The Common School
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Progressive Pre-K and elementary school education across the Pioneer Valley since 1967.
Fostering joyful learning through wonder, discovery, play and authentic hands-on learning.
05/27/2026
Fifth and sixth grade spots available! Inquire today!
Our spring Farm Day tradition perfectly captured that children are at their best when joyfully engaging with the world. Our peaceful walk to Bramble Hill Farm was filled with singing, popsicles, and fun with bubbles. Grounded in our progressive philosophy, we believe children co-construct knowledge through inquiry and a vital connection to nature. To sustain this transformative environment that equips students to confidently question, collaborate, and shape a more just world, we rely on your collective support during our Spring Appeal. Please visit our website today to make a powerful donation that directly fuels this alive, nature-infused curriculum and ensures our children continue to thrive.
05/19/2026
During their Habitats & Ecosystems unit, first and second graders explored local environments at The Hitchcock Center, directly embodying The Common School’s mission of joyful, place-based learning. Working together to discover forest creatures, students practiced the collaboration and scientific inquiry central to our progressive curriculum. This hands-on approach nurtures the critical thinking and environmental stewardship foundational to our early elementary classrooms. Discover how your child can thrive in an environment that sparks lifelong curiosity—contact our admissions team today to schedule a tour!
At The Common School, we make sure learning is hands on for all kids. Our programs nurture resilient, curious thinkers who aren’t afraid to experiment on their way to getting it right. Limited spots available in our elementary school program. Come see how we turn discoveries into deep, joyful learning for your child. Click the link in our bio to schedule a tour!
Friday, we celebrated Grandfriends Day. It was a joy to welcome grandparents, special friends, and multiple generations of loved ones to campus to experience a day in the life of The Common School: time in classrooms, seeing our Big Room full of rich student work, playing in the yard and making kites, and spending time alongside the children who make this place so special.
05/05/2026
Limited spaces available for our kindergarten through second grade classrooms! At The Common School, education isn’t a one size fits all experience—it’s about nurturing “capable researchers” and kind neighbors in a place where every child truly belongs.
Join us where childhood is honored and wonder leads the way. Through “Forest Fridays,” hands-on “In-Depth Studies,” and creative “Choice Time,” our mixed-age classrooms let children find their own voices—whether they are exploring the Larch Hill woods, building math structures, or writing their very first stories.
Tour our campus, meet our community, and imagine the discovery that awaits your child at The Common School.
More than ever, it matters that we show up- in full color, with courage, for each other. Today at The Common School marches with intention and joy. We believe in living out loud, in making space for every child to be fully seen and deeply known. Here, individuality is celebrated, protected, and allowed to bloom. We walk for who our students, families and teachers are, and for who we are still becoming.
05/01/2026
Green Nursery has been really enjoying the spring weather. The Friday before break they made butterfly costumes and flew around the Backyard and Big Field. This week, at the Lower Field, they collected bunches of dandelions. These were turned into bouquets for attracting real butterflies and some kids even tried making long chains with the flowers.
02/06/2026
Contra dance is a joyful, guided folk dance where partners and neighbors move together to live music, learning as they go. Join us February 7th from 1–4 PM at The Common School as we open our doors for an afternoon that gathers friends, families, and neighbors into one shared rhythm, because community here is not an idea, it is something we practice together. Curious about learning in a place built on connection, care, and belonging.
If you are looking for a school rooted in belonging, relationships, and shared responsibility, learn more about admissions at The Common School.
02/05/2026
Today the Nurseries and Kindergarteners marched! The Bells of Freedom March is a part of the Common School’s social justice curriculum, Change Makers. Social justice is woven into the daily life of our early childhood classrooms not set aside for a single week or moment. Throughout the year, children learn about people in our community and around the world who are actively working toward justice, while also honoring those whose courage shaped the path before us.
The goals for this curriculum are to help build children’s awareness that:
• There is injustice in the world
• There are people working to change that
• You can be one of those people
Learn more about our Change Maker curriculum and begin your admissions journey at http://commonschool.org/admissions
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PO Box 2248, 521 S Pleasant Street
Amherst, MA
01002