Discovery Coves

Discovery Cove is a dynamic, three-hour holistic experience. Each cove is a themed collaborative journey built around different mental, emotional, and physical principles. One day, students tackle real-world problems through project-design. The next, they're building emotional resilience through wellness practices. Another, they're getting their hands dirty with experimental science.

Three learning group options—all following the same philosophy: We meet students where they are and let them lead the learning.

Pricing:

Lighthouse Learning & Deep Sea Scholars Groups: $400 per 8-week quarter or $700 per 16-week semester

Anchored Learning Group (max 7 students, ESE program): $980 per 8-week quarter or $1,960 per 16-week semester

Application & interview required for Anchored Learning Group.

Learning Group Descriptions

Ages 6-7

A nurturing foundation for young learners. In this calm, supportive environment, students build confidence in early reading and math while discovering that learning happens through play, collaboration, and friendship.

We focus on the whole child: strengthening academics, practicing teamwork and communication, and building emotional confidence that carries them forward.

Ages 8+, independent readers

Our core Discovery Cove experience. Students dive into themed learning journeys where they tackle real problems, collaborate on group investigations, and build genuine friendships.

Each week brings a new exploration—from hands-on science to design challenges to wellness practices. Every student is seen, challenged, and celebrated. This is where curiosity becomes community.

Ages 8+, application and interview required

Anchored Learning is a specialized, small-group course designed specifically for Exceptional Student Education (ESE) students who thrive in highly predictable, structured, and low-stimulus environments. Recognizing that a bustling traditional classroom can sometimes feel overwhelming, this course reimagines the learning experience by prioritizing routine, emotional safety, and individualized pacing.

In this class, the environment is the catalyst for learning. With a significantly reduced student-to-teacher ratio, each student receives the close attention, frequent feedback, and tailored accommodations they need to succeed. The daily curriculum blends core academic support with executive functioning skills, helping students master how to learn just as much as what to learn.

Through visual schedules, clear transitions, and explicit goal-setting, anchored learning transforms the school day into a series of manageable, predictable, and empowering successes.

Cove Descriptions

Morning Cove: Socialization Stations

Intentionally designed rotations where students build communication and teamwork through collaboration. They learn from each other, tackle challenges together, and develop social-emotional skills by actually *doing* them—not discussing them.

Shared responsibility. Peer-to-peer learning. Real connection.

Cooperative Learning Tasks — STEM challenges

Discussion-Rich Activities — Socratic circles

Peer Teaching Opportunities — demonstrations

Social-Emotional Learning — active listening

Afternoon Cove: Messy Science

Students engage in hands-on experimentation—making predictions, testing hypotheses, analyzing results. They develop scientific reasoning and observation skills through immersive, sensory-rich investigation. (We call this "productive mess" because real discovery rarely looks clean.)

Curiosity. Wonder. Growth mindset in action.

Hands-On Experimentation — chemical reactions and eruptions

Hypothesis Testing — predict, test, and observe

Sensory Exploration — slime and tactile science

Morning Cove: Project-Based Learning

Empower students to become active investigators, design thinkers, and solution creators as they engage in authentic, real-world challenges. Learners move through cycles of inquiry, research, and reflection, building both academic skills and real-world competencies.

Inquiry Circles — research and design

Real-World Problem Solving — creating a solution for ocean waste

Interdisciplinary Learning — finding the speed of race cars they designed

Public Showcases — presentations and public speaking

Afternoon Cove: Axolotl Questions

Trivia games and challenges where students compete, collaborate, and actually *remember* what they've learned. High-energy, fast-paced, genuinely fun.

Strengthen critical thinking and quick recall through game-show style competitions—buzzer rounds, team challenges, rapid-fire questions. And it all builds toward Amby's Arena, an end-of-semester Kids vs. Parents showdown. (Spoiler: parents usually lose.)

Knowledge-Building Challenges — cross-curricular trivia

Game-Show Style Play — buzzer rounds and rapid-fire questions

Team-Based Competition — collaborative quiz games

Morning Cove: Wellness Wednesdays

Wellness Stations support the whole student, integrating physical, social, and emotional well-being and healthy habits into the learning day. This day promotes self-awareness, the mind-body connection, and positive coping strategies.

Mindfulness Practice — sensory-based calming

Movement-Based Regulation — yoga

Emotional Literacy Tools — reflection journals

Healthy Habits Station — nutrition

Afternoon Cove: STEM Challenges

Students engage in authentic engineering and design challenges where they plan, build, test, and refine. They develop problem-solving skills and design thinking while applying math and science to actual challenges.

They develop critical thinking and real-world competencies by working through challenges collaboratively—applying math and science to solve problems that actually matter. This is what innovation looks like in practice.

Design Thinking — authentic engineering and building challenges

Iterative Problem Solving — test, refine, and improve

Collaborative Innovation — applying math and science with team projects

Morning Cove: Game-Based Learning

Escape rooms. Strategy challenges. Trivia competitions. Prize-worthy games where students work together to solve puzzles, beat the clock, and win. Critical thinking and collaboration happen, but mostly it's about joy, play, and genuine engagement.

Skill-Building Games — escape rooms

Gamified Challenges — "Fraction Quest" for prizes

Collaborative Game Play — team-based trivia

Afternoon Cove: Collaboration Stations

Unlike Monday's relationship-building, Thursday is about getting things done together. Students tackle real problems as a team, co-create solutions (shared models, posters, projects), and practice the kind of teamwork that matters in the real world. They learn how to work toward a shared goal, make decisions together, and take collective responsibility. Because collaboration is a skill.

Team Problem Solving Challenges — group problem solving

Co-Constructed Projects- Shared models or posters

Collaborative Thinking Routines- Build on Brainstorming

Shared Academic Missions- Collaborating on a storyboard