A New Creative Space in the Early Years: Welcoming our Atelier and Atelierista

We are delighted to announce the opening of our new Atelier in the Early Years, led by our Atelierista, Kru Meredith Spragg.

The role of the Atelierista comes from Reggio Emilia, Italy, a place renowned for its distinctive and child-centered approach to early childhood education. Central to this philosophy is the image of the child as capable, curious, and full of potential. Reggio educators believe that children possess a hundred languages of expression—drawing, painting, dancing, storytelling, sculpture, movement, and many others. The Atelierista supports children in expressing these languages by integrating the arts through project-based exploration, honoring their ideas, theories, and natural creativity.

The atelier is a responsive environment that promotes knowledge, curiosity, and creativity. Rather than outcome-driven tasks, children are offered provocations—thoughtful invitations to explore, investigate, and represent their ideas—focusing on the joy of discovery. Kru Meredith supports students’ inquiries by documenting their learning and relaunching their ideas. She carefully observes how children interact with materials, what questions they ask, and the theories they share. From there, she provides a learning environment that both responds to and provokes their thinking. 

For the atelier to be successful, relationships must be at its heart. Children are encouraged to collaborate on projects, share their ideas, and listen to and learn from one another. As they explore the carefully curated environment, they also begin to build relationships with the materials—and with the wonder and beauty that surround them. In addition, visual metaphors are celebrated as children express complex and abstract ideas through painting, sculpture, storytelling, and many other forms. The Atelier is more than a room for art. It is a workshop of ideas, imagination, and expression.

This approach shares many connections with the Early Years in the PYP. The PYP recognizes that play is how young children inquire and make sense of the world, and the atelier is a space where play is central—whether through exploring light and shadow, creating art, or building together. In addition, the Reggio philosophy supports all of the Approaches to Learning, encouraging children to be collaborative thinkers, researchers, and communicators.

As the EY classes begin their inquiries into Who We Are, the atelier will offer a variety of provocations to help students develop a sense of identity—both internally, through their emotions and perspectives, and externally, through their unique attributes.

Caregivers were invited into the atelier to meet the atelierista and gain a deeper understanding of the space. At the end of the presentation, they had the opportunity to engage in various identity tasks, such as creating a self-portrait using loose parts and abstractly representing emotions through different artistic mediums. Community is central to the Reggio philosophy, and caregivers will be regularly invited into the space. This begins with an Open Studio offering: EY caregivers are invited to join their child in the atelier on Thursdays from 3:00 to 3:30 to discover and create together. Sign-up will be limited to 12 families per week.

We look forward to seeing how the children begin to develop and shape our new atelier and what ideas and theories form from their experiences!