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Hopefully you've looked around and The Grove School feels like a great place for your child. Fantastic! We’d love to meet up with you in person, answer your questions and tell you more first hand. Shoot us an e-mail or give us a call and we’ll get back to you shortly.
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We're looking for rare individuals. Teachers with degrees in early childhood or environmental education and a fire in the belly to make a difference. Administrators with a head for business and a heart for helping children reach their full potential. People who are so invested that they'll stay with us for years, growing and developing our educational community. Is that you?
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Let's play
Kids learn through play, but what about the grown ups? The Grove School is a playground for everyone. Join the fun!
(Psst, you can move the colored circles with your mouse.)
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During the school day, students in each of our classes have the opportunity to participate in one of our five strands classes. The strands that we provide for them are music, art, drama, Healthy-Me (physical fitness) and Eco Friends (science-based).  They rotate through the strands each week.

Each class participates in the strands for 30 minutes each day.  Ms. Tanya is the strands teachers and she utilizes her creativity and imagination to integrate the strands one with another.  For instance, while studying about the life cycle of a plant in their Eco-Friends strand class, they used theatrical play to reenact a seed sprouting.  (See above left photo.)

The photos included here show students working in each of the five strands.  Please click on the photos to see them larger and to read a description.

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The Grove School Fine-Arts curriculum holds true to the philosophy that creative expression is a vital activity for developing healthy minds. Painting, drawing, sculpture, and other fine arts stimulate the imagination, increase self-confidence, inspire creative risk-taking and exploration, and foster a lifelong desire for knowledge through experiential learning.

In all creative endeavors children are encouraged to use their imaginations; concepts are provided and skills are taught as tools for creative expression, originality and innovation, rather than as rules to follow for specific outcomes. As long as everyone follows the rules of the classroom, there is no “right or wrong” way to bring images, feelings and stories to life with art.

Megan directs our program development team and oversees educational curriculum for the company. Formerly she taught 3rd grade in the CA Public Schools for 5 years and worked as a producer for 5 years at Leapfrog developing interactive toys for 3-6 year olds.

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Exposing children to images of master artwork, even at the young age of two years, is important for several reasons:

1. Visually stimulating artwork depicting bold shapes and bright colors captures children’s attention and curiosity, and motivates them to experiment with new art forms and techniques, as well as art tools.

2. Familiar images remind children of elements in their own lives to depict in their artwork, and unfamiliar images can rouse curiosity and humor, and spark imagination.

3. The earlier children are exposed to multiple artistic traditions, such as American and European masterpieces by van Gogh, Picasso, O’Keefe, and Kandinsky, the indigenous art traditions of Australia, Africa, the Americas, and Pacific Island, and the classic art forms of Asia, the Middle East, and India, the sooner they will recognize all artistic expression as worthy of interest rather than only the familiar traditions of their specific country of origin.

The following passage from the book The Colors of Learning: Integrating the Visual Arts into the Early Childhood Curriculum, expands on the importance of exposing children to master artworks:

“When children become familiar with artists and their work, art becomes real to them. They learn that different media and techniques are used by artists to obtain different effects. They can become totally absorbed in painting in a manner similar to that of Jackson Pollock. They can see similarities between their art processes and the collages of artists like Henri Matisse… Such insights can motivate children to act on art media to express their own ideas.” (page 102)

Such insights can motivate children to act on art media to express their own ideas. Talking with each other about their ideas gives children an appreciation of each other’s efforts, and the opportunity to use art language. Children also appreciate knowing about artists’ lives and the media, tools, and techniques they use. Children enjoy learning that artists come from various backgrounds and diverse cultures, and that artists may be found in the communities in which they themselves live.” (page 102)

In addition, multiple creative forms, such as drawing, painting, sculpture, collage ,origami, mosaic, and puzzles are important for a true appreciation of the fine arts according to the philosophy of Discipline-Based Art Education (DBAE). As paraphrased from sections of the book The Quiet Evolution: Changing the Face of Arts Education, DBAE can be described as a comprehensive approach to arts education using the philosophy that art is an essential part of every child’s education, speaking to students in a language that communicates ideas, reveals symbols, forges connections, and helps prepare them for life.

The intention of DBAE is that children will creatively relate the important ideas found in works of art to the problems, issues, ideas, and events of their contemporary world and of their own lives.

Megan directs our program development team and oversees educational curriculum for the company. Formerly she taught 3rd grade in the CA Public Schools for 5 years and worked as a producer for 5 years at Leapfrog developing interactive toys for 3-6 year olds.

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