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Sharing stories about inspired learning in independent schools

  • We Spark Creativity

    Put on Your Math Goggles! Counting with Georges Seurat

    Pre-K children enrolled in All Saints’ Episcopal School’s Early Childhood Program recently donned their math goggles and engaged in a counting activity using the visual arts as a lens. The children learned about and viewed several images of the artwork of Georges Seurat, the French pointillist painter known for his “dotted” artwork. The children marveled […]

    1 Recommendation
  • We Spark Creativity

    Horsing Around at New Roads Elementary School

    When Visual Arts department chair and instructor Marcia Moore set out to plan an elementary school art project for the arrival of the “Year of the Horse” this past Lunar New Year, she decided to go big. Students from Kindergarten to fifth grade would collaborate on the creation of a herd of large-scale horse sculptures […]

    2 Recommendations
  • We Shape the Future

    Building Bridges to the Future: South Kent Students Learn to Carry Their Own Weight

    As teachers, advisers, and classmates cheered them on in the gym, Fourth Form students — as tenth graders at the all-boys South Kent School in Connecticut are called — demonstrated their pre-engineering and pragmatic science skills in the Fourth Form Bridge Challenge. Using only specified materials such as popsicle sticks, the students — members of […]

    53 Recommendations 4 Comments
  • We Shape the Future

    Thanks and encouragement for Hill School teachers who shape the future

    One of the goals of The Hill School (Pottstown, PA) is for the school to be recognized as both the most traditional and most innovative boarding school in the country, according to Headmaster Zachary G. Lehman. The key to such an inspiring educational environment — and one that truly prepares students well for college, careers, […]

      Recommend This
  • We Challenge Minds
    Video

    The Hill School’s Humanities Program gets a Traditional and Innovative Update

    With a gift from The Hill School’s loyal alumnus Jim Alexandre ’75 and his wife, Julie, the humanities program now has an updated home in the Levis ’45-Alexandre ’75 Center for The Humanities — a beautifully redesigned space that exemplifies the Pottstown, Pa. school’s goal of being the most traditional and most innovative boarding school […]

      Recommend This
  • We Challenge Minds
    Video

    Blended Learning Increases Student Achievement

    Math Teacher Chris Mabley and STI eLearning Consultant Michael Dolan adapt learning to each student’s pace, path and style. Management of students, each learning different topics, was supported by online software. Compared to a traditional class, student study time was reduced and teacher time for enriched personalized instruction increased. The extra time could also be […]

    1 Recommendation
  • We Encourage Exploration

    Students Immerse Themselves in World Languages Week

    Ranney School students are exposed to three different languages—Spanish, French and Mandarin Chinese—starting in Kindergarten and in January 2014, they got to dive even deeper into the world of languages with cultural presentations, cross-divisional dialogues and food tastings as part of “Discover Languages Week.” Held in conjunction with the American Council of Teaching Foreign Languages, […]

      Recommend This
  • We Encourage Exploration

    Students Aim for the Skies with Airplane Engineering Project

    On any given afternoon, middle and upper school students gather in the Makers Studio to build The Athenian School’s newest airplane. The all-metal, two-person Van’s Aircraft RV-12 is one example of the school’s hands-on experiential learning opportunities. The plane is 20-feet long, has a wingspan of 27 feet, is powered by a 100hp Rotax engine, […]

    4 Recommendations
  • We Strengthen Communities

    Relationships first, programs follow at Sonoma Academy

    When we moved to our permanent campus in 2008, we knew we didn’t want to be the school on the hill; we wanted to be part of our neighborhood. We asked Jacqueline Smethurst and David Drinkwater of Wingspan Partnerships (public/private partnership builders) to help. They facilitated a series of conversations among SA leaders, the local […]

    4 Recommendations
  • We Encourage Exploration
    Video

    The Other Side of the Mason Dixon Line

    My ultimate goal as a history teacher is to instill in my students effective habits of mind, one of which is to appreciate diverse perspectives. It makes sense, then, to seek another point of view when introducing the Civil War. This brief video tells the tale of students at two schools, one in Massachusetts and […]

    5 Recommendations
  • We Encourage Exploration

    ESD Lower School Celebrates Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics with Comprehensive Projects

    In honor of the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics, Lower School students, faculty, and staff participated in a special chapel service on Monday, February 10, to honor the countries and athletes competing in the 22nd winter games. This decades-long tradition at the Lower School was especially memorable this year, as two former Olympians attended the event […]

    4 Recommendations
  • We Nurture Growth

    Dutchess Day School Celebrates Healthy Bodies, Healthy Minds

    The dining room at Dutchess Day School looked a bit different over four days in mid-January. The school’s chef had prepared an array of foods specifically chosen for their brain benefits, allowing students of all ages to sample such items as salmon roe, pomegranate juice, blueberries, and sardines. They were delighted; and when they sat […]

    1 Recommendation

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