Mission Statement

Our mission is to create a community of independent, life-long learners equipped to:

• Think critically
• Make effective use of their multiple intelligences
• Interact with others cooperatively
• Read, write, and use mathematics
• Effectively use the various forms of technology, at our disposal.

To actualize this mission, Greenwood uses a constructivist, experiential approach to teaching and learning. We believe that children must become independent thinkers and learners. Further, we believe the most effective way to achieve this is to offer them a number of experiences to solve meaningful problems with connections to theory. Constructivism or experiential teaching provides children with the opportunity to connect new learning to prior experiences to create new understandings of the world in which they live. The experiential approach to teaching and learning offers students opportunities to apply the various disciplines in meaningful ways or learning with connectedness.

Greenwood’s foundation supports these principles:

• Children are our most precious resource.
• We devote the necessary energy and resources to actualize our "ideal" elementary school.
• We remain committed to performance-based learning, where learning has an experiential connection and makes sense to the learner.
• We continue to deliver an educational program where students are encouraged to be closely observant — where they exhibit skeptical and open minds.
• We ensure that all our children master the essential elements for continued learning.

Highlights of the Program

Some of our major near-term goals for the new Greenwood are:

• Maximum class size of 20:1 for kindergarten and small class sizes for others
• Constructivist/experiential learning model
• Counselor (if funded by the City of Seattle), Family Support Worker,
Creative and performing arts
• Aviation Program
Theme

Greenwood and the Arts