The academic year at the Children's School begins with predictable precision. A week before the children arrive, teachers are preparing classrooms in each of the four cottages on campus. Bulletin boards get a freshening-up with paper leaves and apple cut-outs; alphabet borders are hoisted; cubbies are cleared; and bins stuffed with crayons, markers, pencils, paints and other essentials are sorted, counted and set within reach.

It's only after the necessary preparations are finished—and children file through the doors—that it becomes clear that "predictability" is not a word to describe the Children's School. Maybe it's the cottages themselves, or the barren stone creek and water pump outside for summer play—but there is something magical, almost fairy-tale-like, about the Children's School.

Creativity is definitely a specialty, and that's true of life inside the classroom as well as on the playground. At first glance, the room in which director Janet Dreyer teaches her first- and second-graders bears little resemblance to a typical classroom. Two large round tables stand where one would expect to see desks. A rack of colorful children's books sits in a corner, with no textbooks or workbooks in sight. Picasso and Winslow Homer prints surround the standard grade-school wall calendar, complete with an orange maple leaf cutout for each day. One end of the room is occupied entirely by a spacious kitchen, in which the children gather on occasion to fix a healthful snack.

"Many people who come here think that the children are just playing, but we believe that children learn through play," Dreyer explains. "Our goal as teachers is not so much to teach the children, but to create an environment which is safe, rich, and engaging, so that children learn by interacting with their environment."

The curriculum at the Children's School stresses communication and leadership—an emphasis not unrelated to CMC's. "One of the many goals that we have is to help children by empowering them with a sense of self, a sense of confidence, and the ability to use their words to communicate well," says Dreyer. That's where the creativity comes into play, too. Children in Dreyer's class may bring in something from home for a modified version of show and tell, but instead of just showing everybody the object, the child first gives classmates clues about the item—then by process of deductive reasoning—the students make their best guesses.

This sharing exercise sharpens a child's verbal and language skills and abilities to describe, process, and categorize information.

Students from the Children's School visit the CMC campus weekly to play. Here, a group of first and second graders enjoy a Little Rascals moment on a skateboard.