Countryside School

We are celebrating 35 years of Countryside and want your logo design!

The winning piece of artwork, judged by our panel, will be celebrated at our 35th Anniversary Launch Party (Homecoming/Fall Picnic) this August. Your logo could be on our promotional materials for our anniversary year and on t-shirts celebrating our 35 years of Joy in Learning!

One Grand Prize winner will receive a $200 Amazon gift card and Countryside swag including a t-shirt with their logo. One Runner Up Prize winner will receive a $50 Amazon gift card.

Deadline for submission: June 30, 2026 at 11:59 pm (Central time).

Eligibility: Contest is open to all in the Countryside community. Those under 18 may enter with parental permission.

How to Enter: www.countrysideschool.org/logo-contest

Countryside takes Japan! Next stops on our trip - Ghibli Park (the theme park based on Hayao Miyazaki's films like “My Neighbor Totoro”) and Kyoto. The sites and activities in Kyoto included a traditional tea ceremony, the Fushimi Inari Shrine with its 1,000 torii gates, the Kiyomizu-dera Temple (a UNESCO World Heritage site), the famous Golden Pavilion, and the impressive bamboo forest.

And we finally have a photo with nearly everyone on both trips. Group photo at the hotel in Kyoto!

Throwback Thursday – Every 3 years, Countryside embarks on an international trip. Let’s go back now to our international trip in 2023 to Germany. The middle schoolers started in Kassel, Germany where Mr. A’s mom grew up during WWII. They explored Bavaria - Nuremberg Castle, the capital of the Holy Roman Empire for over 500 years and the walled city of Rothenburg.

The group then moved on to the Schwangau region to Neuschwanstein Castle built by King Ludwig II and the inspiration for the original Disney castle. And the trip wrapped up in Munich - touring the BMW museum and the Allianz Arena, home of FC Bayern Munich. Photo here is the students walking to Neuschwanstein Castle.

Countryside takes Japan! This is our middle school family International Trip that we take every 3 years. We have so many travelers that we are divided into two trips - one day apart. While Trip B had their flight cancelled due to a typhoon, Trip A began their tour of the Meiji Shrine in Tokyo with 5” of rain! Trip B arrived a day late on a rescheduled flight via Canada.

We have enjoyed the Asakusa Sensoji Temple, a sushi making class, the Shibuya Scramble, Pokémon Center, and even an owl cafe. The two travel groups ran into each other at Mt.Fuji and took an impromptu photo!

And of course - as is required on all student trips - if someone loses something, the repercussion is that they have to hold Mrs. Young’s hand. But the person who lost their hotel room keycard was Mrs. Young! So whose hand does she hold? It was decided that she would hold the hand of our littlest traveler (who has not lost anything yet 😊).

Congratulations to rising 8th grader Arman - who was one of only 6 students *nationwide* to receive the Kevin-Buscemi Global Citizen Scholarship 2026 - awarded by the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese.

Arman qualified for the scholarship after earning a perfect score in his National Spanish Exam Level 1 last year - that’s the high school Spanish 1 exam that he took as a 6th grader. In his application to this scholarship, Arman submitted a thoughtful Spanish-language message and completed a video interview - conducted entirely in Spanish. Way to go, Arman!

Congratulations, Mr. Weber, for recently winning the Teacher of the Week award in The Week Junior national magazine.

Mr. Weber was nominated by 5th grader Maya, one of his students this year! Thank you Maya for recognizing what Mr Weber does for his students and nominating him for this award!

Throwback Thursday – Since we are currently on our international trip to Japan, let’s flash back to 2017 to our first-ever long-distance trip! In 2017, several of our middle schoolers enjoyed a week in Puerto Rico hiking El Yunque National Rainforest, exploring the old Spanish fort Castillo San Felipe Del Morro, touring a coffee plantation, snorkeling, and enjoying the culture and food of the island.

This throwback photo is also from 2011 - the 1st day of school in the Kindergarten/1st grade room! Snack time goofiness. Wow, that's 15 years ago. These kids are now in college. My how time flies! Celebrating 35 Years of Countryside!

Meet our Class of 2026 graduates! Thursday’s ceremony was lovely with every graduate - as is our tradition - giving a speech. What a wonderful group of leaders we are launching into the world!

Students wearing the medallion are the newest members of our Medallion Club - those who attended Countryside from K-8th grade. Congratulations to all!