We Encourage Exploration
Independent schools encourage students to learn about the world and about themselves.
Independent schools encourage students to learn about the world and about themselves.
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Kent School Links Middle School with Preschool Students
Kent School is offering a unique class called “Nature Buddies.” “Nature Buddies” links our Middle School students with our Little School students in a Chesapeake Bay Studies science exploration. “Nature Buddies” strengthens Kent School’s nationally recognized Chesapeake Bay Studies Program. Hannah Richardson, Middle School Science Teacher and Nature Buddies leader said, “This class brings students […]
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A “School Without Walls” Helps Students Win Marathon Relays, Explore Different Cultural Experiences
Last August, the Zombie Swim Team from Sea Change Preparatory School set their third world record in ocean swimming with a 17-hour, 27-mile open-water marathon relay just off the California coast. Now they’re training and planning for a fourth record—a 34-nautical-mile relay between the Italian isles of Ischia and Capri. It’s part of the school’s […]
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Constellations in Focus for Bolles PVB Science Students
As part of a recent lesson on constellations visible in the winter sky, Bolles Lower School Ponte Vedra Beach Campus science teacher Carolyn Houston helped students project their favorite star arrangement on the wall. Using hollow cardboard tubes as kaleidoscope-like resources, students selected a constellation and made holes at the covered end that depicted their […]
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Students Bring Historical Midwest Figures Home in Living Museum
First-grade students at Oakhill Day School brought the history of the Midwest to a living museum. In class, students were taught about thirty famous individuals who have shaped American history, all from the region they call home. Figures ranged from Abraham Lincoln, Walt Disney, and Fred Astaire to Oprah Winfrey, Georgia O’Keeffe, and Simone Biles. […]
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Gann Academy's Arabic Program is Opening New Doors for Students
Ninth grader Danielle Bejerano’s first language is Hebrew, her second language is English, and Arabic will now be her third. Danielle is taking first-year Arabic at Gann, one of several world languages students can study in addition to Hebrew. Two levels of Arabic are currently offered, with plans to add additional classes in the coming […]
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Chandler School in Pasadena Teaches Earth Science Through Investigations
Chandler School in Pasadena, California offers a sixth-grade earth science class to get students excited about the atmosphere, biosphere and geosphere. Teacher J.J. Newman recently guided students in a weathering-erosion-deposition station rotation investigation. Students explored major geological processes by imitating natural forces (using items like sand, a hair dryer, and a big ice cube). Then, […]
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Connecting People and Place—with Purpose
Connecting students to their local environment and community is an effective way to infuse learning with immediacy, relevance, and an expanded sense of possibility. Experiential learning weeks—or “spring intensives”—that help our freshman and sophomore classes take advantage of all that the city of St. Louis has to offer are the most recent examples of such […]
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Celebrating International Day of the Girl Around the World
In celebration of the International Day of the Girl, Columbus School for Girls middle school students hosted Google hangouts throughout the day (October 11) to connect classrooms of girls around the world on the topic of GIRLS! Twenty-one schools participated in six different chats, representing 12 U.S. states and 4 Canadian provinces. Sessions offered students […]
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Bolles Hosts ‘Treehouse’ Ribbon-Cutting on Whitehurst Campus
Many branches of the Bolles family tree were out on the Lower School Whitehurst Campus early on September 27 for a special ribbon-cutting event celebrating the new Treehouse Outdoor Learning Center—“a room with a view!” The 488-square-foot riverfront treehouse, built by Sauer Construction Inc. and designed by Luke Architecture PA, is the newest learning facility […]
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Kent School Students Use Chesapeake Bay Tributary as Classroom
In mid-September Emily Harris, Watershed Coordinator of the Chester River Association, visited Kent School to train and certify Grade 8 students to become Chester Testers. Kent School’s Grade 8 students will be responsible for testing and reporting on water quality samples they take from the Urieville Lake Branch. Ms. Harris explained the role of the […]
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Environmental Stewardship Begins With One Small Square
In first grade, students and their teachers leave the Riverdale campus and venture into a special place, a “small square” of woods on the grounds of neighboring Wave Hill, a public garden operated by the City of New York. Every two weeks, they walk out the school gate, unlock the Wave Hill gate, and climb […]
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FlexFridays Take Learning Beyond the Classroom
Every Friday, FlexSchool students participate in a series of experiential, hands-on learning opportunities through speakers, field trips, and programming. “FlexFridays” are an essential part of the school’s core values: to have schools embedded in the community and to discover the interconnectedness of everything. Earlier this year, math teacher Michael Steiner, a former Wall Street commodities […]