We love hearing from colleagues beyond Opal School’s walls regarding how Opal School is provoking fresh thinking. Today’s post comes from Sarah-Luella Baker, who presented at our 2014 Summer Symposium. It is co-posted from the Tulip Tree Preschool blog. Matters of Opportunity. Does opportunity matter? Journals from the Atelier – Sarah-Luella Baker, Tulip Tree Preschool …
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Reconnecting at Opal School Parents and visitors alike often ask: What becomes of Opal School students after they graduate? Opal School students come from throughout the region served by Portland Public Schools, and as a result they’ve gone on to attend just about every public and private middle school and high school in the area. …
Opal School is part of the Ashoka Changemaker Schools Network, a group of schools distinguished in their efforts to support empathy and agency. Last year, supported by funding from Ashoka, we held a series of site visits and conversations with three other schools who participate in the network: Mission Hill K-8, a Boston Public Pilot …
In recent years, much has been said about creative thinking, teamwork and research as positive resources that will support the advancement of human culture. I believe that it is important for those of us who work with the children and youth of today to constantly rethink these concepts, and make connections between them and contemporary …
Thomas Friedman’s March 30 column was built around a conversation about education with Harvard’s Tony Wagner. In it, Wagner repeats the coda he discussed in his Ted Talk. Quoted in the column, Wagner says, Reimagining schools for the 21st-century must be our highest priority. We need to focus more on teaching the skill and will …
Observing, listening, asking questions, and documenting student growth and learning is all a part of what we do as teachers every day at Opal School. As we document the growth and learning of the children in our classroom, of course we pay attention to the academic skills that they are acquiring, but we look for …
The final goal and expecation that we have for Opal School students is this: Develop strategies that contribute to the quality of the community by having a keen sense of place, identity and belonging while respecting the rights and identities of others. In the end, it’s about understanding the complexity of a community that intends …