Essential Practices

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  Children Follow Personalized Learning Pathways

  Personalized learning allows teachers to meet students' needs based on their readiness, interests, and learning profile. It also allows students to be agents of their own development, working with teachers to co-create assessments and rubrics, reflect on their own learning, and decide upon next steps.
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  Social-Emotional Learning Is At The Center of Our Program

  Social and emotional competencies are increasingly recognized as critical for children's success in school, in other settings in later phases of life, and into adulthood. As children move through the elementary years, aptitude in social and emotional abilities is critical to each child's overall well-being and success.
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  Teachers Are Students And Researchers

  All our teachers are students and all our students are teachers. Our teachers will engage in ongoing, personalized, professional development to enable them to be lifelong learners. Our students will conclude projects and studies with documentation, sharing their learning with and teaching the larger community. In order to promote the kind of learning environment that develops rigorous scholars and intrepid explorers, teachers and students will learn together through projects and experiences.
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  Dispositions Are As Important As Skills And Competencies

  Skills and abilities must be combined with hard work to make the best of them. Our students will develop not only literacy, but the desire to read for pleasure and to find things out. They will be able to solve math problem but, more importantly, they will see how math becomes a tool or language to solve other problems. Our students' innate curiosity will be nurtured and their perseverance encouraged.
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  Building Cultural Competency Is Critical To Develop Truly Global Citizens

  Our students will see diversity as a strength, and will be proof that diversity of background, language, ethnicity, experience, and perspective makes us smarter. Students will learn about the problems we face worldwide and develop dispositions and skills to address them. They will learn how to communicate effectively in order to build understanding and collaboration. Command of at least one other language and culture is central.
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  Children Learn Best Through Meaningful, Interdisciplinary, Project-Based Work

  Students should be at the center of their own learning experience, developing deep content knowledge through the investigation of problems within their lived experience. At Whittle School & Studios, these interdisciplinary projects will be centered around the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals, and will provide opportunities for students to engage with their local community and their peers on others campuses. Students will not only learn by doing but will also learn by reflecting upon their learning.