Perkins School

Maple
Leaf, Seattle at 90th and Roosevelt, Early K-5

Picture
a homely school space with cozy rooms and colorful walls filled with student
work. Upon opening a door to the fourth grade room, you see children etching
math on the windows. In the kindergarten room the children are dissecting
squids so they can feel a real cartilage and the 2nd graders’ hands
full of Crisco are being dipped in ice-cold water to understand what blubber
does for whales.

Mission: The Perkins School
enables and inspires students to become engaged citizens by connecting them to
the global community and the natural world.  We nurture the intellectual,
creative, and emotional lives of children in a diverse learning community in
which an integrated, experiential curriculum prepares them for a lifetime of
learning, leadership, and service.

Values: Small classrooms,
hands-on/experiential curriculum, individualized instruction.

Unique
features

• Small, multi-age
  classrooms: Two classrooms of Early K – 1, one of 2nd-3rd
  grade and one of 4th-5th grade, each with a maximum
  of 15 students.

• Hands-on, experiential
  curriculum: Curriculum is determined by teachers and is based on themes
  for the year. A two-year rotational curriculum allows teachers to feel
  fresh and more engaged in the curriculum since they don’t have to go
  through the same topics every year. Further, the emphasis on being
  project-based and hands-on leads to innovative experiential activities
  based on current events. The curriculum is lightly emergent in that the
  teacher determined activities are easily set aside to make room for
  explorations based on student questions.

• Individualized
  instruction: Teachers play close attention to developing a curriculum that
  accommodates a broad scoping sequence that can meet the needs of diverse learners.
  

• Emergent aspects of
  curriculum: Teachers respond to student questions and take clues from them
  to define the direction of lessons. No one particular text is used for
  subjects.

• Broad range of
  subjects: Language arts, Math, Social studies, Science based on life cycle
  events in the environment, Art, Drama, Music, Library, PE and French. PE
  is offered for 30 minutes everyday.

• Environmental camps:
  Two camps held for 4th-5th graders.

• Pea patch: Developed
  by PTO and actively maintained and used by students. Especially leveraged
  for science instruction.

Specialists

Science,
Drama, Music, French, Library, PE and Character education.

Site
and space

• Housed in a remodeled
  home in the Maple Leaf neighborhood, across from Math-n-stuff on Roosevelt
  way.

• Indoor and outdoor
  play space.

Ideal
student

• Engaged and active
  learner who asks questions

Ideal
family

• Interested and open to
  participating in the school community in a significant way.

• Parents are invited
  into classrooms.

• PTO is active.

The
numbers and other must-knows

• Established as an
  independent Early K-5 school in 2004 which is also when it was established
  as a non-profit.

Alumni

• Often go to U-Prep,
  Billings and Seattle Girls school.

Final
word(s):
The Perkins school provides an intimate learning experience through a
well-thought curriculum. The curriculum is highly experiential and hands-on.
Innovation in teaching methods is encouraged. This is a well-run school still
in its early years. The organized, well-considered action from its officials is
bound to take it to great places.

Information
source and research method: Based on an in-person meeting with Admissions and Business
Manager Angie Gianelli, school tour and web research.

Disclaimer:
This is an independent review of Perkins School. It is not a statement by the
school or its officials.