Each child is recognized as a unique individual at Bellwether. Nurturing healthy social and emotional development occurs in children's daily interactions with the learning environment and school community. Children learn to treat others with respect and care through facilitation and modeling by teachers. We explore our similarities and differences and value the people that make up our community. Children learn to develop self-awareness, communicate, resolve conflicts, and work collaboratively with others. Teachers and students come together to reflect on friendships, interactions, and feelings experienced in the classroom during meeting time. In these interactions we validate and identify emotions, as well as come up with strategies to express ourselves in an appropriate manner. Our learning environment creates opportunities for students to engage and explore their interests. As children engage in and accomplish tasks that are meaningful to them, they develop a sense of self-efficacy, achievement, and positive self-esteem.

Through social studies, students learn to understand themselves, their families, school community, local community and the greater world, both in current and historical perspective appreciating the interconnectedness between each. The exploration of self and others is central to our daily life at Bellwether. We work with our students to develop an understanding of the balance between independence and interdependence in our school community. With guidance and encouragement, Bellwether students become active participants in the classroom community, understanding that they are much more than a group of people, but that they are classmates and friends who share their work, feelings, and responsibilities. Daily interactions in the classroom, relationships with local organizations, engaging in critical thinking, and understanding multiple perspectives facilitate the teaching and learning of social studies.

Each child's social understanding about the world begins with self and family evolves to the classroom setting and expands to the world community. In this way, social studies encourages children to understand and appreciate our interconnectedness. The social studies curriculum builds upon itself year by year to reinforce core skills. Younger children explore their immediate environment, while older children have the capacity to explore larger communities, both in current and historical perspectives. Social studies projects include elements of: history, geography and mapping, cultural studies, and anthropology.

Using underlying concepts from social science and the humanities, children are encouraged to gather information, think critically, analyze, discuss and communicate their findings. It is through the inquiry-based processes that critical thinking, and problem-solving skills are fostered giving students the foundation to become informed and responsible citizens. As part of our interdisciplinary social studies projects, students will be given opportunities to learn to think critically and investigate the meanings of justice, human rights and dignity, and pluralism.

Children are given many opportunities at Bellwether to develop and grow in their ability to communicate meaningfully and effectively. Children are given space to express themselves - their ideas, thoughts, and feelings - and are encouraged to honor the expressions of others by actively listening and responding thoughtfully. In keeping with Bellwether's educational philosophy, language and literacy are approached holistically; speaking and listening are two aspects of the same process, as are reading and writing.

We recognize the many different forms communication takes, as well as the development stages of making and finding meaning through language and symbol systems. These forms of communication may include body language, oral communication, visual representations, written language, and sophisticated expressions such as storytelling, poetry, and playwriting. In a typical day, children have ample opportunity to engage in meaningful experiences that allow them to enhance their language and literacy skills. The teacher's role is not only to support and honor each child's chosen methods of communication, but to model and facilitate alternative ways to communicate. Children are encouraged to recognize and appreciate the feelings and ideas of others, as well as be able to express their own ideas. Ways to communicate and listen effectively are explored through community and class meetings, explore time, and through daily interactions. Our goal is to foster an understanding of the many modes of communication so that children feel confident in their abilities to speak, listen, read and write effectively.

Teachers foster a love of literature by creating a respectful environment to nurture the potential of young readers and writers with whole language learning. Literature and books are a central part of the school day. Each classroom has its own library of books, which is supplemented with books from the school library. Whole class "shared reading" experiences, teacher-directed workshops, individual and buddy reading times, and one-on-one reading conferences give students opportunities to develop their language and literacy skills.

Children participate in Spanish language instruction once each week. Through songs, games, repetition and recitations, children develop an understanding of a non-native language and culture.

Our mathematics curriculum emphasizes the skills of mathematical thinking, problem solving, collaboration, and communication. We believe that children learn mathematical concepts best through investigation and exploration, often utilizing children's first-hand experiences to form a basis for their learning and understanding. Our methodology stresses that there are multiple ways of solving problems and honors each child's individual approach. Children are given opportunities to express their mathematical thinking through talking, drawing, and writing. Our multi-age classrooms allow for differentiated instruction where children can work in developmentally appropriate work groups building comfort and confidence with math concepts.

The Primary and Elementary classrooms use the Investigations Math Curriculum as a framework to support teacher-directed math workshops in the classroom. Students often have hands-on opportunities to work with concrete materials during these workshops to express math concepts. Students participate in meaningful math activities that are integrated throughout the day, as well as in teacher-directed math workshops. The mathematics curriculum explores such areas as: number sense, counting, numeric operations, measurement, fractions, volume, patterning, probability, estimation, deductive reasoning, and data exploration.

Science is the natural process of exploring, observing, questioning, predicting, and making discoveries. Through a hands-on, inquiry based science curriculum Bellwether students have the opportunity to begin to view science as a way of thinking and questioning, and another way of gathering information. Through our science curriculum we also seek to inspire our students to develop curiosity about the natural world.

Children begin to explore the scientific method at all developmental stages. They are encouraged to ask questions, make predictions, and create experiments that will allow them to test their hypotheses. All classrooms work on observation and documentation as the basis for scientific inquiry. Through surveys, graphs, pictures, and words, children work to collect and organize their data. In developmentally appropriate ways, children are challenged to think scientifically and draw conclusions from their research. Teachers prepare open-ended explorations, as well as lead guided investigations. Students are regularly engaged in activities that require them to work collaboratively, think independently and problem-solve. Topics explored in the past include: habitats, adaptation, pollution, flight, space, and sustainability.

In order for scientific inquiry to be meaningful to students, topics explored at Bellwether often come from our immediate environment. Objects found in the playground, and the wetlands beyond our fence serve as the impetus for observation, documentation, and inquiry.  Through nature detective journals, observations of plant and animal life, and weekly reflection of changes in our wetlands students have the opportunity to participate in meaningful, hands-on learning experiences right in their own backyard.

Our school community has been working on the Schoolyard Wetlands Habitat project to both restore wetland habitat and construct a boardwalk and viewing platform to create an outdoor classroom and laboratory in our own backyard. Our outdoor classroom provides the opportunity for students to draw upon each of their five senses, and provides unlimited and diverse opportunities for scientific inquiry and active cross-curriculum learning.

The arts are an integral part of our curriculum. We provide children with opportunities to express and represent their ideas, experiences, and emotions to demonstrate their understanding and knowledge of the world around them. With an emphasis on the creative process, children explore and work with a variety of materials. As part of the school's commitment to interdisciplinary learning, classroom teachers and the art specialist integrate the arts into all areas of the classroom curriculum. The visual arts, music, and drama are all integral parts of the educational experience at Bellwether.

The Bellwether School's educational philosophy is predicated on the holistic development of the individual child. Holistic education focuses on a child's overall development as well as how they relate to world around them. In this way, we place emphasis on a child's individual development as well as their role in relationship to a community whose members are interdependent. Through our Service Learning initiative we provide students with an experience of genuine community, not as an end in itself, but as preparation for full participation as contributing citizens in the extended community beyond our school.

An important distinction between community service and service learning is that service learning occurs through a cycle of action and reflection, the fundamental elements of experiential learning. Students work with others applying what they learn to community issues. They reflect upon their experience as they seek to achieve real objectives for the community as well as a deeper understanding of themselves and their ability to make a difference in their community. The adults in our community - parents, faculty, and administrators are active participants in these endeavors as well.

Annual service learning projects include projects such as building relationships with the Chittenden Emergency Food Shelf, the Williston Food Shelf, and the North Country Animal League. Our school community is currently working on a Schoolyard Wetland Habitat project. This project involves restoring wetland habitat, constructing a boardwalk and viewing platform, installing wood duck boxes and interpretive signage, and other steps that will allow us and our community to use this area as an outdoor laboratory and classroom.

Children are given opportunities for physical activity every day at Bellwether, whether it is through outdoor time, yoga class, or a walk in the wetlands behind our school.  Students are given the time and space to develop body awareness, body control, and self-help skills both indoors and out.

Our emphasis in the physical development of our students is to introduce students to non-competitive sports that they can participate in throughout their lives.  By learning to be comfortable with their bodies, having fun, and playing and exploring the outdoors, physical activity is seen as something that is enjoyable and part of their daily life.   We also offer a cross-country skiing program that many of our children and families participate in during winter.  Cooperative games, snowshoeing, hiking, sledding, and other activities are also incorporated into our student experience at Bellwether.