Highland Forest in October

Twice a year the students at The New School camp out overnight at Highland Forest. It is a magical two days at Pines Camp. On Thursday night parents join us for a potluck dinner and songs around the campfire. On our Thursday hike, after reading a book about birds nests, we challenged children to create a nest out of found twigs and branches. Later we added tie die designs to our New School t-shirts – each one as unique as our children. We also scheduled our traditional Teddy Bear Picnic in Highland Forest for the first time. All the teddy bears and animals agreed it was a much better place to play Hide and Seek. On Friday after feasting on a breakfast of buttermilk pancakes we set out to hike once again. The younger children learned more about forests to support their habitat unit and the older children learned about the food chain found in the forest and searched for evidence of 39 critters and plants.

Play at The New School

At The New School we value “play.” Twice a week children enjoy a half hour of free time during gym. Three times a week we play cooperative games. During free time children enjoy many different activities. Children need this time to independently develop creative games and projects. The “building craze” started about two years ago. First children built “forts” in the woods using logs lying around the property. Then when we started learning about Native Americans teepees sprung up out in the field – just like on the plains! This year the same logs have been recycled to create yet another shelter. Each time the building techniques get more and more sophisticated. It is so much fun to watch the creativity of our children.

Family Picnic September 2012

At the end of the first three days of school new and returning families traditionally gather for an informal potluck at Ryder Park, Dewitt. While the children climbed, slid and swung on the playground, parents and teachers had a chance to get reacquainted. Towards the end of the picnic parents introduced themselves and shared their favorite children’s book. It was a pleasure to recall so many links to our own and our children's lives with books. 

Salt Museum Field Trip 2012

The whole school visited The Salt Museum which is located in Onondaga Lake Park. This is without doubt one of the best local field trips for elementary school children. Ghost Maggie brought the history of the Salt Industry in Syracuse to life with her humor and knowledge. Ghost Maggie introduced the many ghosts (played by our students) who shared their contributions to the salt industry. We heard from Pierre LeMoyne, a willow basket maker, a joiner, and many others. Those students who did not have acting parts were given the job of experts, introducing us to important information located around the museum.

Shove Park 2012

 

A big tradition for The New School each year is an end of the year picnic at Shove Park. This year the weather was spectacular and children spent the day building dams in the creek, reading, playing, and taking the creek walk down to the waterfall. Alumni are always invited. We loved seeing Evelyn, Dora, and Will. We said our goodbyes this year to Eyeruse, Martin, Tamirah and Sarea. 

Teachers Giving Gifts 2012

On the last day of school each child came home with two important things. A memory box from the teachers, celebrating something important about the past year, and a letter that articulates the depth of each child's achievement. Often children will focus on the memory box, but the letter is the most important part. We encourage parents to take time to sit down with their child(ren) and read the letter again, stopping often to talk with your child about its contents. 

The end of each year is always very emotional. It is hard to say goodbye to children. We will miss Martin, Eyeruse, Tamirah and Sarea.

Children making and giving gifts

Every year children randomly are assigned another student to make a gift for. When they present their gifts they share an appreciation which explains why they made the gift. In the picture above a child is being presented with a handmade joke book. Other gifts included a board game about whales, a model of a T-Rex and a Komodo diorama. The whole school community listens intently to these thoughtful gestures of friendship and understanding.