Goleta Family School is an interactive, multi grade school. There are two classes: K-2 and 3-6. The school is dedicated
to working together and the two classes interact a lot.
Every morning when we come into the classroom, we sit down in a circle and do a greeting. The greeting usually consists
of shaking other people’s hands and saying "hi". Then we go around the circle and say something about the day’s topic. Later
in the day we work with the other people in our Tribes group. The Tribes groups are very important. They help us work together
better. I get along better now with the people in my group than at the beginning of the year.
Working with other kids helps you learn things. Having different grades work together lets you get to know each other.
Working with different grades together lets you work at the level you need to, even if you are ahead or behind the rest of
your grade.
Another good thing at GFS is that kids get to vote on things. For example, in P.E. sometimes we get to vote on what game
we’re doing. This is good because voting for things makes the students care more about the activity.
A major thing GFS does is to care for the environment. For example, the students clean up the campus regularly. But that’s
just a minor part of what we do. Every year, we always enter the Environmentality Challenge. Schools from across California
do projects to help the environment. Last year we worked really hard to pick up trash and restore the Slough by UCSB. We shredded
up construction paper and put it in a blender to make recycled paper. Then we made our portfolio about the project out of
the paper we made. Environmental projects are good because they teach us to care for the Earth and other people.
At GFS we work very hard to accomplish all the things listed above. In my opinion this school provides all the proper education
a student needs to go on to junior high.
