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Sharing stories about inspired learning in independent schools

  • We Encourage Exploration

    Green Valley: A Metropolitan Community

    Second graders at The Ellis School participate in a cross-disciplinary project-based learning unit each year where they design and build a model of a metropolitan community. In their roles as city planners, students made decisions about the placement of their newly constructed services in the Central Business District, city or suburban neighborhoods or outlying areas. […]

    2 Recommendations
  • We Inspire Leadership

    Leading by Example

    What makes a leader? A leader in Middle School is hard to define. I teach MS Math, and a leader in my classroom is not the first one with the correct answer, or the one to always receive a 100 on the weekly timed test. A leader in my classroom is the student who stops […]

    5 Recommendations
  • We Spark Creativity
    Video

    Cardboard Challenge

    Inspired by the story of Caine’s Arcade (see video on YouTube), our upper school students joined forces with businesses in the community to launch a “Day of Play” for our lower schoolers and other elementary aged children in the community. While the event was designed to appeal to lower schoolers, upper schoolers found leadership opportunities […]

    7 Recommendations
  • We Nurture Growth
    Video

    Hill School wrestlers hit the mat, and the books

    This short video highlights The Hill School’s wrestling program, which welcomes both new and seasoned wrestlers and looks for student-athletes who are highly motivated academically as well as athletically. The head wrestling coach, Mark Pearson, Ph.D. — Hill class of ’78 — is an English teacher and author whose most recent book “Famous Last Lines” […]

    1 Recommendation
  • We Strengthen Communities

    The Hill School joins forces with community to demonstrate it “CARES”

    On October 25, 2013 — the day before National Make a Difference Day – all 505 students from The Hill School plus faculty members and staff joined forces with Pottstown, Pa. volunteers to put a 700-volunteer clean-up crew on the streets of Hill’s shared community. This “Pottstown CARES” (Community, Awareness, Responsibility, Empowerment, and Sustainability) endeavor […]

    3 Recommendations
  • We Shape the Future

    The Nation of 4th Grade – An Economy of Scale

    When Alyssa M. ’21 opens her wallet, she sees more than George Washington and Abraham Lincoln’s faces. Neatly tucked behind the $1s and $5s are several bills in the currency of Harrisburg Academy’s 4th grade teachers—“Bender Bucks” and “Sherman Dollars.” Mari Bender and Karla Sherman have developed their own micro-economies in their classrooms this year, […]

      Recommend This 1 Comment
  • We Cultivate Character
    Video

    2013 OCS and NCO Leadership Schools

    From August 18 to August 24, 2013, Hargrave Military Academy hosted its 2013 Officer Candidate School (OCS) and Non-Commissioned Officer School (NCO). Led by COL Mike Cloy (USA, Ret.), the Academy’s military department prepared Hargrave Cadets for leadership rolls for the 2013-2014 Academic year. Highlights from the week are shown.

      Recommend This
  • We Inspire Leadership

    Torch: Helping Light the Way

    In the rich tapestry that is student life, I cannot think of a more important and delicate thread that weaves through a school than the examples set by its emerging student leaders. At Sandy Spring Friends School, this exemplary fiber intertwines with the Quaker testimonies of Simplicity, Peace, Integrity, Community, Equality and Stewardship (commonly referred […]

    12 Recommendations 2 Comments
  • We Strengthen Communities

    Growing Good People Through Service & Relationships

    The third grade at Tuxedo Park School has long carried on a tradition of service learning. Throughout the school year, each class visits the Promenade at Tuxedo, an assisted living facility. Together with residents they work on a service project that provides for an identified need in the local community. As we introduced this to […]

    2 Recommendations
  • We Shape the Future

    Tree Planting at The Awty International School Supports Sustainability Projects

    Our school planted a native Texas oak tree on school campus on October 4th 2013 and registered it on ForestNation website. The tree was dedicated to Ms Kristi Winegarden, a science teacher who, a couple of years ago, started our sustainability committee’s work and long-term objectives toward recycling, reusing and reducing. She is now teaching […]

    3 Recommendations
  • We Shape the Future

    Summit Students Learn Problem Solving Skills with Programming

    “By 2018, there will be nearly three times as many job openings requiring computer science knowledge than qualified applicants. This goes well beyond just becoming a professional programmer — learning computer science can teach problem solving skills, new ways of breaking down complex scenarios, and a means to build something tangible in our software-driven age.” […]

    7 Recommendations
  • We Challenge Minds

    From Castles to Classrooms

    Do we ever outgrow our fascination with castles and the stories that surround them? Indeed, castles remain charming relics of a remarkable past that captivate audiences of all ages. Castles evoke everything exciting, adventurous, and mysterious, which is why they are a wonderful subject matter for kindergarten students, who become everything curious, inquisitive, and enchanted. […]

      Recommend This

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