Our History
The Ark was founded by myself, Adina Priel, in 1999.
The idea began when, as a new parent, I found myself researching different school options for my son, Noah. I felt frustrated and dismayed when I realized that I would have to accept a hard-to-find space at a center which did not represent what I knew had to be possible - somewhere - a place for joyful, individualized, responsive learning and growing. It seemed that I was required to make a choice between traditional play-based, what I call “Toys R Us” environments, or rather subdued and inflexible Montessori environments. The Reggio Emilia approach to learning was only beginning to be taught to new teachers in the field of Early Childhood Education and there were less than a handful of centers dedicated to exploring this approach. Each ECE environment was mutually exclusive; each ‘camp’ unwilling to consider the merits of the other, rather entrenched and misinformed. I did not feel comfortable with any of these three choices. I asked myself as to ‘why’ I needed to be in such a position, obliged to make disappointing and unsettling choices – was there no other way? Realizing that there was nothing to stop me from taking what is recognized as the best in Early Childhood Theory and Education and implementing it all into a cohesive program, led us to what is Ark Elementary Elementary School as we now know it.
While I have expressed myself here about educational/philosophical approaches to current ECE practices, I must also emphasize that I was looking for a special ‘feeling’, as I had a hard time finding that connection too. I felt that my son needed an especially sensitive place with warm and caring staff who would recognize my son’s individual needs (he had lots!) while offering firm guidance, boundaries, positive reinforcement and high expectations, and not just strict discipline, which I tend to see as more punitive.
The creation of a school that could truly embrace a holistic, social and emotional, blended pedagogical approach meant finding committed, intelligent educators, who knew instinctively, and from experience, that “there had to be another way” to meet children where hey are at and were willing to take the road less taken and run with it. Well, we are still running and parents and other educators, like ourselves, are realizing the inability of traditional programs to rise to meet the needs and rights of the children of today. We must be brave to do take committed action to do things differently, and then unsurprisingly, space can be made for something better - magically happy children who cry on the weekends because it is not a school day!
“I started a a seed, a pale seed, but then you picked me up and turned me into a bud. After, I turned into a flower.“
— Charlotte, age 7
“Thank you for teaching me and telling me not to give up”.
— Alex, age 9
“Thank you for believing in me. If I wasn’t here, you would still believe in me even on the other side of a river.”
— Ezekiel, age 7
“ You are the nice even when we lie to you.”
— Allison, age 7
“ You know you will never give up. Thanks for the compliments and feedback.”