FAQ

Benchmark’s Lower School is for students in 1st through 5th grade. Benchmark’s Middle School is for students in 6th through 8th grade. However, Benchmark School does not accept applications for 8th-grade students, because our students’ skills are built over time through practice, guidance, and reflection.

Building executive function skills—how to plan, how to organize, how to keep focus, how to be persistent, and how to regulate emotions—has been a core part of our Benchmark Approach from the time of our founding.

Executive function and self-regulation instruction begins when students first enter Benchmark, and is taught in a spiral with increasingly more sophisticated tasks, texts, and environmental factors as the student’s self-knowledge and beliefs evolve. Learn more about the specific ways our executive function strategies help our students.

No. Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) and 504 plans are specific types of agreements used in public education systems and are not employed by Benchmark.

At Benchmark School we meet each child where they are as learners. Our small class size allows teachers to get to know each child individually and help them reflect on their own progress and continued challenges in order to set personal goals with daily, weekly, or longer-term “deadlines.”

However, IEPs and 504 plans are collected as one piece of required documents during the admissions process to create a more complete picture of a child’s educational journey. Benchmark teachers then refer to IEPs, 504 plans, and all other documents gathered through the admissions process as a starting point for planning and goal-setting for new students.

The entire Benchmark community works to help new students and their families feel welcome and begin to create connections. The Benchmark Parents Association, Parent Ambassadors, and your child’s learning team, including the Child and Family Support Services department, all work together to support a student and family's transition into our community.

Benchmark School faculty, staff, and trustees are actively engaged in the work of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging. Please see our DEIB at Benchmark page.

Benchmark uses a strategy-based program that was researched and developed in-house and is continually refined through ongoing research and practice. Please read more about Benchmark School’s internationally recognized decoding and reading comprehension programs.

No. Although each program is distinct, students who have been instructed in other reading programs are easily able to use their background knowledge to transition into Benchmark’s reading program.

Students are reading grade-level material, and focusing on the vocabulary in their texts becomes increasingly important. Therefore, Middle School students engage in word study, included in language arts instruction, that is a combination of decoding, vocabulary, and fluency.  

A focus on prefixes and suffixes in 6th grade and Greek and Latin roots in 7th grade helps prepare students to take standardized and placement tests when they are moving on to high school. Vocabulary is also emphasized in content area classes.

Students are instructed by Benchmark math specialists who tailor instruction to provide both challenge and support where students need it. Our math program emphasizes conceptual understanding, not just memorization. 

Math specialists use a published series for content sequencing and supplement all instruction with a variety of research-based practices and materials. Through this approach, math specialists are able to adapt instruction to meet the individual needs of students.

Homework expectations gradually increase during the student's time at Benchmark. At the youngest level, 20-30 minutes of homework guided by a parent is the expectation. When a student reaches Middle School, depending on the student’s approach to learning, homework may take from 1 hour in 6th grade to 2-2 ½ hours in 8th grade.

We support students to be independent at an age-appropriate time. We set students up with clear instruction and resources to be able to complete homework assignments without the need for parent intervention, except at the youngest level.

While on the surface, our homework is about previewing, practicing, and reviewing skills learned in class, on a deeper level it is about students learning in incremental, manageable steps how to take charge of their learning. Students may also take part in Guided Study, which is an opportunity for students to complete their homework after school with the support of a Benchmark teacher. 

Benchmark School does not participate in standardized testing that is required for schools under the jurisdiction of the state such as the PSSA. We do, however, feel that normative testing can provide another form of information about a student’s progress. This information, combined with the wealth of other information gathered for students, can be used for goals, curriculum, and lesson planning for classes and individual students.

We are currently employing Exact Path, which uses an adaptive diagnostic assessment to understand each student's specific competencies and to recommend activities that would strengthen understanding of previously learned concepts. This assessment, along with teacher observations and in-house assessments, helps us develop an instructional plan for each student.

While Benchmark is not a school for students with primary emotional problems, the Child and Family Support Services department is a team of psychologists, licensed social workers, and counselors who partner with students, teachers and families to support and empower students to be strong advocates and self-regulated learners, thinkers, and problem solvers.
 

Yes. Students with a need for support in articulation are offered lessons by a contracted speech-language therapist during the course of the regular school day.

Many of the skills addressed in occupational therapy, such as handwriting and fine motor skills or attention and self-regulation, are incorporated into our program and instructed by regular classroom teachers through whole class or small group lessons, as well as through monitoring and coaching individual goals and strategy integration. Students are not pulled out of class for separate occupational therapy.

Benchmark School offers a variety of after-school activities each trimester, ranging from sports teams and clubs to robotics to art club. All activity fees are included in tuition except enrollment in Guided Study class, which offers students the opportunity to complete homework at school with a Benchmark teacher available for guidance.

Yes. We have a coed Varsity and Junior Varsity soccer team and a soccer club in the fall. In the winter, Benchmark's Middle School students are able to join our basketball team and in the spring we offer a golf club. Lower School students may sign up for club sports experiences.

At this time, Benchmark School does not have a choral or instrumental program. Students attend weekly general music classes and there are musical club opportunities available after school.

Benchmark School tuition includes all fees except enrollment in the optional after-school Guided Study class (see Activities) and dress code clothing, which families can purchase from any store or from our School Store.

Most supplies used in Lower School classrooms are provided for students. In the Middle School, students are provided with a list of school supplies to purchase, and have the use of a personal Macbook throughout their time at Benchmark.

Many of our students are provided bussing by the district in which they live. School districts must provide transportation for any student living within their district limits if the outer boundary of the district is within 10 miles of Benchmark School, and we will assist families in the process of obtaining district transportation. Those living outside of the bussing areas need to provide their own transportation. We will connect families with others who might be interested in carpooling.

Yes. We offer a chef-prepared lunch program with a variety of hot and cold non-vegetarian and vegetarian options. Check out our dining program. Lunch is completely covered by tuition. Students are also welcome to bring their own lunches.

For students with dietary restrictions and allergies, our Chef and School Nurse work with families to ensure student health and safety.

Benchmark students go on to a wide variety of receiving schools throughout the region. Benchmark’s middle school transition counselor, teachers, and supervisors partner with families to identify the best fit for their child’s secondary education. Please see our Transition Program information for a breakdown of school type and a list of upper and high schools our Benchmark graduates attend.