Make the Most of the Years That Matter Most
From their earliest years through fifth grade, children are becoming far more than students. They're discovering what fascinates them, what makes them laugh, what comes easily, what takes courage, and who they are becoming. Some of their greatest strengths and passions may be things they haven't even encountered yet.
Every child has extraordinary potential. The right school helps bring it to life.
At WHPS, strong academics are an essential part of that promise. But helping a child reach their fullest potential means knowing far more than what they can demonstrate on a test or classroom assignment. It means understanding what excites them, what makes them hesitant, what gives them confidence, and how they respond when something is difficult. It means celebrating their strengths, helping them grow in areas that don't come naturally, and building genuine relationships with the families who know them best.
We've designed our school around these priorities. Academic learning flourishes when teachers truly know their students. From toddlers and twos through fifth grade, our curriculum, teaching teams, learning environments, and remarkable range of experiences work together to help children discover who they are, develop their abilities, and grow in confidence and independence.
Our Graduate Profile reflects this broader vision of education. Alongside strong academic foundations, we want children to learn to think for themselves, pursue their interests, navigate challenges, advocate for themselves and others, and take ownership of their growth. These qualities matter throughout life, even when they cannot be fully measured with paper and pencil.
Come spend time at WHPS and see what that looks like in the life of a child.
Learning That Grows With the Child
Children don't develop at the same pace in every subject or skill. A child who needs support in one area may be ready for an exceptional challenge in another. Our teachers use what they know about each child to make learning both appropriately ambitious and genuinely achievable.
Elementary: Learning That Keeps Every Child Growing
No two children develop in exactly the same way. A student might be an advanced reader who needs more time to build confidence in mathematics, or a creative problem-solver still discovering their voice as a writer. Each deserves teaching that recognizes their strengths, understands their challenges, and keeps them moving forward.
At WHPS, teachers have the time and expertise to know children well: what interests them, where they struggle, what makes them laugh, and what they're ready to learn next. They use that understanding to plan meaningful challenges, provide thoughtful support, and help children recognize their own progress.
Our low student-teacher ratios and two fully qualified teachers in the classroom make this individual attention possible. Children also benefit from friendships, collaboration, and shared discoveries, with plenty of time to enjoy being children.
Preschool: Curiosity With Purpose
Young children reveal their interests through questions, conversations, play, and discovery. Our teachers pay close attention, then use that curiosity to introduce new ideas and stretch children's thinking. A fascination with insects, for example, can become an opportunity to observe, count, compare, build vocabulary, and ask scientific questions.
Children's interests spark the exploration; thoughtful teaching gives it depth. Through purposeful experiences, children build foundations in language, early literacy and mathematics, science, creativity, and social development. Teachers follow children's questions while thoughtfully introducing new possibilities, helping them grow in confidence, independence, and understanding.
A Wider World, From the Very Beginning
Children can't discover a passion for something they've never encountered. At WHPS, an extraordinary range of experiences is woven into the regular school day, beginning in preschool and growing with children. By Transitional Kindergarten, students participate in six specialist subject areas: Spanish, music, visual and performing arts, technology, physical education, and life science in our Science & Nature Center.
As children grow, these foundations expand into instrumental music, engineering, Maker projects, coding, robotics, physical science, and increasingly sophisticated creative and scientific work. This breadth gives children opportunities to discover strengths, develop new interests, and make connections across disciplines.
Science & Nature
From hands-on encounters with animals and investigations of the natural world to experiments in life and physical science, children develop curiosity, scientific knowledge, and the ability to observe, question, and investigate.
Technology, Engineering & Maker
Early experiences with technology, building, and problem-solving grow into coding, robotics, and engineering. Beginning in second grade, weekly Maker classes give students opportunities to design, build, test, troubleshoot, and refine their ideas.
Visual & Performing Arts
Visual art, music, instrumental instruction, performance, and publishing give children increasingly sophisticated ways to create, express themselves, develop talents, and share their work.
Language & Movement
Spanish, physical education, and movement help children develop communication skills, coordination, confidence, and teamwork while introducing new ways to connect with others.
A Community That Broadens Their World
Learning about the world also means learning about the people in it. Through classroom studies, literature, cultural celebrations, family participation, and schoolwide experiences, children encounter different histories, traditions, identities, and perspectives. They learn to appreciate their own backgrounds while developing curiosity, understanding, and respect for others.
Explore Belonging at WHPSWhere the Living World Becomes the Classroom
Our Science & Nature Center is an on-campus teaching zoo with more than 80 animals. Children observe the living world up close, care for animals, ask questions, investigate, and build understanding through direct experience.
The science grows with them. Early experiences center on wonder, observation, care, vocabulary, and questions. Over time, students move into increasingly sophisticated questions about ecology, habitats, behavior, heredity, genetics, adaptation, animal cognition, and evolution.
More of Childhood Can Happen in One Place
A full school day, extended care, sports, and extracurricular activities all come together within one familiar community. Children have more time to explore interests, build friendships, and enjoy being children, while families spend less time coordinating the activities, schedules, and transportation they might otherwise have to piece together.
Finding Their Voice
Across these years, academic growth develops alongside something equally important: children are learning who they are, how they relate to others, and how to take increasing responsibility for themselves.
Finding their voice isn't about being the loudest person in the room. It's about understanding themselves and learning when and how to speak up.
From an early age, children make meaningful choices, set goals, and learn to reflect on their progress. They begin to recognize what comes easily, what takes practice, and what helps them learn.
As they grow, they learn to ask for help, explain their thinking, speak up for a classmate, listen to different perspectives, and work through disagreements. Each experience helps them use their voice with greater confidence and care.
There is no single WHPS personality. We want each child to leave with a stronger sense of self and the confidence to use their own voice well.
By Fifth Grade, You Can See What Those Years Have Built
Over decades of working with children, we've come to recognize certain qualities that consistently distinguish WHPS graduates. Alongside strong academic foundations, they think independently, approach challenges with resourcefulness, communicate with confidence, and take an active role in their own learning.
Families visiting WHPS often see these qualities firsthand. Students speak with remarkable clarity about their goals, their accomplishments, the challenges they've overcome, and those they're still working through. Yet these conversations are deeply personal. Each child brings their own perspective, interests, ambitions, and voice.
These observations gave rise to our Graduate Profile. They reflect what we've learned from generations of WHPS students and continue to inform how we design and refine the experience, from our youngest preschoolers through fifth grade. The goal is not one model of a successful student, but children with the skills and self-awareness to pursue paths uniquely their own.
They Read Beneath the Surface
Read increasingly complex texts, develop their own tastes and interests as readers, consider perspectives beyond their own, draw nuanced inferences, and support interpretations with evidence.
They Write With Voice and Purpose
Write across genres with sophistication, pursue ideas and subjects that matter to them, shape writing for audience and impact, revise substantially, and develop a voice that is recognizably their own.
They Solve Complex Problems
Approach complexity with confidence, break difficult problems into manageable parts, identify patterns and connections, test assumptions, compare strategies, and apply what they know when the path forward isn't obvious.
They Speak With Confidence
Express ideas with clarity and conviction, explain and defend their thinking, listen genuinely to others, disagree respectfully, and engage thoughtfully even when perspectives differ.
They Know Themselves and Advocate for Others
Recognize what matters to them and what they stand for, advocate for themselves and others, engage thoughtfully across differences, navigate conflict, and turn concern into constructive action.
They Own Their Growth
Know their strengths, challenges, interests, and emerging passions. They set meaningful goals, seek and use feedback, take pride in who they are, and understand what helps them keep growing.
The journey continues beyond WHPS. We help students carry their learning into new situations, prepare for greater independence, and find the next school where they can continue to thrive.
Recognized for What Matters Most
In our most recent WASC accreditation renewal, the visiting committee recognized many of the same qualities that define the WHPS experience, including individualized learning, strong teaching practices, students' developing sense of identity, their ability to advocate for themselves and others, and their preparation for what comes next.
The committee also heard something especially meaningful directly from our students: they described WHPS as a place where they can be themselves.
Come See What These Years Can Be
The best way to understand WHPS is to spend time here. See the learning happening in classrooms, the relationships children build, and the many ways they explore their interests throughout the day.
Meet the teachers. Watch children learn and play. Ask questions. Imagine your family as part of the community.