Family Fridays

Students at PBS work and play together often across grade levels. A favorite way to achieve that is through our School Families, a long-standing tradition at PBS.

Each family contains two or three children from each elementary grade level and two or three adult “parents” from among the faculty and staff. Families meet on designated Fridays throughout the year to participate in activities, learn about each other, deepen understanding of the school’s core values, and play together. The families stay together year after year, adding new members as students join and celebrating the graduation of their 5th-grade members each year.

School Families are inclusive of all parts of the community – all ages, across grade levels and job descriptions. They kindle friendships that might never have happened otherwise, build empathy and connection in all involved, and strengthen our understanding of the school’s core values. Family Fridays offer great opportunities to scaffold in practice with emotional intelligence, global citizenship, and cultural competence and give 5th-graders a chance to practice leadership skills.

A team of faculty members develop lesson plans for each Family Friday with careful attention to the topic, its appropriateness for a wide range of age groups, and its relevance to the life of the school.