to the westside school

welcome

community

loweR school

eaRly school

educating the whole student

the westside familyIn our multi-age community, students learn to take care of one another. Older students mentor younger students, who in turn have positive role models to look up to.

living the aRtsCreative expressions come together in our classrooms; lessons about acoustics, design and function merge when our students build and decorate cardboard guitars.

leaRning comes aliveImagination and creativity enliven our Early School classrooms, where students explore their lessons through drama and role play.

outdooR educationIslandWood welcomes our fourth grade students every year for an overnight trip to explore and experience the Pacific Northwest environment.

1

middle school

loweR school

At Westside, classrooms buzz with energy and curiosity. Teachers cultivate learning environments celebrating students’ individuality and creativity. Our curriculum simultaneously supports and challenges students. It encourages each student—from preschool through eighth grade—to become confident contributors, critical thinkers and empathetic friends. welcome to westside.

Joyful leaRningJoy permeates Westside. Creative and engaging projects and lessons foster a learning environment where everyone enjoys being at school every day.

eXPloRing the univeRseExploration goes beyond classroom walls as students investigate the mysteries of our universe. gRowing into confident young adults

Middle School students navigate early adolescence by being given new responsibilities and more independence while experimenting academically and socially in a safe environment.

a love foR liteRatuReTeachers introduce Shakespeare to their Middle School classes, connecting timeless stories to contemporary conflicts and discussions.

2

Westside School prepares students for the world by challenging them to achieve academic success while connecting their human spirit and imagination to learning.

We believe that students are curious and enjoy being immersed in their learning. Every day, Westside School translates our students’ natural curiosity into thoughtful engagement with a global society.

eXPeRiencing westside school

About Us

3

leaRning how to leaRn

We implement an integrated curriculum where one topic of study incorporates a wide range of skills and subjects. When our third graders study the Middle Ages, they do a science unit on simple machines and explore time and timelines in social studies class. As our first graders learn about the Underground Railroad, they discover history in the shapes and patterns of quilts used at that time. These studies connect seamlessly to the study of geometry in math class.

Our curriculum melds project-based learning and mastery of hard skills so that students gain the tools and conceptual grounding they need to delve deeply into their lessons.

Teachers lead and guide students to examine topics from all sides and develop respect for multiple perspectives while forming their own opinions.

As students move from lesson to lesson and grade to grade, they continually build their critical thinking skills, express themselves in writing and speech, and empathetically analyze situations in order to find differing points of view. Teachers create learning environments that foster academic risk-taking and encourage diverse opinions. Daily experiences energize students and fuel a lifelong relationship with learning.

4

nuRtuRing young leadeRs

Every student is a valued individual in Westside’s Early School. In preschool and pre-kindergarten, students interact with their peers and teachers in a lively atmosphere where they learn creative and pre-academic skills through play. Nurtured by Westside’s safe and stimulating environment, students learn to embrace intellectual risks and are guided to a success appropriate for their individual developmental level.

Early School

55

Thematic role play connects imagination with daily lessons. In the Early School, dramatic play is one of our favorite ways to develop self-confident students with strong speaking skills who are learning to interact appropriately with others. Our classrooms are structured and dynamic places that respect diverse ideas, backgrounds and personalities. Here, students express their feelings and solve problems.

In these formative years, students build skills to reason and problem-solve and learn to apply them in a wide range of disciplines. The language arts curriculum develops students’ pre-writing and pre-reading skills, such as finding contextual clues in illustrations and beginning to represent their ideas on paper.

In math and science, they learn to count and identify patterns while discovering shapes in the world around them. And while discovering, teachers guide students to think about where they live and how they relate to other people, places and ideas within the world.

By the end of their pre-kindergarten year, children are prepared for the structure of Lower School. They have developed the necessary social, emotional and cognitive skills to succeed, in addition to friendships with students in the grades ahead of them through participation in school-wide activities and intentional sharing between grades. Students leave Early School energized for the challenges and adventures awaiting them in kindergarten.

gRowing into a student

6

embRacing global citizenshiP

We provide experiences that prepare students to be active members of the global community. We know that the world of their future will be expansive and diverse, demanding empathetic and creative citizens who pose challenging questions and seek thorough answers. Day-in and day-out, Westside students develop the abilities that, one day, will be used to address the challenges they are called to answer.

Our Philosophy

7

cRitical thinking, communication, collaboRation, cReativity and chaRacteR

mandaRin and sPanish: a window on the woRld

From preschool through eighth grade, our students study languages spoken by over 1.4 billion people. We believe that learning a language is more than grammar and vocabulary—it’s understanding that there are different approaches to life and perspectives on the world. Our students love learning new words and being able to speak in a different language. As their command of a new language grows, our teachers share stories and experiences from native-speaking countries, enhancing students’ understanding of other traditions and cultures.

building emPathy foR otheRs

Our Second Step and Roots of Empathy programs foster community closer to home, within the classroom, school and neighborhood. Through Second Step, students practice skills in essential competencies: empathy, impulse control, problem solving and anger management. Understanding how to address and resolve conflict together is

an essential function of a successful community. Lessons on empathy continue with our second graders, who take part in the year-long program Roots of Empathy. Through monthly visits from a mother and her baby, students learn how to read human emotions nonverbally and understand what causes various behaviors.

a sPiRited community of confident leaRneRs

Our classrooms are small communities where students have daily opportunities to lead and work collaboratively with their peers.

Presentations are a favorite part of what we do at Westside. Every day in kindergarten, a student presents the forecast and calendar during class circle time. Lower School students prepare and present findings from their scientific investigations to the class and Middle School students plan and lead assemblies to celebrate school spirit. By the time they leave Westside, students are confident speakers—in their classroom, in student groups and in front of the whole school community.

8

develoPinglifelong leaRneRs

8

Lower School

The world of kindergarten through fourth grade at Westside is one of questions and journeys, independence and collaboration. In these grades, students develop the skills and attitudes to center their education moving forward. Teachers often take the role of facilitator. Talking with students—instead of at them—they emphasize that how one reaches an answer is as important as the answer itself. Students learn that answers are not endpoints, but milestones, and are the beginning of a new question.

9

Implementing lessons learned in Early School, Lower School students embrace an integrated curriculum that engages them in hands-on activities daily and prepares them for the academic rigor of Middle School. Kindergarteners use tangible objects, such as blocks, to add single digit numbers while second grade students learn how to interpret data through graphs. In fourth grade, students delve into the concepts of area, perimeter and volume, applying their knowledge through hands-on projects. All students are encouraged to approach problems from varying points of view to deepen their understanding of concepts studied.

The second grade science class captivates the school every year with its salmon study. For five months, our young scientists observe and learn from the school of salmon they raise from eyed eggs to fingerlings. The salmon become a way to learn about tribal cultures and history in the Pacific Northwest, and a way to see a life cycle in action while discovering unforeseen problems to solve.

While students practice and perfect their academic skills, Westside focuses on experiential learning by bringing guests into the classroom and by taking students out into the world. When the body of a whale washed up on Alki Beach, our teachers brought students to the beach for the unique opportunity of seeing a whale up close and observing marine biologists in action. When our second graders learn about birds, an ornithologist will bring an owl into the classroom for close-up examination. Third graders explore the challenges faced by the United States’ founders—no electricity, milking a cow—through an overnight trip to Pioneer Farm.

It’s in these years that our students’ love of learning evolves into a lifelong way of being. They are acutely aware of the different communities of which they are part, from the classroom to the globe. With this combined sense of self and global appreciation, our fourth graders complete their Lower School experience ready for the social and educational challenges of Middle School.

leaRning fRom the woRld aRound us

10

PRePaRingfoR the futuRe

Self-confidence centers Westside’s Middle School program. Our supportive environment nurtures self-esteem while challenging students to understand themselves as individuals with unique learning styles. We treat our classroom as a community, where students commit to their own learning and support their fellow scholars. Teams of teachers implement an integrated curriculum that harnesses students’ imaginations, matures their critical thinking skills and encourages active participation in the global community. Westside develops caring leaders prepared for all of the challenges and adventures their futures hold.

Middle School

11

Essential questions anchor each grade, focusing the inquiry process and moving students beyond a simple “yes” or “no” to action or resolve. In fifth grade, students learn how they can answer, “Who am I?” and “To what communities do I belong?” by learning the unique traditions and communities of the Pacific Northwest. In sixth grade, our local natural world drives exploration of two questions: “What is our natural community and how is it formed?” and “What is my connection to the community of nature around me?”

Throughout all of Middle School, students implement the scientific method in experiential labs and hands-on activities that are integrated with math and technology. Each student receives a computer as a learning tool that supports the integration of digital literacy in all subjects while building research, language, math and science skills.

Come seventh grade, students build on their gained appreciation of the natural world and expand their understanding of our neighbors around the globe. Together, they discuss: “What can I learn about our world?” and “How are our various communities connected and what do we have in common?”

Eighth grade students expand their global consciousness through our multi-disciplinary curriculum that prepares them to answer, “What is my responsibility as a global citizen?” and “What gifts do I have that I can share with the world?” Their Westside education culminates in a final project where one topic—be it soccer or Shakespeare—is a filter for examining and making connections to the dynamic aspects of the world around them.

stRetching in a suPPoRtive enviRonment

12

musicWe believe that all children are musical and that music education is essential to the physical, emotional, intellectual and social development of the whole child. All grade levels partake in music instruction, through which students develop and reinforce their love and appreciation of this art.

aRtIn art class, students explore the formal components of design through a variety of materials, techniques and mediums. In addition to creating their own art, students study the achievements of artists and cultures, past and current.

Physical educationWestside’s physical education program encourages students to embrace a life of health and fitness. From preschool through eighth grade, we teach students cooperative games and activities that emphasize all aspects of athletics, including sportsmanship and teamwork, cardiovascular fitness and muscular strength, and problem-solving skills and safety guidelines. Students learn to recognize and identify attributes of nutrition, healthy habits and regular activity for lifelong health.

eXtended dayWestside offers before- and after-school care. Supervised by our experienced staff, students play games outside, do homework and have fun in organized activities. A snack is provided and children enjoy socializing with their friends in a fun and caring environment.

afteR-school enRichmentIn our after-school enrichment program, students learn a new activity with classmates of all ages. Westside seeks to provide an ever-changing variety of engaging and creative experiences for our students throughout the year. Chess, science, yoga and drama are just a few examples of the enrichment program’s fun and inspiring offerings.

athleticsOur athletics program focuses on fun, gaining confidence and acquiring the lifelong skills of being an effective team member. Each year, all Middle School students are required to participate in at least one team sport offered by Westside. These activities could include traditional and non-traditional sports, like track, volleyball, Ultimate Frisbee or theater. This allows us to extend lessons in collaboration, self-discipline and leadership from the classroom on to the field.

PaRent involvementParents are a welcome part of the Westside community. We look to our parents to support Westside’s mission as volunteers in the classroom, at events and throughout the school community. We believe the best way for parents or guardians to support Westside is to engage in their child’s education in and out of the classroom. We see parents as partners in education and we strive to make it as easy as possible for families to be involved in school life. The Westside School Parents Organization (WPO) is an integral component of the school community. Its many activities and efforts cultivate relationships, support teachers and enrich everyone’s experience.

eXtRacuRRiculaRenRichment

13

westside school PRePaRes students foR the woRld by challenging them to achieve academic success and by connecting theiR human sPiRit and imagination to leaRning.

7740 34th Avenue SouthwestSeattle, Washington 98126

Phone: 206-932-2511Fax: 206-935-2813

www.westsideschool.org

All images in this report star the wonderful students of Westside School. We are grateful to our photographers David Bergler and Bryan Cox. Printed on 100% recycled, FSC-Certified paper.