Physical Education
The Lower School physical education (PE) program is designed to encourage a lifelong enjoyment of physical pursuits; foster connections between mind, body, and spirit; build children’s motor-development skills; and bring to life the Quaker values of collaboration, teamwork, and sportsmanship. The PE program fuses skill-building methodology with adventure education, and the PE teachers create lessons that are designed to build each child’s fitness and skill level. Through engaging and playful age-appropriate activities, the PE curriculum develops motor and movement skills in three areas: locomotor, nonlocomotor, and manipulative skills. The PE curriculum also develops spatial awareness, alignment and flexibility, knowledge of movement patterns, and awareness of form and function. Students develop these skills through carefully scaffolded team-building activities, cooperative games, and sport-themed units. PE teachers routinely use reflection and postactivity debriefs to cultivate students’ self-awareness and mind-body-spirit connection.