A place where the atmosphere is unhurried, free, and full.
A place designed for the children's sake.
A place where how you learn is as significant as what you learn.
Who we are
Heartwood Day School is an educational offering to the families of Washington DC and surrounding areas. We are a small-by-design preschool and day school for K-5 through 2nd grade, devoted to educating the whole person. Our program is especially designed to foster relationships within a rich and varied curriculum of books, materials and experiences.
We are informed by the following questions and keep them before us each day: ‘What is best for children?’ “What impact do our educational practices have on the mind, body and spirit of our students and families?’ and “How can our school be a gift to our city and its residents?”
Practices
Living Curriculum
We draw on inspiring ideas, people and things in literature, science, math, history, geography, art, music, handwork and all realms of knowledge.
The life of the school is structured “so that the strong have something to strive after and the weak may not fall back in dismay”. We exchange workbooks for copybooks, textbooks for living books, and short-term results for long-term learning.
Narration
Our primary educational tool is narration. This is simply the retelling of what has been read, heard, or seen. Whether telling back orally or through illustration or writing, the child finds themself relating to the information and growing in their ability to attend. Material is not simply memorized for a test. It becomes a part of the learner and cannot be taken away from them.
Personhood
The mystery of personhood is the signature premise for all we hold dear at HDS. We seek to educate the whole person and believe that each person is always more than meets the eye!
Postures & Habits
The persistent effort to help a child do what they lack the power to compel themself to do is a significant work for parents and teachers. These repeated ‘doings and beings’ create paths for freedom, character and self-governance for a lifetime. Our attention is given to fostering intellectual habits beginning with attention, listening, and remembering along with moral ones such as responsibility, gratitude, and respect.
The Shape of our Year
Our calendar year is informed by the personal need for work, play and rest, the natural seasonal rhythm of fall, winter, spring and summer. We believe in the examined life and offer our families habits and rhythms that nourish 'a life well-lived.' Each day includes a morning gathering of songs, stories, and 'share days' before entering our academic morning work. We eat lunch together as a school, and afternoons include music, handwork, field study, nature study, and more.
Excursions
Each week we set aside books and things for a 'jaunt.' Traveling by foot, city bus, or cars we journey all over the city to uncover its particular stories, treasures, crafts, industries, natural beauties and historical moments together.
