Hummingbird School is a community and an on-going adventure comprised of parents, students and staff. Our school is a fun and spontaneous place where children are encouraged to explore, interact, create, imagine and express themselves. A space where being a child is supported, nurtured and celebrated. The program is designed to allow children to discover the world through play in an environment that is unhurried, loving and secure.

Most of our art and play activities are open-ended. By encouraging children to create their own projects, our approach is child-led rather than teacher-directed. We feel strongly that play is valuable and that children challenge themselves to work on the skills they need to learn and develop. A focus on play also allows preschoolers many opportunities to interact with peers and practice valuable skills such as empathy, flexibility, problem solving and negotiating.

We have an inclusion philosophy and the expectation that all children are invited to join in any activity. If children want to exclude others, we remind them that they can always schedule a playdate with just one friend but that school is like a birthday party and everyone is invited to play. We feel this fosters an emotionally safe environment of acceptance where we learn to embrace differences in others and truly work cooperatively with everyone at the school. We strive to create an authentic community where students feel safe emotionally and psychologically to be themselves and to share who they are. We talk about differences and acceptance and take students feelings seriously. When appropriate, we have group discussions about concerns and encourage each child to share how they feel about the situation and to give their suggestions. We use the Collaborative Problem Solving Approach for conflict resolution. We are a cooperative and democratic school.