Multiage classrooms provide an environment where the talents and needs of individual students are emphasized and a more authentic sense of community is created in the classroom. Age alone does not determine the skill level of a child. Multiage groupings provide a flexible setting that recognizes children’s varied developmental levels and learning styles as well as honors the diversity in the group. They are also designed to maximize the potential benefit of interactions and cooperation among children who vary in experience, maturity, and ability. There are frequent opportunities for the development of student leadership as children are encouraged to offer and request support from each other in all aspects of classroom activities. Since students are in a classroom for more than one year, teachers further develop student/teacher/family relations and gain a better understanding of their students’ long-term development.

Progressive educators honor the true root of meaning of the word "educate", meaning to "draw forth", by allowing children to construct knowledge and learn in ways that are meaningful to them. Young people are vitally interested in knowing how the world works; they learn most deeply and thoroughly when learning arises from their own questions, concerns and investigation. We encourage them to explore their surroundings, to manipulate and experiment with tools and materials, to ask questions, and to follow their imagination and urge for self-expression through art and dramatic play. This approach to education optimizes their natural learning abilities. Teachers respond sensitively to children's styles and rhythms of learning, and prepare the classroom environment in accordance with their careful observations of children's activities, interests and needs. Traditional education models focus on transmitting or passing knowledge on to children, which does not recognize how children really learn, and often does not result in children retaining information that was 'covered'. We focus as much on the learning process itself as we do on the content, providing children with the skills and abilities to learn in any environment.

To ensure our students have a firm grounding in academic skills such as reading, writing, spelling, math, and science, teachers artfully balance exploration and inquiry with teacher-facilitated workshops, interdisciplinary projects, and additional learning activities that they create based on what they are observing in the classroom. By connecting real and meaningful knowledge with the development of academic skills, teachers enable students to take the fullest advantage of the emergent curriculum. We find that inspired students often surge ahead of common academic standards; we do not follow a list of "what every first (or second...) grader must know"- an arbitrarily selected body of information and disconnected facts. At Bellwether, knowledge and ideas are active and alive for children.

We believe that a student progresses at his or her own rate in ways that their talents, challenges, and interests dictate. Because we see learning as such an individualized activity, both learning and assessment are individualized at Bellwether. We do not use assessment techniques that compare one student’s progress with other students’ progress. Rather the purpose of assessment is to give each learner and his/her teachers and family a holistic and authentic picture of the child’s present level of understanding and growth, so that learning strategies can be devised and modified as needed.

Working together, the student, family and teachers identify learning goals and evaluate the student’s success in reaching those goals. Each student’s development is assessed by means of regular observation, documentation, reflection, dialogue, and conferences. The use of portfolios consisting of written narratives, work samplings from projects and class work, and an assessment rubric are used to document student learning throughout the year. Students, teachers and families use the portfolio to reflect on growth that has taken place as well as to identify areas that require more work.

We firmly believe that children best acquire skills when they are developmentally ready to do so. Therefore, instruction at Bellwether is constructed to suit the needs and strengths of individual learners. Bellwether classrooms are generally staffed with a 10:1 ratio of teachers (although it is often lower than that) which gives our teachers the opportunity to plan, differentiate, and deliver engaging and developmentally appropriate instruction for all students.

Because we recognize the benefits of bringing together diverse groups of learners, there is no profile of the "ideal Bellwether student." We do not use any form of testing in our admissions process. Most students who apply to Bellwether are offered enrollment. However, as a small school, we do recognize certain limitations when considering students for enrollment as well as for re-enrollment. Bellwether does not employ specialists to support students with exceptional educational needs. While the training and dedication of our teachers allows us to teach a variety of students, some with significant learning differences, we reserve the right to determine that a child would be better served in a setting where specialized interventions are offered as part of the school program.