Experiential Learning

Resources that promote creative thinking and collaboration.

Grounded in a culture of care, our program responds to girls’ evolving needs and individual interests, preparing them to explore both independently and collaboratively. Through varied experiences within and beyond the Circle, students develop global competence, active citizenship, and ethical leadership. A Castilleja education prepares students to seize the moment as they develop skills for the future.  

”What’s Possible?”  Castilleja’s Strategic Plan

Castilleja faculty invite students to engage in experiential learning inside the classrooms every day—students conduct science experiments, engage in policy debates, lead class discussions, perform scenes or songs for an audience, learn new sports, and build models to explain their thinking on an issue or idea. Experiential learning is an approach to curriculum and instruction that deepens understanding through reflection and personal connection. As present as it is in our classrooms, it also takes place in other settings that provide different structures and tools for students to synthesize their learning through hands-on application. When girls engage in meaningful real-world challenges, they have the opportunity to think about those challenges in ways that are not possible in a traditional classroom setting. At Castilleja, we invite students to actively engage with these skills and apply them in different ways and different settings through the Awareness, Compassion, and Engagement (ACE) Center, the Margarita Espinosa Library, and the Bourn Idea Lab—our makerspace and robotics lab.