Lower School Diversity In Practice

For the Lower School student, we seek to instill a positive understanding of the uniqueness of each individual. We actively create an inclusive environment where students are comfortable to be and become themselves.
We strive to provide an experience-centered education where students can recognize, appreciate and value the diverse ways in which people in both our community and the world are challenged naturally, culturally and equitably.

There are a number of ways that Lower School works to provide a valuable context for understanding diversity and our shared humanity:

  • Diversity integrally informs our pedagogy, as we challenge our students to understand that there is always more than one correct way to think and problem solve about a task or an issue
  • Students learn about world history and cultures in yearlong, multicultural and global studies, as well as in field trips, assemblies and Morning Meetings
  • Literature available in both the LS and classroom libraries represents a wide swath of often underrepresented or multicultural themes, and includes authors with diverse backgrounds
  • We encourage students to understand, respect and support learning differences, in themselves and in others.
  • Teachers and counselors address positive communication skills by raising student awareness of how subtle, devaluing messages that people communicate in words or in body language, whether intentionally or not, can have a significant meaning to others on the receiving end
  • Youthful conflicts are treated as opportunities for interpersonal and relational growth, yet intentional harm to another is never tolerated
  • Our foundational rule on the playground and in PE is inclusionary: “You can’t say you can’t play at Country Day”
  • Monthly Student Support Team “staffings” bring together a classroom’s teachers with all adults who oversee student well-being to discuss each student’s diverse needs and learning
  • We encourage families to share and enhance the school experience with their cultures
  • 5th-grade girls and their mothers, separate from 5th Grade boys and their fathers, participate in their “Growing Up” class, a program developed with outside counselors as presenters
  • 5th-grade students participate in an Internet safety class, including cyberbullying and privacy/gossip concerns, annually led by the LS counselor.
  • Morning Meetings (T-F) with the lower school community:
    • Honor oral reading of diverse literature, often from cultures other than the reader’s
    • Give presentations about important events and heroes in the history of Civil Rights in America
    • Feature world music highlighting the talents of local musicians and the contributions of people of color to music history
    • Focus on respect, sportsmanship, public speaking, and cultural celebrations
    • Raise awareness of any student-led volunteer and/or fundraising activity to support the needs of underserved people locally and in the larger community
  • Buddy Programs between Pre-K and Grade 5 students, and between Kindergarten and CD Senior students, pairing each young student with an older role model
  • KPALS program in K-1-2 classes, where Grade 2 students serve to assist K students in their independent activities
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300 Park Road, Metairie, LA 70005 (504) 837-5204
Established in 1929, Metairie Park Country Day School is a coed private school for New Orleans area students in early childhood through Grade 12. From the elementary grades through upper school, the care and cultivation of each child comes to life in our exciting academic program, creative arts, and competitive athletic offerings.

Country Day accepts qualified students without regard to race, color, disability, gender, sexual orientation, religion, national or ethnic origin.