About the Children's School

Founded in 1926 on the campus of Mills College, the Children's School is the oldest laboratory school west of the Mississippi River. From its inception, the School has had the dual mission of providing quality education for both children and adults.

Since 2000 the Children's School has been housed in the Education Complex of the campus. The state-of-the-art facility includes an infant/toddler program, two preschool programs offering several scheduling options, and a kindergarten through fifth grade elementary school, each with age-appropriate playgrounds and structures.

A newly developed outdoor classroom, adjacent to the school on the bank of Lion Creek, provides a focal point for the science curriculum of the school and is utilized by all classes. Preschool children learn about habitat care, kindergarteners and first graders identify and classify arthropod populations, second and third graders investigate erosion, fourth and fifth graders test water quality and observe the effect of invasive and non-native forms of plant life on the fragile ecosystem. A look at the classroom walls in the various rooms shows the care with which this unique resource is described, both in text and in a variety of art media.

Visitors to the school often ask how children are able to be so quiet and yet free to move about. This is the effect of a learning community in which everyone has a stake in the safety and value of learning. Each child is engaged at his or her level of interest and ability, challenged to take the next step, encouraged to risk hypotheses, and provided with the tools to test his or her ideas. The commitment to this constructivist model of education can be seen in the infant room just as concretely as in the oldest elementary room. All learning is respected, documented, and celebrated.

As the laboratory of the School of Education, the Children's School has a permanent staff of highly qualified master teachers, all of whom have graduate level degrees, professional credentials, and wide experience with both child and adult learners. These master teachers work collaboratively with the College faculty to provide a setting in which graduate students combine their own classroom assignments and investigations in learning with the challenge of creating environments in which children are able to construct knowledge in an increasingly sophisticated and thoughtful manner.

Graduate students are preparing for a variety of careers: classroom teaching, school administration and leadership, early childhood special education, research, and child life in health care settings. Their presence makes possible a quality ratio of adults to children that allows for careful observation and documentation, as well as developing sound knowledge of child development and learning theory.

Committed to the highest standards while avoiding standardization, the Children's School teachers and the attending children reflect the diversity of the urban setting of Mills College. The children of Mills College faculty, staff, and students make up about a quarter of the school's enrollment, with the remainder coming from throughout the East Bay. Graduates from the preschool and from the elementary school are accepted at the full range of private and public schools in the community. Our strong curriculum is aligned with the frameworks of the State of California and is enriched with additional expert teaching for music, art and physical education. The full Orff instrumentarium is utilized by all ages and the elementary school mounts an annual musical production.

The teachers and administrators of the school present workshops, classes, and scholarly research as part of the laboratory's role in expanding knowledge of learning and teaching. College faculty members consult with the staff on curriculum development, issues of public and educational policy, and engage in research in the School.

The Mills College Children's School offers an exciting, rich, and accessible education for children and adults in a unique setting which offers access to the academic and artistic aspects of a college campus. We welcome inquiries and visits to our school.