Learning at RDS
“to cultivate an intimate diverse community where children develop inquisitive minds, build confidence in their individual gifts, and contribute as responsible members of society.”
Redwood Day School publishes a monthly email newsletter about children and parenting, called Learning About Children.
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Distinctive Ideas About Academic Excellence
Redwood Day School promotes academic excellence through a comprehensive program that is developmentally appropriate and supportive of student growth. Students learn from each other and from being engaged by stellar teachers. Students learn best when they are doing. At Redwood Day School, students become scientists, mathematicians, historians, and writers in the classroom. Growth often takes place through project-based learning, in which students acquire knowledge and master skills, applying both to challenging long-term tasks. When children love their education they become life-long learners.
In the short run, that means RDS graduates are prepared for success in college-preparatory high schools. In the longer run, that means our graduates embrace their lives with informed passion and earned self-confidence. They make a mark on their world.
Arts at Redwood Day School offer children the opportunity for individual expression and teach students to think critically. Pattern extraction, making judgments in the absence of rules and other abilities essential to higher brain function in logic, math, and problem solving are supported by a full range of artistic endeavors.
The world is an increasingly complex place, and our students need to understand it at a profound level. Students must be able to navigate in a world of many cultures and differing values. Democracies are founded on the premise that the clash of ideas promotes the best thinking on the part of everyone. Students throughout the grades read literature and explore issues from many differing viewpoints. We make certain that many voices are heard. This results in a truly multicultural perspective throughout the curriculum.
Stress is not the measure of excellence or achievement. Our students embrace learning and its challenges because we teach children in developmentally appropriate and emotionally sustaining ways. Only if students feel secure can they reach their highest potential — and the goal of our teachers is to work with each child to do exactly that.
In sum, we seek to cultivate and celebrate the potential of each child whose education has been entrusted to us. They leave here well prepared for the demands of college-preparatory high schools, and the challenges that lie ahead.
