Each week, every student has an hour of art class, where they are exposed to the artists’ process through experimentation and exploration of many different tools and materials.

​

They are encouraged to think like artists and makers: to envision, build skill through focused practice, collaborate, take risks, solve problems, develop personal voice, communicate, and reflect.

​

Giving our kids the time and space for deep creative practice, where they can develop a lifelong joy in making and creating, is a core philosophy of Upland Hills School.

Snail Mail, which is open to all students, is a class celebrating the art of letter writing. Students learn the purpose of different types of letters, how to read and write addresses on envelopes, and spend time handwriting letters to friends, family, and people or businesses they admire. Students mail letters each week from our mailbox and receive replies to their home addresses.

The children who come to this afternoon class take the one mile hike to Upland Hills Farm where they will spend the afternoon with a farmer. In this class, children learn about the farm animals through hands-on interactions. Children who choose to spend the afternoon at the farm experience lessons about the life cycle, where food comes from and how to care for animals.

This class takes place in the fall and revolves around the completion of bowls for our annual Empty Bowls meal.  Different techniques for bowl making are used (press mold, coil, pinch) and glazing techniques.  Other projects are done after the meal:  masks, tiles, rattles, buttons.

Children learn principles of design, including the impact of color choices, types and sizes of font and so on before applying principles to design t-shirts, posters, medals, and other items needed for the Trail Race we put on during the Spring trimester.  They design on paper with pencils and pens as well as learning to use a simple graphic design program, Tux Paint.

In yoga students of all ages practice yoga postures in a group setting. For younger students there are opportunities to play games and read yoga picture books. For older students the class is designed much like a yoga studio setting with the asana practice lasting the duration of the hour. All students practice mindfulness and relaxation through yoga and meditation. Older students have the opportunity to practice Yoga Nidra, which is extended savasana with guided relaxation meditation.

Pancake math introduces the youngest students to fractions in a fun and yummy way;  we explore fraction concepts by cutting and eating pancakes!  Instruction points include identifying fractions, counting by fractions, comparing fractions, and considering equivalent fractions - all with pancakes.  When our pancakes are eaten, we play games and create art and crafts with fraction pieces.

This class is centered around giving children hands-on experiences related to the process of growing and processing food for consumption. This is a year round class that focuses on harvesting and processing food in the fall, planning meals and gardens while ordering seeds and preparing in the winter, and planting and harvesting in the spring.

Children in this class enjoy getting lost in their imaginations and in thinking about what could be. Students enjoy listening to and discussing classic fairy tales written long ago. This class is offered in the spring time when the earth around our school is waking up. Children in this class notice what is emerging in nature each week. We learn about the tender plants and insects as they unfold around us. This class offers a merging of natural science and imaginative story.

Our handwork class is one that is so loved that we run it at least twice a year, and it is always full. The children learn different types of skilled handwork such as crochet, embroidery, cross stitch and knitting, and are always welcome to bring something new to the table. This class touches on a part of humanity that draws back in human history as far as we can remember- sitting in circle with other people and talking as our hands are busy creating.

In Library Helpers the children learn the workings of our school’s library, and help with the tasks that need to be done. These tasks include checking in and re-shelving books, adding new books into our system, covering and shelving them, and weeding out older books to be donated in order to make room for our new additions. The children are doing real, meaningful work in this class, and they love it. It helps them to feel a sense of ownership and pride in our school, and because the class has to be quite small in nature there is a spirit of teamwork and camaraderie that is established quite quickly.keenly- the magic of a well told story.

A communal natural science class that builds a connection to the natural world and also to each other. Since we walk in all weather conditions we work on perseverance through being in the elements and walking as a group. Talk about how the world around us changes through the Trimester(such as leaves changing then falling off the trees) 

South American Adventures is a continent study class.  Together, we explore the geography, animals, plants, and peoples and their cultures.  We make a dish from the region and spend time creating a map and legend of each continent that we study.

Origami is the art of paper folding.  In the younger class, we begin with models that have few folds, such as hats and boats, and progress to more complex models like the star box and the crane model.  In the older class, we typically add geometric shapes and modular origami (such as the cube and the 7-point and 16-point stars) while also including traditional models such as the crane, waterbomb, and masu box.  In addition to the enjoyment of creating origami, this class also provides an opportunity for students to: improve their ability to follow visual and verbal instructions; improve their fine motor skills; improve their finger/hand strength and stamina; learn that attention to detail is important; explore mathematical concepts and language such as area, halving & quartering, diagonals, squares, rectangles, diamonds, etc.

Junk to Joy is a makersspace for children.  Using repurposed materials, the children make creations with only the addition of tape and twine.  It helps the children to explore and understand the reasons for “Resist, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” in a hands-on engaging way.

The “Power Up” class provides a “makerspace” for students to explore electrical circuits.  We begin with simple circuits (one wire, one bulb, one battery) and then add in 2-way switches, 3-way switches, parallel and series configurations, etc.  Students learn about concepts such as voltage, resistance, current, and “short circuits” and they learn how to use a voltmeter to measure voltages and diagnose breaks in circuits.

Students share in their love for reading and writing in an open style class.  Children have access to books in the classroom as well as writing/art supplies.  Throughout the trimester they manage their time between reading and writing at their pace and decision-making.

In this beloved class, children connect with the wonder and magic that lives within their own imaginations. The class focuses on the positive lore of fairies and the idea that fairies hold the joy of nature and childhood in their hearts. Children in this class have the opportunity to design and create their own fairies from natural materials. The children also create fairy doors that are placed in classrooms and other locations around the school. The doors remain for the entire school year. A child may find a note or a small gift, such as a tiny gemstone, left by their friend from the fairy world. In turn, the children can leave gifts or notes for the fairies. Another favorite activity in this class is making fairy bread and enjoying it together with tea. A variation of this class entitled Fairies and Flowers occasionally runs in the Spring and incorporates flower gardening  in honor of the changing season and bloom of life around us.

In this class children are immersed in the fine art of puppet making as well as the craft of storytelling.  Students learn all aspects of creating a puppet show from the ground up. The children collaborate to create a story idea and then decide which puppet they would like to build for the story. They learn to design and build a hand puppet using dowel rods, clay, paint, and fabric. The puppet is uniquely their own and also fits into the collective project created by the group. The children spend weeks molding their puppets, painting them, and sewing  costumes, while writing a short puppet play. The final weeks of the class are spent rehearsing the show. It is delightful to see the characters they have built come to life in a story they have written together.

Garden Play is a class whose sole objective is to foster, in young children, a love of being in a garden.  Stories about gardening and gardens, seasonal free-choice garden activities, and free-play time in the children’s garden, imbue our youngest gardeners with the enchantment of possibility that is found in every garden.  There are many opportunities for gardening in our school year.  This class hopes to create a group of children who continue to take an interest in gardening and take afternoon gardening classes during their entire time at Upland Hills School.    

Expedition Science engages students in first-hand scientific research.  Together, we choose a focus for our study from things present at the school or its surrounding environs.  For example, the students have engaged in a two year tree research project.  First they identified the largest trees on the school grounds - based on the measure of their circumference.  The following year, the students created tree identification books and used them to determine the species of trees that were the largest.  To engage in field research here at school allows the children to develop a familiarity and love of the beings that share this space, and to spend time in the natural world.

Checkmate is ostensibly a class about playing chess.  But it is really a class about logic and planning.  And about being a “good sport” (being a “good winner” and a “good loser”).  And about paying close attention to what other people are doing.  And about learning from people who have more experience than you do.  And about helping less experienced players without coming across as arrogant.  Who would have thought that all of these important life skills could be found inside a game of chess?

The winter trimester science lab focuses on creating a lab report.  Students build a paper car and use that car to perform an experiment.  They then write a lab report for that experiment.  This project reinforces concepts that the students learned in the fall trimester (recording data, entering data into a spreadsheet, graphing data with a spreadsheet) and adds concepts such as writing a good “procedure” for an experiment, analyzing trends on a graph, and supporting your conclusions with data.  Students learn how to tie all of these things together in a “lab report” and then they create a “lab poster” for display at the Arts & Science festival.

Twice a year students present a play for the public.  There will be a play in the Fall and a musical in the Spring.  Students audition for specific roles, but there are parts for everyone.  Cooperation is paramount and inherent in this activity.  The many aspects of our theatre program include self-empowerment, developing empathetic relationships, concentration, observation, and memorization.  Students work on character development, spatial awareness, enunciation of the spoken word, vocal production, and dance. 

This class provides an MMO opportunity for students to learn about characteristics of dinosaurs and the land formations and climate during their existence.