MP&MS Viewbook

At Marin Primary & Middle School we make education meaningful, while encouraging pride in self, respect for others, and enthusiasm for learning.

We treasure childhood. We honor and enjoy children’s natural curiosity, competence, and exuberance.

We teach to reach children. Using teams of teachers and educational methods tailored to how children learn best, we connect with our students, build trusting relationships, and make learning relevant, memorable, and fun.

We teach children to reach. Asking not “how smart is the child?” but “how is the child smart?” we guide our students to see their full potential, and we equip them to pursue it with passion and purpose.

We inspire children to make a difference.

We value academic excellence, personal integrity, and community action, and encourage our students to become informed, engaged, and ethical global citizens.

Our Mission 20 Magnolia Ave., Larkspur, California 94939 l 415.924.2608 l www.mpms.org

Printed on Recycled Paper

Marin Primary & Middle School Treasuring Childhood—Learning for Life

Our students’ learning experience is shaped by equal measures of strong academics and personal attention. MP&MS students are absolutely Engaged, Connected, Creative, Curious, Adventurous, and Confident.

MP&MS is proud to graduate students who are confident in their knowledge, ready for high school, and aware of their responsibilities to help make the world a better place. The feedback we receive from both public and private high schools is that our graduates are well prepared.

In particular, teachers appreciate that they are engaged in the learning process, have well-developed critical thinking skills and are exemplary members of their communities. Our graduates tell us that they feel secure in their academic and social abilities and are ready to take on new challenges in high school and beyond.

Marin Primary & Middle School was founded on the belief that the natural talents of children act as a compass for their education.

Our teaching philosophy, asking not “how smart is the child?” but “how is the child smart?”, has been the basis of success for Marin Primary & Middle School students since 1975. Through their most impressionable years, students are challenged to develop a lifelong passion for learning that includes equal measures of wonder and rigorous inquiry. While other schools may provide too little structure, or too much, we have intentionally crafted a blend of styles. This approach creates a “just right,” balanced environment, where children feel supported, respected, and inspired to learn.

Welcome to Marin Primary & Middle School, a preschool through eighth grade learning community, where childhood is a time to be treasured and children become ethical, confident, and compassionate individuals.

Ask a parent, “Why MP&MS?” and he will speak about the rich, integrated, and challenging curriculum offered at all age levels, our engaged faculty, the warmth of the school community, or the graduates, who have developed the skills and self-knowledge and global awareness necessary to prepare them for the next steps in their educational lives.

A teacher will point to the school’s philosophy which encourages students to be creative and curious, the abundance of professional development opportunities, the supportive parent body, or the collaborative nature of the faculty.

A student will tell you that the teachers make learning fun, that she feels safe, known, and connected to her classmates and teachers; that she loves learning about the environment while working in the garden and being adventurous on overnight field trips; or that she wants to stay every day for the after-school program.

An alumnus will reflect on the learning tools and strategies he was given, mention that he felt confident and ready for the challenges and responsibilities of high school, and say that he still values the relationships formed within the MP&MS community.

At MP&MS, we recognize that children are naturally eager to question and competent to pursue inquiries, develop their own theories, and even change a point of view. Children have the potential to learn; Marin Primary & Middle School provides the environment and opportunities in which to thrive.

“The thought of having our son actually look forward to going to school was too good to be true. But since his first day he has enjoyed school again. There’s a wonderful vibe at MP&MS and he feels ‘at home.’

Now we have the reverse problem - we can’t get him to leave.”

—MP&MS parent

engaged

An integrated curriculum brings learning to life. We believe education is most effective when interactive learning is woven with real-world experiences. Teachers at MP&MS discover new and innovative ways to engage their students in the learning process.

At MP&MS, how do primary students learn about Africa? They research an African animal, study African folktales, and play African percussion instruments, culminating in a multimedia African Extravaganza performance. How do our students acquire another language? They begin learning Spanish as preschoolers in classes with native-speaking teachers. Students also delve into deeper aspects of the culture including conversation, history, and art.

“At MP&MS, everyone knows my child.”

—MP&MS parent

connec ted

Beginning in preschool, teams of teachers, including a core of specialists, know and teach each child from multiple perspectives. As they develop relationships with many teachers and experience a variety of teaching methods, our students develop greater confidence and begin to understand their own learning styles. The team approach helps us to build a community in which every child matters, allowing each child and family to benefit from the strong, intimate, and nurturing community of the school.

Through community service projects, including partnerships with schools in our county and as distant as Ecuador, we encourage students to become informed, mindful, and globally connected. MP&MS cultivates within its students and all members of the school community an awareness of the importance of equity and justice and the needs of others around the world.

At MP&MS, we inspire students to envision a better future as they learn about the larger world community and discover global connections. Junior kindergartners exchange drawings with children in Sweden, and second graders navigate an online 3-D Taj Mahal and raise funds with their sixth grade buddies to build libraries in India.

“If you provide an environment that allows children to grow emotionally, mentally, physically, and the space to promote that learning and growing, they turn into really amazing students.”

—MP&MS teacher

creative & curious

Marin Primary & Middle School is more than a collection of curricula—it’s a way of thinking. For instance, students’ understanding of math matures through the innovative use of objects and resources.

Primary school students practice calculating skills as they design and construct wooden paddle boats in the Projects Lab, and then test their crafts’ seaworthiness in the Outdoor Education Center (OEC) pond. In middle school, students apply algebraic formulas to calculate within 1/64” when inlaying frets on their hand-made dulcimers.

Art teachers introduce a spectrum of media, and bring art history to life in our studio and in museums. Surprising applications of interdisciplinary knowledge give children a way to view their world with a “what if” sense of creativity.

Teachers at MP&MS encourage children to trust their innate curiosity, bolstering their desire to question and explore. Students experience nature’s wonders as they monitor the growth of sunflowers in the OEC, or study the life cycle of a species as they hatch, raise, and release trout fry into a Marin County creek. Early explorers’ adventures and personalities come alive through integrated research and character portrayals.

Students are thoroughly immersed in active learning in every classroom.

“We came to MP&MS because it has energy, life, spirit, and enthusiasm.

We also love the garden, the passionate teachers, the great field trips…”

—MP&MS parent of two students

adventurous

Outdoor adventures enrich our indoor curriculum. Students anticipate out-of-classroom learning on excursions that range from Bolinas tide pools to the Yosemite Valley to Washington’s Olympic Peninsula. Hiking at midnight, seventh graders witness the Mojave Desert ecosystem as naturalists guide them through unspoiled habitats to observe fluorescent scorpions, kangaroo rats, and cholla cactus.

Adventure also happens within the classroom as an integral part of the curriculum. Students are actively engaged as they make discoveries through their own writing and reading. The interests and passions of our students, parents, and teachers transform the curriculum and deepen the learning experience.

Students are comfortable taking risks and embarking on learning as an adventure in this supportive environment.

“At MP&MS, I was supported and encouraged by every teacher I had, and I was respected by them as a person, not just as a student. This gave me a core of confidence, as I learned to become my own advocate, that I carried through four successful years of high school….”

—MP&MS alumna

confide nt

MP&MS prides itself on being a learning community that fosters ethical, responsible, and compassionate individuals. Our students discover how they can use their strengths to serve their communities. Inspiring tomorrow’s leaders is an important part of our philosophy; leadership can be as lofty as running for political office or heading a company, or as simple as guiding a friend in a positive direction.

Beginning in junior kindergarten, drama has a powerful effect on the development of children’s social skills, imagination, and self-confidence. These important life skills are reinforced when our children speak at school assemblies, present original projects to the class, or lead their peers in collaborative projects.

Our physical education specialists emphasize sportsmanship, leadership, cooperation, and respect for others, in addition to fitness. The after-school athletic programs give each middle school child the opportunity to discover the joy of competing and achieving his or her personal best.

“From the moment I walked into MP&MS, there was such a feeling of warmth. Everyone seems so happy to be here – the children, the teachers, and the parents I met. It is such a positive learning environment. This is the place where I want my child to be from preschool through eighth grade.”

—MP&MS preschool parent

At Marin Primary & Middle School we make education meaningful, while encouraging pride in self, respect for others, and enthusiasm for learning.

We treasure childhood. We honor and enjoy children’s natural curiosity, competence, and exuberance.

We teach to reach children. Using teams of teachers and educational methods tailored to how children learn best, we connect with our students, build trusting relationships, and make learning relevant, memorable, and fun.

We teach children to reach. Asking not “how smart is the child?” but “how is the child smart?” we guide our students to see their full potential, and we equip them to pursue it with passion and purpose.

We inspire children to make a difference.

We value academic excellence, personal integrity, and community action, and encourage our students to become informed, engaged, and ethical global citizens.

Our Mission 20 Magnolia Ave., Larkspur, California 94939 l 415.924.2608 l www.mpms.org

Printed on Recycled Paper

Marin Primary & Middle School Treasuring Childhood—Learning for Life

Our students’ learning experience is shaped by equal measures of strong academics and personal attention. MP&MS students are absolutely Engaged, Connected, Creative, Curious, Adventurous, and Confident.

MP&MS is proud to graduate students who are confident in their knowledge, ready for high school, and aware of their responsibilities to help make the world a better place. The feedback we receive from both public and private high schools is that our graduates are well prepared.

In particular, teachers appreciate that they are engaged in the learning process, have well-developed critical thinking skills and are exemplary members of their communities. Our graduates tell us that they feel secure in their academic and social abilities and are ready to take on new challenges in high school and beyond.