COMMUNITY SPACES

At Boulder Journey School the community spaces are considered extensions of the classrooms as well as classrooms within themselves. Educators observe children at work and design environments that support ongoing work, inspire new investigations and offer opportunities for multi-age collaboration.  

OUTDOOR SPACES  

The outdoor spaces are both beautiful and inviting. They combine traditional equipment with a vast array of natural materials and naturalized landscapes. These include a dry streambed for exploring in the cutting garden, a mini amphitheatre for storytelling and acting, an art gallery of fence paintings for reflection, a water flume for river exploration and a sculpture garden designed for outdoor lunches and meetings. Although some structures remain permanently placed, others, such as small gazebos, tires, tables and tree stumps, are shifted often to support the children and their work. Should you visit Boulder Journey School, you may see children hunting for shadows, building a hiding nook, catching butterflies, and creating imaginary castle scenarios all together. You’ll hear their laughter, glimpse their whispers and experience their joy.

THEATER

The theater is a big space for children to use their bodies as a form of expression. It features a large stage with numerous costumes, puppets and musical instruments. There is also space for movement, with a climbing wall, mats, tunnels and cubes. You may find several groups of children using the space simultaneously; some traveling to far off lands in their newly constructed boat, ship or plane, while others settle in for a performance by their friends.

The most unique feature of the theater is a new space created expressly for the exploration of light and shadow. This is a small dark room that contains a light table, an overhead projector, a slide projector and a great variety of materials with which to discover the concepts of light and shadow.

The theater teacher collaborates with children and classroom teachers in order to provide continuity between the work that is taking place in the theater and the work taking place in the classrooms.

STUDIO

Every classroom at Boulder Journey School has a mini-studio in addition to the large studio that is shared by all classrooms in the school. The studio houses a variety of natural, found and recycled materials as well as the basic materials often associated with art (i.e. paint, clay, markers and paper). Upon entering the studio, you might encounter a small group of children working at clay stamping, building group collages or exploring the properties of wire. We view the space as a resource for the extension and representation of children’s ideas.

Working with open-ended materials, such as those offered in the studios, encourage children to use their own unique styles of learning in the process of understanding the properties and affordances of each material. Once the children understand a material, they begin to think about how the material can be used symbolically in order to represent an idea, thought or theory. In this way, materials become a language or vehicle through which children can communicate with their peers, adults and the world at large.

We think that children have a great deal to contribute to the world. To do this, they deserve multiple means through which they can communicate. It is for this reason that we include a studio and mini-studios in our school community.

HALLWAYS  

The hallways are inviting and provoking. Designed by children, families and educators, the hallways include a gravity wall where children explore and test theories about velocity and gravity and a farm table, reflecting the culture of our city which is surrounded by farm and pasture lands.

We also have a space dedicated to a class pet. Hamster Tracks is an environment designed for a hamster by children and families of a Pre-Kindergarten class. This area is composed of tunnels, bridges, stairs and plenty of running room for the hamster to enjoy, all of which allow the hamster to feel safe and loved!

We have dedicated half of the older hallway to an extensive investigation of outer space. In this unique area, you will find a rocket ship complete with monitors, space suits, telephones and computers. Children at work in the rocket communicate to others using the space station and moon buggy nearby. Planets, stars, asteroids and satellites created by the children illuminate the dark sky above. Imaginary scenarios featuring astronauts and aliens are acted out by children of all ages. Should you pass by the rocket ship on your visit to the school, you might find yourself transported to extraordinary dimensions of the imagination.