At Crescent Park, the environment is considered the Third Teacher; it is beautiful, intentional and inviting. It provides a sense of wonder, inquiry and inspiration for the children and adults who enter the space. Every nook and corner has a purpose and is rich in potential to engage with materials, to communicate and to build relationships.
We believe that children are miracles:
“Children are miracles. Believing that every child is a miracle can transform the way we design for children’s care. When we invite a miracle into our lives, we prepare ourselves and the environment around us. We may set out flowers or special offerings. We may cleanse ourselves, the space or our thoughts of everything but the love inside us. We make it our job to create with reverence and gratitude, a space that is worthy of a miracle. Action follows thought. We can choose to change. We can choose to design spaces for miracles, not minimums.” – Anita Rui Olds 1999
The educators in the beautiful schools of Reggio Emilia, Italy believe that children have a hundred languages to express their realizations about the world. In our environment, we strive to create open-ended invitations (or provocations) that inspire children to express theories and construct knowledge through their interactions with rich materials and their relationships with others. We are privileged to be surrounded by the beauty of this magical environment which provides for these essential elements:
The beauty and intentionality behind the Crescent Park environments has provided us the privilege of hosting many visitors to our school for professional development. A wide range of educators, administrators and international guests have come to Crescent Park to seek inspiration and innovative ideas to transform their own programs.