Welcome from the Head of School

Leif Gustavson, PhD
Head of School

Here at The Marylhurst School, learning is joyful. Learning is deeply felt. Learning is enduring. We believe that all children are creative, intelligent, curious, and caring human beings. We are passionate about teaching in ways that tap into this energy and nurture it. As a progressive school, our vision is to build an inclusive community of citizens, explorers, and creators. We are committed to authentic, accessible, and meaningful learning that meets children where they are in their intellectual, social and emotional, and physical development. We know that children learn best when their teachers are coaches, mentors, and guides, providing the room and support to ask and explore meaningful questions, collaborate as well as work independently, and impact the world through their new skills and understandings. Our classrooms hum with student-driven wondering, planning, problem-solving, exploring, acting, and reflecting. This looks like meeting as a class to think critically together about the difference between the intent and impact of words. It is building a Trojan Horse replica in kindergarten and first grade as a way of exploring Greek mythology. In middle school, students research, construct, and bake with solar ovens to dig deeply into physics principles. In second and third grade, students take on the challenge of building a suspension bridge using plastic bags, chairs, and cardboard that can support the weight of a fellow student to understand the concepts of compression, tension, load, and span. Fourth and fifth graders design and build street of dream homes that open up diverse concepts like circuitry, square footage, and comparable pricing. Through immersive, real-world projects like these, our students discover who they are as writers and readers, mathematicians, historians, scientists, and artists. Through moving both brains and bodies, our students come to understand themselves and their relationship to the world around them. 

I invite you to come, visit, and explore our school with us. We’d love to meet you and welcome you into what it looks, sounds, and feels like to be a part of The Marylhurst School community.