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Welcome to the Grand Rapids Child Discovery Center
A K-5 Public School Academy

Smiling children in a classroom

Core Values

Reggio-Emilia
is

equity
Each community member is whole, just as they are. Learning, wellness, nutrition, and access to experiences and opportunities are rights that all people have. We have a responsibility to constantly ask, “what am I missing?” “whose voice is missing?” “are we all here?” “are we all heard?” in order to elevate the voices of members of oppressed or marginalized groups. Each person in our community belongs; this is reflected in our interactions with one another, our physical space, our events and curricular choices. We have responsibility to disrupt the status quo and seek equity, reject oppression, and create social justice.
potential
Humans are born with the need and the right to communicate, interact, and use their energy and curiosity to construct their learning. Children have a voice that is sought, valued, and shapes the life of the school. Children and adults can do hard things in order to grow, and can withstand ambiguity, cognitive struggle, and challenge in order to learn. Each person has limitless potential and we behave in ways that show that. The school’s charge is to provide a system of delivery resulting in all children learning at high levels, so that their life opportunities and access are expanded through their experience here.
connection
All of us bloom by engaging with one another, sharing roles and jobs, and approaching our school with collective responsibility. Each child has a network of relationships at school that make it impossible for them to fail. At the center of our system is the triad relationship between teacher/staff, children, and family- all of these are connected within the context of the environment and community. Adults must build a safety net for children- our processes and procedures result in a systematic response that meets each child’s social/emotional and academic needs When we are in conflict, we must seek mutually agreeable solutions and collaborate to solve problems.
inspiration
Each of us possesses a unique combination of 100 languages- for expressing, communicating, absorbing and experimenting with the world around them. The 100 languages must be honored and recognized in our experiences with one another. Curiosity, creativity, and flexibility are necessary ingredients in the human condition. Children thrive where adults thrive and vice versa. Joy, fun, and celebration are essential to our life together at school.
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