Blog

Preparing for Lower El Research Night

Posted on by Ashley O'Connell

Mark your calendars! I am thrilled to invite you to Lower Elementary Research Night on Tuesday, March 4th, from 5:30-6:30 PM. This special evening will showcase our young researchers’ hard work, curiosity, and dedication.

Over the past several weeks, the children have diligently worked on their research papers, posters, and presentation boards. Our third-year and second-year students have stepped into mentor roles, guiding their younger peers through the research process with patience and enthusiasm. Their leadership has been instrumental in fostering a collaborative and enriching learning experience for all.

What to Expect

The event will be structured as a research fair. Students will stand at their stations, eager to share their findings with family and friends. Parents and guests are encouraged to walk around, engage with the students, and learn about a variety of topics.

Following the fair portion of the evening, our third-grade students will take center stage to present their research findings in an oral presentation to the group. This is an exciting opportunity for them to build confidence, practice public speaking, and showcase their deep understanding of their chosen topics.

Event Schedule

  • 5:30-6:00 PM – Research fair in the hallway around the Zen Garden
  • 6:00-6:30 PM – Third Grade oral presentations in the classroom

We know how much effort the students have put into their projects, and they are eager to share their hard work with you. We hope all families can attend to celebrate their achievements!

Ms. Handibode: All About Africa

Posted on by Michelle Handibode

Each time we study a new continent, we first find it on the globe, then locate it on the world map, and lastly, we study the individual continent using the specific continent maps. Currently, the children are learning about the continent of Africa. We learn about its geography, culture, weather, animals, and people.

We are learning lots of fun and fascinating facts about the continent of Africa.

  • Africa is the second largest continent, with 54 countries.
  • The longest river in the world, the Nile, is in Africa.
  • Over one thousand languages are spoken by the people in Africa.
  • The Sahara, the world’s largest desert, is located here.
  • Mount Kilimanjaro is the highest mountain in Africa. It is so tall that glaciers can be found at its summit, even though the mountain is near the equator.
  • Africa is the most centrally located continent in the world—both the prime meridian and the equator cut across it.
  • The world’s tallest animal, the giraffe, and the largest land animal, the African elephant, are found in Africa.

This past Thursday, we celebrated the 100th day of school. From the very first day of school, the kindergarten children have been learning to count by 1s, 5s, and 10s to 100. They spent the afternoon going to different stations that revolved around 100. They drew pictures of what they would like when they were 100, what they would buy with $100, and what they wished they had a hundred of, made a 100 headband, and then played a game called Race to 100. They even did 100 exercises and learned how hard it was to sit quietly for 100 seconds. The highlight was bringing home a delicious 100th-day-of-school snack and eating 100 snacks from their “snackle” box. As always, thank you for all our parent volunteers’ behind-the-scenes help in making these memories possible.

Wishing you a week filled with peace and love.

Winter Weather…Cozy Classroom

Posted on by Mollie Smith

This week’s winter weather and snow coated in ice haven’t been the best for playing outside, but we definitely made the best of it with little walks, cozy baking, and watching rockets launch! Each day this week, we bundled up the children, and we were able to go for a short walk to get much-needed fresh air! When we get ready to go outside, I say to the children, “bundle up buttercups,” and now the children repeat it back when we get ready to go outside; it’s very sweet.

This week’s baking day included brownies with extra chocolate chips because little hands love to measure with their hearts! While we were at the gym this week, we watched our middle school students launch air rockets (think of stepping on a pop bottle) with Mr. Frisk and Mrs. Reed. The children were so serious until the rockets were launched to the other end of the gym…they clapped and cheered for the “big kids.” I love seeing the youngest children in our school cheer on our oldest students with such admiration.

With Full Hearts,

Ms. Mollie, Ms. Lizette and Ms. Anabel

Middle School: Week in Review

Posted on by Michelle Lamb

Hello, Middle School families! We hope you stayed warm this week. Here’s what is coming up:

  • Monday, 2/24-Wednesday, 2/26: 8th Grade away for their Internships
  • Thursday, 3/6 @ 5:30: 6th and 7th Grade Research Presentations
  • Friday, 3/7, 9:15-2:30: Middle School Trip to Yale Peabody Museum in New Haven.

Humanities

Middle School Humanities students continue to draw inspiration from contemporary artist Nick Cave, who combines fashion design, folk craft, and performance in his “Sound Suits.” Check out some of the students’ work in the gallery!

The 6th Grade Humanities students were busy this week! They are turning their research for their Overcoming Obstacles research project into an expository essay. They developed introductions with hooks and thesis statements, and they continued on their essay drafts. They will complete their drafts in their research draft organizer and add a conclusion for Monday. Students were reminded that first drafts are your best drafts as they showcase your best effort with what you know before peer and teacher review. Next week, students will learn how to use in-text citations, add transitions for fluency, develop a title, and format their paper.

7th Grade Humanities class continues to move forward with their projects. Students drafted their research essays surrounding the theme of Overcoming Obstacles. Next week, peer and teacher reviews of the essay drafts will be held. Students will also begin to work on their presentations. Additionally, students are closer to presenting their utopia projects to the middle school community as they prepare their presentations after considering and writing about the many components of a society that are deemed, in their eyes, perfect.

8th Grade students continued their unit about the evolution of White Europeans by looking at the motivations for English colonization. They read about “Gold Fever” and “Terminal Narratives” and wrote about economic factors driving the English. Then, they took time to learn about the lost colony of Roanoke and consider its potential impacts on future European settlements. In addition, students continue to move forward with their Expert Project research, and they spent time reviewing the Internship Project guidelines for their work next week.

8th Grade Embedded Honors students completed their literature journals for their second novel in the Comparative Literature project this trimester. They also had another discussion with Mr. Newman after finishing their second autobiography/memoir. Next week, they will write a comparative essay surrounding the central people in their chosen texts using evidence to support their claims.

Math

It was an engaging week in Middle School math!

This week in Pre-Transition, students tied up loose ends for Chapter 4. Students practiced more with subtracting fractions and mixed numbers and worked to solve equations with fact triangles.

The Transition class moved forward in their learning of Chapter 6 this week. They continued exploring translations of images, practiced reflecting figures on a coordinate graph and over a line, and practiced drawing lines of symmetry.

Algebra students started the week solving proportions and finding lengths and ratios in similar figures. Algebra closed the week by diving into Chapter 6, Slopes and Lines. They began learning how to calculate rates of change and closed out the week by discovering how to find the slope of a line through two given points.

Finally, the Geometry class jumped into Chapter 6, titled Polygons and Symmetry. Students can now describe figures’ reflection and rotation symmetry and apply theorems about isosceles triangles to find angle measures and segment lengths.

Science

This week in science, the 6th Grade class moved further into their new unit on Earth’s Systems. Students were introduced to The Globe Project, a formal group that collects environmental data from novices and professionals alike. Students looked at cloud data this week and examined cloud coverage, sky color, type of cloud, clouds’ altitude, and opacity. They then moved into discussing how clouds affect climate and how climate affects clouds. Next week, students will look at data from known storm systems and try to identify patterns in storm behavior.
7th Grade students delved deeper into ions, isotopes, and atomic behaviors. Students were tasked with identifying patterns of electron behavior and were asked to make predictions about what electrons are likely to do. Students also explored which elements have isotopes and how likely they are to exist in nature. This led to talking about how to use this information to calculate the average atomic mass of elements. Next week, the class will begin discussing radioactivity and bonding behavior.
This week began with 8th Grade students performing a lab looking at onion root tips and using what they saw under the microscope to identify cells in different parts of the cell cycle. The class then used class data from their lab to examine what stages of the cell cycle cells spend time in. This led to a discussion about what is average/normal for a cell, which led to a conversation about what happens to a cell when it spends more time in phases than it should. Students ended the week by delving further into meiosis and investigating how it differs from mitosis. They finished by talking about spermatogenesis and oogenesis. Next week, students will learn more about cell cycle controls and what abnormalities can occur should a cell avoid these controls.

Ms. Marissa: Weekly Update

Posted on by Marissa Frisk

This week has been all about love and friendship! A huge part of our classroom learning is what we call “Grace and Courtesy.” We practice grace and courtesy with each other by using our kindest words (even if the message may be a difficult one), always respecting and listening to each person’s viewpoint, tucking in chairs, getting work ready for the next friend, and taking care of our classroom for the greater good of the community.

Valentine’s Day is the perfect time to highlight grace and courtesy. A holiday that is about love, family, and friendship helps us to reflect on the things we do on a daily basis that not only benefit ourselves but those around us.

The children took great care in passing out their special Valentine’s Day cards and even used supplies in the classroom to make special cards for people at home.

We hope your holiday was as special as ours!

Marissa & Sue

Mrs. Hood: Spreading Love and Kindness!

Posted on by Andrea Hood

“Of all things, love is the most potent.” – Maria Montessori

Humans are wired for connection. From the earliest years, we seek companionship, warmth, and the joy of shared experiences. Around 18 months, toddlers undergo incredible cognitive changes that set the stage for true friendships to blossom. Suddenly, they are not just playing near each other—they are playing with each other, forming bonds that light up their little worlds.

Watching toddlers make their first friends is pure magic! Each morning, the excitement is palpable as they spot their favorite friends walking through the door. Even those who can’t quite pronounce each other’s names yet find ways to express their joy—pointing with wide grins, giving enthusiastic pats on the back (or sometimes on the head!). During circle time, they instinctively seek to sit close to their buddies, and nothing brings them more delight than holding hands as they walk together.

In our Montessori environment, Grace and Courtesy are foundational elements of the curriculum, woven seamlessly into our daily interactions. Grace is the outward expression of our inner kindness—our smiles, eye contact, gestures, and tone of voice. Courtesy, on the other hand, is the framework of manners that guides our interactions with others. These skills are not innate; they are carefully modeled and nurtured.

At the Toddler level, we don’t teach “lessons” on friendship the way older children might experience them—we live them. Every day, through intentional modeling, we guide our little ones in learning the unspoken language of kindness. It is truly remarkable to see their growth in this area, even at such a young age. The way they learn to comfort a friend, offer a hug, or share a moment of laughter is a testament to the beauty of early social development.

Valentine’s Day gave us the perfect opportunity to celebrate the love and connection that is so abundant in our classroom! Leading up to our Friendship Celebration, the children poured their hearts into preparing watercolor-painted Valentine’s bags, each one uniquely beautiful. They also practiced their food preparation skills, carefully spreading sun butter on apple slices and joyfully decorating their “donut” creations with sprinkles. They seemed so excited to share their lovely Valentines with each of their friends as well!

As part of our ongoing unit on emotions, we reflected on all the feelings that surfaced throughout this heartwarming celebration. We spent time talking about what love looks like—not just on Valentine’s Day, but every day. The toddlers brainstormed different ways to show love, not only to friends and family but also to nature! This inspired a special project: making Valentine’s bird feeder ornaments for our feathered friends outside. This sensory-rich activity was a huge hit, and the children took such pride in creating something that would bring joy to the birds.

Love was in the air—and still is! We couldn’t be more grateful to witness these heartwarming moments of friendship, kindness, and joy.

Enjoy the pictures!

Mrs. Hood and Ms. Patty

This Week in Upper El

Posted on by Karen Sankey

What an amazing week we had in Upper El! We were so lucky to have Donna from the Brian O’Connell Homeless Project visit us, and her visit was followed by a flurry of wonderful activities. Between Reader’s Theater, Moving-Up Day, and even some sandwich-making, we were busy and loving every minute of it!

On Monday, we learned about the Brian O’Connell Homeless Project and the inspiration behind Brian Bags. It was so inspiring to see the Middle School kids come together on Friday and assemble over fifty bags filled with essentials! Later that day, we held our Reader’s Theater, and it was fantastic to perform for our Upper El families and Middle School friends.

Tuesday was particularly special as our fifth graders got a taste of Middle School life. They eagerly learned what to expect as they prepare to move up to sixth grade. At the same time, our fourth graders welcomed their third-grade buddies to spend the day in our classroom. It was heartwarming to see them step into those mentoring roles so naturally. I have no doubt we’re going to have an awesome group next year!

We also dove deeper into our Ancient Civilizations project. The students worked hard creating group documents for their research papers, planning out three-dimensional models, and figuring out what materials we’d need. Over the next few weeks, we’ll make use of our Art and Makerspace time to bring those models to life! In class, we’ll focus on understanding the geography, culture, everyday life, and political and economic systems of the civilizations they’ve chosen. There’s so much to explore!

We rounded out our week with a sweet Valentine’s Day celebration. We made 165 sandwiches to donate to the soup kitchen, read with our kindergarten buddies, and enjoyed some yummy treats in the classroom. A huge thank you to everyone who contributed ingredients for the sandwiches and for our party! And a special shoutout to our guest photographer, Kaleigh, who captured some great moments during our sandwich-making!

It was a truly remarkable week filled with learning, kindness, and community spirit! ♥

Moving Up Day In LE: A Joyful Transition

Posted on by Ashley O'Connell

This week, we had the wonderful opportunity to celebrate Moving Up Day! Our third-year students stepped into Upper Elementary for a preview of the exciting journey ahead, while our incoming first-year students joined us in Lower Elementary for a glimpse into their next big step. It was a day filled with curiosity, enthusiasm, and meaningful connections.

One of the beautiful aspects of a Montessori classroom is the multi-age environment, where students naturally progress from being learners to leaders. Moving Up Day allowed our third-year students to experience life in Upper Elementary, guided by their future peers. Meanwhile, our first and second-year students welcomed the Kindergartners with open arms, taking on the role of mentors by leading engaging activities and making them feel at home. Watching our students embrace these roles with confidence and care was truly inspiring. Their ability to plan thoughtful activities and create a welcoming space for the younger students was a testament to their growth and leadership.

Alongside Moving Up Day, we also enjoyed a festive Valentine’s Day celebration! Students had a great time exchanging valentines, sharing sweet treats, and spreading kindness throughout the classroom. A big thank you to our families for their generosity in sending in goodies—it made the day even more special!

It’s moments like these that remind us of the strong sense of community we are building together. We look forward to more celebrations and milestones in the months ahead!