“Trilok” in Sanskrit means “three worlds.” For us it means the weaving together of
- the world of the child
- the world of the family
- the world of the educator
We connect these three worlds and create a dynamic and empowering environment for growth, learning, and development.
Trilok School Values:
- Diversity
- Community studies and engagement
- Environmental conservation
- A joyous education
- Creative exploration
- Small class sizes
- Hands-on, project-based learning
- Descriptive, qualitative analysis, as opposed to testing
What we believe
We prioritize respect for the earth, compassion for all living beings, and non-violence. Our learners are encouraged to express their feelings in constructive ways and to resolve differences peacefully, with dialogue and mindful strategies of conflict resolution.
Daily Activities
Meditation, music and movement channel the children’s energy to help them master their focus, attune their behavior, build their awareness, dissipate their stress, and strengthen their self-confidence. Creative opportunities, such as dance, music, drawing, painting, gardening, photography, and cooking, offer outlets for expression. With this strong base, children engage more actively in reading, writing, math, science, and social studies.
Community & Diversity
We acknowledge each student as a World Citizen, which cultivates a devotion to the Earth, fosters a commitment to humanity, and builds bridges among individuals across difference. We believe each student enriches the diverse community of Brooklyn, which offers a unique educational environment for world citizenship.
Dance, music, drawing, painting, gardening, photography, and cooking enable our students to express themselves and delve into their unique imaginative processes. As a result, students become exposed to numerous cultures and languages, and they continually develop as more compassionate, curious learners.
Sharing foods, sharing cultures
Lunches are prepared by parents and divided and shared amongst all students in the class, which permits students to learn about each other’s cultures and sample new foods.
Children at Trilok practice a global tradition of graceful eating from fingertips to mouth, using well-washed hands as feeding implements. Yogic insight suggests that this method of eating with the fingertips refines children’s fine motor skills and enhances the finger’s sensory-motor nerves, which prepares the body for digestion. This stimulates embodied self-regulation and prevents humans from over or under eating. Please note that accommodations are flexibly made for any dietary restraints.
Field Trips
Travel is a big part of Trilok learning. Monthly trips reinforce lessons learned in class. Some examples include: apple orchards, pumpkin patches, animal centers, botanical parks and child-friendly museums. As children grow up at Trilok, field trips take on national and international dimensions.
The Fruits of Trilok
Students are grouped developmentally as fruits, which offer the proverbial nutrients for learning. Children experience the school as a small village, through which they can travel for various classes. We reflect the values of the community and are enriched by every student and parent. The colors of the walls and doors reflect the thought processes of Trilok’s eldest children, who imagined a school where the fruits of nature were the themes of each classroom.
Trilok Garden
Our beautiful garden acts as a teaching tool, outdoor classroom space, and testament to our integrated educational mission. Here, children plant, cultivate and harvest bounty from the earth. One can see the deep value we place on independent learning and imaginative engagement.
Green Values
Green values at Trilok are robust. Our library was entirely from family donations, and our classroom materials contain donated toys and recycled art materials. In class, students reduce, reuse, recycle, and they compost food scraps from snacks and lunch. At first, students learn by example, but they learn to take initiative and care for the Earth themselves.
Positive Approach to Discipline
Trilok is a school guided by a peace philosophy and supported by a formal Peace Curriculum. Children are encouraged to express their feelings verbally and problem-solve with teachers and classmates through dialogue.