08/11/2026
When I think about what I hope children carry with them from Mariposas, it goes far beyond what they learn academically.
I want them to know what it feels like to belong.
To be known and cared for.
To notice when someone else needs help.
To work through hard moments together.
To understand that the classroom belongs to all of us, and that caring for it is something we share.
And I want them to develop that same relationship with the natural world, to know it not simply as a place we visit, but as a place we are part of.
This is what being a relationship-centered classroom means to me.
It doesn’t mean that academics, independence, creativity, or exploration are less important. It means that relationship is the foundation that allows all of those things to grow.
Because childhood is also where we begin learning how to live alongside others, how to care for a place, and how to understand that we are connected to something beyond ourselves.
At Mariposas, I hope children leave knowing:
I belong here.
You belong here.
We belong to one another.
And we belong to this world
