Progressive Archives - Page 4 of 6 - Presidio Knolls School

Introducing Mike Levy!

We are delighted to share some exciting news — PKS now has a Head of Middle School! Our Middle School will open for 6th grade students in August 2018. Mike Levy has recently accepted our offer to join PKS as the founding Head of Middle School, starting in July 2017.

Mandarin Immersion

Learning with Sock Puppets

This kind of natural evolution is a planned accident. “We don’t have a curriculum for the whole school year planned out,” says Daisy. “We have basic skills and goals that we want to develop, and we follow the children’s interests.”

Elementary

English Class at PKS

While the students spend the majority of their day learning in Mandarin, English at PKS is truly a special time of day! Currently, our students receive 45 minutes of daily dedicated English instruction, often in collaboration with their Units of Exploration. Reading and Writing Workshop is also part of our daily practice. Stop by any time of day and you will see our teachers modeling reading and writing for students and students engaged in independent reading and writing. You will also see students actively sharing reading and writing strategies with each other.

Elementary

Opening Soon: Presidio Knolls Middle School

Presidio Knolls School embraced our first children and families in 2008, launched our elementary school program with visionary Pioneer families in 2012, and will make history again by welcoming our first middle school students in 2018. We believe middle school is a unique and critical time of development for students to explore and develop a strong positive sense of self through meaningful relationships and real-world connections. Our graduates will be lifelong learners with the mindset and skillset to make an impact on the world.

Elementary

Teacher Profile (Xi Song)

When I was little, I was a very active kid. I always wondered about things and was always asking “what if” and “why.” I remember I would just go out and play in nature since we lived very close to a stream and a big hill, and I was so fascinated by those living plants and creatures. I kept asking questions about them. Later, when I could read more, I found answers to many of my questions. I think that was my first inquiry-based learning, and although it was not a full experience, it still has helped me shape my learning habits.

Elementary

Physical Education at PKS

Every time I have a game, I have one thing I tell my team every single time. I tell them, "Do I care if you win or lose?” And they know the answer — I honestly don't. Then I ask them “Do I care if you try?” And the answer to that is definitely yes.

Mandarin Immersion

Trusting Children to Have an Opinion

As we begin the new year, and as we take a moment to look back and reflect on last year, I want to highlight one unifying thread from our children's experiences in the preschool over the first few months of the school year.

Elementary

Second Graders and “My City” (我的城市)

The two PKS second grade classes kicked off the year with an exciting dive into their own habitat: San Francisco. The 我的城市 (“My City”) unit of exploration encouraged them to ask and answer big questions: What is a city? What does it take for people to live together and get along? What infrastructure is critical to keeping a community peaceful? What are the biggest problems in San Francisco?

Elementary

Music at PKS

Orff Schulwerk is an active child-centered approach to music education where you take what the kids are already doing when they're born, playing, singing, dancing, speech, games, drama, and beyond. You use that to teach the concepts and the skills in music, which makes so much more sense than anything. Also, music class is not just about teaching students to be great musicians, we are teaching them to appreciate beauty, work cooperatively, and use creativity, while developing their motor skills and often performing tasks requiring independence and higher order thinking skills.