We adopt a “Whole Child” education model that is grounded in the latest theory on educational practice of the Science of Learning and Development (SoLD)*.
According to the Science of Learning and Development principles of practice; our program is designed to attune school environment, structures, and practices to students’ learning and developmental needs through:
Creating a supportive environment:
● A caring, culturally responsive learning community, where students are well-known and valued and can learn in physical and emotional safety.
● Structures that allow for continuity in relationships, consistency in practices, and predictability in routines that reduce anxiety and support engaged learning.
● Relational trust and respect between and among staff, students, and parents.
Developing productive and innovative instructional strategies:
● Meaningful work that builds on students’ prior knowledge and experiences and actively engages them in rich, engaging tasks that help them achieve conceptual understanding and transferable knowledge and skills.
● Inquiry as a major learning strategy, thoughtfully interwoven with explicit instruction and well-scaffolded opportunities to practice and apply learning.
● Well-designed collaborative learning opportunities that encourage students to question, explain, and elaborate their thoughts and co-construct solutions.
● Ongoing diagnostic assessments and opportunities to receive timely and helpful feedback, develop and exhibit competence, and revise work to improve.
● Opportunities to develop metacognitive skills through planning and management of complex tasks, self- and peer- assessment, and reflection on learning.
Providing social and emotional learning opportunities:
● Explicit instruction in social, emotional, and cognitive skills, such as intrapersonal awareness, interpersonal skills, conflict resolution, and good decision making.
● Infusion of opportunities to learn and use social-emotional skills, habits, mindsets throughout all aspects of the school’s work in and outside of the classroom.
● Educative and restorative approaches to classroom management and discipline, so that children learn responsibility for themselves and their community.
Designing students’ support systems:
● Access to integrated services (including physical and mental health and social service supports) that enable children’s healthy development.
● Extended learning opportunities that nurture positive relationships, support enrichment and mastery learning, and close achievement gaps.
● Multi-tiered systems of support to address learning barriers both in and out of the classroom based on a shared developmental framework uniting a capable and stable staff with families and support providers.
* Darling-Hammond, L., Flook, L., Cook-Harvey, C., Barron, B., & Osher, D. (2020). Implications for educational practice of the science of learning and development. Applied Developmental Science, 24(2), 97-140.