Solid Ground School

10/05/2026

🎨 Arts Enrichment Opportunity!

Looking for a fun and inspiring cultural event this Friday? We’re excited to share that our former SGS arts teacher, Brooke Ripley, will be part of an opening reception and celebrating the expansion of her botanical mural at the Ohio Museum Complex!

Brooke is currently completing a year-long VISTA service term with Rural Action’s True Pigments project, continuing her work at the intersection of art, science, and native ecology. 🌿🎨

📅 Friday, October 9
⏰ 5:30–7:30 p.m.

Brooke toured our SGS students through an early version of the mural during their museum field trip last year, making this a wonderful opportunity for families to reconnect with her work and enjoy an evening of art and culture in our community!

🎨✨ Learn more about the event:
https://calendar.ohio.edu/event/3rd-annual-ohio-museum-complex-collections-print-exchange-reception

09/29/2026

🌱 Welcome back to our wonderful Rural Action AmeriCorps Volunteer, Caroline Beers, for a second year at Solid Ground School and Rising Appalachian Warriors (RAW)! We are so happy and grateful to have you with us again!

Here is what Caroline is looking forward to this year:
"I want to continue to strengthen my connections in the community of Solid Ground. I still have so much more to learn and gain from the amazing teachers here and have really grown to love the kids as well as the staff and parents. I had such an amazing summer with RAW that when Rina and Christin expressed interest in wanting me to come back, it was an easy yes! I'm excited to expand my knowledge of nature and partner more with all that Rising Appalachia is doing as well. We are such a great, tight team here, and I am very happy and grateful to provide the teachers with the support they need and deserve."

Caroline, thank you for investing in our community, and bringing so much heart to everything you do. Your kindness and dedication truly matter, and we are grateful for the positive energy and compassion you bring to your work each day. 💚

09/21/2026

🦋 Learning from Monarchs, growing our classrooms!

Each year, Solid Ground students care for Monarch butterflies while discovering the important role native plants and pollinators play in our ecosystems. Monarchs are famous for their incredible long-distance migration—and their story also reminds us that conservation can make a difference.

Just 30 years ago, Monarchs covered nearly 45 acres of forest in their winter habitat. This year, scientists found Monarchs occupying 7.24 acres of forest, compared with 4.42 acres the previous winter—a 64% increase in the area occupied by Monarchs! 🌱🦋

This year’s Monarch study also came with something new in our classrooms: projectors! 📽️

Thanks to a generous grant through the Appalachian Impact Allocation from the Impact Enterprise Team at Ohio University's Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Service every Solid Ground classroom now has a projector.

We’ve always approached digital technology with intention and care, and our staff is excited about the new windows these projectors will open for the children in our classrooms—from exploring the natural world to bringing new ideas, stories, and experiences right into their learning spaces.

Here’s to curious minds, thriving Monarchs, and classrooms full of new possibilities! 🦋🌎✨

09/07/2026

Rising Appalachian Warriors (RAW) (who we are very lucky to share the farm with!) has some great activities planned for the Kids' Tent at the Ohio Pawpaw Festival, a beautiful celebration of place and community on Sept 18-20 💚

The Ohio Pawpaw Festival is such a great place for the whole family, but really, the kids HAVE IT MADE! Check out this year's schedule, there's so much for your kids to learn, see, make and do!

https://ohiopawpawfest.com/schedules/ -tent-schedule

09/07/2026

🏷️ Back-to-school pro tip: Label Everything! Labeling clothing, water bottles, lunch containers, and outdoor gear makes it MUCH easier for belongings to find their way home.

You can purchase personalized labels through Mabel's Labels (search: Solid Ground School in Millfield) and support our school too! These labels truly do hold up—staff members have used (and re-used!) them for MANY years. When you shop through our fundraising link below, the school receives a small portion of the proceeds 💚 https://mabelslabels.com/fundraising/support

09/01/2026

📚 Welcome back! We know navigating the back-at-school transition isn't always easy, here are some pro tips to help:

🛠️ Family Survival Kit! Little things go a long way toward helping kids (and parents!) ease into the new rhythm. Focus on the following to get you through:

☑️ Earlier bedtimes

☑️ Extra food—the kids here move A LOT

☑️ Calm down time after school

☑️ A cooling bath or shower after hot days

This rollercoaster is totally normal and usually smooths out in 2–6 weeks.

01/08/2026

🪵 Learning Through Loose Parts

In this series of images, young children have turned a simple wooden board and a picnic table into a slide. With a few loose parts—boards, pots and pans, and even unattached slides—children design, test, and redesign their own play spaces.

This kind of open-ended play supports problem-solving, collaboration, and body awareness. Children assess risk, negotiate turns, and adapt their ideas in real time. The materials don’t tell them what to do; they invite possibility.

Providing loose parts is one of the ways we make space for deep, self-directed learning. When children are trusted with real materials, they show us just how capable they are.

01/06/2026

🌫️ Winter Play, Ohio Style

Three young children, bellies to the ground, rolling and resting on a hillside under a gray-blue winter sky. No snow on this day—just open space, cool air, and the simple joy of being outside together.

This kind of play matters. Rolling, climbing, balancing, and navigating uneven terrain all support children’s physical development, coordination, and body awareness. Just as importantly, time outdoors gives children room to be playful, resilient, and at ease in their own bodies.

Moments like this are a quiet reminder of why access to outdoor spaces matters so deeply, and why all children deserve the chance to grow up connected to the land around them.

01/04/2026

🌍☀️ After Solstice: A Glimpse Back

A sixth grader painting a papier-mâché globe.
Fifth graders building a larger-than-life sun together.

These pieces were part of a student-created museum exhibit on the sun during our Solstice project work. Just one glimpse—more stories from this learning to come.

01/01/2026

✨ Happy New Year from all of us at Solid Ground School!

As we step into a new year, we carry the glow of our student's lanterns with us—reminders of resilience, renewal, and the many small lights that guide our community forward.

May the year ahead bring moments of joy, curiosity, connection, and peace. Thank you for being part of the Solid Ground family and helping our school shine so brightly.

Here’s to a year of learning, growing, and finding light in unexpected places. 🕯️💛