The studios
Three studios, three grades in each
A child is the youngest in a studio for a year, then the oldest. Each studio has three teachers.
Kindergarten to grade 2Lower studio
Children work in pairs and small groups on projects close to home: a garden bed, a shop for the hall, a bridge for the schoolyard. Reading and number work happen in short workshops beside the project.
Grades 3 to 5Middle studio
Projects reach out into the neighborhood: a map of the shoreline, a market stall, a stop-motion film. Children keep a notebook and show work to the studio each Friday.
Grades 6 to 8Upper studio
Older students choose a question, find an adult outside the school to talk with, and plan the six weeks with a teacher. They help run the all-school meeting on Fridays.
The week
Each studio, by day
All three studios keep the same school day. Care before and after is open to children from any studio.
| Ages | Class size | School day8:30 am to 3:15 pm5 days | Early care7:45 am to 8:30 am5 days | After studio3:15 pm to 5:30 pm5 days |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lower studioKindergarten to grade 2 | 22 | Offered | Offered | Waitlist |
| Middle studioGrades 3 to 5 | 25 | Offered | Offered | Offered |
| Upper studioGrades 6 to 8 | 28 | Offered | Offered | OfferedEnds at 5:00 pm on Fridays |
Fees and what each is for
- Application
- Covers reading the application and the morning a child spends in a studio. Due when a family applies.
- Enrollment
- Holds a place after an offer is accepted. It goes toward tuition.
- Materials and tools
- Paper, clay, wood and cloth for the year, bought by the school and billed once, in the fall.
- City trips
- Transit and entry for the Thursday outings. Billed after each trip.
- Early care and after studio
- Billed by the month, for the days a family uses.
The school day ends at the same time every weekday.
Sample programs.
Four threads
What children read, make and practice
A child's year is built from these, in whatever order the project leads.
Reading and writing
Books come from the shelves and the library, and each child keeps a reading list with a teacher. Children write most days, from a first paragraph to a long essay.
Math in workshops
Short workshops teach a skill, then children use it in the project: measuring a room, scaling a plan, keeping a budget of time.
Making
Wood, clay and cloth in the making studio, with a teacher beside the children and a plan for the afternoon.
Out in the city
Thursdays take small groups out to talk with people who know a subject well, and to look at what they are studying in the place itself.
See a studio at work
A visit is a morning in a studio and a talk with the head of school.