5   Global & Environmental Exploration

We want to provide our students with much more than a passing familiarity with our planet. Through our program, children's explorations of the world help reveal the complex web of interrelatedness that connects everything within it. Our program helps children become people who are aware of and respect the world in which they live. From their connection to the environment to their relationships with different cultures, our students are given opportunities to discover who they are and the impact they have on a global level.

We believe that helping children connect with nature, in all of its beauty, complexity and fragility, contributes greatly to their creative, intellectual and emotional development. We also believe that global citizens in the 21st century have an unprecedented responsibility to be actively engaged in the effort to protect the environment. Therefore, we present students with numerous ways to explore our planet's ecosystems and see how humans influence them. Children explore nature and environmental themes through organic gardening, field trips, science experiments, art projects and other tactile experiences. Recycling initiatives are embedded into all aspects of our program. Children explore the concepts of conservation and sustainability and have opportunities to make choices that positively impact our program's "ecological footprint."

As children get older, their environmental explorations will become more sophisticated and they will design projects that take sustainable practices beyond the classroom and into the world at large.

Learning about the world takes place both in the classroom and beyond. We take advantage of New York's rich cultural heritage and diversity by making numerous excursions to different neighborhoods, museums and events throughout the city. Our program supports families who have the opportunity to travel, and encourages them to become "investigators at large" so that their cultural explorations and discoveries can be brought back to the classroom and woven into the curriculum.

We help children broaden their worldview by teaching them foreign languages at an early age, when they learn them most naturally. Starting with our 2s program, children are exposed to different languages through songs, stories and conversations. As they move through the elementary program, our students will become proficient in at least one foreign language. We believe that this ability will enrich and extend children's global reach throughout their lives.