Hello and Welcome!
Roslyn Benjamin
Head of School
A Letter from Roz
The first time I walked through The Children’s School’s campus, I was amazed at the energy and passion of the students. Their excitement for learning and sharing it with others was genuine. Our seventh graders proudly demonstrated their understanding of the connectedness of the world through the “World Peace Games,” a hands-on political simulation in which they addressed and solved different economic and environmental crises. Our fourth graders showed me their ability to synthesize their understanding of city planning with a built-to-scale city made out of LEGO® bricks. In a kindergarten classroom, I saw design-thinking in action when I toured an outdoor kitchen the students designed and built themselves.
In each classroom, the students were invested in demonstrating their thinking and capacity to follow-through with projects, as they discovered the answers to questions through individual or collaborative play. While we value our educators, we also recognize that our teachers are one part of the learning process. Our students’ curiosity serves as another.
At TCS, we both challenge and nurture our students, empowering them to grow in their understanding of the content, their habits of mind (curiosity, persistence, and participation), and their development of social-emotional skills. They think critically and make connections and comparisons within and across subject areas while finding joy in these experiences. With this knowledge, each of them can follow their passions and have a larger impact on their immediate communities and their larger world.
Our age 3 through grade 8 program reminds our oldest students how quickly time flies. The big/little buddy program provides them with numerous opportunities for our oldest students to connect with our youngest learners through story time, play time, and more. Allowing our Middle Grades students to gently mature gives them the opportunity to take risks and make mistakes in order to grow as learners and individuals without worrying about the opinions of their older peers.
We also know that in order for learning to happen, we must encourage our students to bring their whole selves onto campus. It is essential that we provide them with a safe place for learning where they can be their authentic selves. They need to know that their peers and the adult community see and understand them as individuals and as part of a larger group. Because of our diversity where our students’ identities are present in every space on campus and in our curriculum, we can dig deeper into the complex.
It is for these collective reasons that my family and I chose to move to Atlanta in order to join the TCS community. I’m excited to share these experiences with you, whether in person or during a virtual tour. Welcome to TCS where “ the strength of the pack is the wolf/And the strength of the wolf is the pack!”
Warmly,
Roslyn Benjamin
Our Mission and Values
The mission of The Children’s School is to enrich minds and inspire dreams.
We are a highly engaged, compassionate, courageous and diverse community of student and adult learners. In keeping with the progressive vision of our founder, Lila McDill, we honor every member of this community as their authentic self. We embrace play in everything we do because it is essential to the intellectual, social, emotional, physical and cultural development of our young children and young adults. Our joyful and nurturing campus in the heart of Midtown Atlanta supports students to take risks and challenges them to make a positive impact on our ever-changing world.
Our Philosophy
The Children’s School’s vibrant community is passionate about unlocking the potential of children from early childhood through eighth grade. Our caring, experienced and collaborative faculty foster a warm, nurturing environment in which students are challenged to develop their skills and attributes to become the best versions of themselves. We stress strong relationships among students, faculty, parents and community as a critical prerequisite for deep learning, and encourage an environment where everyone has the right and responsibility to share their ideas, knowledge and feelings with each other.
Amplify Childhood.
We ground ourselves in our name: We are the children’s school.
- We celebrate our children’s right to be children. They run around and get messy.
- We believe in everyone’s right to show up as their authentic self. “I am always all me.”
- Our children experience joy and wonder every day. We nurture that in our adults, too.
- We know that our children will become our teachers. There’s more than one sage or stage here.
- We believe our children learn best by doing. Our campus is not the only classroom our children will experience at TCS.
- “For the strength of the pack is the wolf / And the strength of the wolf is the pack.” I am because we are.
- The antidote to our social ills lies in the imaginative minds and the compassionate hearts of children. Our graduates are passion-driven young adults who lead lives of empathy and purpose in an interconnected world.
We obsess over this kind of a childhood. What so many who visit our campus and describe as “magic” is derived from this obsession. So if you share in our obsession, even know and love the child within you, then you are in the right place.
Welcome to The Children’s School.
Diversity is our strength.
Our campus community intentionally reflects the world in which we live. In fact, our community is one of the most diverse among all of Atlanta’s independent schools with 52 percent students of color. Our commitment to inclusion creates an environment where children and adults alike are free to be their authentic selves. Our Midtown location allows us greater access to engage with the broader community, which in turn helps us cultivate the empathy and drive to work toward equity.
We believe that in order for children to fully, sensitively and effectively engage in their communities, they must possess strong local, cultural and global competence. To that end, we learn from and enrich ourselves with multiple perspectives and welcome people of any country of origin, culture, disability, ethnicity, gender expression, gender identity, physical appearance, race, religious choice, family structure, sex, sexual orientation, and socioeconomic status.
Play is serious learning.
Through laughter, play and hard work, we create an environment where children are free to be themselves and where adults remain in touch with their original sense of wonder and joy. Here, learning is hands on, minds on, and all heart.
The greater purpose of knowledge is to better understand and be able to impact the world.
We use immersive project-based learning experiences to inspire children’s’ curiosity and motivate them to action. Students engage with communities beyond the school walls, develop empathy for others, and strive to help create a more equitable world. As a result, our students grow into powerful problem finders and innovative solution builders in the classroom and in their broader communities.
Every child is a unique learner.
Learning should be relevant to the child, and the child’s voice and needs must be at the center of decisions about learning. Academics at TCS include ways for children to engage with and access new learning and for them to express that learning. Our culture is responsive to students’ learning profiles, passions and strengths. We believe adults have as much to learn from children as we have to teach them. Out of this abiding respect, everyone here is on a first-name basis.
Roslyn Benjamin
For three decades, Roslyn Benjamin has served as an educator, administrator, and leader. In July 2020, Roz started her tenure at TCS after serving nine years as assistant head of school at Live Oak School in San Francisco where she was a trusted thought partner and collaborative leader who made a lifelong impact on the students and the school. She is known for her leadership, her effectiveness in connecting with the entire school’s constituency, her inclusive management style, her approachable and visible presence on campus, her focus on goals, and her ability to move things forward in a collaborative way while also being able to make hard decisions.
As a firm believer in the importance of professional development for her individual growth and the learning of others, Roz frequently attends conferences and speaks about women in leadership, creating inclusive learning environments by using multicultural and equity standards and best practices for student engagement, for organizations including National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) and California Association of Independent Schools (CAIS).
Roz received her bachelor of arts degree in international relations from the University of Pennsylvania and her masters in secondary education from San Francisco State University.
Board of Trustees
The Board of Trustees is the governing body of The Children’s School. The board establishes broad goals and overall school policies and appoints and evaluates the head of school. The board delegates school program management to the head of school, and once policy has been established, does not interfere with the daily operation of the school. Therefore, it directs all inquiries to the head of school and their administration and staff.
Board of Trustees for 2023 – 24
- Kerri Murphy, Chair
- Jane Gore, Vice Chair
- Fabienne Lauture, Secretary
- Sarah Scalia, Treasurer
- David Abusch-Magder
- Christy Browne
- Vips Kapadia
- DeMark Liggins
- Latresa McLawhorn Ryan
- Kate Nazarro
- Hope Paga
- Tamara Pearson
- Josh Shepherd
Our Campus
Tucked into a charming residential neighborhood in the heart of Midtown, The Children’s School is a 10-building, 2.7-acre village sitting directly across 10th Street from Piedmont Park, Atlanta’s “Central Park.” Here, children learn, laugh and play in bright and eclectic classrooms, a dedicated art studio, music space, technology center, and library, as well as across many outdoor spaces, including five playgrounds. Proximity to Piedmont Park provides easy access to one of the city’s largest green spaces for outdoor lessons, fly fishing in Lake Clara Meer, the annual Olympic Day celebration, picnics and more.
Architecturally distinct buildings reflect the School’s authentically diverse community.
Our Midtown location attracts families from all over the city, from neighbors who walk their children to school to suburban commuter parents who work in town, and provides easy access to the city’s cultural institutions.
Directions
Directions from all points north
Take Interstate 75/85 into Atlanta. Take the 10th and 14th Streets Exit. Crossover 14th Street and bear to your left at the 10th Street Exit. Turn left onto 10th Street. Cross Peachtree Street and Piedmont Avenue and continue straight until you reach Piedmont Park on your left. We are located on the right, across from the park.
Directions from all points south
Take Interstate 75/85 into Atlanta. Take the 10th Street Exit. (Be careful not to take the Route 10 exit.) Turn right onto 10th Street. Cross Peachtree Street and Piedmont Avenue and continue straight until you reach Piedmont Park on the left. We are located on the right, across from the park.
Parking
The Children’s School is located at 345 10th Street, N.E., Atlanta, GA 30309, directly across from Piedmont Park. If you visit after 8:25 a.m. and before 3:15 p.m., you may park in our carpool lane which is directly in front of the school. If the carpool lane is full, other parking options include parking further along Tenth Street (outside of our carpool lane), on the side streets (Argonne and Taft), or on 9th Street (behind the campus). Officers are outside at our front curb to help if you have questions. Our phone number is 404-873-6985.
Employment.
Kathleen Cole, Director of Human Resources
Thank you for your interest in The Children’s School!
If you have specific job-related questions, you can call 404-873-6985.
The Children’s School is an equal-opportunity employer.
The Children’s School is committed to providing equal opportunity in all of our employment practices, including selection, hiring, promotion, transfer, and compensation, to all qualified applicants and employees without regard to age, race, color, sex, national origin, citizenship status, religion, disability/handicap, sexual orientation or any other protected status in accordance with the requirements of all federal, state, and local laws.
Current Openings
What our Employees Say
“I appreciate the confidence our community has in our educational institution, with a commitment to embracing our mission and fulfilling our goals. I am honored to have the opportunity to be part of a strong and sensitive organization where all of our attempts to become innovative, be it with curriculum, or physical plant, are directed to the needs of what is best for the students. The collaboration among the student, faculty, staff and parent body, at TCS is woven with respect, confidence and compassion. The diversity at our school, on so many levels, is appreciated with curiosity and enthusiasm.”
“This is a true community where each individual is celebrated, supported and encouraged to grow. I love being here every day.”
“I like the community aspect of our school. I love the way we work and respect our students. We all have mutual respect for one another and many of us feel supported and are willing to share ideas and work well together.”
“The community is one that is warm, caring and supportive that results in happy and confident children, teachers who return each year and parents who know this is the best school for their child.”
“We have the freedom to individualize our teaching. We have the flexibility to change plans according to what the children need to learn, i.e., if we’re in the middle of a language arts lesson and a social studies issue comes up, we incorporate it and address the issue right then.”
“I like being part of a faculty comprised of wonderful, strong, creative, supportive individuals who appreciate and enjoy opportunities to share information, insights and an occasional recipe.”
School Blog
April 18, 2024
Building Beyond the Classroom: TCS Third Graders Dive into Hands-On Learning at LEGO Discovery Center Atlanta
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