Boulder Journey School

Boulder Journey School, located in Boulder, Colorado, is a full-day, year-round school that welcomes over 200 young children, ages 6 weeks to 6 years and their families. Beginning in 1995, educators at Boulder Journey School have been engaged in a study of the world-renowned schools for young children in Reggio Emilia, Italy. This study has resulted in ongoing collaboration with educators in Reggio Emilia and with educators throughout the world who are inspired by the Reggio Emilia Approach to Early Childhood Education.

As a school community, we are committed to creating and maintaining a culture that acknowledges, reflects and communicates our values. Boulder Journey School’s fundamental values are based on an image of children as curious, competent, and capable of co-constructing knowledge. From the moment of birth, children are engaged in a search for the meaning of life, seeking to understand the world that surrounds them and the relationships that they form and develop with others in their world.

At Boulder Journey School educators observe, document and interpret children’s thinking and learning in order to understand, support and extend the children’s meaning-making experiences.

Carlina Rinaldi, President of Reggio Children, writes,

“In this sense, among the first questions we should ask ourselves as teachers and educators are these: How can we help children find the meaning of what they do, what they encounter, what they experience? And how can we do this for ourselves? These are questions of meaning and the search for meaning (why? how? what?).”

These questions are fundamental to the work of children, families and educators at Boulder Journey School.