Parsons School, nestled in the corner of beautiful Babbage Park, serves approximately 600 students from Pre-Kindergarten through Grade 4. Our students come from every continent, from scores of different countries, and from every ethnic and religious group. Our students are also diverse in their needs, abilities and interests. We believe we derive the strength of our educational program from this diversity. We have developed programs to help insure the success of all of our students.

Our curriculum is aligned to the New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards. In math, we are implementing the enVision Mathematics Program, which is grounded in problem-based and visual learning that enables students to gain a deeper understanding of math concepts.Our language arts curriculum is a balanced one that addresses the processes of listening, speaking, reading, writing and viewing. Guided Reading is an important component of our early childhood literacy program. Writer’s Workshop is the foundation of our writing program.

We develop science literacy through an outcome-based curriculum, which provides a framework for standards-driven learning goals, and student centered instruction. In the social studies curriculum, younger children learn about their neighborhood and township. Our older children study New Jersey, the United States and other parts of the world. Students also learn the importance of being loyal, patriotic citizens in a democratic society.

Students attend a class in art and general music once a week.

Physical Education is taught twice each week. We have a Field Day each spring.

All of our subjects are supported by technology. We have a modern, state of the art computer lab and a full-time technology teacher. Networked computers are in every classroom. Students learn to use application programs, to use computer-assisted instruction, and to surf the net to find the resources they need.

Our Media Center has a significant collection of children’s literature and reference material. Each class visits the media center once a week to learn library and research skills and to borrow reading materials. Independent reading is encouraged with several incentive programs and book fairs. We also celebrate Read Across America in March throughout the school with a variety of activities and events.

While we take our instructional program very seriously, we recognize the importance of a well-rounded student. Accordingly we celebrate the seasons and holidays with assemblies and other special events. Students in third or fourth grade can learn to play a string instrument and perform in our orchestra. They may also choose to learn to play a band instrument and perform in our band or chorus that produce two major concerts each year.

We have a program for Gifted and Talented students which offers challenging supplemental activities called SOAR (Seeing Our Achievements Rise).

Students having difficulty with academic subjects are supported by several innovative and effective intervention programs including ESL, and academic support lessons for reading and mathematics.

A full-time counselor and a full time nurse help students and families develop strategies to deal with social, behavioral, emotional, health and academic issues. We also have programs for children with special needs, which is coordinated by our Child Study Team.

We are very proud of the parent component of our program. We have a very active PTO that raises funds to provide our students with enriching activities and experiences including field trips, assemblies, and classroom extras. They work tirelessly for our children sponsoring Family Fun Nights, Book Fairs, Holiday Gift Shops, and many other events. Many parents volunteer in the school.

At Parsons we recognize our responsibility to the community. Our students participate in events that raise money for needy causes and worthwhile community projects, including the local food bank, the fire department and local shelters.

In summary, we are strengthened by our diversity, which we celebrate in everything we do. The public can be confident that we are working to meet the unique and varied needs of every child at Parsons School.