Our Community Commitments

We are committed to creating a community of learners which includes students, families, educators, teaching fellows, and community partners. Learning to read and write is an exciting pursuit that opens up a new world of experiences for young learners. We invite students to co-create their learning space and share their growing knowledge through meaningful connection within their community. 

Our work is strengths-based. Every child, family, and educator has unique strengths, resources, and inner wisdom. We are committed to partnering with families, teachers, and students as co-constructors of joyful learning experiences. No matter what role or title you assume, we enter this space with a learner’s mindset. We are excited to learn from you and your experiences and promise to honor the strengths and knowledge you bring with you on this journey.

Our work is student-centered. We are committed to creating educational experiences that put the learner’s needs, interests, and culture front and center. We take time to get to know our students and use this knowledge to design instructional practices to best meet their needs and help them achieve their goals. We believe that deep learning happens when students are empowered to engage with work that is personally meaningful to them, so we strive to learn what that work looks like for each of our students and how we can help them navigate in the direction of their dreams.

Our work is culturally relevant and anti-racist. We recognize that intervention and school spaces have historically been places of oppression for Black and Brown communities and we are committed to disrupting systemic racism. Students, families, and educators are encouraged to bring their whole selves to the learning environment, including their backgrounds, experiences, languages, and values. The knowledge students bring from their cultures and past experiences lays the foundation for continued learning, exploration, and growth. We proactively work to include students’ identities in the work we do and recognize the positive impact this has on academic success.

We celebrate families as children’s first and most important teachers and are committed to continuing our own process of learning and unlearning through targeted professional development and connection with this learning community.

We promote wonder and curiosity by guiding our students in scientific inquiry where questions are honored and the unknown is seen as an intriguing possibility. We teach our students (and remind ourselves) that mistakes are an important part of learning.

We believe in the healing power of nature and seek to foster connection between ourselves, our students, and the wider world around us through close investigation of the natural world. When we meaningfully engage and explore the ecological systems we are a part of, we build understanding of the great responsibility we have as protectors of our Earth and all the wonder it contains.