Peachy the Magazine Spring 2020 | Page 41

INSPIRATION Since 1894, the mission of this inde- pendent elementary school has been to transform the lives of its students by providing quality education for children of low-income families; these students are offered a full scholarship when admitted. The founder, Grace Arents, believed that all children, despite their lack of resources, deserve quality education. And, moreover, she believed that this quality education lays the foundation for a child’s ability to succeed and thrive as an adult. “There are very few schools in the country that provide a full scholarship for every student. We are one of those few,” Dr. Weldon-Lassiter says. 30-minute lessons a week. By teach- ing students how to play the violin, St. Andrew’s empowers them to grow beyond academic intelligence. St. Andrew’s School advocates for conversation and the practice of man- aging one’s emotions through social and emotional learning (SEL). Teachers and faculty work with the students to teach essential skills which support healthy emotion management, meth- ods of dealing with conflict, as well as appropriate and responsible decision making in life. The school is built upon six fundamen- tals which are each embedded in the everyday life of the students: academic curriculum, social and emotional learn- ing, nutrition and wellness, visual and performing arts, family engagement and graduate support. St. Andrew’s encourages its students to learn about the world through visual and performing arts, establishing arts as part of the daily curriculum. The school has incorporated an instrumen- tal program in which every student is taught how to play the violin via two SPRING 2020 39