About Orion

Orion School is a partnership of parents, teachers and community serving children throughout Redwood City School District. The focus is on a curriculum that contributes to the maximum development of the 'whole' child. The goal is to instill in each child a love of learning, as well as the confidence and skills necessary to meet future challenges.

Our nine classrooms are configured this year as K, K, 1, 1, 2, 2 3-4, 3-4, and 4-5. Our small school size ensures that teachers share information so that all children receive personal understanding and a thoughtfully designed education. Each child is viewed as a unique individual with his/her own unique style and rate of growth. An integrated curriculum that is hands-on and experiential, incorporating a variety of off-site learning opportunities, while simultaneously adhering to mandatory California State Standards, helps children form real-life connections to classroom learning.

Parents are expected to participate in classroom or school activities, parent education and school leadership activities during the year. Parents may work in the classroom or help with activities outside the classroom a minimum of 2 hours a week (total of 72 hours for one child; 108 hours for two or more children).

The Orion Handbook (2007/2008 Edition)

The Orion Handbook is a set of documents that fully explains how Orion works. It's distributed to families that request a paper copy. Now that it's posted here, most families choose to read it online. To request a paper copy of any of these documents, contact Tiffany Teele.

Click the links below to read the PDF version of each document. If there's no link, the document is not available online yet.

  1. Guiding Principles
  2. Governance & Structure
  3. Parent Participation
    • Exemption Guidelines
    • Exemption Request
  4. Reference Materials

Other Documents

This section contains much information about our school in several different formats. Feel free to explore the links presented below.

 
 
Orion Elementary School's underlying philosophy.
The FAQ has very brief answers to frequently asked questions.
The ABC's of Orion is a glossary of Orion terms. You can find lots of information about our school and how it functions.
ABC's de la Escuela Orion
The Open Enrollment Process.
Contrato para la Participacion de Padres/Madres 2004-2005
Parent Participation Explained
05-06 School Accountability Report
05-06 School Accountability Report (Spanish)