MISSION
In partnership with the community, Little Water Prep provides an affirming and rigorous environment for all K-5 scholars through reflective, data-driven teaching and a responsive curriculum that allows scholars to recognize their power and have agency over their futures.
We believe in infusing the arts and real-world learning throughout every component of the school day, including during science, math, social studies, and literacy.
We believe in individualized, personalized instruction. We affirm our student’s through every step of their academic and social/emotional growth.
We believe education is a powerful tool that can be used to transform our communities as we support the development of empathetic leaders.
Little Water Prep believes all children deserve spaces of affirmation- where they can learn, explore, grow, and lead.
OUR APPROACH
Deeper Learning Approach
At Little Water Prep, our concept-based approach to instruction emphasizes learning driven by “big-ideas” rather than subject-specific content to allow our students to make real-world meaning and connections to the content, knowledge, and skills they attain throughout their educational journey’s. In project-based learning environments, our scholars become investigators and problem-solvers, and collaborate with their peers to inquire about ways to solve complex problems while engaging with content across disciplines.
Critical Literacy Development
We utilize a curriculum specifically designed to teach children the five essential components of reading and offer over 180 minutes of literacy instruction daily beginning in Kindergarten. With an interdisciplinary approach, scholars are challenged to utilize their literacy skills across all academic components. We ensure our libraries are filled with diverse book choices to expand our scholars’ world views and foster an authentic love for reading. We know that when students can read proficiently, they are more apt to excel in all other academic areas.
Social-Emotional & Identity Development
At Little Water Prep, we focus on supporting students’ social and emotional growth by providing them the space to explore the complexities of their identity as we believe it is imperative to their academic and personal success. We emphasize identity exploration and development that empowers students to recognize their internal power and thrive as leaders. Beginning in kindergarten, scholars have daily ROOT (Realizing Our Own Truth) class, designed to encourage our scholars to explore critical questions about themselves, others, and the world around them, to foster a strong knowledge of self.
Highly Qualified Teachers
At Little Water Prep, we define highly-qualified teachers as educators who are (1) experts in the content they teach, (2) are culturally-competent, and (3) implement data-informed practices. Our unique and comprehensive approach to teacher development prepare our teachers with the skills and competencies needed to create classroom environments that allow all students to thrive.
