Houston Newcomer Guide Logo

THE BRANCH SCHOOL: WHERE CHILDREN LOVE, LEARN, AND LEAD

The Branch School, serving children in PK3 through 8th grade, is an oasis of calm in a hurry-up world. Assured of the love and avid interest of their teachers, our inquisitive students explore a STEAM-infused curriculum with confidence.

We believe children are unlimited – that they realize their potential when they know they are loved and their teachers are in their corner. That support enables children to reach a little higher, to learn more than they thought they could, and ultimately, to become leaders of others.  Applications are now available for admission for the upcoming school year.

 

 

Outstanding academics amid a joyful learning environment

There’s ample pressure in today’s world for children to keep a relentless pace to absorb all there is to learn.  At The Branch School, it’s not a matter of pushing students to work faster, but of opening doors and supporting where their innate curiosity takes them. So science explorations don’t come simply from textbooks, but are centered in our expansive Outdoor Classroom, as even the youngest students study life-cycles in real-time, cultivating plants and watching caterpillars transform. You’ll find our elementary students folded into bean bag chairs or lying belly to carpet – wrestling with just the right dialogue for the play they’re writing, or considering the perfect adjectives for a review of a beloved book they’re eager to share with classmates. Our project-based learning model means middle schoolers aren’t confined to desks all day listening to a lecture, but are actively collaborating on complex, interdisciplinary projects that incorporate math, writing skills, history and cultural competence, and more. Whether clustered around the tables in our fully-equipped science lab to hypothesize mid-experiment, or gathered around picnic tables at recess to continue a classroom discussion of ancient civilizations, learning at The Branch School is an active enterprise that invites students to love, learn, and lead.

We want our students to become kind people and we help them build character skills that will serve them for a lifetime. The empathy we cultivate helps students enthusiastically welcome the many international students who enroll at The Branch School. As we teach peacemaking, they learn to use their words to resolve differences with classmates and to manage themselves insightfully in a moment of frustration. Older students are role models to the younger ones and serve as campus leaders in many capacities. But we know even middle schoolers need breaks so recess is built into the school day for every Branch School student to have moments to connect and reflect on their learning, to play imaginative games on the playground, and to build treasured friendships. Complementing our academic program are extracurricular opportunities that include engineering, robotics, athletics, and multiple art and music explorations.

Dedicated Educators

Step onto campus and you feel it immediately. The genuine warmth that infuses all we do. Administrators, faculty, and staff know the names not just of students, but their moms and dads, their siblings, their grandparents – the whole family. It’s an expression of what we call The Branch Way – how we love and support one another in learning and in life. A low student/teacher ratio permits individualized attention, efficient observation, and allows children to navigate our beautiful school grounds safely.

The mission of The Branch School is to inspire students to love, learn, and lead. If our approach seems like a fit for your child, we invite you to email Admissions Coordinator Juanita Wilson at wilsonj@thebranchschool.org to arrange further conversation and a tour of the school.