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Nestled behind the trees of a quiet Menlo Park neighborhood is Peninsula School, an independent preschool through eighth grade campus housed in an 1880s mansion. This year marks its 100th anniversary of teaching students to learn independence through creativity, choice and play.
Since 1925, the school has been a champion for progressive education, a teaching model that brings learning to life and focuses on educating the whole child, said Head of School Johanna Aeschliman.
In the preschool yard, children are playing barefoot in the sand and dirt while others are inside working on arts and crafts or playing make-believe. The school’s weaving room is packed with looms with intricate weaving patterns, colorful balls of yarn and students sprawled on the floor. The walls of the clay room are decorated with hundreds of student pieces, all waiting to be thrown in the kiln.
Classrooms at Peninsula School are creatively messy, colorful, joyous as various student artwork is framed and displayed throughout the campus. The white columns of the school mansion welcome visitors with rainbow-colored paper lanterns and streamers with a banner that reads “100 Years of Joyful Learning!”
For a century, Peninsula School’s unique teaching approach has been promoting young learners to become creative thinkers, problem solvers and active community members.
Encouraging independent learning
Students play together at The Peninsula School in Menlo Park on Friday May 30, 2025. The Peninsula School celebrates their 100 year anniversary. Photo by Tâm Vũ 
Weaving machines are used at The Peninsula School in Menlo Park on Friday May 30, 2025. The Peninsula School celebrates their 100 year anniversary. Photo by Tâm Vũ 
Students listen to librarian Margot Berrill at story time at The Peninsula School in Menlo Park on Friday May 30, 2025. The Peninsula School celebrates their 100 year anniversary. Photo by Tâm Vũ 
Students’ shoes line the door way to the library at The Peninsula School in Menlo Park on Friday May 30, 2025. The Peninsula School celebrates their 100 year anniversary. Photo by Tâm Vũ
Peninsula School uses an educational method that emphasizes student voice, agency and responsibility. Every day, kindergarten through eighth grade students have 45 minutes to explore a studio activity, choosing anything from woodshop, weaving, pottery, music and the library.
“All those choices are open to them and each day they get a fresh choice,” said Admissions and Enrollment Director Michele Buschini. “There isn’t a structured curriculum during this time and that’s a chance for them to dive into whatever kind of project they want to work on.”
By the time students reach middle school, “They have free reinof campus,” she added. The school has no bell system but students are expected to be in class on time. By the values of Peninsula School, students are encouraged to build responsibility by tracking their own class schedules.
Aeschliman calls this the “freedom of responsibility.”
Starting in second grade, students also take part in the camping program where they experience sleeping away from home either on the campus or at a campground. As the grade level progresses, the number of camping nights increases.
For middle schoolers, students take the responsibility of planning these trips to decide the location, what meals will be made, how they’ll get there and what they need to buy.
Making choices starts as early as preschool, where students are given the opportunity to drive their own learning, said Buschini. While teachers will initiate ideas, students are molding the curriculum by what they are interested and excited about. “It’s a way to enrich their curiosity,” she added.
Promoting diversity and community
Peninsula School draws families from across the Bay Area — some commute from as far as the East Bay and San Jose. According to Aeschliman, 50% of the student population is made up of students of color and across Peninsula School families, 18 different languages are spoken at home.
As the school embraces diversity, students are also introduced to a curriculum on justice issues that impact various communities starting from kindergarten. Peninsula School students have taken part in protests for the Black Lives Matter movement, climate change and recently hosted a walkathon to raise money for communities affected by the Los Angeles fires.
“We’re trying to get our students to think outside of themselves and look around in their community and figure out what are some of the problems that need to be solved,” said Aeschliman.
Through the humanities curriculum, students are exposed to the idea that they are capable of standing up to injustice. By the fourth grade, children are engaging with questions about how history influences and informs the world around them and what they can do to make change.
The young learners are also showing interest in current events, including the Israel-Hamas war and the conflict between Ukraine and Russia, Aeschliman said. The school’s curriculum uses developmentally appropriate literature and discussions to hold conversations in a respectful, safe and productive way.
“Early progressive thinkers like John Dewey, Maria Montessori and Frank and Josephine Duveneck, who founded our school, really believed that the purpose of education in our country was to educate citizens for participation in a democracy and Peninsula School is deeply founded on those ideas,” said Buschini.
By encouraging students to be active members of society, they are learning to practice critical thinking, debate, negotiation and to question authority, she added.
