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It's a wonder they spend any
time sitting at their desks

All Seabury students have busy days chock full of learning opportunities. In addition to — and integrated with — the core curriculum, those include exposure to an array of enrichment and special programs, including physical education, Spanish, performance arts, library / literacy, artists in residence, field studies, and more. 

Art

Walking through Seabury's classrooms is like walking through the galleries at an art museum. It's a visual feast — every wall hung with artwork. The pieces pop with color, burst with individuality and often evoke the style of artists we know or discover thanks to our students and their art specialist.

The Seabury Visual Arts Program is based on the Getty Center's Discipline Based Art.  The program includes art production, art criticism, art history and aesthetics — the philosophy of art. We also endeavor to bring the students in contact with Tacoma-area artists as often as possible.

Performing arts

Students learn about and participate in all aspects of the production of a live theatrical play, both in front of and behind the curtain. On the production side, this includes creating an overall concept for a script, writing an outline, turning the outline into a rough draft of each scene and editing the rough draft into a final script. An organizational chart of jobs is used to show all of the departments of a production and after exploring each area, students choose a job to be responsible for, in addition to their role on stage. Jobs range from sound and light design to publicity to accounting. Each student designs a concept for the staging of one scene and all students will take part in building the final set as well as serving as stage crew during the live production. In front of the curtain, teams of at least one student per grade will act together to perform each scene.

Students practice how to act in front of an audience as an individual and with a team. Skills include learning a variety of songs and simple dances which teach them melody, counting beats, entrances and exits from the stage and timing, spatial awareness, vocal projection, body language, active listening and timing of responses. The performing arts program also supports students in developing confidence in public speaking, presentation skills, and teamwork.

Spanish

The Spanish program at Seabury uses the Total Physical Response  technique, which introduces students to Spanish in the same way they learned their first language through listening and responding first, and then eventually speaking. An academic study of Spanish doesn't begin until middle school so that students develop vocabulary and strong speaking skills prior to learning the written language. 
TPR uses interactive games, activities, and songs led almost entirely in Spanish with physical prompts to help students understand what is being spoken. Songs are always acted out as the words are sung in Spanish to make it easier to remember what the words mean. There is a natural progression from comprehension to speaking. After learning words orally, students do activities with words that emphasize speaking and, as students get older, reading.
Topics include the weather, winter, animals, numbers, colors, holidays, food, days of the week, body parts, the alphabet, seasons, names of countries and languages. Older students apply all new and review vocabulary in sentences with verbs using the various pronouns.


Physical Education

Lower school: Pre-k students have an opportunity to learn basic skills including ball skills, skipping, and their first try at jumping rope. They begin building motor skills, hand-eye coordination, and following directions. As students progress through kindergarten, first and second grades, they add complexity to basic skills. Third through fifth grade students practice more complex motor skills, ball skills, and the nuances of specific games and sports. 

Middle school: The emphasis is on cooperative activities, variety and working within individual capabilities. 

Throughout the PE program, there is an emphasis on mindfulness, how we treat our bodies, and how our actions affect those around us. 

Library / literacy

Seabury School's library program supports and enriches the school's curriculum and its gifted students with a vital and ever-growing collection of physical and digital resources, including books at both campuses, eBooks and audiobooks, databases, book sets for classroom use, and a teacher/parent resource collection. We also take advantage of the resources offered by the three excellent public library systems that serve our region and offer reciprocal memberships to patrons. 

Our library curriculum works to help students learn to navigate their way through the snowballing quantities of information in our society, with the ultimate goal being students who are effective, responsible, critical and independent users of information. Students are exposed to fiction and nonfiction and they learn to understand the difference. They hear and read literature in a variety of genres, both in physical and digital formats. They learn about the major children's book awards, including the Caldecott, Geisel, Newbery, Coretta Scott King, Pura Belpré and more. They learn to navigate the physical library and to select books of interest at appropriate reading levels. They learn to use physical and digital sources to solve information problems. They learn to use the computer catalog to find books on library shelves and begin to develop an understanding of the Dewey Decimal system. We strive to develop in students an appreciation for literature and a love for reading.

  • Gathering
  • Field Studies
  • After/before school

Weekly Gatherings are held every Friday morning for PreK through 5th Grade. Gathering is a time for singing, sharing, laughing and talking about our core values. Once a month, the middle school students and staff join the rest of the school for a gathering centered around a special theme, usually the core value of the month. Families are encouraged to attend these all-school gatherings! On special occasions such as Dot Day and the annual Gratitude Gathering, we will also have multi-age activities for all students to participate in after the all-school gathering. 
Experiences in the field can be as close as a walk around the block, or as far as a flight across the continent. Our classes take frequent curriculum-related field trips. We take advantage of the abundant natural and urban resources in Tacoma, the region, the state, and beyond. Our students and faculty — especially our middle schoolers and students in the Bridges program — consider the community their classroom. 

Our before-care and after-care programs can extend the school day. Experienced imaginative childcare professionals are on hand to make sure children's days begin and end with positive educational, social and safe experiences.

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