UCDS Schools - UCDS

Developing Expansive Thinkers
Encouraging Unique Strengths
Igniting Positive Change

Where Learning Has No Limits

Welcome to UCDS. We encourage students to stretch, reflect, collaborate, and think expansively—enriching their educational growth and ensuring they thrive in school and beyond.

UCDS Schools 18

Infant-Toddler Education

UCDS Schools 4

Early Elementary

UCDS Schools 2

Elementary

We’re driven by the idea that learning is as varied as each individual. So we’ve designed innovative educational programs that activate personal learning styles and set students up for the rewards of life-long learning. Become part of the UCDS community.

UCDS Schools 13

Our Mission

We cultivate reflective, collaborative, skillful thinkers who ignite positive change in their communities.

UCDS Schools Blog

Six Highlights of an Innovative School • Being Brave

Design-led Learning, Education Hub

Six Highlights of an Innovative School • Being Brave

UCDS is having a birthday! As we celebrate our 110th year, we are rolling back the clock and re-sharing six highlights of an innovative school: Culture of Inquiry, Sticky Curriculum,…

Six Highlights of an Innovative School • Coaching Independence

Design-led Learning, Education Hub

Six Highlights of an Innovative School • Coaching Independence

UCDS is having a birthday! As we celebrate our 110th year, we are rolling back the clock and re-sharing six highlights of an innovative school: Culture of Inquiry, Sticky Curriculum,…

Design-led Learning, Education Hub

Six Highlights of an Innovative School • Mentorship Through Collaboration

Design-led Learning, Education Hub

Six Highlights of an Innovative School • Authentic Assessment

All Blog Articles

ucds_seattle

Preschool-5th Grade. We cultivate reflective, collaborative, skillful thinkers who ignite positive change in their communities.

We have so many amazing after-school clubs here at

We have so many amazing after-school clubs here at UCDS, including Calligraphy Workshop with Diane Chickadel, which just wrapped up yesterday. Over the course of their fall sessions, these 1st-5th graders learned and practiced so many new writing techniques and styles. Diane wove calligraphy-stroke mastery into letter and numeral formation with lots of artistic flourish along the way! We look forward to the next round of clubs starting up in January!
.
.
.
.
.
.
#ucdsseattle #ucdsalum #ucdsinstitute #calligraphy #penmanship #nwais #psis #parentmap #peps #pnwfamily #pnwkids #northseattle #seattle #familiesofcolorseattle #seattledad #seattlemom #seattleparents #seattlepreschool #seattlefamily #seattlekids #seattleschool #seattleindependentschool

Hi, UCDS Community! Do you know any educators who

Hi, UCDS Community! Do you know any educators who are looking to change their future? Invite them to come learn with us! The @ucds.institute College for School Culture M.Ed. program can help educators achieve their goals—we invite you to watch and share this informational video about our program to learn more. Our graduate students form a cohort of engaged educators who work to understand how school culture impacts student success and graduate ready to activate positive change in education.

Please share and learn more at the link in bio at @ucds.institute. There, explore what makes our graduate program unique, sign up for our mailing list, and follow the link to RSVP for an upcoming virtual information session. We hope to meet you soon!

.

.

.

.

.

#ucdsinstitute #ucdsseattle #education #mastersdegree #masters #gradschool #teaching #teachereducation #seattle #seattleteachers #graduateschool #graduateschoollife #gradstudent #gradlife #academiclife #graduatestudent #nationaleducationassociation #nais #nwais #psis #centralwashingtonuniversity #easternwashingtonuniversity #WWU #seattlepacificuniversity #evergreenstatecollege #piercecollege #seattleuniversity #universityofwashington #seattlecolleges #bellevuecollege

Think your eyes are playing tricks on you as you w

Think your eyes are playing tricks on you as you walk down the first-floor hallway? Nope! It's our 1-2s' amazing self-portraits and identity collages put together in a lenticular form that changes view depending on your perspective. One side is a thoughtfully created watercolor self-portrait; the other side is a collage of visual representations of each student's identity. Aren't they stunning? If you haven't had a chance to see them hanging up in the Tower, make sure to swing by soon!

This project highlights our commitment to social-justice values of identity, justice, diversity, and action. By creating a two-part visual representation of themselves—a self-portrait and an identity collage—it is helping students develop an understanding of their own identity and to recognize and appreciate how others are the same as and different from them. To create the collage portion of this project, students worked over many sessions to think about different aspects of their identity. Teachers used the metaphor of the "Tree of You" in which the roots represent the parts of one's identity connected to family and history, the trunk represents parts that people don't always see like values and beliefs, and the leaves represent parts of one's identity that can change over time like interests, passions, and hobbies. So many great conversations and connections happened along the way, from a shared love of puppies, roller coasters, and sushi to a new interest in researching ancestral national flags, and too much more to list here!

The cold temps at recess today didn’t stop us fr

The cold temps at recess today didn’t stop us from having a good time reconnecting with friends after Fall Break! Thanks for sending all those layers—who knows what tomorrow will bring?! Dare we say ❄️?
.
.
.
.
.
.
#ucdsseattle #ucdsalum #ucdsinstitute #snow #seattlesnow #recess #play #nwais #psis #parentmap #peps #pnwfamily #pnwkids #northseattle #seattle #familiesofcolorseattle #seattledad #seattlemom #seattleparents #seattlepreschool #seattlefamily #seattlekids #seattleschool #seattleindependentschool

Happy Thanksgiving to all who celebrate! We hope y

Happy Thanksgiving to all who celebrate! We hope you take time today to give thanks for everything you are grateful for and embrace those near and far who enrich your life!
.
.
.
.
.
.
#ucdsseattle #ucdsalum #happythanksgiving2022 #seattlethanksgiving #thanksgiving #nwais #psis #parentmap #peps #pnwfamily #pnwkids #northseattle #seattle #familiesofcolorseattle #seattledad #seattlemom #seattleparents #seattlepreschool #seattlefamily #seattlekids #seattleschool #seattleindependentschool

Our 2022 Stone Soup celebration was full of friend

Our 2022 Stone Soup celebration was full of friendship, traditions, and lots of good food! As you and your family set off on Fall Break, we wish the same for you all—see you back at school the week after next!
.
.
.
.
.
.
#ucdsseattle #ucdsalum #tradition #stonesoup #community #nwais #psis #parentmap #peps #pnwfamily #pnwkids #northseattle #seattle #familiesofcolorseattle #seattledad #seattlemom #seattleparents #seattlepreschool #seattlefamily #seattlekids #seattleschool #seattleindependentschool

Stone Soup is less than 24 hours away, and everyon

Stone Soup is less than 24 hours away, and everyone at school has been busy, busy, busy getting ready for our big community celebration! Here's an inside look at our preparations this week, grouped by activity. Scroll through the videos for a look at:

COOKING
1 - Making cookies in the EE
2 - Shaking some homemade butter in the 1-2s
3 - Following a yeast-dough recipe in the 1-2s
4 - Celebrating the Soup Stone in the 3-4s
5 - Assembling fruit kabobs in the 5s

PLACEMATS FOR BUDDIES
6 & 7 - Pattern placemats in the EE
8 - Oil pastel placemats in the 3-4s

STONE SOUP SONG
9 - 3-4s rehearsing in Music with Skúli

STONE SOUP PLAY
10 - 5s' wishes for the community

We're looking forward to tomorrow!
.
.
.
.
.
.
#ucdsseattle #ucdsalum #tradition #stonesoup #community #nwais #psis #parentmap #peps #pnwfamily #pnwkids #northseattle #seattle #familiesofcolorseattle #seattledad #seattlemom #seattleparents #seattlepreschool #seattlefamily #seattlekids #seattleschool #seattleindependentschool

We're overjoyed to bring back the full experience

EE scientists have been DIGging up a storm in thei

EE scientists have been DIGging up a storm in their archaeological DIG site in the Library garden! Over the course of many visits to Science with Alyssa, they have become archaeologists who have lived the process of scoping out a DIG site, using tools to excavate artifacts from the "midden" (a fancy word for an old dump site), and cleaning and cataloging these artifacts. They wrapped up this exploration last week back in the lab with an opportunity to sketch and imagine the "story" of an artifact of their choosing, an activity that helped bring to life the anthropological and human studies aspects of archaeology. Through it all, these students have practiced many skills, developed conceptual understandings, and expanded their vocabulary about what lies under our feet, which will help them in their next big DIG Science project into paleontology!
.
.
.
.
.
.
#ucdsseattle #ucdsalum #scienceteacher #scienceeducation #dig #archaeology #earlychildhoodeducation #nwais #psis #parentmap #peps #pnwfamily #pnwkids #northseattle #seattle #familiesofcolorseattle #seattledad #seattlemom #seattleparents #seattlepreschool #seattlefamily #seattlekids #seattleschool #seattleindependentschool

Scenes from EE Library check-out at @ucds_seattle.

Scenes from EE Library check-out at @ucds_seattle. Music courtesy of our friends (and teaching colleagues!) in @recessmonkey!
.
.
.
.
.
.
#ucdsseattle #ucdsalum #library #bookstagram #weneeddiversebooks #librarycheckout #earlyreaders #preschool #prek #kindergarten #recessmonkey #favoritebook #nwais #psis #parentmap #peps #pnwfamily #pnwkids #northseattle #seattle #familiesofcolorseattle #seattledad #seattlemom #seattleparents #seattlepreschool #seattlefamily #seattlekids #seattleschool #seattleindependentschool

Today on Veterans Day, we honor all those who have

Today on Veterans Day, we honor all those who have served our country and those who continue to serve. Thank you, and happy Veterans Day!
.
.
.
.
.
.
#ucdsseattle #ucdsalum #veteransday2022🇺🇲 #veteransdayseattle #nwais #psis #parentmap #peps #pnwfamily #pnwkids #northseattle #seattle #familiesofcolorseattle #seattlepreschool #seattlefamily #seattlekids #seattleindependentschool #seattleschool

Next Monday, we kick off our year-long relationshi

Next Monday, we kick off our year-long relationship with the St. Vincent de Paul Food Program, which is housed across from UCDS in the Blessed Sacrament Church. They serve our neighbors experiencing food insecurity by providing a weekly Friday Food Bank where folks can select food as needed, and they also deliver boxes of food to households where clients are unable to come in person. Today, our 5th-grade Service Learning students who help coordinate and run the year-long Food and Toiletry Drive met with the first two classes who will donate. The shared their presentation and answered questions to teach these students about the program and ways that they can help during their collection period. We look forward to getting this project underway! And to everyone participating, thank you in advance for your generous support!
.
.
.
.
.
#ucdsseattle #ucdsalum #fooddrive #communityhelpers #seattlecommunity #stvincentdepaul #foodbank #fooddrive #nwais #psis #parentmap #peps #pnwfamily #pnwkids #northseattle #seattle #familiesofcolorseattle #seattledad #seattlemom #seattleparents #seattlepreschool #seattlefamily #seattlekids #seattleschool #seattleindependentschool

Load More... Follow on Instagram

Chinese (Simplified)

Chinese (Traditional)

Kurdish (Kurmanji)

Myanmar (Burmese)

Scottish Gaelic