Admissions Viewbook

Guided by curiosity.

Propelled by imagination.

Sabot has a different approach to education.

We empower the innate curiosity of every student.

Through interactive experiences both in the classroom and throughout our wooded grounds, our students find joy in learning. We challenge them to be effective communicators, expansive thinkers, and eager problem solvers.

200 students

1/3

of their time spent outdoors on average school day

6:1

student-teacher ratio

26% of families receive

tuition assistance My learning at Sabot was in depth and complete, giving me a solid base to build on in high school. In addition, the skills taught at Sabot are essential, and I’ve found that I am much more able to solve problems, present information or arguments, write coherently, and even motivate myself than many of my [high school] classmates.

Alex B. ’16

1926

Tudor-style Main House built

28

acre campus

adjacent to 106-acre Larus Park

67

plant varieties

in the Community Grow Garden

4

interscholastic & club sports

Sabot has a different approach to education.

We empower the innate curiosity of every student.

Through interactive experiences both in the classroom and throughout our wooded grounds, our students find joy in learning. We challenge them to be effective communicators, expansive thinkers, and eager problem solvers.

200 students

1/3

of their time spent outdoors on average school day

6:1

student-teacher ratio

26% of families receive

tuition assistance My learning at Sabot was in depth and complete, giving me a solid base to build on in high school. In addition, the skills taught at Sabot are essential, and I’ve found that I am much more able to solve problems, present information or arguments, write coherently, and even motivate myself than many of my [high school] classmates.

Alex B. ’16

1926

Tudor-style Main House built

28

acre campus

adjacent to 106-acre Larus Park

67

plant varieties

in the Community Grow Garden

4

interscholastic & club sports

Our students chase bold ideas and pause for new discoveries.

Children play an active role in their learning.

As a Reggio-inspired school, we believe students are capable of self-direction and are able to co-construct understanding and meaning. Students learn not only from their teachers but from one another and from their surroundings. In our collaborative and relationship-driven environment, Sabot students are learning for their futures, not their parents’ pasts. As a leader in the national movement to create an education that is meaningful and relevant for our times, our graduates are equipped with a solid academic foundation and a passion for learning.

Children are born thinkers.

They’re theorists who, from their earliest months, observe and experiment to understand their world. Naturally curious, creative, and capable, they are motivated to acquire knowledge and share their thinking with each other. We believe that these dispositions, when nurtured and sustained, contribute powerfully to a joy for learning and understanding that lasts a lifetime.

Children thrive in nature.

Our campus and the adjoining 106-acre Larus Park serve as a unique habitat for learning and discovery. Students regularly explore the grounds, making cross-age connections and investigation-prompting observations.

They’re encouraged to conduct research and share their findings. Time outdoors fosters the genuine curiosity that makes learning meaningful.

As working parents, we struggle with wanting our kids to experience a fun childhood and also the reality of needing childcare. Sabot is this oasis in the middle – where the kids explore nature, make mud pies, play in a cottage, and have teachers that treat them like family – all the while learning and being cared for.

Erin and Tanner W., Preschool Parents

Our students chase bold ideas and pause for new discoveries.

Children play an active role in their learning.

As a Reggio-inspired school, we believe students are capable of self-direction and are able to co-construct understanding and meaning. Students learn not only from their teachers but from one another and from their surroundings. In our collaborative and relationship-driven environment, Sabot students are learning for their futures, not their parents’ pasts. As a leader in the national movement to create an education that is meaningful and relevant for our times, our graduates are equipped with a solid academic foundation and a passion for learning.

Children are born thinkers.

They’re theorists who, from their earliest months, observe and experiment to understand their world. Naturally curious, creative, and capable, they are motivated to acquire knowledge and share their thinking with each other. We believe that these dispositions, when nurtured and sustained, contribute powerfully to a joy for learning and understanding that lasts a lifetime.

Children thrive in nature.

Our campus and the adjoining 106-acre Larus Park serve as a unique habitat for learning and discovery. Students regularly explore the grounds, making cross-age connections and investigation-prompting observations.

They’re encouraged to conduct research and share their findings. Time outdoors fosters the genuine curiosity that makes learning meaningful.

As working parents, we struggle with wanting our kids to experience a fun childhood and also the reality of needing childcare. Sabot is this oasis in the middle – where the kids explore nature, make mud pies, play in a cottage, and have teachers that treat them like family – all the while learning and being cared for.

Erin and Tanner W., Preschool Parents

Take a deep dive into our learning philosophies and the Five Rs. I am grateful that I get to be surrounded by young people who are curious, joyful, and critical thinkers… I love being in an environment where children’s thinking is highly valued and their ideas constantly sought.

Melanie Nan, 4th Grade Teacher-Researcher

You learn how to express yourself and the person that you are.

Sabot has a knack to encourage their students to find their sense of self and confidence.

Ella B. ’17

Research

Representation

Reflection

Reach

Relationship

Children have curious and open minds.

Children have a hundred languages.

Children think about their thinking.

Students make their learning visible by expressing themselves through an infinite variety of media, materials, and modes. Whether they use clay, dance, video, or coding, students represent, analyze, problem-solve, and communicate in what Reggio teacher-researchers call “the hundred languages of children.” This metaphor describes the process of representing knowledge and learning, which leads to reflection, and then to further questions, and then to more investigation in an ongoing cycle of inquiry.

At Sabot, students become aware of how their minds work and how they learn best. They discover which cognitive strategies help them do their best work. They learn which means of representation and expression come easily to them and which are more demanding.

Their new ideas and perspectives transform into learning through this awareness, curiosity, creativity, and imagination.

Children seek continuous improvement.

Children are part of a community at Sabot.

They are willing to take responsible personal and intellectual risks and recognize the role of embracing challenge and sustaining effort. At Sabot, students learn to approach this with the discipline, persistence, and patience required.

Their connections ignite their passion to collaborate, sustain their individualism within the group, and foster their commitment to knowledge and community.

They will search for knowledge, deeper understanding, and new questions, creating powerful moments for learning.

Our students ask questions and actively seek answers. From preschool to 8th grade, we encourage our students to wonder and notice.

They learn that there is no one resource for answers, but that many tools are useful for exploring problems and finding solutions – and that frequently, there is more than one way to solve a problem.

As they make observations; collect, analyze, and synthesize information; and draw conclusions, Sabot students develop lifelong problem-solving skills that can be applied anywhere. They quickly realize that learning has cycles, not endpoints.

Children who know their own strengths and weaknesses, who are challenged to assess their own work, and who are comfortable asking for help when they need it will be more effective learners. They will also be more equipped and better able to adapt to new challenges in the future.

We do not regard “A” level work as a reason to stop working, improving, or thinking. We expect students to acquire knowledge because knowledge is necessary for learning and problem-solving, but it is not the extent of one’s learning. Students are expected to observe, evaluate, and refine their own work and learning.

This process of supporting students in taking increasing responsibility for and ownership of their own learning begins in preschool and continues throughout the lower and middle schools.

Across the school, students build understanding by examining their existing ideas in light of new experiences and new information, discussing questions, and testing and refining theories in collaboration with other children and adults. This collaboration allows children to understand their own — and each other’s — unique talents. They will seek out those with mechanical skills when something is broken, those who can negotiate ably when conflicts arise, and those who love to dream when a big idea is needed.

Students view each other as resources, realizing that what they can accomplish by working together far exceeds what they might accomplish individually.

Take a deep dive into our learning philosophies and the Five Rs. I am grateful that I get to be surrounded by young people who are curious, joyful, and critical thinkers… I love being in an environment where children’s thinking is highly valued and their ideas constantly sought.

Melanie Nan, 4th Grade Teacher-Researcher

You learn how to express yourself and the person that you are.

Sabot has a knack to encourage their students to find their sense of self and confidence.

Ella B. ’17

Research

Representation

Reflection

Reach

Relationship

Children have curious and open minds.

Children have a hundred languages.

Children think about their thinking.

Students make their learning visible by expressing themselves through an infinite variety of media, materials, and modes. Whether they use clay, dance, video, or coding, students represent, analyze, problem-solve, and communicate in what Reggio teacher-researchers call “the hundred languages of children.” This metaphor describes the process of representing knowledge and learning, which leads to reflection, and then to further questions, and then to more investigation in an ongoing cycle of inquiry.

At Sabot, students become aware of how their minds work and how they learn best. They discover which cognitive strategies help them do their best work. They learn which means of representation and expression come easily to them and which are more demanding.

Their new ideas and perspectives transform into learning through this awareness, curiosity, creativity, and imagination.

Children seek continuous improvement.

Children are part of a community at Sabot.

They are willing to take responsible personal and intellectual risks and recognize the role of embracing challenge and sustaining effort. At Sabot, students learn to approach this with the discipline, persistence, and patience required.

Their connections ignite their passion to collaborate, sustain their individualism within the group, and foster their commitment to knowledge and community.

They will search for knowledge, deeper understanding, and new questions, creating powerful moments for learning.

Our students ask questions and actively seek answers. From preschool to 8th grade, we encourage our students to wonder and notice.

They learn that there is no one resource for answers, but that many tools are useful for exploring problems and finding solutions – and that frequently, there is more than one way to solve a problem.

As they make observations; collect, analyze, and synthesize information; and draw conclusions, Sabot students develop lifelong problem-solving skills that can be applied anywhere. They quickly realize that learning has cycles, not endpoints.

Children who know their own strengths and weaknesses, who are challenged to assess their own work, and who are comfortable asking for help when they need it will be more effective learners. They will also be more equipped and better able to adapt to new challenges in the future.

We do not regard “A” level work as a reason to stop working, improving, or thinking. We expect students to acquire knowledge because knowledge is necessary for learning and problem-solving, but it is not the extent of one’s learning. Students are expected to observe, evaluate, and refine their own work and learning.

This process of supporting students in taking increasing responsibility for and ownership of their own learning begins in preschool and continues throughout the lower and middle schools.

Across the school, students build understanding by examining their existing ideas in light of new experiences and new information, discussing questions, and testing and refining theories in collaboration with other children and adults. This collaboration allows children to understand their own — and each other’s — unique talents. They will seek out those with mechanical skills when something is broken, those who can negotiate ably when conflicts arise, and those who love to dream when a big idea is needed.

Students view each other as resources, realizing that what they can accomplish by working together far exceeds what they might accomplish individually.

Flourish is always the word that comes to mind to describe [our child]’s education. She has been encouraged and nurtured to do just that. And she has. Academically, emotionally, and socially.

At Sabot, we’re different for a reason.

Elizabeth S. P’24 Our Mission: Education for the future.

Sabot at Stony Point is a school designed to sustain children’s quest for meaning and understanding, harness the power of their theories and ideas, and guide their inquiry and research. In an environment that supports collaboration and respectful exchange, we challenge our students to become effective communicators and disciplined thinkers, capable of solving problems in our increasingly complex world.

Diversity matters at Sabot.

We nurture a learning environment where diversity is valued, respected, and celebrated. Diversity, and the variety of experiences and perspectives it provides, is central to our approach to education. Our emphasis on co-construction — an environment where everyone teaches and everyone learns — is strengthened by a community that includes diversity of race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, family structure, learning style, religious belief, political affiliation, and life experience, among others. We strive continually to engage with each other in ways that develop a sense of belonging among all community members, and value the powerful contributions that each individual makes to our shared learning and understanding.

Diversity matters for learning. At Sabot, students are at the center of our mission and educational philosophy. We recognize each student for their individual abilities, interests, ideas, and identities. We provide a safe, supported space for students to bring their authentic self each and every day. The ways each student observes, acquires knowledge, interacts, and tests and refines theories make for a more powerful collective experience while enriching their individual path as a lifelong learner.

Flourish is always the word that comes to mind to describe [our child]’s education. She has been encouraged and nurtured to do just that. And she has. Academically, emotionally, and socially.

At Sabot, we’re different for a reason.

Elizabeth S. P’24 Our Mission: Education for the future.

Sabot at Stony Point is a school designed to sustain children’s quest for meaning and understanding, harness the power of their theories and ideas, and guide their inquiry and research. In an environment that supports collaboration and respectful exchange, we challenge our students to become effective communicators and disciplined thinkers, capable of solving problems in our increasingly complex world.

Diversity matters at Sabot.

We nurture a learning environment where diversity is valued, respected, and celebrated. Diversity, and the variety of experiences and perspectives it provides, is central to our approach to education. Our emphasis on co-construction — an environment where everyone teaches and everyone learns — is strengthened by a community that includes diversity of race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, family structure, learning style, religious belief, political affiliation, and life experience, among others. We strive continually to engage with each other in ways that develop a sense of belonging among all community members, and value the powerful contributions that each individual makes to our shared learning and understanding.

Diversity matters for learning. At Sabot, students are at the center of our mission and educational philosophy. We recognize each student for their individual abilities, interests, ideas, and identities. We provide a safe, supported space for students to bring their authentic self each and every day. The ways each student observes, acquires knowledge, interacts, and tests and refines theories make for a more powerful collective experience while enriching their individual path as a lifelong learner.

The Hundred Languages of Children

by Loris Malaguzzi, an Italian psychologist and educator who is considered the father of the Reggio Emilia Approach translated by Lella Gandini

No way. The hundred is there.

The child is made of one hundred.

The child has a hundred languages a hundred hands a hundred thoughts a hundred ways of thinking of playing, of speaking.

A hundred always a hundred ways of listening of marveling, of loving a hundred joys for singing and understanding a hundred worlds to discover a hundred worlds to invent a hundred worlds to dream.

The child has a hundred languages (and a hundred hundred hundred more)

but they steal ninety-nine.

The school and the culture separate the head from the body.

They tell the child: to think without hands to do without head to listen and not to speak to understand without joy to love and to marvel only at Easter and at Christmas.

They tell the child: to discover the world already there and of the hundred they steal ninety-nine.

They tell the child: that work and play reality and fantasy science and imagination sky and earth reason and dream are things that do not belong together.

And thus they tell the child that the hundred is not there.

The child says: No way. The hundred is there.

We’re so glad you’re here!

The Hundred Languages of Children

by Loris Malaguzzi, an Italian psychologist and educator who is considered the father of the Reggio Emilia Approach translated by Lella Gandini

No way. The hundred is there.

The child is made of one hundred.

The child has a hundred languages a hundred hands a hundred thoughts a hundred ways of thinking of playing, of speaking.

A hundred always a hundred ways of listening of marveling, of loving a hundred joys for singing and understanding a hundred worlds to discover a hundred worlds to invent a hundred worlds to dream.

The child has a hundred languages (and a hundred hundred hundred more)

but they steal ninety-nine.

The school and the culture separate the head from the body.

They tell the child: to think without hands to do without head to listen and not to speak to understand without joy to love and to marvel only at Easter and at Christmas.

They tell the child: to discover the world already there and of the hundred they steal ninety-nine.

They tell the child: that work and play reality and fantasy science and imagination sky and earth reason and dream are things that do not belong together.

And thus they tell the child that the hundred is not there.

The child says: No way. The hundred is there.

We’re so glad you’re here!

What do you notice and wonder about Sabot?

We invite you to reflect on your discoveries and record your thoughts.

We’re happy to answer any of your questions. Give us a call or email our admissions team at (804) 272-1341 ext. 1 or admissions@sabotatstonypoint.org 3400 Stony Point Road Richmond, Virginia 23235 (804) 272-1341 sabotatstonypoint.org

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