Mills College Children’s School at Northeastern University is a progressive independent school with a constructivist model of education, a hands-on learning process that starts in our Toddler classroom and carries all the way through fifth grade. Teachers create spaces for critical thinking and experiential learning, giving all children the opportunity to enjoy experiences that foster exploration, creativity, and imagination. At the same time, our teachers approach education from an inquiry stance and model reflexive practice for our children. At the Children’s School, everyone has a stake in teaching and learning; here, learning is respected, documented, and celebrated, as our students are teachers just as our teachers are learners.
Common Core content standards, teacher passion, and student interests form the basis of our curriculum mapping, with units of study that integrate science, social studies, language arts, service learning, and a social justice component called “peaceful changemakers.” In each of our classrooms, a myriad of instructional models is employed to address a range of learners: workshops, centers, learning stations, direct instruction, and project-based learning. Our teachers have the autonomy to draw from multiple curricula, including but not limited to Lucy Calkins’ Writer’s Workshop, Write Source, and Words Their Way for language arts; the Bridges in Mathematics program for math; Foss, GEMS, and MARE for science; and Energy Time, Responsive Classroom, and Restorative Practices for social-emotional development. We supplement our core curriculum with visual art, physical education, and Spanish/music once a week for all grade levels. We take advantage of the beautiful Mills College at Northeastern University campus for PE, which includes use of the track field or, on rainy days, the campus gymnasium. In the spring, K-5 students swim at the Mills College at Northeastern University Pool. Our Spanish/music program incorporates singing, games, and movement. Our older students learn to accompany each other with percussion and our large Orff wooden xylophones.
The Elementary School program currently has five classrooms: two-K/1s, two 2/3s, and one 4/5.
We target approximately 20 students per classroom. Small classes afford us the opportunity to get to know our students well, build strong relationships, and provide rigorous project-based learning experiences to address each learner.
8:30 am to 3 pm, with early release at 2 pm on Wednesdays.
In an effort to support families balancing togetherness and quality time with a home-to-school connection, we have created a progression that supports executive functioning skill development related to time management and self-discipline. Reading is the foundation for our homework trajectory, and so we start in kindergarten by encouraging students to read 20 minutes per night with their families. Our 1st-3rd grade home-to-school connection builds on this foundation and adds math games and activities that can be practiced outside of school, plus occasional family projects for science or social studies. Finally, our 4th and 5th graders see the addition of long-term projects with periodic deadlines.
We utilize formative assessments to inform curricular decisions and monitor student growth. We do not administer state standardized summative testing. We provide bi-annual progress reports that convey a description of each child’s mastery of content knowledge without letter grades. Parents and Head Teachers meet bi-annually in conference sessions to reflect upon student growth and progress.
Students have a 30-minute morning recess, including a short snack time, and a one-hour lunch recess with 30 minutes for eating and 30 minutes for playing. Our morning and lunch recesses are supervised by head teachers and support teachers on the elementary playground, and both are overseen by our PE/Director of After-Care Program, which we call School Age Care (SAC). We have an expansive yard with two large lawns, basketball and tether ball courts, cloud swing, monkey bars, and a sand-and-water play area. Our PE teacher/SAC Director ensures that students are developing gross motor skills while enjoying creative and cooperative play during structured games like capture the flag, Frisbee golf, basketball, sharks and minnows, etc. On rainy days, students have recess in their classrooms and look forward to this free time with a variety of indoor activities and games.
Before school care starts at 7:30 am and after school care runs until 5:45 pm daily with our School Age Care (SAC) program.
Families have lots of flexibility with SAC: You can sign up for full-time care, create your own schedule (one hour a day, three times a week, etc.), or drop in at the last minute by emailing or phoning the office. We believe learning through play is important for children, so we provide a range of opportunities for open-ended creative play, fine-motor activities, engineering, art, games, and more.
