Students in kindergarten to grade 3. The program is based on the most current research and theory about developmentally appropriate practices for students. Recognizing the need for students to learn through direct, interactive experiences rather than traditional approaches, teachers provide opportunities for students to make choices about activities based on their favored ways of learning and to make connections among ideas and content areas.
Instruction is organized around cognitive themes such as environments or life cycles.
In the course of their explorations, children pose and solve real problems, express ideas in writing, read trade books that interest them and construct and manage their own projects. The program is designed so that children can learn at their own pace and work in multi-age settings where collaboration among children at all developmental levels is part of their experiences. Their progress is monitored by the teachers using a progress portfolio. No student fails in the early childhood program, and support is provided to help students who enter with gaps in development accelerate. A parent partnership supports teachers and administrators.