A Lens into Elements
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8:40AM – 9:15AM
Welcoming Our Community
Children and families enter through cascading bamboo plants. Children are dropped-off each morning in our backyard adventure playground, where grown-ups are always invited to stay and play with us before we begin our breakfast transition.
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9:30AM – 10:00AM
BREAKFAST
Children are offered breakfast to start their day. Our first meal of the day is typically eaten outside.
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10:30AM – 10:50AM
Morning Reflection Meeting
During our morning gathering, children represent their thoughts, feelings, reflections, wonderings, and plans for the day. They share their play work, projects, and partnerships, and design community agreements that help station the day with enough predictability to feel safe and secure, yet enough flexibility to feel spontaneous and autonomous over their choices.
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10:50AM – 11:45PM
Self-Directed Exploration
Children learn in lasting ways when engaged in their truest forms of play. This authentic relationship with learning emerges best when given the space and freedom to access it. Educators participate in a blend of guidance and observation which informs not only each individual day, but our school and classroom studies as a whole. During this time, children participate in discovery that is prompted by daily outdoor provocations, including, but not limited to, our mud kitchen, tree house, sensory space, log-center, climbing station, and environmental seasonal changes. Following the children’s interest, we supplement our days with meditation, forms of free and guided movement, and a range of process and sensory based art mediums that invite children to learn through the self initiated methods of experimentation, trial, error, cause, and effect. Children may also use this time for focused work, small group investigations, or to contribute to ongoing projects connected to their curriculum.
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11:45PM – 12:15PM
Community Lunch
Community lunch is offered family style – where children help inform and serve their own meals from shared trays. Lunch is a time of noticings and conversations: smelling the food served from our chef, seeing what food some of us brought in for the day, or the sounds we hear as we chew. Through shared moments like these, we build food fluency, competency and inclusion by celebrating the different meals we enjoy together.
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12:15PM – 2:00PM
Rest
At Elements we think of rest as more than just a break from the day, and instead, think of it as an extension of independent mindfulness and reflection. Rest looks different for every child, and children’s needs are met individually. While some use the time to sleep, others use it to read literature, think, build with small tools, or create art on their personal rest mats or cots. During rest, educators liven the room with mood lighting and gentle, steady music, which creates a peace-driven warmth and comfort for all within.
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2:15PM – 2:35PM
Afternoon Snack
Children participate in an afternoon snack as a way of fueling their bodies after rest, in preparation for the second portion of their day, whether at home or in school.
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2:50PM – 3:00PM
School Day Dismissal
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3:00PM – 5:20PM
Extended Day
Extended Care is a smaller cohort of children who come together to build further meaning from their day. Extended care is not just a resource for families, but an opportunity to dig deeper in play narratives, materials, and specialties. During this time, children will also participate in an additional late snack.
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5:00PM – 5:30PM
Extended Day Dismissal
Our 2022-2023 Community Calendar
September 7 | Thurs | First Day of School Family Breakfast – 9:00-11:00Dismissal at 12:00pm |
September 7 | Thurs | Family Orientation – 5:00-6:00 |
September 8 | Fri | Phase-in Begins – 12:00 Dismissal All Students |
September 11 – 13 | Mon – Wed | New Student Phase In – 12:00 Dismissal |
September 13 | Wed | Family-Teacher Conferences – 3:00 Dismissal |
September 14 | Thurs | Extended Day Begins – All Student |
September 25 | Mon | Yom Kippur – School Closed |
October 9 | Mon | Indigenous People’s Day – School Closed |
October 27 | Fri | Annual Bonfire – 3:00-5:00pm |
November 7 | Tues | Election Day, Staff Development – School Closed |
November 22 | Wed | No Extended Day – 3:00 Dismissal |
November 23 – 24 | Thurs – Fri | Fall Break – School Closed |
December 22 | Fri | Family Potluck – 12:00-3:00pm, 3:00 Dismissal |
Dec 25 – Jan 1 | Mon – Mon | Winter Break – School Closed |
January 15 | Mon | MLK Jr. Day – School Closed |
February 19-23 | Mon – Fri | Mid-Winter Break – School Closed |
March 7 | Thurs | Family-Teacher Conferences – 3:00 Dismissal |
March 29 – Apr 1 | Fri – Mon | Easter Weekend – School Closed |
April 10 | Wed | Eid al-Fitr – School Closed |
April 22 – 30 | Mon – Tues | Spring Break – School Closed |
May 3 | Fri | Spring Planting Day – 3:00-5:00 |
May 9 | Thurs | Family-Teacher Conferences – 3:00 Dismissal |
May 18 | Saturday | Annual Spring Fair and Bake Sale |
May 27 | Mon | Memorial Day – School Closed |
June 5 | Wed | Dinner Under the Stars – Fundraising Gala |
June 6 | Thurs | Chancellor’s Day Staff Development – School Closed |
June 7 | Fri | Clerical Day – School Closed |
June 17 | Mon | Eid al-Adha – School Closed |
June 19 | Wed | Juneteenth – School Closed |
June 26 | Wed | Last Day of School – 3:00 Community Celebration |
July 1 – Aug 16 | Element Summer Program 2024 |