Tara School is a thriving educational community that promotes the academic, social, emotional, and artistic growth of children in grades K-6. Our charter requires that we stay small--30 students K-6--and attend the needs and gifts of each and every child. We have amazing teachers and even more amazing students.
Tara School believes that grades K-6 represent a powerful opportunity to develop enthusiasm for lifelong learning. These years are a child's first chance to see how they fit into a wider world, and therefore an important and crucial time for developing an internal regard for social grace.
Children are regarded as unique learners at Tara. Individual attention is given to the acquisition of basic skills: reading, language arts, math, science, social studies, literature and language. Fine arts are integral to the curriculum, providing opportunities for creative expression through drama, music, art and life-time sports. We use a reading workshop approach to include students who benefit from intense progress in reading skills.
Parents play a vital role at Tara. Their talents and skills are enjoyed in the classroom as they lead special projects, share stories, read with students and chaperone field trips. Tara wouldn’t function without parent volunteers.
Community Building is a central theme of the Tara School. Through our work for village students in Africa, our efforts toward peace for children all over the globe, and our local community service programs, students broaden their social and learning environments.
Tara School encourages children to experience the joy of living and the wonder of learning every day.
MISSION STRATEGIES
Tara School is an independent, not-for-profit, day school for kindergarten through sixth grade boys and girls. We are governed by a self-perpetuating board of trustees. We seek to serve a culturally, ethnically, and socio-economically diverse student body from the greater Santa Fe Area.
Within a nurturing, warm and caring environment, we strive to help our children become their best. Our campus provides a cozy and intimate setting in which children can thrive. Our curriculum centers upon strong academic, analytic, and communication skills as they are the foundation of learning. We encourage independent thought and action. Skills development and concept building take precedence over information acquisition. We provide direction for conflict resolution, encourage active listening skills, and emphasize multi-cultural awareness. Aesthetic appreciation and creativity, as they add joy and meaning to our lives, are important to our program. We teach our children lifelong physical and wellness skills.
We strive to develop self-confidence and self-esteem in our children, so they may be willing to take risks and make mistakes necessary to learning. We expect children to behave respectfully toward others. Because we are a part of a broader community, we seek through word and deed to develop empathy for others--a social conscience; community service is an integral part of our program.
At Tara School the well being of children governs our decisions. We recognize that children have different learning styles and are at different levels of development in each different discipline. We teach each child as an individual. In our desire for our children to reach their highest potential, we respect and respond to their needs. To do this, we keep our classes small. We hope to send our graduates away with a strong educational foundation along with a sense of integrity, generosity of spirit, compassion, and kindness.
Tara strives to be an educational leader in our community by hiring experienced, gifted and enthusiastic educators, by giving the educators a structured autonomy within which to make the best of educational opportunities, by staying abreast of published research, and by collaborating with community resources.
