What makes the human mind so special (or unique) is its capacity to create, innovate, and transform. Ultimately, an education, and, therefore, a school, should be judged on its capacity to empower students with confidence and the tools students require to be agents of positive change. “Social Entrepreneurship,” as a guiding principle, embraces the full range of skills and tools, along with the mindset and moral maturity to become an agent of positive change in our world — a fundamental strategy of learning at WNS.
Whether we talk of a play-based curriculum in our early childhood program, explorations and design-code-make (DCM) activities in kindergarten and throughout the elementary years, or project-based learning in the middle school, we describe the steps on the journey to unleash a child’s natural sense of wonder, creativity, and innovation. Our curriculum cultivates tools needed for research, calculation, and communication, fostering meaningful outcomes. Both our visual and performing arts programs are integral components in further engaging our students’ imagination and discovering ways to communicate beyond the written and spoken word. Our social-emotional learning (SEL) strategies integrated into daily curriculum add yet another vital dimension by giving students the social skills and tools to build a learning community based on civility, kindness, empathy, and ethical decision making.
‘Social Entrepreneurship,’ along with all of its complementary components, defines a PS-8th grade WNS education. Our graduates are confident and competent in their capacity to create the world they want with both the tools and a growth mindset poised to imagine solutions to problems they may not even yet know exist. We invite you to evaluate education by its highest standards, through the lens of social entrepreneurship and the capacity to innovate for the benefit of others. This is a WNS education.
Creating Changemakers
‘Changemaker’ is a term we use frequently at WNS. A changemaker is not just a dreamer, but an action-taker, an innovator, and a leader, committed to bringing about societal change. It is our collective commitment that when a student graduates from WNS, they are equipped with the necessary skills and mindset to continue on their path to becoming exactly that. This begins even with our youngest students, who are introduced to the concepts of collaboration and innovation starting in our Early Childhood Center (ECC) and kindergarten. By the time they reach middle school, students are experienced problem solvers.
In their 7th and 8th grade capstone projects, students are challenged to not only identify a societal problem, but also to connect with community members, implement different strategies in search of workable solutions.
The goal of these projects is to embody the spirit of our school’s mission statement: “to create a community of lifelong learners who… inspire the world with their curiosity, innovation, compassion, and stewardship.”
