While we’re proud of our social-emotional learning expertise and our caring, joyful and connected campus environments, we never forget that our last name is “school”: authentic, developmentally appropriate academics are at the core of our educational program.
For our youngest students, academic skill development begins in the simplest, most elemental ways. At the ECC, children learn from their daily interaction with materials, the environment, classmates, and teachers. They come to understand that school is a safe and welcoming place, that making mistakes and taking risks are part of learning, and that both play and practice lead to progress. Meanwhile, they begin to internalize the building blocks of various academic languages – letters, numbers, colors, shapes – and the foundational understanding required to use them skillfully in later years.
Our K-5 program builds students’ core academic skills, focusing on
… all which are required to thrive in school.
By emphasizing learning how to learn, teachers help students understand their strengths and challenges, establish their own goals, and assess their progress, developing confidence and competence needed to persevere through the “gentle disequilibrium” authentic learning requires. Small class sizes, low teacher-student ratios, a robust Spanish, PE, and performing arts enrichment program, dedicated K-5 academic and social-emotional support, and teachers who seek and nurture each child’s unique learning potential equip K-5 students with the knowledge, skills, and agency needed to succeed academically.
