Our Programs

Kiddo! helps Mill Valley’s school children reach their full potential through an impressive variety and depth of programs.

Art

Vibrant still-lifes, remarkable self-portaits, and playful ceramic masks are just a few of the visual wonders students create in the visual arts program. Kiddo! provides art classes to every elementary school child, and art is a Kiddo!-funded elective in the middle school.

Dance

Who’s got rhythm? Every body! Our beloved dance teacher Alan Scofield from Young Imaginations brings out the hip-hopper in everyone. Kindergartners stomp, clap, and laugh their way through a 20-week session of Kiddo! dance. And our fourth and fifth-graders will wow you with big smiles as they brush, hop, and clap in an amazingly skillful dance performance.

Drama

Shakespeare in the seventh grade? You bet! A Midsummer Night’s Dream is just one of the dramatic spectacles our young actors create. Over the course of elementary and middle school, our phenomenal drama teachers produce an impressive variety of musicals and plays. Note to parents: Bring your hankies!

Music

Ba-da-bum ba-da-bum ba-da-bum bum bum…our students start tuning into all sorts of sound patterns right from kindergarten, where music instruction combines voice, movement, and percussion instruments. We explore music across the globe and through many cultures, and as students’ fine motor skills and vocal chords develop, an impressive array of instrument and voice teachers await these young musicians and singers.

Poetry

Rhyme, metaphor, verse…what is poetry, really? One third grader answers, “Poetry is the silver silence of imagination put down on paper. It’s the mist of the moon, shady and soft.” Well said! Through the California Poets in the Schools program, Kiddo! provides five sessions of poetry for each of the 1st, 3rd, 4th and 5th grades, where professional writers guide students in developing their own poetic voice.

Technology

Kiddo! is pleased to join with the Mill Valley School District’s ongoing efforts to improve our children’s learning experiences with technology.

In addition to Kiddo!’s funding for technology support specialists, Kiddo! is funding the three year lease-to-own contracts of 300 laptop computers for the School District. We gave one-hundred-fifty laptops to teachers, and each of the elementary schools received a mobile learning lab with 30 computers.

Physical Education

Run the mile, play soccer, learn yoga!  Children need to move to learn.  A large majority of university-based and internationally published research in this field points to a strong relationship between children’s physical activity and academic success.  Regular PE during the school day improves concentration in the classroom and enhances learning and academic success.  Kiddo! will bridge the school district budget gap in 2012-2013 to pay for PE teachers and programs for our schools.

Innovative Teaching Grants

Kiddo! Teacher Grants are awarded in support of programs that foster creative and innovative classroom teaching. Each fall, an Awards Committee comprised of one teacher from each school, a representative from the administrative council, and a parent from PTA Council reviews teacher proposals and selects award recipients.