TESLA® Kindergarten 

What could kindergartners invent if they were given the foundation of academics, freedom to tinker and create, and the room to express their creativity?

Our kindergarten class is the first class to be offered under our new school, TESLA Country Day. Until we can secure our second location, TESLA will operate one classroom in The Gratitude Garden Preschool.

Nikola Tesla had hundreds of patents registered in his name for his lifelong work with electricity. His inventions and discoveries, particularly in the late 1800s, are the basis for much of our modern lifestyle. His innovative work, fueled by human curiosity and science influences our life today.

Much like Nikola Tesla’s dedication to alternating currents and wireless transmission shaped our world today, a TESLA-inspired Kindergarten classroom is dedicated to the exploration of Technology, Engineering, Science, Leadership, and Art (TESLA). A special emphasis is placed on developing a child’s Creativity, Communication, Collaboration, and Play. 

Our advanced kindergarten is playful yet rigorous, curiosity-fueled, and integrated within the greater community. This approach allows new concepts to come alive and opportunities for children to witness their impact on the world.

We have replaced the traditional desks of the past with an active learning lab where opportunities to learn develop through field work, service projects, tinkering, coding games, and innovation.

Student lead projects connect learning through real world problems that require the use of literacy, math, innovative technology, ecology, art, music, and field work. Our STEM units are framed through the study of the great inventors and thinkers of our time, including: Nikola Tesla, Ada Lovelace, Alexander Bell, Stephanie Kwolek, Steve Jobs, Thomas Edison, The Wright Brothers, and more.

Field experience trips include:

  • The Ocean Institute

  • The Pacific Marine Mammal Center

  • The Ecology Center

  • The Museum of Making Music

  • Various local art institutes and galleries

Students spend the year working toward their final project- the design and creation of their own invention and its patent (kindergarten style). Our Innovation Showcase provides an opportunity for our students to speak to the community about their invention and its importance to society. Kindergartners already have brilliant ideas, now they get to put them in action!

This is a full-day program, beginning at 8:30am and ending at 2:30pm.

*Admission to kindergarten requires an assessment and a two hour play-time at our school.

Enrollment  begins in January for the following school year. Acceptance of placement will be announced in February.