Children’s School

Our Early Childhood program includes Toddler (T), Younger Preschool (YPS), and Transitional Kindergarten (TK) classrooms.

Transitional Kindergarten at a glance:

  • Children are 4 years old by the start of school 
  • Target size of 18-20 students 
  • Two pick-up options: 8:30 am–3:00 pm or 8:30 am–5:30 pm
  • Highly-qualified head teachers 
  • Social Emotional practices supporting a sense of belonging and emotional safety for all children.
  • An embedded social justice component focused on the budding development of a sense of agency and an Antiracist stance.
  • Beautiful, developmentally-appropriate classroom and outdoor play space, plus access to nature across the Mills College at Northeastern University campus
  • Weekly Spanish/Music specialist

Our Transitional Kindergarten (TK) classroom serves as a one-year bridge between preschool and Kindergarten, providing more structured small and large group activities to meet the unique needs of four-year-olds with a balanced program, a meaningful curriculum, and a rich social-emotional environment.

The TK classroom is staffed by a highly qualified Head Teacher and a dedicated team of assistant teachers. Teaching teams meet to reflect on ways to support the children and their learning, as well as to discuss the implementation of theory to practice to ensure quality care.

The TK curriculum infuses early academic content throughout the day and includes experiences with language and literacy, math, science, and the arts. Our Head Teachers set goals for the upcoming school year and then the curriculum emerges with input and ideas from support teachers, children, and families. We have studied topics as diverse as our local Oakland community, gardening, animals of all sorts, building and construction, and more. As we approach all learning, we challenge the children (and ourselves) to take an inquiry stance and to explore and question the world around them through multiple modalities, including both play-based and more structured experiences.

We believe that learning to work and play together is an essential skill for children who are getting ready for Kindergarten, so we emphasize community building within and beyond our classroom. By collaborating with other classrooms throughout the school, our children get to be leaders and collaborators with both younger and older students at the Children’s School. As children learn more about themselves, their communities, and their social interactions with others, they develop a stronger sense of their own self-identity and sense of agency in the context of the large group.

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