Welcome to Chaits! A one-of-a-kind Kindergarten restaurant

Tomorrow at our Celebration of Learning, guests will have the opportunity to visit "Chaits," a kindergarten restaurant thoughtfully designed and operated by students in Mr. Mazza’s class.

Like so much learning at Grace, Chaits emerged through our ongoing Reggio Emilia–inspired process carefully observing children, listening deeply to their voiced and demonstrated ideas, and investigating how they make meaning. What began in the fall as children exploring cooking in their dramatic play morphed into an exploration about how we welcome others into a community. Eventually this spring, their learning led them back to an earlier classroom idea: creating a restaurant of their own.

From there, the project grew into an authentic, interdisciplinary learning experience shaped by children’s curiosity and collaboration. Students learned about vegetables and different ingredients, learned about preparing and cooking food, explored what it means to host and serve others, designed components of the restaurant, created invitations for community members, and worked together to bring their vision to life.

Along the way students drew upon meaningful tools in service of real work that mattered deeply to them: reading, developmentally appropriate writing with inventive spelling, math, design, problem-solving, collaboration, and communication. Most importantly, the project reflects the values at the heart of Grace: wonder, purpose, belonging, and the belief that children are capable of extraordinary thinking when we honor their ideas and provide opportunities for them to engage meaningfully with the world around them.

We hope you enjoy this glimpse into the joyful, human-centered learning happening in kindergarten at Grace!