Lower School at Stone: Building critical thinkers and problem-solvers from the very beginning.

#WhatLowerSchoolCouldBe

Nine years ago, twenty pioneer students joined us on a small field in Lancaster and helped us imagine an entirely different kind of school. Those remarkable students were helping us test a belief — that education could be designed differently, that learning could be both rigorous and joyful, that school could be a place where students design, research, build, and exhibit work that matters to them and to the world.

Since that day, Stone has grown quickly, and with purpose. What began as an experiment in 9th - 12th grade education is now one of the most distinctive independent schools in Pennsylvania, serving more than 100 students across six grade levels. Stone students travel the world, they design award winning research projects, they grapple with complexity, they plant trees, they sing (loudly) in our hallways, they work hard at meaningful work. 

And because they do, our graduates matriculate into college ready not just to succeed but to lead. 

And the question we keep wondering is: if our students can accomplish this much in 6 years, what might happen if we had them even longer?

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Why a Lower School?

For years, our families have asked us when we would extend Stone’s model downward — when their younger children could benefit from the same kind of learning environment their older siblings were experiencing. We moved slowly, mostly because we wanted to be sure we had built something durable at the Middle and Upper School levels first.

But education is about alignment, and over the last few years something remarkable has happened: our students, our faculty, our culture, and our systems have settled into place. Stone is alive and aligned in ways that are unmistakable – our students are not just moving through an academic program, they are shaping the voice of the school and shaping their identity in the process. Faculty are not just teaching classes, they are leading students through substantive academic problems that matter. 

Our families are not just enrolling, they are co-architects in the work and co-architects of this remarkable community.

And within that alignment, we have seen the need more clearly to build downward, because we more clearly understand that if we want to prepare students not just for college but for life, if we want to build critical thinkers and problem-solvers from the very beginning, then we need to start earlier. 

We need a Lower School.

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What Will It Look Like?

The Lower School will open in Fall 2026 with grades K–6, and enrollment begins this October. From the beginning, it will be deeply connected to the Stone culture families already know: student-centered learning, exhibitions of student work, a relentless commitment to curiosity and wonder, and a lot of laughter too.

But: a Lower School is not just a “younger version” of what we already do. Young children learn differently, and our program will honor that. The early years will emphasize play as the work of childhood—structured play, collaborative play, creative play.  And just as importantly, the Lower School will reflect Stone’s human heart. Children will learn to be kind, to care for one another, to practice – as is our Mission – empathy, ethicality, gratitude, and vulnerability.  

One of the most powerful things a K–12 school can do is to create a community in which students grow up surrounded by older and younger peers, where mentorship and modeling become second nature, and where belonging is not tied to age or grade but to being part of something larger than yourself. Imagine a fourth grader sitting in an Upper School exhibition and realizing, “Someday I’ll do that.” Imagine a senior who remembers planting trees with second graders years before, now helping those same younger students present their first research projects.

Stone has always been a school of moments — moments when students step up, moments when they are surprised by what they can do, moments when the community feels boundless. 

Our k-12 self will multiply those moments, and deepen them too.

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Growing, Without Losing Stone In the Process

Growth always raises the same question: can we remain who we are while becoming something more? At Stone, the answer is yes—because who we are is not a static thing. We have always been defined by curiosity, by adaptability, by “fail forward” thinking. The Lower School is not a departure; it is an extension of that spirit.

Our commitment to need-blind admissions will remain.  Our belief that students should do meaningful work—work worth exhibiting, work worth arguing about, work worth remembering—will remain.

The Lower School is not about becoming bigger for the sake of being bigger. It is about deepening the impact of our Mission. It is about giving more students the chance to experience what we already know: that Stone is not like any other school, anywhere.

What excites us most is not just that we will now serve K–12 students, but that we will get to see the full arc of a Stone education. We will meet students as five-year-olds—curious, wild, and full of questions—and watch them grow all the way to 18, walking across the graduation stage ready to lead, ready to think differently, ready to shape the world.

That continuity will make Stone even more powerful. It will let us align skills, values, and habits of mind across thirteen years of schooling. 

And, with much thanks to John Dewey, it will allow us to deliver on our deepest belief: that education, done well, is life itself.

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An Invitation

As we take this step, we invite you to take it with us. Enrollment for the Lower School begins this October, and we want to hear from you. We want to meet families who are looking for something different, families who believe that school should be more than worksheets and test prep, families who want their children to grow up curious, kind, and capable.

If that sounds like you, reach out. You can sign up to receive more information about our Lower School program right here. You can sign up for a private tour of our 7th - 12th campus right here and meet Head of School Mike Simpson. And, you can email our admissions office directly right here.  

We look forward to the conversation, we look forward to the opportunity to share with you what Stone is and what Stone is becoming.

Nine years ago, twenty students and a handful of teachers planted that seed. In 2026, we will plant again — this time with our youngest learners. And just like before, we will grow quickly, and we will grow with purpose.

The future of Stone is K–12. The future of Stone is here.