Beyond the red gates,
learning matters.
Program
Curriculum Overview | Humanities | Leadership Through Service | Eagle Days
“Think big, start small” was developed because what makes Los Encinos School (LES) unique is its small size, allowing for individualized attention and familiarity.
On average, LES has 26 students per grade level with two teachers and an assistant for the younger grades, and one teacher and an assistant for the older grades. The curriculum is unique in that it’s integrated across all subjects to allow students to delve deeper instead of simply wider, while a great emphasis is placed on experiential learning through hands-on projects, field trips, and experiences. LES stands out for being a kindergarten through sixth-grade elementary school. LES believes that childhood is sacred, and by offering an enriched 6th grade experience with middle school curriculum woven in, students are given the gift of time. Time that allows students to mature and take the next step into a new school with self-confidence, agency, and awareness of the world around them allowing them to succeed both academically and socially.
The power of small can be attributed to the creative design and use of the LES campus. From the first moment you pass through the iconic red gates, LES welcomes you through all senses. LES has taken great care to take the child’s point of view in the design of their campus. The school provides a space of warmth and welcome, not only from its compassionate and experienced faculty and staff, but from the thoughtful layout of the campus. Here, children have the freedom and safety to see, smell, hear, and touch the world around them, awakening the natural curiosity and wonder that childhood is made of and igniting a love of learning. Breakout rooms combined with outdoor learning spaces create opportunities for small group learning and exploration. The flexible set-up allows the faculty to provide project-based integration of reading, math, and science with the other aspects of LES learning: social studies, art, music, STEM innovation lab, library, ASL, and physical education. By delivering curriculum with vertical integration across grade levels and horizontal integration across disciplines, the LES faculty guides students in mastering academic content in a way that creates deep and lasting connections.
The school’s elementary reading program includes phonemic awareness, phonics, and decoding. When combined with library and the school’s “Creative Corner” breakout room, the school provides literacy centers with small group instruction to inspire the joy of reading. This love of learning and curiosity naturally flows into literature, social studies, science, and technology as reading is reinforced across all curricular areas.
Math is taught using the Dimensions Math curriculum, which dovetails perfectly with the school’s learning approach. Dimensions is a small group learning program that focuses on deep conceptual understanding and critical thinking/problem-solving skill development. The mastery-based techniques utilize hands-on manipulatives and project-based experiences to solidify proficiency.
The school’s STEM Innovation Lab also supports an inquiry-based experience where students plan, prototype, and create. The school recently added a CLASS VR system. These VR sets are exclusively designed for K-6 settings and allow students the opportunity to explore immersive 3D worlds, such as human lungs, ancient ruins, historical sites, and landmarks, to name a few. The content is fully assessed and filtered to ensure experiences are age appropriate. Funding through a grant made this acquisition possible.
The Humanities play another important component of the curriculum. Art, Music, ASL, and PE are all integrated into a yearly school-wide theme. The learning is displayed in many creative ways throughout the school year in the forms of open houses, musical showcases, winter performances, and art shows. All giving evidence to the integration of learning.
New to LES is the school’s ASL (American Sign Language) program. This program is integrated school-wide and implemented across the entire community, including students, teachers, administrations, and staff. Additionally, the school provides opportunities for parents, grandparents, and special friends to learn ASL. The program is run by an on-site ASL professional group, who provide learning of language and the awareness and understanding of the Deaf community and culture. Funding through a grant made this program possible.
Culture is another important component of the LES programs and curriculum. The school believes that, as a world rich in cultures, so should a school be. Families are invited to share their cultural celebrations throughout the school year, along with assemblies from various groups.
By contextualizing different cultures, students gain an important perspective on people’s differing experiences. LES strives to instill a value of kindness and awareness of one’s feelings and those of others. The school’s social and emotional learning component follows the RULER program, an evidence-based system developed at the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence and integrated across grade levels and disciplines.
Lastly, but not least, is our Eagle Days, a four-day immersive and cross-grade level experience, which gives the curriculum an exciting interlude twice each year. Faculty and staff members choose a topic of interest, such as camping, yoga, or digital design. Students are then free to sign up for any workshop that interest them. These multi-grade level learning groups connect students with common interests to ignite new passions and curiosity, as well as new friendships.
Los Encinos School’s motto, “Think big, start small,” is more than a pithy saying, it is the ethos of the school. We are small by purpose providing all the critical learning elements found at larger schools and more. Our small size gives us the opportunity to encourage strength in our student’s individuality. After all, it’s been proven, our ability to change the world starts with something small, oneself.
Admissions Events
Our Admissions Events for the fall of 2025 have been set.
Applications for 26-27
We are now accepting applications for the 2026-2027 school year.