2025/26 Updated Core Values

In the fall of 2025, the staff at Ohlone, in partnership with the Core Values Committee, set out to revisit the Core Values and the Goals of an Ohlone Education. Our charge was to reshape current Ohlone Core Values & Goals into a clear, cohesive set of 3–5 Core Values that reflect our school’s vision and culture for today and tomorrow.  

Considerations:

The committee was charged with incorporating broad input at every stage of the process as well as thinking carefully about how the goals would both reflect Ohlone today and speak to our aspirations as a school. It was also important to balance the whys and hows so that we were clear about what is important and how the values show up at Ohlone. Wordsmithing is always a challenge, and we were intentional with words, aiming to include only the words that are at the core of who we are as a school community. 

Updated core values:

We want the core values to reflect what makes Ohlone distinct from a traditional neighborhood school. That was loud and clear in the input. You will see that the four revised values are preceded by a preamble. The preamble is intended to highlight the characteristics of Ohlone that make it unique. It defines the “Ohlone Way!”

We believe that being a child, with all that is unknown, should be protected as a space for exploration, mistakes, and growth. Staff and parents alike see how overscheduled many children are and the rush to accelerate. Because children are at the center of our work, we led with a value that emphasizes the importance of childhood, and we are committed not only to protecting unstructured time for children, but also to creating space for our community—families, educators, and staff—to come together, reflect, and explore meaningful ways to support childhood with intention and care.

Building on childhood and growth, the second core value speaks to how we want to nurture learning. At Ohlone, it is not a passive endeavor. We want children to learn how to learn and how they learn. In our rapidly evolving, technologically advanced world, memorization and acquisition of content are no longer the primary goals of education. The world will require our students to be adaptable, lifelong learners, and therefore, we want them to know themselves so they can approach any learning opportunity with confidence and self-awareness.

Next, we want to raise individuals who are the best versions of themselves. The third value champions character development. One aspect of character development we intentionally called out is centered on resilience, reflection, and repair. These three Rs are central to social and academic success.

With the first three values, we have Ohlone grown citizens who we want to lead our world. And with that, we expect them to be caring citizens of our school community.