Seattle Country Day School

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Intra-Grade Buddies

The kindergarten-eighth-grade buddy program is a beloved tradition at SCDS. Each year, kindergarten students are paired with one or two eighth-graders, beginning with a warm welcome at the first all-school assembly and ending with a goodbye assembly at the end of the year. Friendships grow as buddies visit monthly to carve pumpkins, decorate gingerbread houses, take field trips to the zoo, exchange holiday cards, perform at the Spring concert, or just enjoy each other's company in the classroom.

There are buddies in other grades, too. Kindergarten and second-grade buddies (and buddies in the first and third grade) meet monthly to share games and play. These buddy programs provide older students with increased responsibilities and mentorship opportunities, and it helps our youngest students build relationships, feel supported, and develop social skills when relating to older peers. 

Four people of varying ages pose with pumpkins in a grassy field with cornstalks and power lines in the background.
Three children stand around a computer desk with books in the foreground, set against a cluttered office background.
Two young girls are drawing at a table at a Seattle independent school in the foreground, with a white wall and a poster visible in the background.
Intra grade buddies at Seattle Country day learning from each other.