Aurora School's mission is to nurture students' love of learning by cultivating academic excellence, emotional intelligence, and social engagement.
Aurora is a K-8 independent school in Oakland's Upper Rockridge neighborhood.
We understand the importance of educating the hearts and minds of our students. We believe that academic excellence is most effectively achieved in an environment where students feel safe and supported. For that reason we implement social-emotional learning throughout our curriculum. For thirty-five years, we have seen the value of this approach in cultivating self-awareness, relationship skills, problem-solving, and responsible decision-making.
Academic excellence, joy of learning, inclusivity, and a commitment to social justice are at the heart of our school culture.
Aurora School has been a progressive education trailblazer in the Bay Area since 1988.
These are our key values:
Attending to the whole child
Helping them to become not only good learners, but good people.
Community
Children learn with and from one another in a caring community.
Collaboration
Teaching with, not at, students; and emphasizing collaborative problem-solving.
Social Justice
Helping students see themselves as integral parts of larger communities, from the classroom to the planet.
Intrinsic motivation
Making education relevant and exciting for students, to increase their desire to continue learning, thinking, and questioning.
Deep Understanding
Teaching not just facts and skills, but how those skills apply in the real world and the ramifications of their practices.
Active Learning
Making it participatory, so it becomes a process of constructing ideas rather than absorbing information.
Taking kids seriously
Every child is a unique human with their own needs to feel comfortable and safe, and we always take the time to ensure they know we are here to listen.
Why choose Aurora?
Elevated Academics
Critical thinking, project-based and experiential learning, collaboration, and problem solving are embedded in our challenging K-8 curriculum. Aurora empowers students by providing a learning environment that attends to the whole child, and a faculty committed to paying equal attention to educating both the hearts and minds of our students, encouraging their curiosity and joy for learning.
Multi-Grade Classrooms
Aurora's multi-grade classrooms were developed more than 35 years ago based on research that demonstrates how students develop better confidence and leadership skills because their learning environments provide social flexibility, academic differentiation, and stronger relationships with teachers and peers. Each of our Lower School classrooms combines two grades: K/1, 2/3, and 4/5 students share learning spaces and have the same teacher for two years. In Middle School they share the same team of guides. At both levels some subjects are taught by grade level, and curricula are rotated so that no lessons are repeated.
The benefits of looping with the same teacher for more than one year have been described in The New York Times, US News & World Report, and other media.
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
As an independent school with deep roots in Oakland, we focus on being inclusive, diverse, and anti-racist, as we move to create the change we want to see in our communities. Social justice and service learning objectives are woven into our curriculum because we believe they should be taught all year long. Our students leave Aurora self-aware and equipped to communicate with confidence, think critically, and take on leadership roles in high school and beyond.
Social-Emotional Learning
Social-emotional learning (SEL) has emerged as a major buzzword in recent years. SEL is the process of developing the self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making skills needed to succeed in school and in life. Research shows these skills are key to being a successful adult in the work world and in personal relationships.
At Aurora our educational model has always been grounded in SEL and our staff are experts in teaching SEL skills to our students well beyond what is done at most schools.
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While some schools use an SEL toolkit, Aurora integrates it throughout our curriculum so that students are empowered to practice empathy, kindness, and inclusivity as they move through the world with positive intention and engage with life and learning. Our teachers and curricula foster a collaborative learning environment in which learning is active rather than passive. Students are at the center of the learning process so that they may develop the intrinsic motivation that leads to deep understanding.
We have long seen the benefits of SEL reflected in our students' confidence and academic achievement, but the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath has shown it to be an even more critical tool. By empowering students to identify and understand their emotions, SEL can help them become more resilient and help them build stronger relationships with peers and adults and provide them with a greater sense of belonging. Our graduates take these skills with them and become empathetic, social justice and academic leaders in their high schools, colleges, and adult lives.