The Experience · A Real Week
A Week in the Life
A Real Week
What the Days Actually Feel Like.
The week at Ballena keeps a familiar rhythm. Here is how a day inside it runs.
Students arrive around 7:30, the whole school comes together for morning meeting at 8:00, and classes wrap up at 3:00. In between, the day moves through focused academics, projects, time outside, lunch together, and plenty of opportunities to create and move.
The Daily Frame
The Same Reliable Rhythm.
Gates Open
Families pull up, drop off, and students head in. There is time to greet a teacher, find friends, and get settled before anything starts.
Morning Meeting
The whole campus gathers for announcements, celebrations, and a shared start to the day. Then students head to class.
Dismissal
Pickup is at the gate. Students staying for a club or a game on the field go straight from class to their activity.
Inside the Day
What Happens In Between.
Between morning meeting and dismissal, the day moves through the same set of blocks.
Language Arts
Students build literacy in both languages, with dedicated English Language Arts and Spanish Language Arts instruction.
Math
Taught in English. Number sense, problem solving, reasoning out loud, and putting mathematical thinking to work.
Science & Social Studies
Social Studies is taught in Spanish. Science moves between English and Spanish, and often moves outside.
Elective / Project Block
A longer stretch for projects, chosen electives, and the kind of work that does not fit into a single period.
Art, Music & PE
Time to make things, play music, move, and be outdoors, with hands busy and bodies out of their chairs.
Across the Week
No Two Days Are Quite the Same.
The structure is predictable. What happens inside it has variety.
Over the course of a week, students make art, play music, get to PE, work through project and elective blocks, and take lessons outside onto the grounds. Field experiences, special activities, and clubs land on the calendar as they are scheduled. Same frame, different days.
Lunch at the Comedor
A Real Meal, Made Locally.
Midday means the comedor, where everyone eats together. Lunch is cooked fresh each day by a local restaurant, currently The Bakery.
Think arroz con pollo, olla de carne, chicken fajitas, and pork ribs, with gluten-free and vegetarian options, fresh fruit, and a handmade juice daily. Lunch is paid directly and is not part of tuition.
After 3:00
After the Bell.
Dismissal is at 3:00, and plenty of students stay on. Clubs and activities include soccer, basketball, and volleyball, plus music and band, theater, dance, art, and cooking. Offerings change each semester and are paid separately.
Come see it for yourself.
Bring your family. Walk the campus. Meet the teachers.