Spotlight on Prospect Sierra School (PS)

February 5, 2024
by Whitney Moss
One Comment

Thanks to Prospect Sierra, an all-gender independent TK-8 school with two spacious campuses in the El Cerrito hills. We appreciate their sponsorship of 510families.com today.

Teacher and student at Prospect Sierra school — Third graders working in the Prospect Sierra colab/maker space

Whether Prospect Sierra students are learning inside the classroom or outdoors, they are building relationships, deepening academic skills, increasing their self-knowledge, and having fun. Throughout their day, teachers and staff are encouraging students to practice innovation, a core value of the Prospect Sierra school culture.

“We approach innovation as a way of thinking, learning, and engaging that helps us clarify intention, take action, and practice responsive stewardship of our communities and the planet,” says Nisa Frank, Prospect Sierra’s head of school.

“Our teachers, administrators, and staff prioritize the continual improvement of curriculum and learning experiences, in and out of the classroom, to be challenging, engaging, and relevant to today’s dynamic world, and meaningful to our students’ lives now and in their futures.”

Whether it’s innovating to mitigate the climate crisis through compost, or creating new ways to ensure identity safety through cohort groups, Prospect Sierra students are learning to make change and have a voice in how they do it.

Coach Jay gets joyful high fives after class

5 Observations From Fourth Graders About Innovation at Prospect Sierra School

“We got 2,000 worms and worm bins for the school! Worms are good for compost because they help decompose food scraps and turn the scraps into compost that we can use in the garden. We put the worms in bins, put our lunch compost into the worm bins, let the worms help decompose the food, and then use that new compost in the garden.”

“The 4th grade annual Trashion Fashion Show is innovative because we reuse materials that would otherwise go into the garbage and we use the materials to create fashion and art.”

“In colab and science classes we created inventions designed to help the world such as a trash picker upper, air and water filters, a moth butterfly hotel, and a device that helps hand out food to people who need it.”

“Last year we began cohorts for students at the Lower School. Cohorts have helped people feel like they have a shared identity. It helps you feel like you belong more.”

“The school made a lot of changes during Covid. We switched to touchless sinks in the bathrooms and classrooms, installed a water bottle filling station which meant less germ spreading and less plastic, and we have reusable cups in the classroom.”

Kindergartners study all the life in the gardens, including a close look at leaves

Discover the Joy

The mission of Prospect Sierra is to inspire and equip students to create a more inclusive and just world through deep and meaningful intellectual engagement, self-knowledge, and care for others.

Interested in learning more? They are accepting TK-8th applications for fall 2024.

The admissions process is tied deeply to Prospect Sierra’s mission — it’s about relationships, transparency, growth, flexibility, and fun! Please join in the following virtual opportunities to learn more about this special TK-8 school for your family:
Take a virtual campus tour >>
Follow Prospect Sierra on Instagram >>

Wondering about tuition support at Prospect Sierra? They have a flexible tuition program that provides financial support to one in three children. Don’t let the cost of tuition stop you from checking out all that Prospect Sierra has to offer!