Multicultural Program

The Multicultural Constituency serves students from many diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds. In our program, we provide individual and multicultural awareness within the community of the classroom and beyond. This is done through a student-centered curriculum with a focus on science in multi-age classrooms. All of our teachers implement developmentally appropriate practices (DAP), creating a hands-on, small group learning environment. Through our teaching, we emphasize developing an appreciation for multicultural literature, social studies, and arts. There is a concentration on conflict management and respect for differences in our multicultural population, with many opportunities for developing community leadership skills.





multicultural awareness

Our classrooms have students representing a multitude of ethnicities. We focus on learning about one another's cultures while not neglecting one's own culture. This focus on cultural community extends to the neighborhood, the city, the nation, and the world.

multi-age classrooms

Our classes are comprised of lower elementary students (kindergarten, first and second grade) and upper elementary students (third, fourth and fifth grade). These groupings are based on the theory of developmentally appropriate practices, acknowledging that children grow through physiological stages that require different approaches for different developmental stages.

developmentally appropriate practices

The theory of developmentally appropriate practices acknowledges that children grow through physiological stages that require different approaches for different developmental stages. For example, students in the lower elementary classes need many concrete, hands-on experiences before they can transition to abstract tasks.

conflict management

The upper elementary students participate in Conflict Management training, in which they learn to help other students resolve conflicts through mediation, not physical confrontation. Conflict Managers patrol the yard during both the lower elementary and upper elementary lunch and recess periods. First and second graders participate in Junior Conflict Manger training. Participants "shadow" upper elementary Conflict Managers in order to learn mediation techniques.