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Children learn when they are supported by a classroom culture that creates a place where they feel safe enough to take a risk.  Learning is difficult!  It requires us to feel a bit uncomfortable within the learning process.  This discomfort is what propels us to learn or continue learning.  At Cornerstone Chartered Public School we intentionally create spaces for children to successfully navigate their discomfort so they can learn to the very best of their ability.

Critical thinking starts with literacy and needs to be built on purpose from the very first years of school. Children cannot think critically about what they can't read, understand, or talk about. When reading skills are taught clearly and systematically, children do not need to spend mental energy on decoding and can focus on meaning, ideas, and understanding. This creates the conditions for deeper thinking.

The Orton-Gillingham Approach works for all students because it aligns with how the brain learns to read. We don't have to rely on philosophy or long-held beliefs about how to teach reading. We have decades of science to inform our instruction.

At Cornerstone, we believe school structures should reflect how children actually grow and develop. In the primary grades especially, children do not grow in neat, linear ways. Their academic, social, and emotional development unfolds at different rates and in different rhythms. Traditional grade-level systems assume that children of the same age are ready for the same expectations, pace, and routines at the same time. In reality, that structure can unintentionally leave some