Academics
Elementary

Intermediate Elementary

Grades 4 and 5: Building independent, faithful, and confident Crusaders. 
Students enter Intermediate Elementary with their promotion to the Upper Grade Center in Fourth Grade, moving from the Primary Grade Center into the hub of School of St. Mary’s spiritual and academic community. Fourth and Fifth Graders travel to specials, building the independence, executive functioning, and self-sufficiency that carry them into the departmentalized Middle School model in Sixth Grade.

Our approach to Intermediate Elementary continues to develop the whole child in character, faith, leadership, and service. Teachers emphasize life skills and personal responsibility while cultivating the joy of learning and the confidence to meet new challenges.
 

 A Campus at the Heart of the Community

An Elementary Education at School of St. Mary

The Upper Grade Center sits in downtown Lake Forest, adjacent to the Church of St. Mary, giving Intermediate Elementary students a natural front-row seat to parish life: they take part in service projects and lead and serve at weekly Masses.
    • School of St. Mary Upper Grade Center

      The entrance to the School of St. Mary Upper Grade Center, with the school name above the glass doors and a statue in the garden beside them.

How Intermediate Elementary Learns

List of 5 items.

  • Science

    Students engage in inquiry-based, hands-on units.

    Progression:
    • 4th Grade: Studies four units in depth: Rocks and Minerals (Earth Science), Microworlds (Life Science), Electric Circuits, and Energy Works (Physical Science).
    • 5th Grade: Focuses on the Scientific Method and introduces the concepts they will study in depth in Middle School: Earth and Space, Life Science, and Physical Science. 

  • Language Arts & Reading

    Building on the school’s K–8 language arts foundation, students continue with the Wonders integrated program and Reading Wonders anthology, working with complex text in small, leveled groups alongside whole-group instruction.
     
    Progression:
    • 4th Grade: Transitions from "learning to read" to "reading to learn," builds close-reading skills, develops the five-step writing process for paragraph composition, and begins Word Wisdom vocabulary and spelling study.
    • 5th Grade: Studies the eight parts of speech in depth, writes expository, narrative, and persuasive pieces using Google Docs, and begins Literature Circles, analyzing leveled novels in small, teacher-facilitated groups.

  • Mathematics

    Following Archdiocesan and Illinois State standards, students continue with the enVision math series, taught through direct instruction, partner and cooperative work, and flexible, leveled grouping.

    Progression:
    • 4th Grade: Continues building computation and problem-solving fluency, with iReady supplementation for targeted support.
    • 5th Grade: Masters addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division of decimals and fractions; works with graphing and data, measurement conversion, and geometric shapes and classification.

  • Religion

    Students continue formal religious instruction through the We Believe series, follow the liturgical year, and take an increasingly active role in parish life.

    Progression:
    • 4th Grade: Continues Sacrament preparation by studying the Ten Commandments and the Beatitudes, builds and prays the Rosary through a hands-on classroom project, and completes four Mass Reflections each year.
    • 5th Grade: Studies Revelation, the Blessed Trinity, Jesus, and the Church, explores what it means to be made in the image and likeness of God, and leads school Masses and church activities such as the Rosary and Stations of the Cross.
       

  • Social Studies

    Students build geography and map skills alongside their history studies, anchored by the TCI Social Studies Alive! textbook.

    Progression:

    • 4th Grade: Studies the four major regions of the United States and world geography, with an introduction to U.S. history beginning with Native Americans.
    • 5th Grade: Studies ancient civilizations and the formation of the earliest societies, evaluating and comparing how civilizations evolved and changed over time.
A balanced education requires a comprehensive, sequential study of all three branches of learning: the humanities, the sciences, and the arts. School of St. Mary’s Specials program brings that balance to life at every grade level, beginning in preschool and forming the whole child (mind, body, and creative spirit) through art, music, physical education, library, and Spanish, with the STEAM Lab added at the Upper Grade Center.

Within that program, the arts give students a distinct means of creative expression through sound, image, gesture, and word: the vocabularies of creative communication.

A Week of Specials

List of 6 items.

  • STEAM

    The STEAM Lab (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics) gives Fourth and Fifth Graders a full year of hands-on design challenges, building toward a spring showcase where students present what they have built. 

    Progression:
    • 4th Grade: Tackles engineering fundamentals through paper towers, bridges, and flight, explores personal responsibility through units on saving and online safety, and closes the year with the 4th Grade Showcase.
    • 5th Grade: Takes on more complex challenges, including data and spreadsheets, digital citizenship, force and motion through rocket building, and personal finance, culminating in a SHARK TANK–style showcase where students pitch and defend their own projects.

  • Spanish

    Spanish instruction continues with the Comprehensible Input and TPRS (Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling) approach.

    Progression:
    • 4th Grade: Completes the Listos textbook series, the same program used since Kindergarten. 
    • 5th Grade: Transitions into Descubre, the series that carries students through 8th grade.

  • Art

    Students move from foundational 2-D and 3-D skills into more deliberate, technique-driven work. 

    Highlights:
    • 4th Grade: Collage and mixed-media compositions; hand-built (pinch-pot) clay; drawing and design across a range of subjects, from personal expression to seasonal and pop culture themes. 
    • 5th Grade: Tessellation and repeating pattern design, observation (still life) drawing, Zentangle-style pattern drawing, and hand-built glazed ceramics. 


  • Music

    Students build from listening and identification skills into notation, performance, and compositional choice-making.

    Highlights:
    • 4th Grade: Identifying tempo and dynamics in a musical example, using correct terms (forte, piano, presto), identifying instruments by family and by sound. 
    • 5th Grade: Describing tempo, dynamics, and timbre in more complex listening examples; classifying instruments by how their sound is produced (string, wind, percussion); singing or playing accurately from a written score, with attention to pitch, tempo, and breath/bow/mallet control.

    • Physical Education

      Students continue PE under the same no-cut, every-student-participates philosophy established at the Primary Grade Center, changing into official gym uniforms for every class at the Upper Grade Center.

    • Library

      The Upper Grade Center's resource center offers a quiet space for studying and reading, along with class visits built around research projects. Students check out books for both coursework and enjoyment.

    A Bridge to Middle School: Structure & Independence

    Fourth Grade remains a self-contained classroom, where one teacher guides students through core subjects as they build the study habits and self-sufficiency that Middle School will expect.

    Fifth Grade shifts to a modified departmentalized model with three dedicated core teachers, giving students meaningful relationships with multiple adults while building the independence, organization, and schedule-management skills they will need in Sixth Grade and beyond. Specials remain a shared, grade-wide experience in both years. 

    Assessment & Individualized Support

    Teachers assess students with the aimswebPlus benchmark and iReady, each three times a year, along with the Cognitive Abilities Test (CoGAT) each spring. Results inform teacher feedback, flexible group placement, and consideration for Middle School’s accelerated class placement.
     

    The school accommodates diverse learning styles and provides service plans and accommodations for students with Catholic Medical Care Plans, Individual Catholic Support Plans, and learning differences. School of St. Mary’s approach to education does not focus solely on test scores, and its graduates go on to succeed at Lake Forest High School, Loyola Academy, Carmel Catholic High School, Woodlands Academy, and other area high schools.
     

    How Progress is Measured

    Catholic education addresses every facet of a child’s growth, preparing students for life in a complex world within the framework of faith. School of St. Mary operates on a trimester system, and while report cards offer a snapshot of that progress, parent-teacher conferences remain the best venue for reviewing a child's work in depth. 

    Achievement Effort
    A = 93-100 VG = Very Good
    B = 85-92 G = Good
    C = 76-84 S = Satisfactory
    D = 70-75 U = Unsatisfactory
    F = below 70 I = Not Graded, Incomplete
    A Day at the Upper Grade Center

    Fourth and Fifth Grade share a building and a daily rhythm, and the day’s logistics encourage growing independence.
    • Curbside drop-off is at 8:20 a.m., and parking-lot pick-up is at 3:40 p.m.
    • Extended Day is available from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
    • Transportation: An optional shuttle bus connects the Upper Grade Center with Lake Bluff for an additional fee.
    • With signed parental permission on file, students may also walk or bike to school.
    • Fourth and Fifth Graders share lunch and recess, separate from the Middle School students. Catered lunch is available for purchase.
    • Uniforms and gym uniforms are required.
    • Students attend weekly Mass on Tuesday mornings.

    A Roman Catholic School Since 1917

    To Learn, To Serve, To Lead

    Primary Grade Center

    900 West Everett Road
    Lake Forest, Illinois 60045
    (847) 283-9800

    Upper Grade Center

    185 East Illinois Road
    Lake Forest, Illinois 60045
    (847) 234-0371