Our Program

Education is a matter of experience.

Learning at Wingra is an active, multi-sensory engagement between an individual and the world, a mutual contact, which empowers the learner and reveals the rich meaningfulness of everything around.

Experiential learning invites students to develop knowledge, skills, understandings, and values from direct experiences with the world. Learning that is considered experiential offers opportunities for students to:

• Reflect, critically analyze, and synthesize information
• Take initiative, make decisions, and be accountable for the results
• Engage intellectually, creatively, emotionally, socially, and/or physically
• Learn from natural consequences, mistakes, and successes

Experiential education strives to link the learner to the social world through real life contact with the democratic life of the community; to connect the learner to the wonders of the natural world through immersing the student in life and nature; to acquaint the learner with the realm of his or her own inner world through the arts, honest dialogue, and times of quiet reflection.

At Wingra, we believe that spending time outside is good for the health and happiness of students’ bodies and minds. We notice the cultivation and the release of energy when we go outside with students and we take special care in carving out time to be outside for a variety of activities including play, nature-based science education, field trips, neighborhood walks, and even some morning meetings.

Nestled between Wingra Park, the UW-Arboretum, Children’s Glen, and the Southwest Bike Path, our location is ideal for immersing children in the outdoors. Our Outdoor Classroom, built with whole trees, was finished in 2015, winning the Mayor’s Design Award for Innovation and Sustainability: Green Placemaking in 2016.

Each level integrates time outdoors and environmental stewardship into their curriculum in unique ways, and we dedicate at least one day each year to spending the entire day outside as a whole school.

Age alone does not determine the skill level of a child.

A child’s maturity and sense of belonging are developed through multi-age classrooms and strong whole-school programming. Multi-age classrooms provide an environment where the talents and needs of individual students are emphasized and a more authentic sense of community is created in the classroom. Multiage groupings provide a flexible setting that recognizes children’s varied development and learning styles as well as honors the diversity in the group. The multiage classrooms are also designed to maximize the potential benefit of interactions and cooperation among children who vary in experience, maturity, and ability. There are frequent opportunities for the development of student leadership as children are encouraged to offer and request support from each other in all aspects of classroom activities. Since students are in a classroom for more than one year, teachers further develop student/ teacher/family relations and gain a better understanding of their students’ long-term development.

At Wingra School, we embrace John Dewey’s idea that education is not preparation for life; education is life itself. Learning takes place in a social environment, and through collaboration and connection with those around you. Our close-knit community forms as children learn together, discover connection and difference, and experience inclusion as cared for and respected members of the community. Within this safe environment, students can take educational and cognitive risks with the confidence of having a supportive network of adults and peers around them. We encourage individuals to understand their inter-connectedness within the school and beyond as they build relationships with others and consider the impact of their actions.

Knowledge is retained when taught in context.

Knowledge and information are retained and flexibly applied when they are seen as interconnected networks, much like neural pathways, rather than isolated pieces. Teachers and students create integrated curriculum, based around a thematic unit rather than a single subject or skill. Those units incorporate academics, the arts, student voice, and social justice issues. Content is introduced and extended through diverse, open-ended learning experiences designed to challenge students at different levels and bring out personal intelligences and interests. As a group of learners becomes immersed in this shared inquiry, each individual contributes their unique perspective and talent, benefitting the group as a whole.

Eliminating tests and grades makes for greater learning.

The word assessment comes from the French assidre, which means to sit next to. The purpose of assessment is to give each learner, educator, and caregiver an authentic picture of the child’s present level of understanding and growth. We believe that a student progresses at his or her own rate in ways that their talents, challenges, and interests dictate. Because we see learning as an individualized activity, both learning and assessment are tailored to each child.

Working together, the student, family, and educators identify learning goals and evaluate the student’s success in reaching those goals. Each student’s development is assessed by means of regular observation, documentation, reflection, dialogue, and conferences. We do not use tests or letter grades, preferring to describe students as learners broadly and deeply in narrative form and through work sampling in a growth portfolio. Additional components of authentic assessment include photographs, dictations, anecdotal records, art projects, responses to a prompt, and checklists.

This approach to assessment is meaningful and relevant to the context of each student’s life and learning, is based on experience, is sensitive to a wide continuum of development, allows students to demonstrate learning in many ways, and emphasizes depth. By employing this type of assessment and instruction, teachers respect unique learning styles while ensuring that every student continues to grow academically, socially, and emotionally. It is our belief that those three areas of growth are intertwined.