Self-Understanding: Identifies and understands one’s own emotions, thoughts and behaviors. Understands one’s passions, strengths and limitations. Recognizes the impact of context and others’ perceptions, and uses self-awareness to respond thoughtfully. Engages in continuous self-reflection.
Self-Efficacy: Independent, disciplined and self-motivated. Consistently sets and achieves goals.
Critical Thinking: Analyzes, evaluates and applies information to ask questions, develop ideas, construct arguments and solve problems. Considers multiple perspectives, both from the past and present, when analyzing situations.
Adaptability: At ease with ambiguity and the unknown, knowing that it is an important step to finding clarity. Open-minded and able to manage rapid growth, change and disruption.

Connection: Expresses ideas and thoughts through verbal, nonverbal and written communication. Adjusts communication based on the purpose of the message, context and audience. Builds understanding by listening, asking questions, testing assumptions, and applying examples. Internalizes multiple viewpoints to inform communications.
Collaboration: Learns cooperatively with others to achieve a common or complementary goal. Encourages the contributions of others, through active listening, providing feedback and drawing on individual strengths. Responds to group dynamics, including issues of power and control.
Cultural Competency: Understands one’s own identity and story. Can initiate and build constructive relationships with others, across lines of difference. Understands issues of privilege and power, as well as one’s cultural norms and biases. Leads across diverse groups in different contexts, using an asset-based lens.
Empathy: Acts with kindness and compassion towards living and nonliving aspects of one’s environment. Senses how another person feels, and can take another’s perspective.

The overarching goal for TK-5 English Language Arts instruction is to ensure that students are able to develop and utilize improved communication skills, vocabularies, and writing abilities in an authentic manner. 

CWC uses a Balanced Literacy approach, which includes methods such as: 

• Reader’s and Writer’s workshop
• Phonics Instruction
• Interactive Read-Aloud
• Interactive/Shared Reading & Writing
• Independent & Guided Reading

At the elementary level, students engage in study of historical topics and scientific exploration through hands-on projects that utilize an interdisciplinary approach. Inquiry projects invite students to examine real-life topics and questions that tie to authentic topics of interest. 

Social studies learning, while often tied to learning something historical, will almost always connect as well to current everyday issues that are developmentally appropriate for every grade level. Inquiry projects are often the place where students delve into related learning about civic engagement, social justice and how to become a positive changemaker in one’s community.  Inquiry learning is also a place where relevant diversity, equity and inclusion topics are tied in.  

Science-focused inquiry learning aligns to the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and includes physical science, life science, and earth-systems science. Methods of all science courses include the tools of science (e.g., technology, hands-on materials) and support the development of the reading, writing, analysis, and communication skills students need to become science-literate.  Lab experimentation allows students to test their hypotheses.  

Projects could include: 

• Building Healthy Communities (K)
• Biodiversity and Interdependence of Ocean Habitats (1st Grade)
• Survival & Sustainability on Mars: Exploring How An Engineer Would Live in Space (3rd Grade)
• Re-Imagining the California Mission (4th Grade)

Cognitively Guided Instruction (CGI) problem solving is a core framework for CWC’s Math Workshop. CGI is an educational philosophy that capitalizes on over 20 years of research showing that students come to school with rich informal systems of mathematical knowledge and problem-solving strategies that serve as a basis for learning mathematics. 

Across grades K-8, CWC LA utilizes the Illustrative Mathematics curriculum to make our CGI-aligned Math Workshop come to life. Illustrative Mathematics is a nationally regarded, standards aligned program.

Students participate in daily community building activities and ongoing Social Emotional Learning (SEL) lessons. The time and location of these lessons is different for every class and grade level, however CWC prides itself in not only having a dedicated block throughout the week for SEL but integrating it throughout all subjects and parts of the day, including outdoor play time. 

A number of tools have been blended together to create an SEL program that specifically develops skills in:

• self-recognition and self-management of one’s emotions
• an understanding of others including empathy and perspective-taking
• decision making, problem-solving and resolving conflict

SED Components may include: 

• Mindfulness exercises
• Peace Corners
• Instruction and practice with SED “Cool Tools”
• Morning Meeting
• Community Circles and Class Meetings for group problem-solving and community-building  
• Integrated Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion work

School day “specials” vary slightly from one campus to the other and take place several times a week. 

• Visual and Performing Arts (varies)
  Art, both visual and performing/drama, at CWC is an exploratory journey where children not only learn about art but also about themselves, their world and each other. Children learn artistic perception and aesthetic valuing, i.e. how to look and respond to works of art, culture, nature and the environment. This is often an area that is tied into other disciplines and is a vehicle for multicultural learning.
• Physical Education (PE)
  In PE, students develop their confidence and skills with an emphasis on body and space awareness. Students learn personal versus shared space, fundamental locomotor, as well as non-locomotor, manipulative skills, and applications. Including a mixture of team sports and cooperative games/activities, our PE program is a joyful space that promotes good sportsmanship, fair team play, effective communication and other invaluable social-emotional skills.
• Music
  CWC’s music program strives to provide children with opportunities to sing songs, play instruments and create musical compositions of their own. Children learn to describe music using the eight musical elements – melody, rhythm, harmony, dynamics, timbre, texture, structure and tempo. Children are exposed to music from different cultures, musical periods and rich musical traditions from around the world.
  

Multicultural Studies
CWC believes that children who learn about other cultures will be better able to function effectively in the 21st century and will view their neighborhood, city and world in a more informed, skillful and empathetic light. Many cultures and backgrounds are brought to students from outside the classroom through strategic choices of books, materials, music, food and more.  In many CWC schools, there is a language instructional component (often Spanish) that is offered throughout the week as well.