Our Values
Over three quarters of a century, our school has changed a great deal. But the values that make us who we are have remained the same. At Stevens, we live them every day.
Community
Stevens Cooperative School is a collective endeavor. From the very start, our community has been carefully and thoughtfully cultivated by the unique contributions of every student, teacher and family member who has passed through our hallways. The Cooperative itself is based on a simple but powerful idea: Deep family engagement leads to high student achievement, which is why we cultivate a deeply rewarding partnership with all members of our community. For students, community is a foundational principle interwoven with our curriculum from preschool through 8th grade, so children learn to be active participants in their community, as learners, helpers and eventually as leaders.
Progressive Teaching and Learning
Since 1949, progressive teaching and learning have been at the heart of our educational philosophy. We develop each student’s academic intellect alongside their social-emotional intelligence, and we allow their interests to guide us as educators. Our classrooms are versatile, inclusive and boundless laboratories for exploration. Our coursework is interdisciplinary, multidimensional, and hands-on. Our students apply what they learn in one subject to others, revise their thinking based on experience and research, and take an extraordinary degree of responsibility for the shape of their education. At Stevens, progressive education means the journey is the destination.
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Stevens is a place where every member of the community is meant to feel empowered, embraced, and celebrated for their unique qualities and lived experiences. We believe that an equitable and inclusive learning environment is crucial for students to develop their own identities, as well as their understandings of power, personal responsibility and social change. As an institution, we strive to reflect the makeup of our communities, commit to exploring and understanding biases, and fight intolerance, discrimination, and inequality. At Stevens Cooperative School, our diversity is our unity and a cornerstone of our growth as human beings and global citizens.
Continuous Improvement
The history of Stevens is rich with growth resulting from an institutional commitment to serving our students, families and community to the best of our collective abilities. This means regularly and consistently ensuring that our curriculum and programs are innovative, inclusive and true to our mission; our facilities and resources are cutting-edge; and our faculty, staff and families have the support they need in order to foster conditions for our students to continually thrive in an ever-changing world. From a one-room play group to a PreK - 8th grade school with 430 students across four buildings on two campuses, our story is one of Continuous Improvement.