School-Within-School

Washington, DC

Following the learners’ lead

In 1995, in the midst of educational institutions doubling down on rigid academics, four teachers were determined to bring the creative, child-centered Reggio Emilia approach to preschoolers, kindergartners, and their families, giving rise to School Within School (SWS). Over a decade later, the SWS community rallied to extend services to older children, and SWS is now a public school serving PreK3–5th grades in its very own building near Capitol Hill, a vibrant environment where students’ innate brilliance is free to shine.

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See for yourself

What it looks and feels like

SWS is rooted in the Reggio Emilia philosophy, so it is not only what the students learn that matters, but also how the learning occurs. The children are the protagonists of their own journeys, supported to follow their curiosities and direct their own learning, often inspired by their surroundings. When kindergarten students showed interest in the nearby Anacostia River, it anchored their projects, including harvesting and releasing native shad fish and writing and performing a song about its animals. Another time, students decided to add a chicken coop to the campus garden, so 5th-graders researched the idea and designed it with a local architecture firm. Upon completion, the new chickens became yet another source for student inquiry. Students’ learning is held in esteem, documented to be made visible, and shared with museum-like reverence. All the while, a community of care is intentionally cultivated and maintained through consistent rituals and collaboration. Through high regard for the wonders of childhood and learning, SWS embodies the quote by Reggio Emilia founder Loris Malaguzzi: “Nothing without joy!”

Sometimes you stand up for someone. Your strength comes from sitting with other people and being friends with them.”
ZERE SANAI, SWS LEARNER, AGE 5

THE IMPACT

1,300

Average annual waitlist length since 2017-18

90%

of families report feeling a sense of connection to the SWS community (versus 73% district-wide)

30

years of serving students through a child-centered Reggio Emilia approach

MODEL HIGHLIGHTS

Reggio Emilia-inspired

SWS utilizes a student-directed, project-based approach, addressing content standards through Reggio principles, including learning through individual and group construction; witnessing and documenting student learning; valuing community, environment, and aesthetics; and a belief in the extraordinary potential of children.

Arts-embedded

Rather than having a separate art class, the arts are woven in and through students’ learning. The SWS staff includes two “Atelieristas,” professional educators with arts backgrounds, who facilitate creative expression and guide students to use various mediums to pursue and enhance their projects and learning.

Community of care

SWS views children as valuable citizens of the communities they’re in now, and the students themselves propose monthly school-wide provocations for focused pursuit, such as How can we take care of our world? and How can we help ourselves be calm so we can be kind? During regular classroom community meetings, students make “appreciations” in support of kind acts and make “requests” to address social conflict.