Muir Elementary

Having visited Muir Elementary and their fabulous accessible playground last spring, I was excited for my current visit. Muir has been led by Principal Andrea Kreft for nine years and she has done an excellent job. 

Principal Kreft took me around Muir. The first thing I focused on at Muir was the mindfulness room. This room is designed for staff to recharge and relax during prep periods. The meditation room is a small and serene space with multiple seating mats and comfortable pillows to aid the meditation. Clearly this space is a hidden gem of Muir Elementary.

We continued our tour by visiting the kindergarten and 1st grade classes where a interactive math lesson involving bricks and tiles was being used to teach counting and story problems. I was especially glad to see that the class had individuals with disabilities attending class with their peers in the same class with the aid standing in the back of the room.  True inclusion has been a challenge for MMSD, and it’s refreshing to see all children learning together in one class instead of  placing children with learning differences in a separate class.

My final stop at Muir was the school garden. As we arrived a fourth grade class was learning about butterflies  and sunflowers.  The garden was truly remarkable. A student or teacher could grab wild raspberries and mini tomatoes right off the plant. A few yards away healthy gourds and tomatillos were growing in abundance. As I was leaving, I toured the butterfly garden and marveled at how great it would be to learn science, ecology, and wildlife in such a serine setting. Muir is truly a remarkable school.