The 2nd Grade year is full of experiential learning with a focus on community.  Teachers begin to work with students to hone their organizational skills.
2nd Grade is a pivotal year for our students as they begin to explore the world around them and the influencers that created it. In Reader's Workshop, students critically analyze more advanced books to understand the author's unique perspective. 2nd Grade students also study and perform music on the violin like "Twinkle Twinkle" and "Ode to Joy", while learning about the childhoods of the great composers Mozart and Beethoven. 
The highlight of 2nd Grade is Family Celebration, a longstanding Carlthorp School tradition.  Family Celebration is an extended international research and study program that gives students the opportunity to choose a relative to interview, after which they write and illustrate a “book” about their heritage. Students also dress a teddy bear in the traditional costume of their country of origin. Finally, after learning songs and dances from around the world, the children perform for their families, a celebration of the things that unite us as humans and an homage to the similarities and differences in our heritages.
An experiential field trip to a senior living facility follows Family Celebration, solidifying the concepts they were taught throughout the project. Students have another opportunity to perform songs that they have learned as well as interact with members of another generation. Many of the students use the information they learned through their research projects as conversation starters with the senior residents. The field trip is followed up with a letter of gratitude to their new senior buddies drafted and finalized in writing class.  

Public Speaking

In addition to the excitement about the Family Celebration social studies program, 2nd Graders continue to focus on developing academic and social skills. Public speaking skills are further enhanced and every student is invited to present the Code of Conduct to the entire school at Flag Line at least once during the year.

Meet the Team

List of 4 items.

  • Kristen Gregory

    Ms. Kristen Gregory is entering her second year as a 2nd grade teacher at Carlthorp School. She grew up in a suburb outside of Boston, where her whole family still lives. Even as a child, she had a deep love for making art and playing sports. Kristen majored in Art Education at the University of Vermont where she studied studio art, art history, and education. While at UVM, she spent her extra time competing on the school’s women’s club lacrosse team. Her experience in Vermont caused her to fall in love with teaching. When she moved back to Boston, Kristen had the unique opportunity to teach in a Special Education program at the middle school that she attended and to coach junior varsity girls lacrosse at her high school. After a year at home and itching for a change, Ms. Morrissey decided to move to New York City, where she spent three years teaching at Success Academy Prospect Heights, a public elementary charter school in Brooklyn. While there, she taught 2nd and 3rd grades and art. During this time, she was also an important member of her school’s community by leading community circle and dressing as the school’s mascot (a panther!). At Success Academy, Kristen loved leading art club, reading her favorite chapter books, and exploring math with her students. When not teaching, she is likely painting, reading on the beach, enjoying live theater, or playing with her nieces!
  • Brittney Johnson

    Brittney was born and raised in Southern California. She ran track and field for and graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara, with a degree in Political Science and Social Linguistics. She continued her education at the University of Southern California, where she received her teaching credential and master's in Education. Currently, Brittney is attending Pepperdine University and working toward getting her Doctorate in Educational Leadership, Administration and Policy.

    Brittney has a love for teaching and policy work, which she discovered after teaching Special Education classes. Additionally, she works closely with international education organizations and began her own pen pal program between her students and students in the South African village of Ingwavuma. Before coming to Carlthorp, she spent the past year working at a juvenile justice nonprofit conducting research and mentoring youth. She believes that education is critical to expanding people’s perspectives and wants to use tools from her classroom to help build pathways towards a better learning environment for all students. 

    Outside of school and work, Brittney enjoys traveling the world  (she's hoping to visit her 17th country this winter), spending time at the beach, reading, running and baking along to the Great British Bake-Off.
  • Kate Cushman

    Born in Michigan, Kate graduated from Hope College with a B.A. in Psychology and Sociology, followed by her Master’s in Education at Pepperdine University. She has taught for 16 years, 12 of them at Carlthorp School. Yoga, running, hiking, biking, traveling, cooking and learning are Kate’s favorite pastimes. She loves spending time with friends and family and is madly in love with her apricot poodle, Scully.
  • Elizabeth Worrell

    Elizabeth grew up in Wisconsin and attended Concordia University in Chicago, where she earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Elementary Education. She continued at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, where she completed a Master of Science degree in Curriculum and Instruction with a focus on Literary Studies. Throughout her graduate program, she focused mainly on identifying and overcoming the social constructs that may cause boys to develop early and negative attitudes towards reading. Elizabeth has acquired a broad range of teaching experience in both elementary and middle schools. Her first assignment was in suburban Chicago teaching 2nd grade. After moving to California, she spent eight years teaching 7th and 8th grade students at Venice Lutheran, an independent school just down the road from Carlthorp. While there, Elizabeth started an astronomy partnership with a local university, helped rethink the school’s reading curriculum, directed and co-directed numerous theatrical productions and incorporated many forms of educational technology into her classroom. In her free time, Elizabeth is an avid reader who is always on the lookout for high interest books to add to the 2nd grade library.