About
Our Pillars
Relationships
Our relationships with each other provide the foundation for everything else.
We believe that people learn best in relationship with others, when they feel safe and excited to share their ideas and feelings. We start building relationships with families by learning about your cultural values and practices before your child even starts at the school.
Anti-Bias Approach/
Social Justice
We want all members of our school community to learn to be compassionate and skillful at navigating issues of social justice to make the world a better place.
We support children, families and staff/teachers in living the four goals of anti-bias education: identity, diversity, justice, and activism. We seek to make visible the cultures of all the families in our school, and to promote the discussion and appreciation of differences. We cultivate empowerment to stand against bias and racism by taking action in our school and communities.
Reggio-Inspired Teaching
Education is the right of all, and as such is a responsibility of the community. Our schools are educational contexts that construct a culture of childhood and promote children’s right to care, education, and learning — all based on the value of social interaction.
We use these foundational ideas from the schools of Reggio Emilia, Italy: The Hundred Languages of Children; the environment as the third teacher; emergent curriculum; the image of the child as an active, competent citizen; the right of educators to ongoing professional development; and the centrality of partnership between parent, child, and teacher.
Social and Emotional Learning
We value and support each child’s development into a caring and empathetic community member.
We value children’s emotional experiences as important learning tools for all, and seek to support children’s social emotional fluency and skillfulness. We use conflict resolution with all ages, encouraging children to express themselves, develop empathy, and cultivate the ability to take another’s perspective.
Play Based Learning (risk-taking and messy play)
Children learn through exploration – using their hands and bodies to explore can be messy or risky.
Children learn most thoroughly and most joyfully through play. Teachers observe the children’s play and provide materials and opportunities to enhance the children’s play experiences, and therefore their learning, by verbalizing or making visible connections and theories they see the children experimenting with.
Developmentally Appropriate Practice
Our practices shift and flow responsively to support the different needs of the children.
We believe in allowing children to develop at their own pace and make sure our classroom provides what the children’s current developmental needs are. We meet children where they are in their development and needs, and we give special attention to children who have atypical needs to ensure they are supported to fully participate and be included in the life of the school.
Democratic Learning Community
We use age-appropriate ways to give the children agency over their own bodies and the needs of the group.
The Reggio approach is based in social constructivism: the theory that people thrive in their learning when they are in relationship with others and making sense of the world together. The children, along with the staff and parents, are empowered to advocate for their beliefs and needs, and given opportunities to participate in choices about the school, their classroom,
and daily activities.