Aug. 15-College of Marin- As we, at Homies Empowerment, are designing a high school, it was important for us to learn from 3 to 5-year-olds, and learn from child development centers about how much thought they put into making the learning environment very “developmentally appropriate” for kids. That doesn’t have to end when we get to high school as teens need developmentally appropriate spaces too!
We were blessed to visit the College of Marin Child Study Center (CSC) and get to learn from them.
CSC donated hundreds of children’s books. We will be giving out two boxes full of books to our community, and keeping one box for the Homies Empowerment People’s library.
Learning from the Land
Co-Director of Homies School Ops, Rubi Pelayo, notes that “Dr. Corinne Calica, Director of CSC, was kind enough to give us a full tour of their facility as we learned about necessary licensing and build-out codes in order for the classrooms to suit the needs of the children and provide a safe and joyful space. My favorite part was walking through their garden, through the land, as we experienced the freedom of walking through a bit of nature-imagining the children hiding and playing behind branches. I was able to sense my inner child for a moment and picture the young me running through those branches and plants, while playing in the sand and just feeling free.”
This is a place that really honors young people’s ability to learn from nature and be free. Here, kids are able to grow their own food and be one with mother nature.
Why a CDC in a High School
We discussed the importance of having a child development center inside of a high school, in particular to honor support for teen parents, and there is also a lot of learning that can take place between three and five-year-olds and teenagers.
Dr. Corinne Calica is an inspiring leader and we are very excited to continue to develop a partnership with her in the ever evolving design of our school.
It is affirming to see the way children are welcomed here and the promise that the staff make to the kids, as seen by the 10 “We Will” statements below,
We will Statement #7 “We will work to uproot our own personal biases as adults and will speak out against prejudice and bias whenever we encounter it.”
Homies Empowerment HECHOS 