Calyx School

Shortcuts

• Address
• Alerts
• Contact The Organization
• Claim ownership or report listing

• 

  Want your organization to be the top-listed Government Service in Freeland?

Our Story

Calyx Offers: A small, mixed age learning community that has traded in its rows of desks for winding trails, the forest floor, gardening, story and the arts. Respect for the ways each child learns through play, hard work, relationships, questioning, direct experience, experimentation, and the creative process. A rigorous and cooperative learning environment that emphasizes outdoor learning, mentoring relationships, community, the creative process, and care for self, others and the earth. A large community of adult teachers and mentors who work with the children and nurture children’s innate sense of wonder and love of learning. A professional educational team composed of certificated teachers and specialists in their fields. An affordable tuition-based program, with four-day (Monday-Thursday) and two-day (Monday-Tuesday) enrollment options. An opportunity for families to partner with a larger community of support for the development and education of their children. Our Philosophy: Calyx’s philosophy is centered on the child, the community and the earth. We believe nature is the most complete developmental opportunity possible. We value children’s play as meaningful work. We believe that education is a process of drawing out the true self, and that the arts facilitate this process by serving as a bridge between the inner and outer worlds. We practice responsive education, and work to meet the needs of the body, mind and spirit of each child, as well as the needs of the community and the earth. We believe that the journey is the destination and that life and learning are in the questions. We strive to nurture life-long learners, and engaged and empowered citizens. The 347 Acre Classroom: South Whidbey State Park is home to Calyx. Comprised of 347 acres of old growth, wetlands, forest understory, saltwater shoreline, and tidal lands, as well as a spacious indoor facility, the Park will also house the new Nature Education Network, composed of Calyx, Service, Education & Adventure, and WA State Parks . Stewardship is a core element of Calyx’s progressive, multidisciplinary, arts and nature integrated curriculum. Stewardship of the Park provides opportunities for applied science, math, literacy and social studies through research and documentation of the Park, its trails, its inhabitants and its history. Calyx students will share in the responsibilities of the Park by, for example, monitoring trails, testing water, and developing a junior docent program with SEA and the Park. Calyx is also growing a Community Children’s Garden at South Whidbey Tilth, and will continue to work in the garden throughout planting, growing and harvesting seasons.