Avenues New York

✨ Love, laughter, and lots of cozy vibes in the Lower Division today! ✨

Our students shared the love in the sweetest way—wearing their favorite pajamas, sipping on delicious hot chocolate (courtesy of our amazing class parents!), and exchanging heartfelt appreciation cards with their friends. 💌💙

A huge thank you to our incredible Avenues Parent Association (APA) class parents for making today extra special. Your warmth and generosity filled our halls with joy!

📚✨ This past weekend’s annual Avenues Parent Association (APA) Book Fair was a vibrant celebration of stories, creativity, and community! With surprise guest readers, hands-on crafts, and books in English, Spanish, and Mandarin, every moment was filled with excitement. Families enjoyed story time, a lively photo booth, glitter tattoos, and arts & crafts, all bringing our "Share the Love" theme to life.

A huge shoutout to our incredible readers—Melody Meade, Todd Shy, Ash Barkhorn, Profe Ibarra, security team members Durnell, Rob, and Kumar, and student authors Parker and Blake, who shared jokes from their self-authored Mandarin joke book!

Thank you to everyone who made this event so special, especially our dedicated APA Book Fair chairs! 💙📖

✨ The 2nd annual Avenues Parent Association (APA) Lunar New Year celebration was a vibrant showcase of culture, community, and joy! ✨

The event included an exhilarating Lion Dance by the NY Chinese Freemasons Athletic Club, mesmerizing performances like Hao Chen’s Face-Changing Sichuan Opera, and KTDOC’s Korean Drum & Fan Dance.

Students and families immersed themselves in festive hands-on activities—decorating Korean masks, stamping red envelopes, wrapping dumplings, and more!

A heartfelt thank you to our incredible APA Lunar New Year committee, our Lower and Upper Division student volunteers, and all the families who joined us. Your energy and joy made the celebration truly unforgettable! 🧧🎊

🐉✨ Happy Lunar New Year! 新年快乐 ✨🐉

What a week it’s been! Our community came together to celebrate with so much joy, tradition, and fun.

🎭 Our annual assemblies—led in Mandarin by our amazing 5th graders—were filled with songs, dances, and student performances.
📖 Story time fun with Melody Meade (head of Early Learning Center) and Dan Wallace (5th grade assistant division head) brought Lunar New Year stories to life.
🥟 Dumpling making in Early Learning Center gave our youngest learners a hands-on taste of this special tradition.
🐲 The beloved Dragon Parade made its way through younger classrooms, spreading excitement and good luck for the new year!
🎨 Upper Division students shared crafts and games with Lower Division friends, making for a beautiful cross-grade celebration.

Wishing our whole community a year full of happiness, prosperity, and connection! 🧧🎊

🔬🌍 In 10th grade Integrated Science, students took an interdisciplinary approach to energy and systems through a climate resilience project! They explored the global how solar energy drives global weather patterns—like monsoons in Asia and the jet stream in the U.S.—and then acted as environmental engineers as they examined the real-world impacts of climate change.

Using google maps and street views, they identified structures vulnerable to climate change, researched local policies, and designed sustainable, affordable solutions to strengthen them. 🌱🏠 Through hands-on project-based learning, they even tested their ideas with experiments! Bravo students!

🌟 “Aaniin: I See Your Light” 🌟 Lower Division artists explored the Brooklyn Museum’s installation by Indigenous artist Nico Williams, whose piece, Aaniin: I See Your Light, takes its name from the Anishinaabemowin word meaning both “hello” and “I see your light.”

Inspired by this powerful message, our young artists created their own designs and symbols, reflecting their passions and identities. These vibrant panels now illuminate the Avenues entryway, a striking expression of our core value: welcome. When students bring their full selves to school, they not only see their own light but also recognize it in one another.

✨ Every Lower Division student contributed to this large-scale community artwork—a celebration of identity, creativity, and belonging.

✨ This week, our Lower Division students are honoring the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in their community meetings. ✨

4th and 5th graders brought his story to life by reading excerpts from biographies, sparking conversations about how his work united communities, challenged segregation, and paved the way for equality.

Guided by Dr. McDonald and Mr. Woodson, students also experienced the power of collective action through music—learning a call-and-response version of "When the Saints Go Marching In." Singing together, they stepped into the spirit of marching for justice, just as so many did before them. 🎶

✨ In our kindergarten World Course identity unit, students have been on a journey of self-discovery, asking big questions like “What makes me who I am?”, “How are others similar or different?”, and “How do I fit into the world?” 🌎💭

Through creative projects like The Best Part of Me collages and Mini Me portraits, they’ve explored what makes them unique while celebrating the differences that make our community stronger. 🎨🖌️ In art class, they even mixed their own custom skin tones to use in their Mini Me paintings—thoughtfully representing themselves in their work.

And the best part? They did it all in their target languages—Spanish or Mandarin Chinese—deepening both their self-awareness and language skills along the way! ✨

We were thrilled to recently welcome Avenues alumna Olivia back to campus! 🌟 During her time as a student, Olivia made history by founding The High School Law Review, the nation’s first-ever high school law publication. For the past 6 years, this groundbreaking initiative has thrived as a student-led club, providing a platform for thoughtful debate and legal exploration.

Making the day even more special, we were honored to host Council Member Rita Joseph, who visited to learn more about this innovative program and its impact. ✨

Since earning her MA in International Relations from the University of Chicago, Olivia has worked to expand the High School Law Review into a national program. Her efforts have empowered schools to establish their own chapters, fostering critical thinking, respectful dialogue, and a deeper understanding of constitutional principles.

We are so proud of you, Olivia!

🌟 Step into the Wax Museum! 🌟

Our 5th graders have brought history to life in one of the most anticipated projects of the year! As part of their curriculum, each student chose a historical figure, wrote a detailed biography, and transformed it into a first-person monologue—all in their target language.

The best part? They performed their monologues for an audience of 1st-4th graders, who got a sneak peek of what’s to come in 5th grade!

This project is a true deep dive into interdisciplinary learning, combining research, writing, language production, and creativity. Watching our students embody these figures is inspiring—and seeing the younger students engaged makes it even more special. Bravo to our 5th graders for their incredible work! ✨

🎉 Welcome back and Happy 2025! 🎉

Our classrooms are buzzing with energy as we kick off the new year. It’s been wonderful to see families at drop-off, their bright smiles warming these chilly mornings. It’s as if no time has passed—students are diving right back into learning and reconnecting with their teachers and friends. Here’s to a year filled with growth, learning, and community! ✨

#2025

As 2024 comes to a close, we’re reflecting on the incredible work of our student-led clubs and affinity groups this fall, especially their dedication to service. From creating connections within our local community to supporting global initiatives, their impact has been nothing short of inspiring. ✨

Our Upper Division Service Learning Club (SLC) led the charge with meaningful projects, including packaging and delivering food to neighborhoods through Grassroots Grocery 🥦, partnering with JASA to bring warmth and joy to seniors across New York, hosting students at Pass the Bricks to reimagine donated Lego sets 🧱, and adding festive flair at the God’s Love We Deliver Holiday Party.

In our neighborhood, students collaborated with Hudson Guild to host events like the Haunted House and Book Drive 📚. They also organized and supported essential drives—ranging from Thanksgiving food donations to snow gear swaps, candy drives, and the Covenant House holiday gift drive.

To all our students: thank you for showing us the heart of service and the power of community. You remind us that small actions can create a big ripple effect. 🌟

As 2024 comes to a close, we're reflecting on the incredible work of our student-led clubs and affinity groups this fall, especially their dedication to service. From creating connections within our local community to supporting global initiatives, their impact has been nothing short of inspiring. ✨

Our Upper Division Service Learning Club (SLC) led the charge with meaningful projects, including packaging and delivering food to neighborhoods through Grassroots Grocery, partnering with JASA to bring warmth and joy to seniors across New York, hosting students at Pass the Bricks to reimagine donated Lego sets, and adding festive flair at the God's Love We Deliver Holiday Party.

In our neighborhood, students collaborated with Hudson Guild to host events like the Haunted House and Book Drive 📚. They also organized and supported essential drives—ranging from Thanksgiving food donations to snow gear swaps, candy drives, and the Covenant House International holiday gift drive.

To all our students: thank you for showing us the heart of service and the power of community. You remind us that small actions can create a big ripple effect. 🌟

✨ A Heartwarming Hanukkah Celebration! 🕎

A huge thank you to the Avenues Parent Association (APA) Culture and Inclusion Committee, the Parent Jewish Affinity Group, the Upper Division (UD) Jewish Culture Club, and the Early Learning Center (ELC) and Lower Division (LD) Diversity Leadership Team for hosting an incredible Hanukkah celebration filled with arts, crafts, a fantastic photo booth, and delicious treats! 🎉 Over 100 children joined in the fun, with craft tables run by our talented high schoolers from the UD Jewish Culture Club and LD teachers. The event kicked off with a beautiful Hanukkah story shared by the 5th graders from the LD Jewish Affinity Group. What a wonderful way to celebrate the spirit of Hanukkah!

❄️✨ Snowflake Assemblies! ✨❄️

Winter magic was in the air as our Early Learning Center and Lower Division students came together for the annual Snowflake Assemblies. This joyful celebration of community and winter holidays was filled with festive cheer!

From lively dances and group sing-alongs of Jingle Bells and Marshmallow World to a heartwarming performance by our 5th-grade chorus and fun-filled storytelling, the event brought endless smiles, laughter, and holiday joy—and even seemed to summon the snow! 🎶🌟

🎵🎶 Our Upper Division students have been dazzling us with their extraordinary winter performances! 🌟🎻 From powerful instrumentals to enchanting vocals, they’ve truly demonstrated their talent, creativity, and dedication this semester.

The concerts featured an incredible range of music across grades. The Advanced Band thrilled the audience with Cielito Lindo (Quirino Mendoza y Cortés), while Grade 9 Instrumental delivered a high-energy rendition of Wonderwall (Oasis). Grade 6 performed Uptown Girl (Billy Joel), Grade 7 charmed us with a Pitch Perfect-inspired mashup of Just the Way You Are (Bruno Mars) and Just a Dream (Jay-Z), and Grade 8 wowed us with an Adele mashup of Skyfall (Adele). Grade 9/10 shared a beautiful a ca****la moment with Linger (The Cranberries).

👏 These are just some of the incredible songs our students performed across their individual concerts. A standing ovation is in order for our remarkable music team—Mr. Dolan, Mr. Schartz, Ms. Pollack, Ms. Venora, and everyone behind the scenes—for inspiring our young musicians and guiding them to bring such a diverse and unforgettable lineup to life!