The WNS Advantage

Four Pillars of the WNS Advantage

Families are streaming to WNS from our local community as well as from our surrounding communities stretching from the South Bay north to the Sunset corridor and to points east. While our convenient location adjacent to the 405 freeway and several major transit roadways plays a part in this attraction to WNS, parents and students are drawn to WNS for reasons intrinsic to the school’s philosophy and mission which can be described as our four pillars of success: Academic Excellence, Community, Diversity and Character Development.

ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE

WNS first and foremost is a school dedicated to educating a wide-range of student learners in a way that will prepare them for success in the 21st century. Our educational approach embraces the best practices from the progressive, developmental and traditional educational philosophies. The co-teaching model is a fixture in our DK through fifth grade classrooms, where we have two credentialed teachers in each classroom and teams of four teachers at each grade level collaborating to bring the targeted instruction that meets the needs of all children. Frequent screening for student understanding and flexible grouping for mathematics and language arts instruction are examples of the WNS approach. Students in K-8 have specialists for instruction in science, visual arts, performing arts, technology, library and research skills and physical education. The middle school provides students with an academically challenging program that prepares them for success in high school, stresses collaboration and project-based learning and the development of organizational skills and work habits that will serve them for a lifetime. All WNS eighth grade students complete Algebra I and Spanish I. Middle school students enjoy a robust athletics program, an art program that is a part of our thinking curriculum and exciting performing arts opportunities. WNS makes excellent use of its proximity to Loyola Marymount University, with access to professional development programs for the faculty and a wide range of community-based resources.

The K-8 Model at WNS

Schools around the country are beginning to see what Westside Neighborhood School has known for years — that K-8 schools are an ideal educational model for children. Children benefit from this model at WNS in multiple ways. First, both older and younger children have opportunities to lead and to learn about leadership. Older children have invaluable opportunities for leadership as they organize, plan and implement a variety of activities and school events, including the school’s annual yearbook, morning assemblies and family group activities. Younger children learn about the qualities of good leadership from the older students they see and with whom they interact.

Second, in a society that pushes children to grow up quickly, the environment in a K-8 school keeps children younger longer. Middle school students experience a sense of responsibility to others and are aware of their position as role models within the school. Studies suggest that young teens do better academically and socially in K-8 schools and have fewer behavior problems than in stand-alone middle schools or in 7-12 schools with the social pressures from much older students.

Third, staying in one school longer promotes student affiliation, security and a sense of continuity with the past and future. WNSville, third grade Pioneer Day, the fourth grade train trip to Mission San Juan Capistrano, the eighth grade Washington, D.C. trip and family groups are just some of the traditions WNS students have embraced.

As a DK through eighth grade school, WNS offers all these benefits within an atmosphere in which each child is known and celebrated for all they add to our community, the family that is WNS.

COMMUNITY

WNS does not just admit students, we admit families. We are looking for families that value the opportunities WNS provides and who are seeking a community for their family as well as a school for their children.

Morning Assemblies

We begin each day at WNS with a community gathering at our morning assembly that includes all students, faculty and many parents. The fifteen-minute assemblies feature a sequence of presentations throughout the week, including a talk by the Head of School at the start of each week, sports reports, student performances and class presentations highlighting a field trip or exciting activity. Seventh and eighth grade student leaders officiate at the assemblies and each assembly is begun by a salute to the Flag and to the Earth, and concludes with a few minutes of reflection.

Family Groups

An important part of the WNS community is its family groups. These twenty groups include children from all grades and two faculty or staff advisors. The groups remain the same throughout a child's time at WNS, adding new students as they join our school. Seventh and eighth grade students serve as leaders of the groups. Core Group, composed of middle school students, plans activities and provides instruction for the leaders. Family groups engage in a variety of activities, including Breaking Bread at Thanksgiving, community service projects, and the annual winter program. In our emergency preparation drills, family group members meet in groups so that the younger students are in contact with older students they know well. Family groups are one more way of expressing our closeness as a school community.

Reading Buddies and K-5 Partners

We make an effort at WNS to create community in a number of ways. One is our buddy program. As reading buddies, the first grade students are paired with the third grade students, and the second grade students are paired with the fourth grade students. In addition to reading together weekly, these pairs become friends, celebrating holidays or taking field trips together.

The most elaborate pairing is between the kindergarten and the fifth grade students. They meet twice a month for planned activities, including reading, poetry writing, art projects, kickball games, and a celebration honoring the kindergarten parents. From kindergarten, students look forward to reaching fifth grade so they can have the honor of becoming a buddy to a kindergarten student. In addition, our youngest students in the DK class meet monthly with our eighth graders and even perform together in our annual winter program.

Parent Involvement and Parent Education

WNS has a very active Parent Group organization that organizes spirit-building activities, parent support and fundraising for the school. All WNS parents are members, and everyone is encouraged to become involved in the work the Parent Group does for WNS. The school also provides a comprehensive series of parent education events for WNS parents and for the local community. In addition to DK through eighth grade level meetings throughout the year, WNS hosts a series of Speaker Events for the WNS and surrounding community.

DIVERSITY

Westside Neighborhood School offers families one of the most diverse private school communities in Los Angeles. In addition to the richness of cultural and ethnic diversity present, our school embraces a wide range of socioeconomic diversity, family structures, religions, languages and learning styles. Children do not just learn about diversity — they experience it every day.

Westside Neighborhood School more accurately represents the world in which children live. WNS is a community where individuals feel valued for their differences, value the differences in others and celebrate all we share.

CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT

We at WNS believe it is as important to teach to the heart as it is to teach to the mind. Mutual respect and embracing differences are integral to our community. Developmentally appropriate social skills are taught from kindergarten through the middle school. Opportunities for school and community-based service learning are keystones of our approach to character development. Even in the most wonderful families and school communities, conflicts do arise. Our approach at WNS is to use these situations as learning opportunities with a child-centered and developmentally appropriate approach. Teaching children positive strategies for conflict resolution while also instilling clear limits for behavior that will ensure each child’s emotional and physical safety describe the WNS approach to discipline and character development.

Programs are offered to help our older students develop skills, knowledge and strategies for navigating the challenges of life. These include lessons on human sexuality in the fifth and seventh grades, drug and alcohol education in the seventh and eighth grade years and self-defense in the eighth grade year.