Uppers in the World: Learning, Giving, and Growing Together
For the past two years, our Uppers students (grades 6–8) have taken part in a special Community Service elective right here on campus. They’ve helped with all kinds of tasks — you might spot an Upper helping preschoolers gently wake up from naps, reading favorite books, or offering snacks. Others join the Mups (2nd and 3rd graders) during choice time, playing lively games like Apples to Apples. Some students collect cardboard from recycling bins, assist teachers and staff, or even vacuum spots that need extra care.
Connecting Through the Years
One of the founding principles of the Center School is the power of connection. When students feel seen, safe, and valued, incredible things can happen. They take risks, build meaningful relationships, and grow in ways we might not expect. At the Center School, we believe that connection is at the heart of deep, lasting learning.
To explore how this sense of connection has shaped the Center School over its 43-year history, we turned to some of the people who know it best. Center School alum, current parent of a Mup (2nd/3rd grade), and New York Times producer Sara Curtis interviewed two key voices from our community: Ruth Charney and Josie Dulles. Ruth, one of the Center School’s founders, taught here for more than 20 years. Josie, the current 8th-grade homeroom teacher, has been part of the school community for 11 years.
Literacy in the Adventure Primes
Many children in the Adventure Primes have been creating their own books in recent weeks. After spending time observing two frogs found by Uppers teacher Vanessa, two children were inspired to write fictional stories about frogs. One student created a comic book based on the movie Jaws and another created a story about a monster truck doing tricks.
Uppers on the Farm!
The Uppers returned to Red Gate Farm last week for a few rousing, albeit rainy days of fun. Having gone many times now, we, both the students and the teachers, had a deeper and quicker uptake at the farm.
Hosting a caterpillar to butterfly transformation in the Power Primes
Each year in the Power Primes we host a caterpillar to butterfly transformation. As a class we dig in the whole process together. We read books, have discussions, and practice observing with patience and care. We set up a special space in our classroom for the transformation to take place. There the Power Primes can gather and draw pictures of the different stages. This is a great opportunity for the Power Primes to try and draw something from observation.
Rivers, Rocks, Dinosaurs, and Deep Geological Time With the Middles
Did you know that we live in an important place for geologists? The Connecticut River Valley is known for its basalt flows, mountain ranges, dinosaur footprints, and fertile soils.
On Campus, Off Hours
This weekend, I had the opportunity to spend time on campus for two very different events. The first being the Uppers dance on Friday night, and the second being Grounds Day on Sunday. Although dramatically different, both events speak volumes about the community here on campus. Additionally, these events were only successful because of the tremendous amount of work done by all the family volunteers.
Connecting With Our Community - Uppers
The Uppers have been working with people outside of our school community to teach, learn, and grow. There have been several opportunities for our students to leave an impact on the world around them, and we are excited to share them with you. Although we have had a very successful Community Service elective for the past two years, this trimester felt like a good time to branch out beyond our school community.
Exploring identity through portraiture and textiles with The Woods Primes (K/1)
Identity is the unique set of characteristics that can be used to distinguish a person as themself and no one else. In the Woods Primes we have spent our year thinking about who we are. Where do we come from? What do we love? What makes us feel safe to express ourselves?
8th Grade Ambitious Projects
Last Tuesday night, the school was abuzz as this year’s 8th graders presented their work for our annual Ambitious Projects Night. The Ambitious Project (known as the “AP”) is an independent, out of school project that 8th graders design and pursue over the course of 8 weeks. They then present their work to the community at AP Night.
Social Emotional Learning in the Wonder Primes
Spring is such an exciting time in the Wonder Primes classroom! The children have grown and changed so much since their first days at the Center School, and the skills that once needed to be developed are being practiced and perfected each day. A large part of our springtime curriculum focuses on deepening social emotional learning and, for the youngest Center School students, this work begins with increasing their ability to identify emotions, when they are feeling them, and name the feelings of others.
Partner Teaching in the Mups
There are so many reasons to love working at the Center School -the families, the traditions, the children. Teachers have the ability to vary the curriculum, modify the schedule if needed, and receive support and encouragement around professional development. Teaching with a partner, or in some cases, a team, is another reason to love working at the Center School.
Light Investigation in the Adventure Primes (4-5 yr-old)
In the Reggio Emilia philosophy, a “big idea” is an overarching idea that inspires, unifies, and resonates with the children-- something that offers many possibilities for collaboration, study, and exploration.
Science Concepts in 8th Grade
8th-grade scientists have great rapport at this point in the year, you might even say they have chemistry. Combining their work from film and their emergent understanding of basic concepts in chemistry, the 8th graders are making short films to both show and deepen their learning. Costumes, props, and dance moves are a must. But mostly, we are trying to take something small, obscure, and invisible to the human eye and make it large, clear, and visible.
Stewardship Jobs in the Mups
We call our end-of-day classroom jobs stewardship jobs. Every day, before getting backpacks on and sitting on the rug to wait for dismissal, each student completes their weekly assigned stewardship job. Tasks include working with a partner to remove chairs from the classroom and stack them out front, erasing the whiteboard, making sure our classroom pet rats have fresh food and water, and putting away any books left out in our Mups library in the room between the two Mups classrooms.
Talk It Out with the Middles
Talk It Out is something we started this year in the Middles. It’s our weekly half hour on Thursday afternoons to sit together and talk about what’s going on. For our first Talk It Out, we hiked up to the top of Grasshopper Hill, sat in a circle, and discussed the options for naming our two classrooms. From there our conversations ranged from how to create equitable rules around camp chairs, to the impact of blurting in the classroom, to how anger feels in our bodies.
Copy Machine Lost and Found
Behind Anna’s desk, in the front of the school, lives a cherished member of our community. Their name is RICOH and they are a copy machine. Just like the rest of us, RICOH has good days and bad days. Sometimes everyone wants to work with you and sometimes you feel lonely and empty. Whenever I’m down making copies with RICOH, I take a minute to inspect a folder, stapled neatly to the bulletin board above RICOH, labeled “Copy Machine Lost and Found”
School vs. In-home Mechanical Teachers in Uppers Lit (6th/7th)
This trimester we are reading and writing short stories. Last week, we read, “The Fun They Had”, by Isaac Asimov. This science fiction story, written in 1951, challenges the reader to think about the purpose of, and their experience with, school and technology.
Sap Boiling Season in the Woods Primes (K/1)
Our Maple Sugaring season has (almost) come to an end, and we would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who came to the fire and helped make this year’s sugar boil a success. Making maple syrup is a perfect example of many hands make life delicious!
Mups Artist Studies: Music as a Force for Change
This winter, our Friday music periods have been dedicated to exploring the lives and legacies of musicians who used their art to inspire change. Through our artist study unit, the Mups have been immersing themselves in the powerful connections between music, storytelling, and social movements.