Who We Serve

At Kaleidoscope Place we pride ourselves in working with students and families that come from diverse cultural and economic backgrounds. Kaleidoscope has a rich heritage and continues that pursuit today. Even though our program fees are highly affordable, we will work with the families to ensure that every child has the opportunity to experience the positive, successful, and safe environment that Kaleidoscope offers.

What We Do

Kaleidoscope is an organization that has an outstanding track record in increasing student achievement, due in large part to the design of the program. From the minute they walk in the door, students are placed in an environment which gives them the greatest odds of success. One primary reason is an excellent ratio of students to adults (staff and volunteers). Kaleidoscope is proud of these ratios and the success it allows us to have with students. It forms the basis for many of our most important instructional strategies. Kaleidoscope’s program is based around four key concepts.

1. One-to-one assistance. Research has shown over and over that the more individualized attention a student can receive, the greater their success typically is. This one-on-one time is helpful to the student because they receive individualized instruction based on assessed needs.
2. Small Group instruction. Outside of the one-on-one tutoring that students receive, the majority of instruction is delivered in a small group setting designed to maximize learning. Lessons are taught to small groups, which are formed around ability levels. As with one-to-one instruction, small group instruction has often led to increased achievement for students.
3. Individual Exploration/Free Choice. When given a choice in assignment or project, students often show increased engagement and achievement. While at Kaleidoscope students are encouraged to pursue activities which develop their skills and satisfy their own interests. It is an important component that allows students to take some degree of control over their own learning.
4. Assessment and Data driven instruction. Kaleidoscope takes assessment seriously, and uses the assessment data to better inform our instruction. Kaleidoscope students will take no fewer than five assessments during the course of the school year, and will typically take many more short assessments to demonstrate competency in Minnesota academic standards. Kaleidoscope teachers design their lesson plans around the needs of the students, as determined by assessment.