The Circle School's curriculum is inspired by the work of Nicholas Roerich and a synthesis of methods and insights taken from the work of many educators. Teachers at the school are given freedom to teach to their passions. Teachers continue to study the history of The Circle School teaching philosphy and seek out new ways of ensuring the complete education of each student. Teachers incorporate the below "family tree":

NICHOLAS ROERICH focused on the necessity of education to provide a synthesis of art, science and philosophy, and to preserve the child's creativity.

RUDOLPH STEINER developed a pedagogy which takes an artistic approach to education; views the child as a threefold being growing through the will, the feeling and thinking; and sees the child's development as recapitulating mankind's cultural evolution. His pedagogical methods correspond to Piaget's understanding of how a child's thinking develops.

JEAN PIAGET Through his research on children, he came to an understanding of the natural stages of the child's conceptual development and how this can be recognized in the individual child so that the child can develop at his or her own pace - without being unnaturally accelerated or held back.

MARIA MONTESSORI developed an excellent practical life curriculum which we use for the development of fine motor skills and to give the child a love for labor and mastery over many practical tasks.

RUDOLF DREIKURS developed a child training method that respects the child's individuality and sees a child as a citizen of a democratic society. His method develops the child's independence and understanding of cause and effect, so that the child can take his or her own place of individual responsibility in a world of cause and effect.

CARL ORFF developed the Orff Schulwerk, which gives the child a sequential approach to music education. His approach integrates the use of movement, music and language in a historical-cultural context. An appreciation for music and the arts through creative, expressive experiences using folk materials of American and world cultures is developed.

SYLVIA ASHTON-WARNER developed the creative teaching method of Organic Reading and Writing, in which the child creates his own book complete with illustrations as an introduction to reading, writing and spelling. She saw it as a growing, living, changing design originating from within the child.

PAST IS PROLOGUE (PIP) In the early 1990s, The Circle School integrated this Native American educational method based on the oral tradition of the Iroquois Indians as articulated by Paula Underwood Spencer.

CORE KNOWLEDGE SEQUENCE Developed by E.D. Hirsch Jr., author of "Cultural Literacy," this system provides an interesting and challenging knowledge base to children grade-by-grade. The goal is to guarantee equal access for all to knowledge necessary for higher literacy and learning.

REGGIO EMILIA A distinctive innovative approach that supports children's well being and fosters their intellectual development through a systematic focus on symbolic representation. Young children are encouraged to explore their environment and express themselves through many "languages," or modes of expression. This includes words, movement, drawing, painting, sculpture, shadow play, collage and music leading children to surprising levels of symbolic skill and creativity.