Opal School Blog
Why we don’t do art in school (and why we should)
This post by Susan Harris MacKay first appeared on the Living in Dialogue blog. In these times, when the demolition of a place as historic…
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The Power of Illusion
The opinion piece is a famously third grade writing assignment. It is, in fact, Common Core English Language Arts Standard 3.1: “Write opinion pieces…
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Thinking With Charcoal
Opal School third graders have been exploring charcoal as a language — a tool for thinking and expression. We began by asking: What can this…
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Living in Questions
Visitors to Opal School are oftentimes struck by the quantity and quality of the questions they encounter here. At Opal School, we aim to live…
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Listening to children listening to trees
As we aim to create a school founded in a strong image of the child, we need to constantly consider our image of childhood and…
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Partnering with Families – Sharing resources for shared meaning-making
What is possible when we invite parents and teachers together to create shared meaning of our goals and expectations for children? What connections, stories and…
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Constructing new ideas through dialog and the arts
During a recent Opal School Mentorship Program gathering, a group was discussing the quality of conversation they hear in Opal School classrooms. They were intrigued by the…
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Expanding empathy; making change
Last week, I represented Opal School at Ashoka Changemaker Schools Network Summit in Oracle, Arizona. The Changemaker Schools Network is a global community of elementary,…
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Reflections on Opal School Visitation Days 2016
Two weeks ago, teachers and administrators from more than thirty schools across North America gathered at Opal School for our annual Visitation Days, dedicated to…
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Creativity (on the edge of chaos)
This morning, Opal School students, families, teachers and friends gathered in the theater for the weekly gathering. Opal 3 shared poems they’ve written, each revealing…
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