At KapKa we believe that building community is one of the most important skills that we can teach to—and model for—our children Our traditions and values emphasize this. We feel that a community starts with family and friends and grows to include schools, organizations, our city, region and even the world. We teach this in many ways. Here are some examples:

School

At the beginning of the school year, older children mentor the kindergartners. Children learn how to make friends by sharing who they are; they ask each other questions and learn to listen. They begin to know one another as individuals.

As the year goes on, KapKa students take more and more responsibility for their school. They clean up after themselves, organize chore rosters, make school rules, run school meetings, and follow up on their group decisions. They learn and practice conflict resolution skills with the goal of solving their own problems rather than looking to adults as judges and rule-makers.

Family

KapKa families gather regularly, starting with a Fall Family Day for activities, games, food, music, and celebration. Parents meet monthly to discuss issues about running our school. We tackle chores together, raise funds for scholarships, and celebrate with performances, dances, socials, and potlucks. In the spring, we have an all-school weekend camping trip in the San Juan Islands. In the summer, families continue to meet for hikes, camping trips, and picnics.

Neighborhood

KapKa participates in many activities to make connections in our immediate neighborhood. We pick up litter for our Adopt-a-Street project, sing to our friends at the senior center, bake treats for the neighbors, and march in local parades.

City

The school year begins with the older students spending the night at Camp Long in West Seattle. Throughout the year, KapKa students learn to appreciate their city by using libraries, parks, museums, theatres, and mass transit. We visit art in public places and participate in arts festivals.

Region

KapKa students raise salmon from roe harvested by the University of Washington then release the young fish in West Seattle's Fauntleroy Creek. The children also are preserving the salmon's environment by collecting trash along the creek and planting trees.

KapKa is one of five schools selected to be involved in the process of developing a learning model for visitors to the Fauntleroy Creek Watershed. At the end of their Elder-Elder school year, the second graders take a two-day trip with the teachers; in the past, they've camped at Mt. St. Helens and at La Push on the Olympic Peninsula.