Lunch Interviews

 Once a year all students at The New School are invited out to lunch by the teacher responsible for his/her individualized curriculum. This year we changed the restaurant from Friendly’s to A La Mode on Nottingham Road in an effort to support local businesses. Over lunch the teacher asks his/her student prepared questions. Questions include: If you came home and found a small box on the kitchen table and inside it you could find anything you wanted, what would you like to find? If you had magic boots and could travel anywhere and at any time, where would you like to go? Are you like a babbling brook and or a placid lake? List three things you are good at. It is a wonderful gift to spend an hour and half of uninterrupted time with each student. On Child Study Day, which happens approximately once a month, these interview responses are shared with all of the teachers. As we share the responses curriculum is created to meet the needs of the individual child. Often as we plan for the needs of one child, we find we can apply what we develop to one or two other children. These lunch interviews enrich our curriculum, build community and develop relationships between teachers and students.