOD USE: RECORDING SPANISH DIALOGUE, DOCUMENTING SCIENCE RESEARCH, PRODUCING SHORT FILMS, AND MORE.
Innovation and Exploration Students of all ages use design thinking to solve problems and develop ideas and inventions.
Go invent. Since 1999, the Gates Invention and Innovation Program has supported student innovation. So far, 20 students have received patents for their inventions. We couldn’t be prouder.
open
doors to new opportunities Tinker, create, innovate. The Gates Invention and Innovation Program is a unique experience for students in grades five through eight to use their ingenuity to invent a new product. Students use empathy to identify a problem and then research, design, and build solutions. They publicly present their final prototype and business plans in competition, where they may be selected for fully funded patent development.
Inventiveness and problem solving starts with our youngest learners. “Tinker time” might look a bit messy, but the outcome? Priceless. Our students develop an understanding of why something is – and how it works. Ask a first grader about pulleys and levers and she’ll tell you about simple machines and how she designed a playground using an incline plane for the zipline.
7:1
student-teacher ratio
20%
students of color
30+ zip codes represented
students 1 in 5
students receive financial aid
24,700
square-foot innovation center equipped with the Gates Innovation Lab, library, digital media studio, makerspace, tech help desk, and science classrooms
green acres of spaces to learn and explore 9
Graland buses for daily transportation and learning farther afield
103
full-time faculty 70% with master’s degrees
100% of faculty and staff participate in professional development
average years of teaching experience
$2.1 million in aid 1
LEED Gold-certified dining hall with 800 lunches served each day (included in tuition)
32,000
square-foot building for the gym, climbing wall, and fitness center
15
offered each year
1:1
iPads/laptops for grades four and up
1
outdoor amphitheater
we
deeper
Character matters. There’s more to learning than grades and tests; our intentional character development curriculum is fundamental to the Graland experience. It grows with our students, from Preschool to Lower School to Middle School. That’s why we start every day with “morning connections” and advisory. It’s why we help our students learn to take care of themselves and each other as members of the community. Our students develop empathy and understanding of diverse backgrounds and experiences. When they go out into the wider worlds of high school and beyond, Graland graduates are kind, thoughtful individuals, and that makes all the difference.
fuel
your imagination Dance. Sing. Paint. Perform. Sculpt. Create. Students enjoy a kaleidoscope of arts opportunities including musical theater performances, jazz band, printmaking, and film production. Art, music, and drama are essential elements of our curriculum
at every grade. Our art classrooms, music recording space, digital media studio, and 450seat theater help students bring their creativity to life. And our entire campus serves as a gallery for their work, with more than 900 student pieces in our permanent art collection.
Baseball Basketball Cross country Field hockey Golf Middle School Athletics:
Lacrosse Soccer Sports conditioning Tennis Volleyball Yoga
harness the power of teamwork We know how important healthy activity is to growing bodies – and brains. That’s why students in Kindergarten through grade five stay active with physical education class every day. In sixth through eighth grades, students participate in a sport of their choice each
trimester. In addition to the importance of fitness and the fundamentals of a variety of sports, our program emphasizes good sportsmanship, teamwork, and commitment.
further than you imagined
Why stop at an idea when you can patent a prototype? Why just write a report when you can give a speech in character? Why think inside the box when your ideas can be out of this world? At Graland, we go further. We challenge our students to dream bigger, think deeper, and then make it all come to life. That’s why we offer creative options for assignments; students have a myriad of opportunities to show their understanding of a subject or mastery of a skill while highlighting individual strengths and interests. When your mind has no limits, the possibilities are endless.
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community connections Service and leadership are integral parts of the Graland curriculum. We want our students to understand their roles as engaged citizens, thoughtful leaders, and contributors to their community. Students forge relationships and develop broader understanding as they assemble “welcome bags� for newborns; serve meals at a soup kitchen; spend time with their buddies with special needs; or get to know
seniors with Alzheimer’s in a year-long project that culminates in an awareness event.
On campus, students take on leadership roles in student council. They lead assemblies, mentor younger students, and not only raise funds, but interview nonprofits and award grants as part of our annual Spark Change program.
feel right at home from the get-
Get ready for a warm welcome – for your whole family. At Graland, classmates become confidantes; parents and teachers become partners. We see a school community as having a larger purpose beyond educating children so we’ve created an environment that brings families together in countless ways: volunteer opportunities, family events, parent education speakers, and more. We’re on a journey together that lasts all the way through eighth grade graduation – and beyond.
AT GRALAND COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL IT IS OUR MISSION TO: Achieve intellectual excellence, build strong character, enrich learning through the arts and athletics, and prepare our students to be engaged citizens and thoughtful leaders.
Ascende Omnem Montem – Climb Every Mountain
innovation
+ tradition You could say we have a tradition of being innovative. For nearly 100 years, Graland has been on the leading edge of education. We were founded to adapt to the evolving educational needs of children, and our mission guides everything we do. Innovation isn’t just about technology. It’s about using blocks to teach spatial reasoning. It’s exploring the role insects play in pollination and
creating hand pollinators. And it’s mummifying hot dogs in a combined science and history lesson on Ancient Egypt’s burial rituals.
As we’ve discovered more and more about how children learn and what they need to be successful in an ever-changing world, we’ve adapted our curricula and teaching methods to ensure that we’re meeting all students’ needs.
GRALAND COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL 55 Clermont Street Denver, CO 80220 303.399.0390
graland.org