Ventana School

There is still time to sign up for our virtual Open House this morning at 9 am.! Check out ventanaschool.org to join the conversation about the admissions process.

Ventana School believes in the infinite potential of your curious child. We honor and engage in their wonder and creativity. Learn more about joining our community at our virtual Open House this Saturday, Dec. 5 from 9-10:30 a.m. Let us know if you're coming at ventanaschool.org.

The first grade class’ exploration of identity and self and the conversations about the elections came together in an art project. Building on their knowledge of the color wheel, students mixed colors to create their unique skin tone. The process of matching the color of their arm to the color on the paper generated a lot of excitement. The class then read the book, I Have the Right to be a Child by Alain Serres. This led to conversations about basic rights of human beings and included the students talking about the ideas they would vote for today. These ideas were added to their paintings. #ventanaschool #elementary #preschool #reggioinspired

The gradient of the pipe segments on this magnetic board has to be just right for the marker to go all the way down. These 2nd graders enjoyed figuring that out during morning recess. #ventanaschool #elementary #reggioinspired

"Creativity seems to emerge from multiple experiences, coupled with a well-supported development of personal resources, including a sense of freedom to venture beyond the known." - Loris Malaguzzi #ventanaschool #preschool #reggioinspired

These preschoolers enjoy having the chicken coop in one corner of their outdoor classroom. The chickens seem to enjoy having them around too. Finding eggs each day has been exciting. They make sure the chickens have clean water and some of them bring scraps of fruits and vegetables from home. They count the number of eggs each day and have plans for a baking project. #ventanaschool #preschool #elementaryschool #reggioinspired

Whenever children say let’s pretend, a new landscape of possibilities for learning is revealed. When children pretend, they try on new feelings, roles and ideas. They stretch their minds along with their imagination - Curtis and Carter #ventanaschool #preschool #outdoorpreschool #reggioinspired

A conversation about feelings and facial expressions led to the teacher and N drawing a few facial expressions. In response to another teacher commenting on the drawings, N: I drew the last one and it’s a crazy face. T: How do you know it’s a crazy face N? N: Because I drew it, I know because I drew it. ... "It must not be forgotten that the basic law of children’s creativity is that its value lies not in its results, not in the product of creation, but in the process itself. It is not important what children create, but that they create, that they experience and implement their creative imagination." - Vygotsky #ventanaschool #reggioinspired #outdoorpreschool #preschool #losaltos

It's been 2 weeks of outdoor preschool with curbside pick-up and drop-off and you would think we have always done this #ventanaschool #preschool #outdoorpreschool #reggioinspired

#ventanaschool #solidarity #doyourpart #justice #educatorsforblacklivesmatter

"Schools, in collaboration with families, have an important role to play in fostering young children’s positive racial identities."

Pretend play combines two wondrous and uniquely human characteristics - the capacity for fantasy and the capacity for, and need to, make meaning of our experience. - Susan Linn Our preschoolers making sense of all the talk about corona virus. One of them would pretend to have a cough and the team of doctors and nurses take care of the patient. A sprinkling of sand (medicine) made the patient all better. #reggioinspired #ventanaschool #preschool

Exploring sound duration with different kind of instruments in music class. #ventanaschool #elementaryschool #reggioinspired #hundredlanguages

If you take a flower in your hand and really look at it, it’s your world for a moment. - Georgia O’Keefe #ventanaschool #reggioinspired #preschool

"Teaching for creativity involves asking open-ended questions where there may be multiple solutions; working in groups on collaborative projects, using imagination to explore possibilities; making connections between different ways of seeing; and exploring the tensions that may lie between them." - Ken Robinson #ventanaschool #preschool #reggioinspired

After experimenting and testing kite designs these 2nd and 3rd students have now moved on to figuring out the best ways to harness wind energy to pull weights up. #ventanaschool #reggioinspired #elementaryschool #inquirywork

As part of Inquiry Work, the 4th and 5th graders are "building a country". The idea emerged from their social justice related discussions about human needs and human rights. In order to create their country from scratch, they first needed to choose a biome. Students researched different biomes and wrote persuasive essays to try and convince the class that a particular one would provide the best chance of survival for our people. They also created clay avatars representing themselves so they can connect with their country in a personal way. The next step for this project is deciding on the topography of the country and building a 3D model. The model will provide students with opportunities to learn about geological and mathematical concepts.