K-5th Grade

Legacy Private School in Omaha was founded in 2008. Because of the exponential growth of the school, which formally was located on 168th and Blondo, a new school was built on 11 acres of land on 166th and Ida in 2015. Upon completion, Legacy School added its private elementary program, giving Omaha parents a new choice for their child’s elementary education.

Legacy School in Omaha is an independent, non-sectarian private school. Legacy School is teacher-powered, giving teachers the ability to make their own decisions about their students’ success. This ensures the core focus stays on students and their individual educational needs. With the student’s education as the focus, Legacy School’s private elementary classrooms offer students a place to excel beyond the typical standards.

Unlike current educational trends in which students learn, test, and then forget the material they learned, Legacy School focuses less on testing and more on each child’s educational journey. To cultivate continual learning, teachers draw on various resources to best support each student’s learning capabilities.

The focus of the elementary program at Legacy School is to supply the necessary skills that allow students to become lifelong learners. Legacy School elementary teachers hold the highest educational expectations for students as they attain their greatest potential.

Rather than “teaching to the middle,” Legacy School fosters an atmosphere where each student’s intellect, curiosity, and growth is nurtured on his/her level. Students have an educational advantage while at Legacy School, as they are taught on their level and at their own pace.

Teachers at Legacy School understand that students have different needs when it comes to learning. That’s why they use a differentiated instruction approach in which teachers proactively plan their lessons based on their students’ strengths.

With this style of learning, teaching is evolutionary as students and teachers learn together. While the teachers may know more about the subject at hand, they are always learning about how their students learn. In turn, teachers can refine each child’s learning experience by providing learning activities that cater to the students’ strengths, not by a “one-size-fits-all” learning approach.

Legacy School believes that children learn best when they discuss, interact with, and truly engage with every lesson. Therefore, teachers at Legacy School strive to provide hands-on learning experiences that not only give students the ability to work together with their peers but challenge them to learn more.

Whether in the classroom or outside learning on the 11 acres, Legacy School elementary students are constantly exploring concepts through experiments and hands-on projects to propel a love for lifelong learning.

Several times a year, Legacy Private Elementary School students deep dive into a single concept through project-based learning. This kind of learning takes the place of the typical curriculum and allows students to become managers of their learning while still being guided by an experienced teacher.

Project-based learning is a teaching method in which students gain knowledge and skills by working for a long period to investigate and respond to an authentic, engaging, and complex question. The teacher drives the question, while students are encouraged to take responsibility for their work. This allows students to go in a direction on their own but still stay on course with the question at hand.

While still integrating many subjects to meet content standards, project-based learning gives students 21st-century skills such as leadership in planning, critical thinking, creativity, and decision making. These skills are essential to a student’s education as it readies them for the challenges, problems, and questions they may face during their lifetime.

To truly prepare students to be lifelong learners, elementary teachers at Legacy School design the seating in their classrooms to reflect life outside of the classroom. Teachers create spaces that give students the ability to choose their best learning location, whether that be near the ground on a pillow, stretched out on a futon, cozied up on a chair, or sitting at a round table.

Students feel empowered by having a choice where they get to learn. And, by creating a classroom that is more “ours” rather than “mine,” students can take responsibility for their learning. With that in mind, the teacher always puts academics first. Therefore, if a student chose a learning location that they thought was their best learning spot, but the teacher sees differently, then a different choice is to be made. The premise of flexible seating is giving the student a choice, but making sure they make the best decision to help them learn effectively.

Elementary students at Legacy School take only two standardized tests a year, one in the Fall and one in the Spring. The purpose of these tests is to map the strengths and weaknesses of the individual child and to analyze student growth. Teachers then use this information to create differentiated, hands-on learning experiences to launch each child forward in their educational journey. In addition to the two standardized tests, authentic, ongoing assessments are used throughout the year to guide teacher instruction.

Students at Legacy School do not get lost in the crowd, as class sizes are extremely small compared to other Omaha private and public schools. Along with a teacher that holds a bachelor’s or master’s degree in education, every class has the support of a full-time teacher’s assistant. Having this team of educators in every classroom allows for the flexibility necessary to educate the whole child based on individual needs.

All Legacy Private Elementary School teachers are experienced and skilled in differentiated instruction, giving each child the ability to learn on their level, at their own pace. With this kind of evolutionary teaching, teachers at Legacy School understand the importance of delivering instruction to each child through hands-on, project-based learning experiences.

Instead of teaching at a larger district, Legacy School elementary teachers choose to teach at Legacy because they are compassionate about teaching to each child. Teaching through differentiated instruction allows teachers to connect to each child’s educational journey, giving teachers a new-found love for their occupation.

In addition to Legacy School’s exceptional educational approach, the 11 acres of outdoor learning and playing space outside the physical building allows for real-world experiences that cannot be found anywhere else.

Students receive an ample amount of scheduled outdoor recess each day. Further, teachers often bring their lessons out of the classroom and into nature.

Legacy School’s expansive 11 acres features a farm-to-table garden, in which student plant in the Spring and harvest in the Fall, a barnyard with goats and chickens, a Science and Nature Center, multiple recreational fields, an obstacle course, pavilions with picnic tables and much more!