The Orca K-8 Vision
In 2004, students, parents and teachers began crafting a vision statement and it has been evolving ever since.
Here is the Vision as it reads today and below are the supporting statements:
In this garden,
We all belong.
We spread roots,
In rich soil.
With wind, rain, and sun,
We grow fruits and flowers.
We send seeds of change,
Across the Earth.
In this Garden we all belong
.
Communities start with belonging.
We all belong is a powerful statement about Orca’s commitment to equity.
Racism and bias are actively addressed.
Children are taught to understand differences and measure success by collective outcomes as well as individual achievements.
Belonging means high expectations and strong academic preparation for children of all races.
We all belong roots equity in human dignity.
We all belong
also underlies Orca’s commitment to the whole child.
Knowing children – what they know and feel, how they learn – creates the foundation for learning.
We value intellectual, emotional, social, and physical growth.
Empowered students actively engage with motivating curriculum and each other.
Orca explores the dance between learning that emerges from children’s interests, and lessons that develop essential skills.
We spread roots In rich soil.
A web of families, staff, peers, and community supports Orca students.
Our families participate in all aspects of school life, from organizing classroom support and community events to making decisions and implementing curriculum.
Orca families join children in learning to build bridges across personal and cultural divides -- an essential skill in a multicultural community working for justice.
Our future is also entwined with the Earth’s.
Orca encourages children as they explore, nurture, and celebrate their connections with the planet.
Students are introduced to environmental themes that build science expertise and develop awareness of human impacts and responsibility.
Environmental science is hands-on and includes planting seeds and knowing what it takes to make a garden grow.
With wind, rain, and sun, We grow fruits and flowers.
The human spirit defines itself in creative expression.
We believe children need to explore – to mess around with ideas and materials – and then examine what emerges. The arts are a model for exploration: try to express thoughts or feelings with toothpicks or sidewalk chalk, or maybe with a bongo drum or your entire body.
The arts are essential to learning.
Dirt digging is also science:
exploration allows scientists to imagine new answers – or new questions – and then develop experiments to evaluate their ideas. The human experience requires a willingness to take risks, follow threads to an uncertain end, and sit with mystery.
We send seeds of change Across the Earth.
An Orca education is experienced together -- staff, students, parents, and community members. Challenges are opportunities for learning: What’s really going on? What choices could we make? What are other perspectives? How can we use this experience to learn and grow as a community? Democracy is a complex endeavor and Orca aims to raise children who will participate.
Our graduates will make their way in a world that demands strong academic skills, critical thinking, cultural competence, and collaborative action.
Orca students experience freedom with responsibility – to themselves, their community, and the planet we depend on. We aim to develop empowered citizens who will change the world.
Orca K-8 @ Whitworth
•
5215 46th Ave S.
•
Seattle
WA
98118
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206-252-6900
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www.orcapta.org
