Academics, Responsibility, Community, and Hands-on Learning

Archway’s Mission includes the ARCH values which come to life every single day at school. 

ACADEMICS

Our challenging, age-appropriate curriculum is inquiry based to emphasize critical thinking. Students are exposed to individual and group projects emphasizing learning with meaning. At Archway we build relevance into a child’s personal educational experience. Teachers utilize California state standards as guidelines while incorporating what they love into the curriculum. This allows for flexibility within each class and a chance to model passion and enthusiasm – all of which fosters lifelong learning in our students.

RESPONSIBILITY

Our ability to focus on the individual child helps Archway students to develop an intrinsic sense of responsibility. Conflict managers, cross-grade buddies, recycling monitors, and first aid helpers are daily jobs on the lower school campus. The upper school emphasizes community service through volunteerism in various local agencies. Leadership is encouraged through multi-age learning opportunities. Students understand we are a community that supports one another. They learn to take responsibility for their actions, as well as to take initiative in pursuing activities they are passionate about. Students have the opportunity to be tour guides, ambassadors, team captains, student council representatives, and class presidents.

COMMUNITY

Multi-age learning, community building, advisory, buddies, gardening, conflict resolution, cross-campus field trips, and morning meetings are examples of internal efforts to maintain our community. Externally, students volunteer at People’s Grocery and a neighborhood retirement residence, participate in Lake Merritt clean up and Glen Echo Creek restoration, help with voter registration, and make lunches for homeless shelters. Community activities help students understand how powerful it is to give back to the community. In addition, pportunities abound for our parent community to connect. There is the harvest festival, the winter potluck, the Walkathon, camping trips, and class coffees hosted in a family’s home.

HANDS-ON LEARNING

At Archway’s core is the dedication to hands-on learning. Our approach allows for children to explore, experiment, and discover, building an authentic connection to their studies. Outdoor education trips to Walker Creek, the gold country, and Washington D.C. support learning in the classroom as do visits to museums, science experiments, class presentations, school/home projects, models, community gardenening, cooking projects, and environmental projects such as raising trout for release in the wild. Additionally, Archway's curriculum emphasizes the importance of the arts, including performance art, dance, drama, the visual arts, music, and creative writing.