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While most fifth graders in Tucson are among the eldest in their school, at The Gregory School, they are the youngest. But rather than this limiting them, fifth graders at TGS enjoy a wonderful balance of the opportunities and specialized faculty afforded to older students alongside the careful preservation of their last year as elementary school children.
Why The Gregory School for Fifth Grade?
September 20, 2024
While most fifth graders in Tucson are among the eldest in their school, at The Gregory School, they are the youngest. But rather than this limiting them, fifth graders at TGS enjoy a wonderful balance of the opportunities and specialized faculty afforded to older students alongside the careful preservation of their last year as elementary school children.
What does this look like?
Bountiful course options, extracurricular activities, and cross-age learning.

Fifth graders participate in middle- and all-school theater productions, band, choir, and orchestra, farmyard and garden-to-table classes, Friday Explorations, middle school student council, and student clubs. Fifth graders are also part of our middle school athletics programs, competing in the Tucson Independent Athletic League, alongside our middle school students. With our no-cut policy, all students, whether highly experienced or new to a sport, will be on a team that is at the appropriate level for them.

Learning from specialized faculty

With a small fifth grade and two teachers, our fifth grade faculty are able to specialize in subject areas (English/social studies and science/mathematics) rather than having to teach all subjects, enabling these teachers to focus fully on following and developing outstanding content and learning opportunities in their areas. Beyond their fifth grade teachers, our fifth grade students work regularly with middle and upper school teachers, experts in their content areas. For example, Ms. Woods, one of our Fab Lab teachers, is currently teaching our fifth graders to use Fab Lab equipment to do sublimation printing to make Oregon trail banners for Interim Week; just prior to this, Mr. Krohn, our Digital Arts teacher, taught the fifth grade students how to use Google Draw, which Ms. Woods is now incorporating into her work with the students

Access to state-of-the-art facilities

Fifth grade students at The Gregory School get an integrated approach to our MIT-Network-Affilited FabLab, visiting this maker space both with their fifth grade teachers and during Friday Explorations. Fifth graders take PE and compete in our gymnasium and perform in our 370-seat theater with professional-grade, student-run lighting and sound systems and an orchestra pit.

Personalized mathematics placement on campus

Fifth grade students are placed into the mathematics level that is right for them. If seventh grade math is the fit, that’s what they will take: And they will take it with our 7th grade math teacher just one courtyard over from the fifth grade. There’s no need to leave campus and miss out on camaraderie with other TGS students, and they benefit from a specialized 7th grade math teacher who is up on the latest standards and strategies for that subject.

World language opportunities
Fifth grade students may take French, Mandarin, or Spanish. Because fifth grade is just the start of The Gregory School journey, students can have their language teacher multiple years, which enables that teacher to get to know the students and build upon previous instruction to help meet their interests and needs as their language proficiency progresses. As with mathematics, students who come into The Gregory School already speaking one of these languages may test into a higher level on campus.
Senior – Fifth Grade Buddy program
Every fifth grader has one or more student buddies from our senior class. From parading in together for Convocation on the first day of school, to carving pumpkins in October, to exchanging gifts at the end of the year, our fifth graders are embraced as valued members of our school community by our seniors, and our seniors truly enjoy the relationships they build with our fifth grade students. Fifth graders can see a trajectory through their middle and upper school years and look forward to being “on the other side” of the Buddy equation!
A long-term trajectory for success
By the time they are in high school and even when they graduate, students who attended TGS starting in fifth grade benefit from the very long-term relationships they’ve developed with Gregory School teachers and coaches. These relationships give teachers and coaches a tremendous advantage in challenging these students to help them continue to grow and meet their goals. Fun fact: Four members of our 2024 AIA State Champion boys basketball team were in our fifth grade together and worked with Coach Everson for eight years. This longevity is a wonderful recipe for building strong programs in everything from athletics to music to STEM.
The fundamental understanding that fifth graders are in elementary school
While our fifth graders are part of our larger community and have plenty of opportunities to learn from an array of faculty, experience all of our facilities, and participate in classroom and extracurricular activities with older students, we are very protective of their childhoods. Our fifth graders’ days are based in two nurturing, fifth-grade-only homerooms, and fifth graders eat lunch together every day. Our fifth grade teachers ensure that the activities and classes students participate in are age-appropriate: fifth graders do not attend middle school dances, for example. Play is encouraged during the day, and fifth graders have break time to run, climb, explore the farmyard, chat, and eat snacks. Fifth graders at The Gregory School enjoy class parties for special occasions and holidays, just like in every elementary school!