California International Reggio Center (CIRC)

"To make a lovable school, industrious, inventive, livable, documentable, and communicable, a place of research, learning, recognition and reflection, where children, teachers and families feel well - is our point of arrival."

Loris Malaguzzi, Founder of the Reggio Emilia Approach®

Welcoming educators from across the globe to deepen their understanding of the Reggio Emilia Approach®, CIRC leads professional development and training for those at the heart of the learning experience. The Reggio Emilia Approach® is an educational philosophy based on holding a high image of the child as having a strong potential for development and being a subject with rights, who learns through the hundred languages belonging to all human beings, and grows in relationship to others.

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Learn More About the California International Reggio Center (CIRC)

The California International Reggio Center

The California International Reggio Center (CIRC) is a collaboration between La Scuola International School in San Francisco, California, and long-time partner The Innovative Teacher Project (ITP) led by Dr. Susan Lyon and with participation from Reggio Children, an international center for the defense and promotion of children's rights. Welcoming educators from across the globe to deepen their understanding of the Reggio Emilia Approach®, CIRC leads professional development and training for those at the heart of the learning experience. The Reggio Emilia Approach® is an educational philosophy based on holding a high image of the child as having a strong potential for development and being a subject with right, who learns through the hundred languages belonging to all human beings, and grows in relationship to others. Teachers, pedagogistas, atelieristas, administrators, and parents join to expand their knowledge and Reggio Emilia-inspired practice, bringing their learnings into action inside and outside the classroom. Here is a video broadcast on TeleReggio, taken on the day of our official launch and ribbon cutting ceremony, November 6, 2023, at our Mission campus in San Francisco.

About the Innovative Teacher Project

Since 1994, the Innovative Teacher Project (ITP), led by Dr. Susan Lyon, in collaboration with Reggio Children and US educators has provided professional development opportunities for educators, administrators and parents interested in the study of the Reggio Emilia approach to early childhood education. Professional development is a core value of the Reggio Emilia approach—hence it is the mission of ITP to create a community for those interested in elevating the quality of early childhood education. The Innovative Teacher Project is nationally recognized in North America as a professional development network in Northern California. Today, the circle is growing—there are more than 20 public and private schools in Northern California that through ITP participate in the ongoing development of their teachers and educational programs inspired by the Reggio Approach to education.

About Reggio Children

Reggio Children is an international center for the defense and promotion of children’s rights and potentials. It was created with the intention of valorising and safeguarding the experience of Reggio Emilia’s Municipal Infant-Toddler Centers and Preschools, known in Italy and throughout the world as the Reggio Emilia Approach®. Reggio Children promotes and experiments with quality education, diffusing it around the world through professional development, professional learning, publishing, exhibitions, research, and more.

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