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We Challenge Minds

Independent schools offer challenging academics and engaging programs to help children develop a life-long love of learning.

  • We Challenge Minds

    Eighth Graders Take Flight with Physics Lessons at Indoor Skydiving Facility

    ESD eighth graders recently had the opportunity to visit the indoor skydiving facility iFly for some learning in action. The STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) Education program available at iFly directly correlates with the physics curriculum eighth graders are currently working on in science. The program started with an engineering talk about the history and […]

    7 Recommendations
  • We Challenge Minds

    Gamifying the History Classroom

    What does it mean to gamify your classroom? History teacher Sara Shreve-Price has been exploring this idea with a Civil War game she developed for her US History class this December. The game is organized on Canvas as a series of levels each representing a period from 1844-1877. Students work through quests along the way […]

    13 Recommendations
  • We Challenge Minds

    Broadway’s Hamilton Meets Harvard Business School

    Gann Academy is beta-testing a novel approach to teaching American history as part of a pilot program developed by Harvard Business School. The program asks students to step into critical historical moments when difficult decisions were made, assume the personas of key figures, then argue their positions. “It’s a fascinating way of having students relive […]

    6 Recommendations
  • We Challenge Minds

    Why Shakespeare?

    We’ve all seen it lately. Students – and adults – leaning over, glued to their mobile devices. It is so prevalent that there is a medical term defining it; text neck. More worrisome is the fear that students are not gaining the social skills necessary to succeed in a global world where collaboration and communication […]

    12 Recommendations 1 Comment
  • We Challenge Minds

    The Orchard School "Culture Days"

    Fourth-graders at The Orchard School dive deep into their study of diverse cultures of early Indiana. Rather than sitting in a classroom, watching a video, and filling out a worksheet, we take our students outside on our 43-acre wooded campus. “Culture Days” is a three day event full of hands-on experiences where students are truly […]

    4 Recommendations
  • We Challenge Minds

    Zipping Into STEM Education at Bolles

    Innovation, problem-solving and teamwork were the themes of a recent maker space lesson in the Copeland Library. The task? Build a functioning zip line that would whisk a straw-harnessed balloon up, up and away! Michelle Mas, Bolles Lower School Whitehurst Campus librarian, explained a few other parameters to the students before they paired up and […]

      Recommend This
  • We Challenge Minds

    Bolles PVB Students Learn Engineering Design Process

    Students in the Bolles Lower School Ponte Vedra Beach lab are learning how to set up a falling-weight system car design using K’Nex materials and their understanding of the Engineering Design Process. A large poster in the lab reminds students about critical tenets of engineering design: Ask: Find out more about the problem Imagine: Think […]

    2 Recommendations
  • We Challenge Minds

    Estimating Orthopteran Population

    Students in A.P. Environmental Science class partake in a mark and recapture activity. On the first day of the activity students traveled to the Conserve School sledding hill where they captured orthopterans (crickets, grasshoppers, katydids and locusts) and marked them with a small dot of non-toxic paint. A few days later the students returned to […]

      Recommend This
  • We Challenge Minds

    Teaching, Learning, Living

    What does it mean to be a “learner for life?” For the faculty and staff of Riverdale Country School, learning is a necessary part of living. New knowledge sheds light on old routines. Experiencing difficulty deepens understanding about teaching and working with others. Accomplishing goals creates new opportunities. Here are some of the ways that […]

      Recommend This
  • We Challenge Minds

    Rigor & Innovation in the Middle School Classroom

    Ranney Middle School Division Head David Ketcham speaks to prospective families about rigor and innovation in the Middle School classroom.

    2 Recommendations
  • We Challenge Minds

    School-Museum Collaboration Challenges Students to Engage, Empathize, Reflect

    A new interdisciplinary and creative partnership between The Washington School for Girls and the Phillips Collection brought a museum experience to life for fourth and sixth graders. During numerous visits to the Collection, they studied artist Jacob Lawrence’s exhibit, “The Migration Series,” along with the works of contemporary African American artists McArther Binion and Whitfield […]

      Recommend This
  • We Challenge Minds

    Why We Implemented Singapore Math in the Lower School

    Ranney School integrated Math in Focus, a Singapore-math based approach, in its Lower School in 2015-16. Just two years later, after nearly 500 years of teaching training, we are seeing amazing results.

    2 Recommendations

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