Essential Skills

At The Sterling Hall School, we believe it is what boys learn, not what we teach, that matters most. We also believe that students' learning will be more powerful when boys view their schooling as a continuous pattern, in which each new learning links directly to the teachings of the previous year.

We developed the Essential Skills (ES) Program to address these needs. ES is based on the model that students learn best when they take a deeper exploration of fewer topics, which they cultivate and master. Through the Essential Skills approach, we incorporate best practices in educational research to create a list of expectations of the skills and knowledge that students are aiming to achieve in each program and at each level.

By describing these expectations in a brief and straightforward document, ES gives our students, teachers, and parents a clear understanding of what it is students are expected to learn at each level.

This helps provide a comprehensive pattern of learning that builds on a continuum from the previous year while also facilitating individualized learning paths for each student.

The ultimate goal of the ES Program is to provide students with a "tool kit" of critical thinking skills that better prepares them to meet the complex challenges facing them in future.