A crucial thing to know

We’re looking forward to hosting Opal School Visitation Days, when 80 teachers and administrators from seven states, the District of Columbia, and two Canadian provinces will gather in Portland to wonder with us: How might play, inquiry, and thinking in questions sustain communities of learners, ages 3-11, and the adults who work with them? This …

The Social and Emotional

Re-reading this article tonight, after a particularly creative third grade Literacy Studio today, I was thrown against the cold reality of the mindset of those who really would have us believe that control, certainty, and the dehumanization of the students in our care is the way to a more robust economy and stable society. In Creativity …

What does friendship look like in the first weeks of Preschool?

“A friend may well be reckoned the masterpiece of nature.”    ~Ralph Waldo Emerson In the first few weeks of school we have witnessed the children’s joy, wonder, curiosity and strong desire to be in relationship with their classmates and teachers.  Immediately we noticed children finding ways to connect through common interests and mutual experiences, …