Professional Development at Boulder Journey School

At the beginning of May, three faculty members, Kate Mangold (Duane Street Art Teacher), Marielle Lopez (Hudson Street Site Director), and Nicole Draskoczy (Classroom C Teacher)  traveled to Boulder, CO to visit the Boulder Journey School, a Reggio-inspired early childhood school. The Boulder Journey School, which serves children 6 weeks to 5 years old, is inspired by the world-renowned schools in Reggio Emilia, Italy, and by the work of Boulder educators, Frances and David Hawkins.

During her talk about the history of the school, one of the administrators at Boulder Journey School shared a quote from Loris Malaguzzi, the founder of the Reggio philosophy, “There are three teachers of children—adults, other children and their physical environment.” And during their visit, the WMS team noticed the presence of this philosophy in the classrooms. The care and attention to how children’s work is displayed, the documentation of the process of various projects, and the ways in which children are supported to co-create their learning experiences was clearly visible to Kate, Nicole, and Marielle.

As a Montessori and Reggio blended school, The Washington Market School team noticed the congruences between the Reggio and Montessori philosophy at Boulder Journey School. They reflected on how the teachers use their careful observations of children to guide their curriculum choices, and how they design the environment to support their learning. The presenters spoke about how they use “webs” in their planning and involve the children in the creation of these webs. Webs are a visual map used as a brainstorming tool to help guide future lesson plans related to a theme or big idea. They take their time and add to the webs throughout the year, following threads out into various themes and concepts. The Reggio philosophy talks about the “100 Languages of children”, meaning all the ways in which children can express their ideas or understating of the world in different modalities, which is encouraged in their classrooms.

Professional Development is vital for the growth of our community. Continuing the education of our faculty and staff members directly translates to your child’s experience in the classroom, and we are grateful for the opportunity to continue our learning. Visiting other schools is an enriching experience and offers a unique opportunity for our teachers to gain ideas, affirm our work and inspire the work in their classrooms. It’s not too late to raise a paddle in support of our ongoing professional learning! 

We look forward to continuing to share our Professional Development with our community!