The Gathering Place is a K-8 school model with a mission of nurturing and celebrating the inner-brilliance of every child. Our model is anchored around social justice and art through student-driven projects.
At The Gathering Place:
Social justice means supporting and nurturing each child’s social and emotional needs through explicit instruction and ongoing trauma-informed facilitation; navigating and resolving conflict through restorative practices; and engaging in a pedagogy that is rooted in examining the world, identifying inequities, and learning to use voice and actions to create positive change.
Art means providing students with tools for personal expression through daily creative art experiences. In elementary school, students engage in music, dance, theater, and visual art; and in middle school, students choose from an array of modern art electives like film making, break dancing, and ensembles.
Student-driven projects mean students learn through authentic and interdisciplinary experiences designed to maximize their voice and agency. Projects are designed by first examining what driving question or problem is relevant to the student(s), identifying authentic learning experiences, and weaving in standards and learning objectives that naturally fit within the context of the project. As students get older, they take on more and more responsibility for not only learning through projects, but designing their own.
