The Experiential School: Ages 3-5

Welcome to The Experiential School of Tampa Bay, where each child’s interests and ideas are valued. In our child-centered learning community, students act and interact as individual and collaborative thinkers, doers, and problem solvers, and teachers provide experiences to engage and stretch them.
 
In a safe, nurturing environment, through hands-on learning and connections with nature and community, The Experiential School develops the character, skills, well-being, and values needed to seamlessly grow as lifelong learners throughout Shorecrest. 

Our private school teachers are specialists in Early Childhood Education and are familiar with the latest research on how children develop and learn. They recognize that each child is unique, and purposefully differentiate activities according to the needs of each child. Through a balance of guided discovery and play, the teachers support our students to ensure that they develop the interpersonal and cognitive skills and conceptual understandings that will help position them as the leading students and citizens of the future.

The Experiential School of Tampa Bay engages its students in curriculum that cultivates children's natural creativity and curiosity to promote growth through play, inquiry, exploration, observation and project-based learning.

Inspired by the Reggio Emilia approach, we believe that children are active protagonists in their learning. The curriculum fosters development of the whole child and supports students’ relationship building, expression, and meaning making - understanding that the world around them has meaning and finding their sense of self within their environments. 
 
Teachers digitally document and archive students’ work and projects into an e-portfolio. The portfolio follows the student through the course of Lower School and serves as a tool to draw connections and illustrate student progress through fourth grade.

Involving children in experiences that relate to their lives makes learning meaningful and fun. Come and see!

EXPERIENTIAL SCHOOL TRADITIONS

Fall Festival & Costume Parade
Students debut costumes for families and older students as they parade through the 28-acre campus. The parade is typically followed by an outdoor festival with games, rides, treats and surprises.

Chargers Pep Rally
A few days before the all-school Homecoming pep rally, our youngest Chargers enjoy a smaller pep rally to prepare them for the upcoming fanfare. They talk to high school athletes, meet Sparky - our mascot, and cheerleaders lead them through their first cheer.

Celebrate the Arts
A weeklong teach-in featuring local artists, a gallery walk highlighting student artwork, class performances and more. The final feature of the week is a Shorecrest Upper School Performing Arts musical production.

Alpha on the Go!
As a culminating activity for Alpha's investigation of transportation and as an end of the year celebration, our youngest Chargers show off their skills on wheels. Students bring tricycles, bicycles, balance bikes, scooters and Hot Wheels to demonstrate their independence while bonding with the school community.

Explore our Environment

Students settled into the Mike Murphy Experiential School building in March 2019. When designing new indoor and outdoor spaces, every decision made had student learning and growth at its core. The building houses classrooms, a teaching kitchen, a library and media center, dining rooms, and much more!

Learn More

"I visited my son's Alpha class yesterday. When I walked in, children were building skyscrapers with real wooden blocks, kids were playing in the "Bakery" with real flour spiced with ginger and cinnamon, and another group of children were working on painting a collaborative mural... and that was just 3 of the many amazing choices that were available. This happens EVERYDAY at The Experiential School!" 
~ Shannon Lipan
“Play is often talked about as if it were a relief from serious learning. But for children play is serious learning. Play is really the work of childhood."
~ Fred Rogers

School Information

5101 First Street Northeast
St Petersburg, FL 33703
Phone: (727) 522-2111  |  Fax: (727) 527-4191
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Privacy Policy | Faculty


Shorecrest Preparatory School is a private, non-sectarian, coeducational, college preparatory day school for students preschool through high school, located in St. Petersburg, Florida.

NON-DISCRIMINATION POLICY
Shorecrest acknowledges its obligation to prohibit discrimination, harassment, or retaliation on the basis of race, color, religion, age, national origin sex, citizenship status, genetic information, handicap or disability in admissions, access, employment, tuition assistance, educational policies, or other school administered student and employee programs and activities. Questions regarding the School’s compliance with the application and administration of the School’s nondiscrimination policies should be directed to Kristine Grant, Head of Middle School, 5101 First Street Northeast, St. Petersburg, Florida 33703, (727)-522-2111, kgrant@shorecrest.org or to the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights (OCR). Please refer to the School’s Non-Discrimination Compliance Policy on the School’s website for information on how to file complaints with OCR.