Who We Are

About

Mission

Lowell School equips children to think critically, engage purposefully, and live authentically.

CORE VALUES

List of 1 frequently asked questions.

  • Respect for
    Children

    • Children are trusted, seen, and valued for who they are.
    • We focus on the whole child.
    • We tune in to children’s emotions and needs, with intention for all we do.
    • Every day creates space for authenticity and joy.

List of 1 frequently asked questions.

  • Social Justice and Equity

    • Our community is actively working to unlearn racism and bias.
    • We teach children to celebrate and embrace diversity.
    • Our commitment to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) can be seen across our curricula, programs, and decisions. 
    • Children learn to advocate for themselves and for others
    • We strive to make our educational experience more accessible.

List of 1 frequently asked questions.

  • Partnership with Families

    • Families, staff, and faculty alike share a commitment to our children. We are partners in supporting them.
    • Lowell’s parent education, both formal and informal, helps good parents in becoming great parents.

List of 1 frequently asked questions.

  • Purposeful Academic Engagement

    • Dynamic learning takes place in a progressive educational model.
    • Students are active participants whose curiosity and interests shape the course of their study.
    • Children are well-prepared for higher education and active citizenship when they leave.
    • Arts, movement, and play are integrated across curricula.

List of 1 frequently asked questions.

  • Social Emotional Competency

    • SEL and academics are not separate; we know that children learn best and take more risks when they feel emotionally and physically safe.
    • Mistakes are seen as opportunities to grow.
    • Children develop confidence, kindness, resilience, self-advocacy, and bravery.

Vision

Lowell School children are leading in the co-creation of a world where individuals are trusted, valued, and respected.

We are an intentionally-designed, diverse educational community that embraces individuality, curiosity, and courage. Lowell students thrive because we are committed to progressive pedagogy, where our multidisciplinary academic program and our social-emotional curriculum are inextricably linked.

Guided by our innovative, expert, and thoughtful educators, our children become confident, resilient, and highly-motivated learners who can fully engage in an abundance of rich, integrated, and multifaceted learning experiences.

Our graduates know themselves well and communicate effectively. They are uniquely prepared, both academically and socially, to navigate challenges and embrace opportunities that lie ahead.

Lowell empowers children to use their voices and strengths in pursuit of a more just world—one in which differences become assets, confidence leads to cooperation, and empathy drives us to affect positive change in our communities.
 
The Way It Is
By William Stafford
 
There’s a thread you follow. It goes among
things that change. But it doesn’t change.
People wonder about what you are pursuing.
You have to explain about the thread.
But it is hard for others to see.
While you hold it you can’t get lost.
Tragedies happen; people get hurt
or die: and you suffer and get old.
Nothing you do can stop time’s unfolding.
You don’t ever let go of the thread.
 

HISTORY

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    Lowell was founded in 1965 as a nursery school for families seeking something different. They were looking for a hands-on, child-centered approach designed to stimulate students’ curiosity and creativity, create space for them to make choices, and encourage them to empathize and cooperate with each other—and they wanted all of that in a diverse community that embraced and celebrated families and children from a variety of backgrounds.
     
    Inspired by the democratic ideals of the time—including the fight for equity, inclusion, and social justice—and dedicated to the power of progressive education, the Lowell experiment would go on to thrive and grow. Over six decades, the school has expanded from a single class of 25 children, ages two-and-a-half to five, in the basement of a local church to a program for over 300 students from PK to 8th grade, housed on a beautiful 8-acre campus.
1640 Kalmia Road NW
Washington, DC 20012
202-577-2000