The primary years at FSS are a time for exploring new worlds and ideas, practicing the give and take of relationships, and enjoying the thrill of mastering a challenge. The academic program focuses on developing and then consolidating skills, building fluency, and gaining confidence. Teachers individualize strategies for decoding and encoding text, model appropriate tools for organizing writing, and promote facility and conceptual understanding of math and science skills for a variety of learning styles. Themes of study center around the concepts of community both within the classroom and broader neighborhood. Students visit local places of work, study animal communities and take trips to local parks and woodlands as they make connections to the world they live in. In addition to two full-time classroom teachers, the Specialists (Art, Music, Woodshop, Sports and Library Teachers) work weekly with half of a class at a time. Spanish is introduced informally in 1st/2nd grade once a week.