SUMMER 2006 LETTER FROM DR. ELLEN HALL,
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

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The New Year 2006 found educators at Boulder Journey School involved in many interesting professional development initiatives. Upon returning home from the Student and Professors Study Tour in Reggio Emilia, Italy in February, participating intern teachers, Sunny Monaco and Caroline Layde shared the experience with intern colleagues during our weekly intern seminar. Sunny created a slide show of images of the town, ReMida (Reggio’s educational recycling center) and the Loris Malaguzzi International Center; she also prepared and served food that she brought back from Reggio especially for this occasion. Subsequently, Ellen Hall shared the experience from her perspective with mentor teachers during our monthly faculty meeting.

In March, a group of educators who were in Denver attending the National Coalition for Campus Children’s Centers conference visited Boulder Journey School. The visit provided an opportunity to reconnect with several long time colleagues and to meet educators completely new to our work, inspired by the Reggio Emilia Approach to Early Childhood Education. Following a tour of the school, Alison Maher and Andrea Sisbarro shared the story of the evolution of our environment; we wanted our visitors to understand that creating and maintaining an environment that supports rich learning experiences is not a simple or an overnight process but rather a complex process that involves time, hard work and a true commitment to children by families and faculty.

April found us once again sharing our experiences with other educators during the annual Colorado Association for the Education of Young Children conference in Denver. We also hosted our third “Fundamentals of the Reggio Emilia Approach to Early Childhood Education” workshop with the support of the North American Reggio Emilia Alliance (NAREA). Last but not least, educators toured Boulder Journey School during the Professional Pathways Training Series Parade of Classrooms. This was the third year that we participated in this important community event.

In May, Alison Maher, Andrea Sisbarro, Jen Sieminski and Ellen Hall traveled to Baltimore, Maryland to share our experiences in dialogue with the educators in Reggio Emilia as a pre-conference initiative preceding the 10 th Annual Birth to Three Institute conference. Focusing on the work of our infant and toddler classrooms, we included the aspects of environment, relationships, materials, and community in our presentations.

In June, we will host the 9th annual summer conference, “An Evolution of Understanding: From Daily Moments to Long-Term Investigations - Study and Dialogue Surrounding the Reggio Emilia Approach to Early Childhood Education”.George Forman and Vermont educators, Jeanne Goldhaber and Dee Smith will support the conference this year, which will also feature the work of Boulder Journey School children, families and educators.

As a school community, we continue to welcome visitors to Boulder Journey School for study tours and have begun to develop ongoing relationships with several contexts through our extended study tour program. During 2006, the extended study tour program took Boulder Journey School faculty to schools in Beaufort, S.C. and Chama, N.M. and to the World Bank Children’s Center in Washington, D.C.

We consider our professional development as both an opportunity to clarify and articulate our thinking during presentations and conversations and a responsibility to share our journey with other educators.