A Place for All in Tiny Town

First Grade Inquiry

“Can we design a town that takes care of everyone?”

Earlier this semester, first graders broke ground on our Tiny Town Project. Beginning with a look at 2D and 3D shapes, students set out to construct buildings that would be stable. But while we were imagining this town, we also decided our town needed to take care of ALL people and ALL of nature. We asked ourselves, “Can we design a town that takes care of everyone?” Along the way, many meaningful conversations came up regarding justice and environmentalism. First graders have so many ideas about what is just and about how we need to change practices worldwide to help take care of everyone and everything.

Some highlights from Tiny Town (also known as Justice Town) are: rooftop gardens, fruit trees along the streets so everyone has access to food, hotels that house anyone who needs housing, and a forest in the middle of it all, generating lots and lots of oxygen and habitat space. Tiny Town has automobiles that hover so animals cannot get run over, and they are powered by the sun.

The project brought together many areas of learning. Students measured and compared building heights, explored what makes structures stable, experimented with simple machines, drafted blueprints, and brought their ideas to life using a wide range of materials. Alongside this hands-on work, they engaged in meaningful conversations about justice – what it means and how a community might embody it.

Again and again, students returned to the same essential ideas: everyone belongs, everyone deserves to be cared for, and nature is not separate from a community, rather an essential part of it.

More Photos from Tiny Town:

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Registration is open for our 2026 Summer Camps. Check out the exciting variety of offerings for ages 3-18! ☀️🎉 (linktree in bio)
oakgroveschool.org/programs/SUMMER
#ojaisummercamp #oakgroveschoolojai #prekthru12 #fun #learning #creativity #friends

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Registration is open for our 2026 Summer Camps. Check out the exciting variety of offerings for ages 3-18! ☀️🎉 (linktree in bio)
oakgroveschool.org/programs/SUMMER
#ojaisummercamp #oakgroveschoolojai #prekthru12 #fun #learning #creativity #friends

Thanks to Vitalant all who were able to come out Saturday and give blood in honor of Ruby Doss `15 and her one-year anniversary of needing five blood transfusions to save her life during childbirth. What a way to give back @rubydossequine !

Find a blood drive near you @vitalantca

#everydropcounts #blooddrives #gratitude #oakgrovealumni

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Thanks to Vitalant all who were able to come out Saturday and give blood in honor of Ruby Doss '15 and her one-year anniversary of needing five blood transfusions to save her life during childbirth. What a way to give back @rubydossequine !

Find a blood drive near you @vitalantca

#everydropcounts #blooddrives #gratitude #oakgrovealumni

Last weekend, a group of our high school and 8th grade students backpacked up Horn Canyon to The Pines campground on Friday evening and spent time continuing to restore the campground—pulling weeds, cutting back brush, leveling tent areas, and helping with general camp maintenance.

On Saturday afternoon, a group hiked up to the ridge and towards Chief’s Peak, enjoying incredible views of the Ojai Valley, and all the way out to the Channel Islands.

We headed back to town on Sunday morning with tired bodies, but energized souls.
It was a rewarding experience, a great adventure, and a lot of fun. We’re grateful for the students’ hard work and adventurous spirit, and we look forward to more opportunities for trips like this in the future.

Thanks to everyone who participated and supported!

#communityservice #backpacking #lospadresnationalforest #friendship #nature #theartoflivingandlearning #oakgroveschoolojai

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Last weekend, a group of our high school and 8th grade students backpacked up Horn Canyon to The Pines campground on Friday evening and spent time continuing to restore the campground—pulling weeds, cutting back brush, leveling tent areas, and helping with general camp maintenance.

On Saturday afternoon, a group hiked up to the ridge and towards Chief’s Peak, enjoying incredible views of the Ojai Valley, and all the way out to the Channel Islands.

We headed back to town on Sunday morning with tired bodies, but energized souls.
It was a rewarding experience, a great adventure, and a lot of fun. We’re grateful for the students’ hard work and adventurous spirit, and we look forward to more opportunities for trips like this in the future.

Thanks to everyone who participated and supported!

#communityservice #backpacking #lospadresnationalforest #friendship #nature #theartoflivingandlearning #oakgroveschoolojai

"More than 50 years ago, in the spring of 1975, Fred Hall, then editor of the Ojai Valley News, asked philosopher Jiddu Krishnamurti a simple but pointed question: In a valley already full of public and private schools, why start another one?"

We are so grateful to Ojai Magazine for featuring our 50th Anniversary in this compelling article written by Kerstin Kuhn. Enjoy the full article by picking up your very own copy or enjoy the full article online here by visiting the Lizard Blog (linktree in bio).

@ojaivalleynews @ojaifoodwriter #50yearsofoakgrove #theartoflivingandlearning #jkrishnamurti #education #ojaischools #ojaicalifornia

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