Photos
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Family Service Days at Aspen Academy
Part of Aspen Academy’s mission is to cultivate excellence in community strength and service. Service may meet a tangible need, or it may meet a need of the spirit. In January, Aspen Academy families were given the opportunity to do both. The Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service is the only federal holiday observed […]
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Going Ga Ga
Ga-ga is a game popular in Israel, and while it’s similar to dodge ball (getting hit by the ball puts you out of the game) all the action takes place below the knees, so even the youngest children on the Clear Spring School campus can play. Often games involve students from first grade as well […]
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i-Term Inspires Joyful Learning at MPA
One hundred fifty eight middle school students, twelve hands-on courses, one week and no grades – it was all about joyful learning at Mounds Park Academy, January 5-9, 2015! The first middle school innovation-Term (i-Term) was a unique opportunity for students in grades 5-8 to participate in weeklong, project-based courses that allowed them to dive […]
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STEAM Students Work on Product Business Project
Students in the STEAM Lab are currently working on a product business project. The class has been divided into creative, production, and business teams to figure out how best to bring a concept through production and into a lucrative business. Using the vinyl cutter and steam press that STEAM Director Chris Hardman acquired with his […]
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Exploring the Sun
Stephen Ramsden from the Solar Astronomy Project came to MIS and talked with our students (Grade 4 – Middle School) about the solar system! He brought advanced telescopes and explained some astronomical phenomena to the students. Each student had an opportunity to look through the special telescopes. He was so impressed by the level of […]
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“Wisdom of the Hands” Provides a Pathway to Success
As first graders at Clear Spring School are studying ornithology, they’re also using handsaws to carve model birds. Upper schoolers have made cigar box guitars and pinhole cameras—one student, interested in baking, made his own dough board. This year, a dozen new Sloyd knives, each sharp enough to give a case of shivers to most […]
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Indoors and Out, Students Gain New Perspectives in “Learning Expeditions”
“Learning Expeditions,” semester-long programs at Watershed School, engage high school students in long-term, in-depth investigations of rich topics or themes through fieldwork, service, and real-world context. This spring, mid-way through their study of the Civil Rights Movement, ninth and tenth graders will leave their classrooms to spend a week touring the American south; eleventh and […]
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The Architecture of Project Based Learning
A real twelve by sixteen foot, multi-level clubhouse built on campus! That was the end goal of the architecture unit for our fifth and sixth grade classes. To accomplish this goal required applying learning about geometry, physics, measurement, scale, decimals, teamwork, budgeting, project management, and communication. Students made presentations to the school’s students, teachers, and […]
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Open Window School Eighth Graders Join Google Hangout with Dr. Hugh Herr
Open Window 8th graders recently received a special invitation to join a Google Hangout with MIT’s “Bionic Man” Dr. Hugh Herr. This was one of many opportunities these students received as a result of having their mobile app named “Best in Nation” in the 2014 Verizon App Challenge. Dr. Herr was one of the country’s […]
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Aspen Academy Introduces Digital Music in the Contemporary Music Classroom
Music is arguably one of the most complicated and comprehensive subjects taught and it’s easy to understand why most schools adhere to traditional music programs. However, at Aspen Academy we are providing our students with a traditional musical foundation and expanding it to the music techniques, instruments and theories of the 21st century. This includes […]
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Inspiring International Discussion on Educational Change
Recently, Julia Morgan School for Girls Head of School Sandra Luna was honored to be a keynote speaker at the International Symposium on the Quality of Girls’ Education and Girls’ Rights to Education in Zhenjiang, China. Seventy educators and researchers, primarily from China, but also from Russia, the UK, Mauritius, Taiwan, and Hong Kong were […]
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Beyond Charity: Students Forge Connections with City Neighborhoods
Students at San Francisco University High School are constantly challenged to investigate their potential for enacting change, including the school’s Community Engagement Program, which connects student learning, social responsibility, and meaningful service. The Neighborhood Investigation unit helps familiarize ninth graders with a specific neighborhood’s history, community, and needs for the future before volunteer activities even […]