Highly influenced by the Reggio Emilia approach, our curriculum is inspired by children’s natural curiosity and inclination to learn through play and investigation. Teachers design projects that provoke creative thinking and support skill building in meaningful contexts, allowing children to revisit concepts and consider ideas from multiple perspectives. Children experiment, question, and discover through a range of activities including small-group projects, large-group explorations, and individual learning opportunities. Through explorations, projects and play provocations, children build a variety of skills including fine motor and gross motor skills, communication skills, executive functioning skills, social problem-solving skills, emotional regulation skills, and academic skills like recognizing letters or counting one to one. 

All children have a drive to explore and create. Each classroom has a designated atelier space and we integrate a range of artistic materials and mediums to support children’s developing image of themselves as a creator. Through projects and open-ended play experiences, children learn how to use these mediums and materials to express themselves and make their thinking visible to others. In the atelier, children develop their fine motor skills, gain confidence in using different art mediums, and begin to plan their own projects by choosing materials, setting up their workspace, and carrying out their ideas.

Teachers at UCDS Studio are committed to cultivating inclusive classrooms and use the Social Justice Standards framework to build curriculum that reflects the diversity in our world. Divided into four domains-identity, diversity, justice and action (IDJA), the Social Justice Standards are comprised of anchor standards and learning outcomes, and provide a common language and organizational structure educators use to guide curriculum development and make schools more just and equitable. While originally designed for K-12 classrooms, the Social Justice Standards are meaningfully adaptable to the infant-toddler classroom as we support engagement in anti-bias, multicultural and social justice education.

This work is supported by UCDS’ DEIB Department and the school’s partnership with the educational organization, RISE DEI.

ERC Groups are the dedicated time in our program when mixed-classroom groups of 4-6 children work together on an in-depth project focused on a specific idea or inspiration. Every week children venture out in these groups to explore, build relationships, and connect through a child-directed and teacher-supported exploration. Teachers spend the year closely observing, reflecting, and responding to what the children are doing, wondering, and creating.

Teachers at UCDS Studio lean into children’s inspirations and ideas, documenting the process of learning through notes and pictures, studying children’s behaviors and interests, and considering each unique individual both as their independent self and as part of the classroom community. 

Our self-designed assessment tool called The Student Profile was developed in response to our desire to document how we see your child as a unique individual within our school, what we know about your child as a learner, and the way your child builds and maintains relationships with peers and teachers. Using this tool deepens our conversations, helps us to consider the many factors that impact a child’s experience at school, and over the course of the year (or several years) tracks your child’s growth and development. A portfolio called a Journey Book, chronicles your child’s time at the Studio using a collection of individual learning stories, group stories, artwork, and lots of photos to illustrate your child’s experience learning, playing, thinking, and growing at school.