Pre-K to Ninth Grade Model

Fact-based research and evidence confirm what we’ve believed all along: Pre-K-9 is the independent school model that best supports the emotional, developmental, and academic needs of younger students before they begin high school. The Pre K through ninth grade education program at TPS provides the best atmosphere to prepare children for their future.

We do not have a high school because we want to preserve an environment in which the needs of younger students remain paramount. In schools that extend through to the twelfth grade, school culture tends to orbit around the high school. In a Pre-K-9 model, our seventh, eighth, and ninth grade students have more opportunities to lead, and our younger students have more developmentally-appropriate role models.

As they develop as leaders, our oldest students are open to understanding the demands and responsibilities of leadership. They learn how to become leaders on the field, in the classrooms, and onstage. At the same time, they are still part of a community that includes Preschoolers, which keeps them from growing up too fast while allowing them to serve as role models to the younger children.

With the Pre-K-9 model as a foundation, Tuxedo Park School students learn and grow in a nurturing atmosphere that provides time and guidance to explore identity, goals, and interests. By the time they reach eighth or ninth grade, they are fully prepared to choose the high school that best fits whom they have become, and they are fully prepared to be leaders in their new school community.

Our challenging academic curriculum allows students to explore a variety of new subjects in a comfortable and familiar environment. By eighth or ninth grade, their strengths, learning styles, and interests have coalesced. Our graduates tell us they feel prepared for secondary school, confident in themselves and their abilities to make their way in the world.