Schools define a community’s values and its faith in the future.
Peregrine School provides a model of childhood and of 21st century education which is inspiring and instructive to its participants and to others in our community and region.
At Peregrine School, we value children as actors in their world, creating real solutions and thinking critically about their world. We respect children as profound thinkers and high-level participants, regardless of their age. We provide opportunities for children to express their thoughts, to be real actors in their classroom world and eventually, the larger world. When a toddler draws and tells us about it, we record what is said as a serious message, and keep it as a measure of that child’s thoughts. When upper school students write poetry, we provide opportunities for it to be performed as a public poetry reading in an art gallery. When we study science, we act as scientists; when doing art, we act as artists.
In the 21stCentury, we know that most of the jobs which our children will hold do not exist today. We live in a time of rapid change, when huge problems and huge possibilities will emerge. The skills which students need to enter this world go beyond the 3 R’s and “doing what you are told”. Tomorrow’s adults will need to be creative problem solvers, peacemakers between groups, environmentalists who understand the natural world, and pragmatists who can recognize and take advantage of opportunities. They will need to know and care about science and history, so that the can become caring and competent citizens and husbanders of an increasingly complex world.
Peregrine School has several purposes: 1) to provide a broad, excellent education to our children, so that they can reach their highest potential both for themselves and as citizens, 2) to educate the entire community and region, including parents and teachers, about possibilities for childhood and for 21st Century education, 3) to reach out internationally through community service learning and study tours, and through multicultural, multilingual programs at our school, and 4) to celebrate education and childhood as joyful experiences.