Primary School

Our multidisciplinary approach is augmented by our exemplary specialist programs, including art, drama, music, projects lab, and P.E. All primary school students participate in specialist classes throughout the school year. Students attend specialist classes in half class groups to provide a smaller student-teacher ratio. 

Specialists offer a unique perspective to students as they create, perform, and develop new ways of thinking. These programs inspire our students to connect, to analyze, to create, to achieve, and to identify undiscovered talents and interests.  

Learn more about our Specialist Classes.

Marin Primary & Middle School has a longstanding commitment to social emotional learning (SEL) as a key component to every child’s success in school and in life.  Our goal is to provide a safe, kind and supportive learning environment for all students where they grow to understand themselves, to develop empathy, and to make responsible decisions. All students participate in creating and maintaining a supportive community that embodies the agreements we refer to as “Be A SPARK,” which stands for:

B - Balanced
E - Ethical
A -  Accountable
S -  Safe
P - Personal Best
A -  Active Listening
R - Responsible
K - Kind

We sustain a positive learning environment in which children grow academically, socially and emotionally and where all feel safe and free to learn. To be successful academically, children need to develop the social skills reflected in the acronym “Be A SPARK,” as well as cooperation, advocacy, responsibility, empathy, and self-control. Our integrated SEL program serves as the foundation for this important work.  

The digital landscape available to today’s students offers them unprecedented access to powerful tools and resources for learning. From developing a love of reading to understanding appropriate internet use, our media literacy program is an important foundation of the primary school experience. 

The school library promotes cultural competency and celebrates diversity in different forms. The Library Media Center collection proudly includes materials that encompass the beliefs and ideologies of the diverse groups represented within and beyond our school, as well as materials that help students develop respect and appreciation for global cultures.

Primary school students use age-appropriate technologies to acquire digital literacy and design practice, conduct research, showcase and publish content, and improve skills across the curriculum. Each JK to third grade class has a laptop, projector, speakers, and a half-class bank of iPads to facilitate learning. In the fourth grade, a 1:1 iPad program is designed to introduce students more directly to the use of the iPad to support learning. 

Marin Primary & Middle School provides an extensive outdoor education program. Using our own Outdoor Education Center and garden on campus, in addition to the Bay Area’s vast natural and cultural resources, this program benefits students at all grade levels with a deep sense of connection and community. 

The school garden is a living lab where students study math, science and the basic processes that sustain life: the life cycle of plants, the process of natural decomposition, the water cycle, the effect of insects, bacteria, weather and pollutants on soil and the environment. Through gardening, students become responsible caretakers who engage in agricultural practices on a small scale, learning about the impacts of land cultivation. 

In addition, field trips are important integrated elements within each grade’s curriculum. Each year, beginning in third grade, students participate in an overnight field trip, in addition to the many day-long trips that fill the calendar. Students from various grades can be found hiking in nearby Baltimore Canyon to understand the cycle of water or touring the local recycling center. In addition third and fourth grade take part in overnight field trips which provide an immersion experience that brings the content of their studies to life.