Teaching & Learning

Critical Thinking. Communication. Collaboration. Creativity. Character.

The Westside School Curriculum is drawn from a wide variety of methods and practices. On any given day, you can walk through the halls of the school and find students working collaboratively and independently, online, in person or in labs, practicing skills or exploring problems with unknown outcomes. Other days, you'd have to leave the building to find students down by our local watershed or constructing local micro-libraries or micro-pantries within our neighborhood.

Creativity is an intrinsic part of learning at Westside. As students progress through the school, curriculum is increasingly embedded in investigative projects that allow teachers to align the level of depth and challenge for each student. Projects further allow students to practice analytical skills, while developing a wide variety of solutions or responses. By the time students are in eighth grade, many are using creative forms such as writing, theater, or graphic arts as tools for critical inquiry.

Teachers at Westside School seek to create experiential opportunities that anchor learning through doing, and deepen our purpose by connecting work with meaningful context or service. That's why Westside students spend time in the wilderness, in the city and in our local neighborhoods. We're building a purposeful global citizenship, so students graduate not only with a strong core of academics but also with ten years of World Language study alongside a deep dive into the arts and natural world.