Grade 3 students have been visiting the Kindergarten classrooms to read with their Book Buddies! Our Book Buddies program pairs upper elementary students with their younger cohorts for weekly meeting spent reading or playing together around campus. Kindergarten students are working on their reading and writing skills, while Grade 3 students are working on their confidence while reading aloud. Both classes enjoy the camaraderie and mentorship that the program provides!...
Have you heard the exciting news? Gillispie's Art Room has moved to The Art Bungalow on Fay Avenue. We are loving this new, old space! Built in 1910, the Craftsman-style bungalow is inspiring Gillispie artists with its historic charm and beautiful front garden. Students have been working in their new sketchbooks “en plein air” these past few weeks— even during a passing rain shower! In the kindergarten classes, we learned that Leonardo Da Vinci, at age six,...
We are excited to welcome our new Early Childhood Support Teacher, Sarah Baxter, to our community! What inspired you to work with kids/become a teacher? I have always loved working with children, and I was fortunate to have had many great teachers growing up who inspired me to become to follow their career path. What do you love about your job? I love helping and working with children and families, and being a part of a great school community. What is...
Big announcement! Gillispie was voted "Best Preschool" in the La Jolla Light Newspaper's reader's choice poll and placed second in the Best Private School category! Thank you so much for your support! We are very proud of our learning village and of everyone who is a part of it....
Welcome to Media Literacy, one of Gillispie's six specialty classes! Gillispie students in Grades 1-6 take a specialty class called media literacy. Media literacy helps students become competent, critical, and literate users of print and digital media. Because reading is the core of both academic and personal competencies, media literacy classes include time in the library to develop students’ love of literature and foster their social-emotional development. The course will also include research skills, keyboarding practice, and...
¡Bienvenidos a la clase de español! From Kindergarten to Grade 3, students learn Spanish mainly through songs, play, and stories. From Grade 4 on, spoken Spanish, skits, videos for comprehension, and grammar become an emphasis for our daily routine. This week, Grade 4 is getting ready for the very first Gillispie Spanish Spelling Bee. Students have been given a list of 24 Spanish words to study, and some of them are pretty tough! Can you spell alfombra (rug) ? or ...
We are excited to welcome our new Early Childhood Outdoor Classroom Teacher, Anna Gonzalez, to our community! What inspired you to work with kids/become a teacher? Coming from a large Italian family is what inspired me to become a teacher and work with children. What do you love about your job? I love watching children develop and helping them through the learning process. The energy that children give me every day makes me so happy. What is your favorite thing/hobby to...
Kindergarten students have jumped into their handwriting program, Handwriting Without Tears. In one of their first lessons, they learned that all capital letters are made up of 4 basic shapes: big lines, little lines, big curves, and little curves. Using large, hands-on cutouts of lines and curves, students practiced making things with these 4 basic shapes. These tools will help guide them through building letters, copying letters, and then independently writing letters! Learn more about the Handwriting Without Tears program here: https://www.lwtears.com/...
We are excited to welcome Hanna Stagg to our Grade 1 teaching staff! Here is a little more about her: What inspired you to work with kids/become a teacher? My parents inspired me to follow a career in education. They are both international educators, and they raised my sister and me in Southeast Asia. Teaching was a very natural and easy decision for me. What do you love about your job? Being with children each and every day- 100%! More specifically,...
What a first week back to school it has been! The new facade and campus changes had many in "awe" as they returned for the first time after a very busy summer break. We love these amazing photos of our new spaces and happy student faces. ...