What makes us different?
LAYERS
What makes for a successful school that meets the needs of all children? Layers. We combine all the best practices of providing a high-quality education in one place.
We start from the premise that our school should be a laboratory, where teachers constantly refine and make changes to their teaching practice to meet the educational and social needs of each child. It should also be a place where we are consistently asking and measuring whether what we are doing is working. We put in place a community school model to provide social as well as educational support for all children because children’s needs extend beyond the education they receive in the classroom. We add to that an authentic, holistic and progressive pedagogy that focuses on educating the whole child to become endlessly curious lifelong learners. We then develop a curriculum and school environment that educates children’s intellectual, social/emotional, and physical abilities or motor skills. We hire staff and select materials and resources to support the curriculum from an anti-racist and inclusive perspective. And we do all this in an environment that supports nature based and multilingual learning.
What Drives Us?
Guiding with Reverence, Nurturing Brilliance, Empowering Resistance, Dismantling Whiteness, and Honoring History through Authentic Place Based Learning
- Our Commitment
Our Mission
Honoring children and childhood through whole child development; preparing each child to be endlessly curious lifelong learners and future stewards of humanity.
Our Vision
We envision fostering a vibrant, innovative, multiracial, multilingual, and multi-ability community of socially conscious change agents, collaborators and lifelong learners.
We Desire Above All Else to Center the Needs of the Child
We join a rich history of education innovators pushing back against the tide of standardized testing and a plug and chug form of learning. We demand more. Our mission is to educate future stewards of humanity. That cannot happen, if the learning process is riddled with facts over substance and regurgitation over application.
Our Teaching Method
The educational theories and practices of progressive education as defined by John Dewey, Rudolf Steiner, and Loris Malaguzzi are the primary approaches we use but we will also look to other theories from the progressive education movement to supplement and support teaching strategies. Progressive education is unique in its approach to educating the whole child by providing a rich learning environment which engages children’s intellectual, emotional, and physical capacities. Teachers recognize the unique value of each child and receive them with reverence, tailoring the curriculum and learning methods to each individual child’s strengths and weaknesses. A typical progressive classroom teacher recognizes that children see and experience the world very differently depending on their developmental stage, and as such, mentor-teachers adjust the way they introduce material to students based on their individual needs. Special attention is also paid to the school and classroom environment, providing a warm homelike space for the early childhood student, and a tranquil minimalist space for grades students. With the aim of creating endlessly curious, lifelong learners, Progressive Education utilizes active learning to teach the art of learning how to learn and how to think.
Learning is not a race. Our job is to meet each child where they are.
Our Philosophy
As educators, we are guided by the belief that our job is to draw out. That children are not vessels wanting to be filled with knowledge, but rather unique individuals with a unique set of experiences and knowledge. That children use their accumulated experiences and knowledge to build understanding. And that this happens through experiential, inquiry-based learning. Teachers are mentors who advise students throughout their growth. As such, relationship driven learning is at the core of our education philosophy. Our focus is on educating the whole child by providing a rich learning environment which engages each individual’s intellectual, emotional, and physical capacities. What we call the head, heart, and hands. Learning is highly individualized, cooperative, and collaborative. Because, for us, school is the place where we help each other.
We are engaged in the science of learning and what learning how to learn looks like.
We are a Laboratory School: Engaged in the science of learning and how students learn
As a laboratory school, the purpose of the school is to allow teachers to experiment and innovate with different theories of education and put them into practice in the classroom. Teachers lead the process of tailoring the curriculum of the school to meet the needs of their students. A supportive system of advisement and mentorship gives teachers the latitude to develop and improve their craft on a regular basis. They consistently gain feedback and make changes to their teaching practices guided by the support of fellow teachers and through the use of formative assessments to evaluate student progress and the effectiveness of teaching practices.
The Through-line that Connects It All
“An education system that is not actively working to confront and dismantle racism, is a racist system complicit in the miseducation of children.”
– Dianna Myles, The Angela Day School Founder
Antiracism is the through-line that connects all our decisions
Principles of antiracism are connected to everything in our school. All content is taught through the lens of antiracism. All teachers use an antiracist framework when developing the curriculum and determining how to present and what to present to their class. All school policies are informed by commitment to actively confront and dismantle racism. It is the thread that connects every part of our school. It is a key component of the school’s methodology that is essential to fulfilling both the mission and vision of the school.
