School-Within-School (SWS) Reggio Emilia | Peabody
The School-Within-School at Peabody (SWS) is a Reggio Emilia program serving pre-kindergarten and kindergarten students on the Peabody campus.
A teacher-directed program established in 1995, SWS develops potential
through a uniquely child-centered, collaborative teaching and learning
approach. Inspired by the Reggio Emilia pre-primary schools in Reggio
Emilia, Italy, the mission of SWS is to integrate three primary influences
of philosophy of teaching and learning at SWS: the Reggio approach to
learning (focusing on children's questions and ideas); the Responsive
Classroom framework (a social curriculum that guides classroom management
which is used throughout the Cluster); and the DCPS standards of learning.
The art studio and art teacher are essential elements of the Reggio
approach to learning. The visual arts provide a powerful, creative and
manageable tool for young children to use in expressing their ideas.
In the art studio, the students learn techniques for using a wide variety
of tools and materials to represent the ideas they are exploring in
the classroom and school-wide projects.
