We Strengthen Communities
Independent schools take an active role in their communities, encouraging children to contribute to the greater good.
Independent schools take an active role in their communities, encouraging children to contribute to the greater good.
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Campus Trail Connects Students with Environment and the Larger World
Woodstock Day School (WDS) students are tackling the problems of a warming planet. They’re acquiring the technological skills and the drive to innovate and produce creative solutions, thanks to a recently awarded STEM challenge grant. The nursery-grade 12 students are excited about the opportunity to make a difference. In collaboration with a local non-profit, the […]
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Inspiring Student Engagement: Community Partnership in Action
This summer, Rye Country Day School launched the Edward E. Ford Foundation Community Engagement Fellowship Program through the school’s public purpose initiative. This program awards summer fellowships for high school students to collaborate with community partner organizations to develop and implement innovative, sustainable projects that address authentic community needs. Fellows work closely with their community […]
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M.A.D. Design Thinking: How Fourth Graders Made a Difference in Their Community
Fourth Graders at Kalamazoo Country Day School are M.A.D., or making a difference in their own community through Design Thinking. In January, KCDS fourth graders decided to use the Design Thinking process to reach out to their surrounding community. They chose to work with Adult Day Services at Oakland Center. The fourth graders began by […]
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Middle Schoolers Educate Themselves, Others on the Importance of Activism
Social justice and activism are core components of Manhattan Country School’s curriculum. Each year, the school’s oldest students—the seventh and eighth graders—are charged with taking on a student-led activism project. This year, they chose to raise awareness about the Syrian refugee crisis and Islamophobia. Before they could persuade others, the students had to educate themselves […]
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Students Become Companions Using Courage, Understanding, Communication
Once a week, fourth graders at The Girls’ School of Austin drive over to The Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired to share a PE class. One-on-one, they guide their TSBVI companions through indoor and outdoor events—everything from synchronized swimming and track meets to dancing and obstacle courses. GSA students enjoy taking advantage […]
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Riverdale & New Orleans: A 10-Year Friendship Continues To Grow
Riverdale Country School has found kindred spirits in New Orleans. When Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005, Middle School students organized a dance-athon to help with disaster relief, but they wanted to do more. So the next spring, Middle School Head Milton Sipp organized a group to go down and work. They went back the next […]
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Choral & Orchestra Students Join to Create Biggest Concert Ever
In celebration of Music in Our Schools, students across all three divisions of Ranney School (Tinton Falls, NJ) joined to create the school’s Biggest Concert Ever. Young musicians featured 50-plus choral students and 80-plus orchestra students, from Lower to Upper School, side by side playing “You Will Never Walk Alone” from Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Carousel.
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Admiral Farragut Academy alumna, Kelly Rubash ‘09, finished as the Second Runner-Up in the sixth annual Tampa Bay Woman of the Year fundraising event
On March 5, Kelly Rubash ‘09 finished as the Second Runner-Up in the sixth annual Tampa Bay Woman of the Year fundraising event by the Westchase Foundation in Hillsborough County. The competition lasted over nine weeks during which 13 candidates raised funds for families in need, totaling a little over $100,000 during that span. “It […]
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Intergenerational Connections Bring Cross-Cultural Learning
Twice a month for over 20 years, second and third graders at University Child Development School (UCDS) visit and take on small-group activities with their “buddies” at Nikkei Manor, an elder facility serving Seattle’s Japanese community. And, says UCDS faculty member Melissa Holbert, “it keeps getting more and more magical.” Students and their elder partners […]
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I Am a Lion
St. Mark’s Episcopal School is a microcosm of Houston, and Houston, one of the most racially and ethnically diverse cities in the United States, is beautifully reflective of the world as a whole. There are families in our school community representing over 30 different countries. Some of our children speak two, three, and even four […]
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Student Entrepreneurship Includes Commitment to Philanthropy
Members of the Entrepreneur Club at Sonoma Country Day School (SCDS) are committed to helping others while developing financial literacy, creativity, and leadership skills. Students in grades 5-8, led by Math teacher Christy Harper, run the student store, keeping track of inventory, ordering supplies, and managing the books, among other tasks. They also organize a […]
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The House System brings together students across grade levels at Woodland School in Portola Valley, CA
A long-time school tradition and the only one of its kind in California, Woodland School (Early Childhood through 8th-grade) uses the House System to foster camaraderie, collaboration, and leadership. The House System is a traditional feature of many schools in commonwealth countries but less common—and often only attributed to boarding schools—in the US. Upon joining […]