We value every moment of each day as rich with
opportunities to cultivate learning experiences.
Boulder Journey School is a private school that welcomes over 200 children and their families. Students range in age from 8 weeks to 5 years. Our school is open 8.5 hours a day, 5 days a week, 12 months a year. Complementing the 14 classrooms in our 17,000 square foot building are an art studio, a materials studio, and a theater. All classrooms open to outdoor learning areas. Diverse environments and materials school-wide are designed to deepen children’s investigations into the world around them.
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We value adults’ learning as well as children’s learning and have developed high-quality learning opportunities for educators as well as for children. In partnership with the University of Colorado Denver, we offer a Teacher Education Program that can be accessed through an MA Residency + Licensure Program in Colorado or as a fully online experience through our Innovative Online MA Program. All of our teachers engage in research as part of their work, and our faculty is respected for its writings and presentations on this research. Boulder Journey School offers conferences, study tours, virtual workshops, and consulting for educators throughout the U.S. and around the world. We have created strong collaborations and are internationally recognized for leadership and innovation in early childhood education. For over 25 years, Boulder Journey School has been inspired by a strong relationship with educators from the world-renowned schools of Reggio Emilia, Italy, and intensive study of their philosophy and values. Closer to home, the work of Boulder-based educators, Frances and David Hawkins has informed our educational approaches and ideas. |
What if the experiences from which we most desperately try to shelter our children are the very ones that will enable them to be successful, joyful, and capable citizens of our world? What if, rather than telling our children to be careful, we instead put aside our own anxieties and recognize that there can be no learning and no innovation without risk?
This video was created by Graduate Teachers in the Boulder Journey School Teacher Education Program. |
Our contextual curriculum focus on collaboration, creativity, and community.
I was immediately impressed with the degree of ownership the students obviously have.
-Boulder Journey School Visitor
What is a contextual curriculum?
Adding the word “contextual” to “curriculum” places strong emphasis on the idea that learning happens in a context. Learning happens in relation to and as a result of experiences, environment, relationships, family, community, culture and politics. No singular, predetermined, standardized path for learning could serve as an appropriate curriculum.
A contextual curriculum challenges the belief that learning can be reduced to a specific list of objectives and outcomes. Additionally, a contextual curriculum is built with students and acknowledges their motivations.
Learning tends to be of higher quality when learners understand and help to develop why learning something is of value.
Click below to view examples of contextual curriculum at Boulder Journey School.
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The fact is that given the challenges we face, education doesn't need to be reformed -- it needs to be transformed. The key to this transformation is not to standardize education, but to personalize it, to build achievement on discovering the individual talents of each child, to put students in an environment where they want to learn and where they can naturally discover their true passions. |
We host local, national, and international visitors to initiate and support dialogues surrounding quality, innovative education.
Visit our Professional Development Offerings to explore ways to join us in learning.