Tara Montague has served as Landon's Head of Lower School since July 2019. Mrs. Montague was previously the Director of Studies at National Presbyterian School (NPS) in Washington, DC. 

Prior to her position as Director of Studies, Montague served as the school-wide learning specialist and as a homeroom teacher at NPS where she has been on the school's faculty for about a decade. With a master's degree in education, she has worked in independent schools for more than 20 years, taught in the Lower School at two all-boys schools — St. David's School (NY) and St. Albans (DC) — and is a product of independent education as a graduate of Punahou School (HI).

Follow Montague on Twitter to enjoy her observations and news from the Lower School.

In distance learning, our Lower School students are in class five days a week. Please see a sample schedule below. It includes core academic classes such as language arts, math, science, Spanish and social studies. The schedule also includes time for the entire Lower School to be together in morning meetings, movement breaks throughout the day and one-on-one meeting times during office hours.

Athletics is daily -- sometimes virtual and sometimes in person, on campus, in small groups.

You may see "BSC" on the schedule -- which stands for band, strings and chorus. Students pick one music option and continue that class throughout the year. 

We understand that every boy learns differently. If you need extra help, your teachers and the Lower School specialist from our Center for Teaching and Learning Resources will work with you and your parents to develop a plan tailored to your strengths and needs so you can improve academically, complete your work on time, and develop a sense of confidence in your learning style. 

In Grades 3, 4 and 5 you will explore the core subjects: writing, reading, math, science, social studies as well as Spanish. You get to make giant painted murals, clay robots, and other projects in art. In science, there are live animals in our lab who you can help care for. In music, you can choose an instrument to play or join the chorus.Your classroom will have computers that you can use to supplement learning. We also have a Lower School play that everyone participates in!

Yes. Landon owns and provides each Lower School student with a laptop for you to do your work with your teachers at school. These laptops will be replaced with Microsoft Surface computers in coming years. Our new technology plan outlines how we are going to accomplish that goal.

Our class sizes are small so you will get to know your classmates well. And with sports, the play, music groups, Student Council, lunch and more, there are plenty of other ways to meet new people and bond with your Bear brothers. Plus, the summer before coming to Landon you will be paired with an “ambassador family” to help answer questions and introduce you to people when the school year begins. You will also meet Upper School students through our buddies program. 

At Landon, we appreciate and celebrate that our community is comprised of people from various ethnic, religious, racial, and socioeconomic backgrounds as well as varying social identifiers and family structures. Our school has established a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Committee that is working on a DEI Strategic Plan. We have also named Megan Rains-Mercado as our Lower School DEI Coordinator for 2020-21.

At Landon, we understand that diversity alone is not the answer to inclusion and equity. We take action by providing educational and social experiences for students, staff, and the community that celebrate our differences while highlighting what makes us all the same. Through education and multicultural experiences we foster an inclusive and accepting environment in which everyone feels they are a respected member of the community. We are committed to a diverse Landon community, one that provides awareness of all so that tolerance and compassion naturally develop.

The school partners with girls schools, Holton-Arms and Stone Ridge of the Sacred Heart, as well as the organizations A Call to Men, Connect DMV and the Anti-Defamation League (No Place for Hate). Our programming includes speakers, assemblies, in-class programming and more. Take a look at how we celebrated the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at our MLK Day assembly in 2020.

Definitely! Even though Landon is a boys school, you’ll have opportunities to participate in activities with girls throughout the year. From when they arrive on campus as third grade Bears, Landon boys collaborate with girls from Holton-Arms School and other area girls schools in hands-on learning activities for science, math and other academic subjects. You will also work together on community service programs, dramatic and musical performances and art exhibits.

To ensure optimum health and safety measures are taken into account, Landon is incorporating changes to our regular lunch routine. The will be no communal dining in the school's Dining Hall, instead food will be consumed in small assigned groups around campus outside or, in poor weather, in designated indoor spaces. 

Lunch is included in the cost of tuition. Our food service provider, SAGE, has thoroughly examined and recast its storage, preparation, and service practices in light of the pandemic. ​​​​​  SAGE will set up three satellite food stations outside on campus (one for each Division).

In addition to daily recess and twice-a-week physical education classes, every Lower School boy plays sports from 1:25–2:20 p.m. each day. Grades 3 and 4 boys choose either football or soccer in the fall and then rotate through a cycle in the winter and spring to sample six different sports — basketball, wrestling and “intramural games” (including street hockey) in the winter, and baseball, lacrosse, and track and field in the spring. 

Grade 5 boys can play intramurals or begin to compete in interscholastic sports against other schools, with choices including football and soccer in the fall; basketball and wrestling in the winter; and baseball, lacrosse and tennis (intra-squad matches) in the spring.

Four of our Lower School teachers are also varsity level coaches in basketball, soccer, swimming, and water polo!

Of course! In Lower School, you will take a studio art class to develop your painting, drawing and sculpting skills; discover which instruments you like to play in a general music class with your homeroom; and participate in a music group of your choice (Band, Strings or Chorus) that performs for the school, for parents, and at competitions near and far. Also, all boys can — and are encouraged to — take part in the Lower School spring play as an actor, set designer or stagehand. Recent productions include Willie Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, Honk Jr., and Schoolhouse Rock Live!

While community service is not formally required, service to others is a big part of your character education in the Lower School. Under the leadership of the Lower School Student Council, with help from teacher-coach-mentors and parents, you will participate in community service projects to learn the value of contributing to the world outside Landon. Each year, lower schoolers make packed lunches and Thanksgiving baskets for those in need and collect canned goods for Bethesda Cares. In 2019, the boys donated a total of more than 20,000 cans from two food drives!

Plenty! Our location in Bethesda, close to Washington, D.C., provides so many field trip opportunities. In the spring of 2019, our entire Lower School took part in a community service field trip to Bethesda Cares to deliver cans collected in our food drive. Grade 3 social studies classes focus on the geography and history of Maryland, so you will visit Annapolis to experience our state capital. You will also visit the National Gallery of Art and learn about gems and fossils through our Mobile Mining program. Grade 4 learns about crabbing and the local wildlife with a visit to the Chesapeake Bay, watches a performance of Charlotte's Web at George Mason University, and better understands our history with a trip to the National Museum of the American Indian. Grade 5 visits the National Gallery of Art, takes a trip to Gettysburg to learn about civil war history, and meets authors at the bookstore Politics and Prose.

Yes! Each Halloween, Lower School boys compete against each other and students from the Middle School in our annual Pumpkin Races, where they learn about physics by racing pumpkins otufitted with wheels. Lower schoolers also get to play field games with the Middle and Upper Schools when they all compete together in Bear Games as part of our "One Landon Day" program. And there is also the annual Spelling Bee: find out what the winning word was below!

Your Landon teacher-coach-mentors are always ready to lend an ear. The same men and women who teach you in the classroom also coach you on the athletics field, advise you on the Student Council, and direct you on the stage. For example, Grade 4 math teacher Stevie Brown coaches Grades 3 and 4 soccer; Beth Hughes teaches third and fourth graders about the main branches of science, runs the Animal Club, and has coached a variety of sports; and Grade 5 math teacher Steven Micciche directs the Lower School play and coaches baseball and football.