Terra San Francisco
TK - 5
Who we are
​
Terra San Francisco TK-5
is
a
nature-based,
trilingual
 Mandarin,
Spanish,
and
English
program
for
Transitional Kindergarteners
through
5th
graders.

Fluency
in
Spanish
and/or
Mandarin
is
 achieved
through
a
strong
foundation
of
 language
immersion
from Transitional Kindergarten through 2nd grade followed
by
language
infusion
in
grades three, four, and five.
 Engaging,
passionate
teachers
harness
 students'
enthusiasm
to
accelerate
traditional
 academic
learning,
with
interactive
projects
 and
student-led
discussions
inspired
by
the
 Reggio
Emilia
philosophy.
A
personalized
curriculum
with
low
student-teacher
ratios empowers
young
minds
to
grow
beyond
what
 traditional
classrooms
offer.
We
aim
to
spark
 wonder,
a
love
of
learning,
and
21st
century
 leadership
skills
through
weekly
nature-based
 excursions.
And
our
culture
of
kindness
is
 infused
throughout
the
community
and
 bolstered
by
dedicated
Social
Emotional
 Learning
staff
and
curriculum.

NOTE: Terra San Francisco is currently accepting applications for grades PK - 5.
Take the first step by applying online
Languages at Terra School
Research shows that learning a second language before the age of six results in a higher likelihood of native fluency. Through our language immersion program, children will have every opportunity to attain fluency in Spanish or Mandarin.
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Studies show that additional benefits of learning a second language include increased critical thinking skills, creativity, empathy, and verbal and math skills.
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And learning a second language will broaden each child’s career, friendship, and travel opportunities as adults and global citizens.
How it works
In grades TK - 2, students will receive 80% of instruction in the target language, with English and Math classes taught in English.
When students move to grade 3, immersion switches to infusion, with 20% of instruction taught in the target language.
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This offers students a chance to continue building on their language skills as they tackle more advanced subjects.
At a Glance
1 in 5 students enrolls in an advanced course, beyond their grade level
92% of 8th graders were accepted to their first-choice high school in 2023
100% of 8th graders graduate with an original arts portfolio for high school applications (e.g. self-produced video, self-authored play, etc.)
50% of teachers hold a master degree
48% are fluent in another language
35% have international teaching experience
3 hours per week of language infusion in 3rd to 8th grade
1 day per week immersed in nature
21st & 22nd Century
Skills
Our students are poised to be trailblazers in the dynamic 21st-century landscape. We equip them to tackle contemporary challenges by guiding them to recognize and leverage their unique strengths.
Believing that intelligence transcends the traditional three R's, we adopt a global perspective that sees each child as a unique individual capable of cultivating diverse intelligence. Our approach nurtures the child's complete development—emotionally, socially, and cognitively. This synergy ensures your child feels supported, safe, and challenged simultaneously.
As the 22nd Century beckons, our approach to education evolves. Here are the four essential Cs for middle-level education, applicable across all levels:
Care
In steering toward the future, care becomes a crucial compass. Beyond productivity, we instill an ethic of care in students, emphasizing mindfulness and heartfulness. This is modeled and practiced in our daily educational endeavors.
Connection
Building bridges forward demands a commitment to authentic connection. Learning happens when students stretch beyond their comfort zones to connect with diverse perspectives. The importance of connecting is modeled to encourage students to embrace discomfort for genuine understanding.
Culture
Cultivating joyous, growth-oriented futures requires guiding students in creating positive spaces. Our classrooms and schools serve as models of joy, positivity, and happiness, laying the foundation for students to replicate these cultures in their future spheres.
Community
Fostering inclusive learning communities requires valuing all voices. Going beyond informing stakeholders, our institutions actively seek their input, breaking free from silos to embrace the messy work of community-building. This practice exemplifies the importance of involving diverse voices and growing inclusive practices in our daily educational routine.
LEARN
We want children to fall in love with the process of learning – to be comfortable in uncertainty, curious to explore and ask questions, and inspired by what they discover. We want them to digest setbacks, and integrate the lessons of failing as part of their pursuit of new possibilities. How we do this at the Terra Schools is what sets us apart.
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Tailored, collegiate-track academics: For subjects like math and world languages, students are grouped not by age, but by their ability level. This is done through a structure called “banded scheduling”, so they remain engaged and challenged in their learning. By attending to a child’s unique constellation of talents earlier than the high school level, we help them discover their interests, prepare for future pursuits, and cultivate a love of learning.
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Multilingual Spanish, Mandarin, & English education: Beginning in preschool, we immerse students in world languages in an effort to bolster critical thinking, comprehension, and neuroplasticity early in their development. Research shows that children who learn multiple languages gain critical empathy skills and the ability to understand others’ perspectives much earlier than monolingual children. After Kindergarten, students begin focused elective instruction in their chosen language. As they gain proficiency, they can work with their advisors to add a third language to their curriculum if they wish to do so.
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Experiential, project-based learning: Our inquiry-based learning approach cultivates students’ natural curiosity and celebrates personal strengths in the classroom. In every academic discipline, students take on projects that appeal to their interests and test their problem-solving skills in the real world. Faculty encourage students to tinker, experiment, explore, ask questions, and approach challenges from new angles in order to find novel solutions.
GROW
Presenting a child with an intentional environment shapes how they grow. We believe our role is to provide an environment that promotes creativity, resilience, patience, and passion in every child. Our aim is to help each child strengthen their relationship to themselves and the world by helping them step beyond their comfort zones, and develop the confidence and grit they need to live a successful life.
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Earth education & outdoor school: Students venture into the natural Bay Area surroundings with highly trained Earth Education specialists once every week. Foundational core curricula combined with progressive outdoor education methods fosters a sense of awe and connection with others and nature. Students feel a sense of wonder and grounding that helps them cope with stress, remain focused, and develop a love of learning that bolsters their academic performance.
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Student-led discussions: We believe that empowering students to develop, voice, and adjust their thinking in group discussions promotes agency, empathy and respect for diverse points of view. Beginning in middle school, we give students the opportunity to direct their own discussions in accordance with the Harkness Method. This is a teaching style developed at Phillips Exeter that emphasizes active listening, speaking with confidence, respectful disagreement and creative problem solving. Learning to listen and sit with differences is vital, but we also encourage students to use their voice and advocate for their unique perspectives. This methodology helps students retain information with more detail, teach one another, and learn the soft skills of active listening, speaking with confidence, disagreeing respectfully, and seeking creative solutions.
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Arts electives: At the Terra Schools, we believe children are natural-born creators and should have abundant opportunities to bring their individual perspectives to life. Drama, Music, and Visual Art are as important as academic subjects and life skills. For example, producing a play with your peers is planning, organization, and collaboration; writing a piece of music is relaying a moment of history; composing a collage is an inquiry and stating a thesis. While teaching skills and techniques that can bring their visions to life, we emphasize the value of their creative voices–that there is no “right way” to sing a song, play a role, or draw your dreams.
Elective examples:
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2-d Studio Drawing - Graphite, Conte and Charcoal, Pastels
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Cake Decorating - Fondant textures
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Large Art Installations and Reimagining Spaces
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Vocal Collaboration Lab
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Improvisational Drama
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Make a Music Video
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Rock Band
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Handwork - Embroidery
BELONG​
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At The Terra Schools, we believe kindness is the cornerstone of forming a safe community where each person can thrive socially, emotionally, and academically. We consider it essential to an effective education to help children generate sophisticated language for communicating with their friends, teachers, families, communities, societies, and the earth. We treat healthy relationships at all levels as key to a child’s vitality.
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Social-emotional learning: As part of our commitment to a strong community, we have dedicated an in-house social emotional learning (SEL) consultant to lead supportive efforts toward the mental health betterment of all students, teachers and administrators. Both staff and students understand that membership in a community means fortifying the internal resources of all individuals. For example, teachers and staff meet weekly with our SEL consultant about individual students who need extra support, so no student falls through the cracks and every child is given a clear path to thriving.
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Student mentorship: We pair up older and younger students as “buddies,” so older students develop a sense of responsibility and younger students feel supported by someone who watches out for them. Cross-age friendships are common at the Terra Schools, in part because of our buddy program and because of the many opportunities to cross paths during banded scheduling classes and recess.
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Family partnership: We believe it takes collaboration between students, families, and staff to foster our value of “belonging”. While all schools offer parent/teacher conferences, we take the family-school relationship a step further with social & emotional learning-focused monthly parent workshops. To foster a sense of connected community, we bring parents, kids, teachers, and staff together at our community events, such as our annual Lunar New Year celebration, the student Untalent Show, the student-produced school play, Upper School Spain trip, and Upper School Ski Trip.
