Mills College Childrens School

From its inception in 1926, Mills College Children’s School (MCCS) has had the dual mission of providing quality education for both children and adults. In February 2000, state-of-the-art buildings were designed for the Children’s School with teaching and learning in mind. Facilities feature light-filled rooms, outdoor porches, expansive age-appropriate play areas, and an outdoor classroom. As part of Mills College, students have access to the campus’ athletics facilities, woods, trails, and open spaces, all in the heart of a vibrant, urban setting.

Our Mission

• To provide high-quality, developmentally appropriate educational programs for children from infancy through fifth grade
• To provide a clinical setting in which students preparing for careers working with young children can observe and participate in the application of theory into practice
• To facilitate educational research oppor­tunities that engage participants in the process of investigation, reflection, and documentation

Our Core Values

• Children learn by building their own understanding of the world around them; the teacher’s role is to nurture that process in developmentally appropriate ways.
• Teaching and learning occur in collaborative relationships with parents, teachers, faculty, and students.
• Everyone learns best in a safe, supportive context with tolerance for a diversity of opinions and experiences.
• Reflection and critical thinking are seen at all levels—from discussions, explanations, and presentations by our children to ongoing research and investigations by our student teachers, head teachers, and professors.

Our Curriculum
In our multi-age classrooms, children learn to appreciate their own increasing competencies while sistaffmultaneously developing a strong sense of community. They also benefit from having ex­panded opportunities to teach one another and from more time with the same teacher. Both students and teachers are challenged to pursue learning independently and engage collaboratively, think critically and creatively, and share their learning with peers and the wider community. Our focus is on:

• a strong social-emotional componentcultivating readers and writers, mathematicians, and scientists
• learning environments designed to reflect our philosophy
• integrated curriculum in language arts, math, science, visual and dramatic arts, music and movement, and physical education

MCCS provides an exciting, rich, and accessible education for children and adults in a unique setting that offers access to the academic and artistic aspects of a college campus. Graduates from our preschool and elementary school are accepted at the full range of private and public schools in the Bay Area. We welcome inquiries and visits and look forward to showing you around our beautiful school!