Blue School

Yesterday was Blue School's 8th Annual Oratorical Festival. The theme this year was Shift Power. Students in 4th-8th grades gave moving and inspiring presentations of works they selected from a wide range of some influential artists, activists, and writers.

This is an important hallmark event at Blue School, connected to our mission of centering student voices and our core approach to teaching and learning.

Congratulations to all of the students who presented! Families, look out for a full recording of the event being shared soon.

As part of their ongoing Big Study about Restaurants, our Kindergarten class took an exciting field trip yesterday to Lot 2 and Southside Coffee in Brooklyn. In order to tackle their research projects, students split up into three teams: Team Operation Meatball, (with a focus on the operations of a restaurant), Team Working Together (with a focus on the jobs in food service), and Team Food (with a focus on the kitchen operations and food making process). Students gathered information to present to their classmates and use in their forthcoming project. They saw up close what it takes to run a restaurant behind the scenes and even got to enjoy some delicious food they helped prepare!

Huge thank you to Blue School parents Teddy and Danny for hosting this amazing trip!

Students and families alike were aglow with excitement and wonder this morning in the Ocean Classroom's GLOW BALL. Sensory materials are an important part of our Pre-Primary curriculum and the immersive experience of light and color invites students to explore their senses in a fun and imaginative setting.

Blue School celebrates and honors the work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. today and everyday.

As our faculty and staff prepare to engage in an all-day training tomorrow with our partners from Center for Research and Justice in Education around Implicit Bias and Microaggressions, Noah writes that this is a time to “reflect on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr's legacy, the progress that has been made, the work yet undone, and the ways in which we can all play a role in creating a more just future for everyone.” This is the work of everyone in our community, every day.

At last night's Alum Reception, we welcomed back over 100 alum and family members! It was so wonderful to have so many of our graduates back together on campus. We ❤️ you, Alums!!!

We were so happy to welcome special visitors from far and wide into our building today for GrandFriends Day! GrandFriends are an important part of our community and it was wonderful to have so many of them here this morning to spend some time in our classrooms and gather in the commons for breakfast and student performances. Thank you, GrandFriends!!

Recently, Primary students have been drawing connections in Spanish class to themes in their Big Study. Here, third graders practice their Spanish vocabulary by exploring fruits and vegetables at a local market.

In Theater Arts, Pre-Primary students have been practicing articulation of their faces and their bodies with the help of mirrors.

We had a fabulous celebration of words today at the Vocabulary Parade!! Students, faculty, and staff dressed up as some of their favorite vocabulary words and strutted their stuff on the Playstreet!

During Curriculum Night earlier this fall, teachers in the Ocean classroom asked parents to write a word that describes a hope, wish, or possibility for their child this year. The canvas has been hanging on the wall of the classroom since then as a symbolic representation of a foundation with the expectation that children will leave their own marks on it throughout the year. This week, they painted on top of it - creating the first of what will be many layers.