Philosophy

List of 3 items.

• Our Teachers

  • Develop programs that are responsive and relevant to the needs of our students as individuals, and as active and reflective members of their larger communities.
    
    
  • Know our students well and differentiate instruction, capitalizing on student strengths and interests in order to foster success in meeting academic goals.
    
    
  • Design a developmentally appropriate curriculum that builds solid skills and a broad base of knowledge, and encourages the passions, interests and teachable moments that characterize a community of learners.
    
    
  • Understand that learning happens when students are actively engaged in the process and are motivated through natural curiosity. The teacher’s role is to provide a stimulating, safe environment in which students can ask questions, think critically, take risks and construct their own knowledge.
    
    
  • Are committed to being life-long learners. They stay informed by reading, researching, and attending classes and conferences.
    
    
  • Employ a wide variety of assessment tools to evaluate student learning, including portfolios, summary reports, exhibitions, tests, projects, observation and class participation.

• Our Students

  • Learn by making connections.  They integrate new information with existing knowledge to construct meaning. 
    
    
  • Work cooperatively with their peers.  They communicate what they know, ask questions, learn others’ perspectives, and negotiate solutions to solve problems. 
    
    
  • Share responsibility in maintaining a safe and positive learning environment for themselves and each other and actively participate in the community they help to create. 
    
    
  • Engage actively in the learning process, and benefit from direct experience, exploration and hands-on learning.

• Our School Community

  • Educates children through a respectful partnership between school and home.  Families participate actively in the life of the school by building a strong, supportive community that facilitates learning. 
    
    

  • Nurtures children’s minds, bodies, hearts and spirits. We want our children to possess self-knowledge and an understanding of others, to have good friends and know how to be a good friend, to have the courage to stand up for beliefs, as well as to be open to the ideas of others, to show kindness and compassion to others  and to feel a commitment to making the world a better place.
    
    

  • Strives to create and nurture a diverse K-8 community.  We embrace our similarities and differences and encourage the sharing and valuing of our unique backgrounds.
    
    

  • Understands that childhood is a time to explore, to try new things, to open doors,  and to learn about learning.  We place a balanced emphasis on art, music, drama, physical education, the humanities and sciences, promoting integration and connectedness within the curriculum.    
    
    

  • Encourages adults to learn and model the values that we work to instill in our children.  We remind ourselves that, “We must be as we want our children to become.”