About Santa Fe

At The Gentle Nudge School we provide an atmosphere of love, care, and guidance in which children ages 3 through 6 are supported in their social, emotional, cognitive and physical development. In a beautiful and enriching classroom environment, we continuously present the children with inviting activities that give them the opportunity to play and learn creatively. The activities are derived from a thematic unit-based curriculum, and are designed to stimulate curiosity, and to appropriately challenge the children while simultaneously fostering their sense of self-esteem.

We believe that within a safe, well-organized, cozy environment, under the guidance of dedicated and caring professional teachers, each school day in the life of a young child is an adventure and a step forward. We provide constant support and encouragement to motivate and enable children to grow and learn. Our activities and curriculum provide children the experiences which allow them to gain their own understanding and construct their own knowledge.

Every child’s unique qualities contribute to the building of a community where friends learn and grow together. We consciously observe the unique qualities of each child, and with these strengths and attributes in mind, we approach our days in a structured yet flexible manner. We strive to be in the moment, with each child, throughout every school day. In addition to being well-staffed, having 7 unique and attractive rooms further allows us to accommodate the varied needs of each individual child.

We believe that the key to cultivating children’s healthy behavior is in understanding their feelings. Our role as caregivers is to recognize and appreciate all of the emotional experiences children have, and with a calm, patient, reassuring presence, to offer them the tools to act upon them appropriately.

We recognize that play is the primary manner through which children learn, and by offering a variety of appealing choices for play, the children are appropriately engaged in positive classroom behavior. We employ a theme based, integrated curriculum which consists of hands-on, age-appropriate activities. Children can choose activities such as art, dramatic play, science, math manipulatives, and language arts. Our curriculum also includes teacher-directed activities such as daily circle time, cooking, science projects, and nature investigation, through which the class can collectively explore curriculum content.