School Day
The school day begins at 8:15 and ends at 3:15.
We also offer afternoon enrichment sessions, for an additional fee. This portion begins at 3:15 and ends at 5:30.
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Upon arrival, our students write in their daily journals. Younger children may play and their older classmates (2nd-5th grade) can join them after their writing. They have until 8:45 am to explore the classroom. This gives students the opportunity to grow together socially and emotionally and prepares them to start each day successfully with a mindset of collaboration and compassion.
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Following the morning journal and play (for the younger students) and focused exploration or hands-on work (for the older students), we move into daily Spanish lessons.
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We then move onto our long work period when we incorporate our project-based learning into the core academic subjects. During this time, students will break for snack when appropriate, meet together as a class, have time for independent work and study, as well as take breaks to re-energize and connect the brain and body for optimal focus and growth.
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The Spirit of Education class, comprised of the early grades (K-1) will have a different set of challenges than Heart of Education (2-3) students, but they are similar in many ways. The teachers will work closely together within the two groups. Our older students in our Wonder of Education class (grades 4-6, further broken into independent student groups) work collaboratively and independently on longer projects that delve deeper into topics of interest while again incorporating the core academic subjects and skills. We finish the long work period with a teacher-led read aloud for students in grades K-4 and a focused reading study for students in grades 5 and 6.
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It is also during these long work periods that the teacher will use the unique child portfolio to design the invitations to learning aligned to the needs and styles of each individual. After main lesson, the children have lunch (brought from home) and have time to play outdoors. Outdoor time is unstructured play time. If the weather is inclement, we will have unstructured play indoors.
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After our recess, we move into our special topics, which include subjects like Physical Education, Nutrition & Well-Being, Mindfulness, Yoga, Environmental Education, Practice Life Skills, Music, Art & Art History, and more. These topics are taught by our primary teachers as well as our guest specialists who are experts in these topics.
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We close our school day with chores that build responsibility, community, and a shared sense of belonging. Students have the same chore for a full month during which time they truly learn to complete the chore with attention to detail and efficiency.