Wild Poppy Studio, Santa Monica

Wild Poppy Studio is inspired by the Reggio Emilia approach that traces back to Reggio, Italy. There are five pillars that truly define this approach: *Respect for children *Family and community involvement *Emergent curriculum *Teachers as co-constructivists *Environment as a third teacher The staff at Wild Poppy Studio sincerely believes that children are capable and intelligent human beings. And out of respect for all human beings, we stress the importance of listening. If you listen to children carefully, you will find they are full of complex ideas and carefully processed hypotheses. They also have a natural desire to work with their peers, are more just and fair than we may give them credit for and are certainly more empathetic than some may believe them to be. Children are capable of true analytical and scientific thought. When given the respect and space to express this, the learning opportunities are endless! To love learning, you must love school. Wild Poppy Studio is a school that cherishes its environment and respects its tools. We understand that children need to dig. They need to run. And they need to climb. Outside our studio, we've created a safe and grassy environment for our children to run barefoot. We've installed a play structure where they can exert energy in a fun and productive way. We've grown and will nurture a garden full of mud and edible organic herbs, vegetables and fruits with your children. We have also transformed our classroom and part of our outdoor space into an art studio fit for the most creative of minds. We believe that children deserve the highest-quality materials and tools to express their ideas, ones that we ourselves would use. Our studio rooms feature light exploration, the highest-quality clays, tempera, acrylic, watercolor paints, stippling, fan, and filbert brushes, beautiful glass beads, pastels and more. We also serve exclusively vegan and organic snacks, using all-natural ingredients including avocado, blue corn tortilla chips, vegetarian chili and figs. A palette of foods is just as important as a palette of paints! At Wild Poppy Studio, your children's overall well-being and learning come first. Wild Poppy Studio admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges and activities generally accorded or made available to students of the school. Wild Poppy Studio does not discriminate against any employee, applicant for employment, independent contractor, or any other person because of race, color ancestry, national origin, age, or gender.