Stanbridge Academy

More than 20 acts recently took the Stanbridge stage for our annual Talent Show, performing everything from songs about the presidents to the Rolling Stones, choreographed dances, karate moves, and more.

Students sang, performed and stepped into the spotlight in front of their classmates and the whole school community. Choosing to perform in front of your peers takes real courage, and every student who participated showed plenty of it.

At Stanbridge, the talent show is part of a whole-school culture where students across Elementary, Middle School and High School have space to discover and share who they are.

Congratulations to every student who performed.

Beach Day is one of our favorite days of the school year, and Friday's trip to Poplar Beach in Half Moon Bay was everything we hoped it would be.

The entire Stanbridge community, Elementary through High School, spent the day together on the coast. Students built sandcastles, competed in tug of war, hula hooped, played volleyball and shared lunch on the beach. Desserts were provided by our Stanbridge Parent Association, which made the afternoon even sweeter.

Beach Day and Field Day rotate each year as our end-of-year tradition. Thank you to SPA, our staff and every family who made the day possible.

What does a 2,800-year-old epic have to do with right now?Our high school English classes have been sitting with that question this spring.

Sophomores and seniors started with a graphic novel adaptation of "The Odyssey," then compared translations — examining how the choices a translator makes, and the historical moment they're writing in, can shift the meaning of a text entirely.

Juniors finished "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" alongside their first real work in persuasive writing: learning to defend a claim with evidence, to anticipate a counterargument, to build a case.

These are the kinds of questions and skills our students carry well beyond high school.

Learn about our high school program at stanbridgeacademy.org

Algebra 1 students at Stanbridge solved for carnival ticket sales and mapped the arc of a thrown ball. Algebra 2 applied exponential equations to compound interest and radioactive decay. Statistics students worked with actual water usage data before choosing their own data sets around topics they care about.

Our high school math program spans five courses — pre-algebra through pre-calculus and statistics. In pre-algebra, students move through a self-paced 27-lesson sequence at the pace that works for them, advancing only when they're ready.

The sequence is intentional. Each course builds directly toward the next.

Schedule a visit at stanbridgeacademy.org

Every middle schooler at Stanbridge wrote a letter to Principal Cindy this spring arguing for something they wanted to see changed at school.

Three-day weeks. Later start times. Longer lunch.

Persuasive writing is one of the most transferable academic skills we teach. Giving students something they genuinely care about — and someone who will actually read it — makes all the difference in how they show up for the work.

See our approach to academic skill-building at stanbridgeacademy.org

This spring, Stanbridge's speech and language team began piloting a classroom listening system that transmits the teacher's voice directly through a microphone to students' headphones.

It's a different technology than FM systems used for hearing loss. The goal here is comprehension and engagement for the full range of learners — students who are sensory-seeking and students who tend toward sensory avoidance.

Early results: engagement is noticeably up. The team is currently testing an upgraded system to find the best fit.

Learn about our support services at stanbridgeacademy.org

Last week, Stanbridge Academy's middle school students spent three days at Camp Loma Mar in the Santa Cruz Mountains for an overnight outdoor education experience through the Web of Life Field School (WOLF School) program.

Managing their own gear, following new routines, taking on responsibilities and building confidence alongside peers — these are the skills that carry students forward. For many neurodiverse learners, the outdoor environment opens doors that a conventional classroom setting can make harder to walk through. Real-world challenges, hands-on science and time in nature create conditions where students discover what they are truly capable of.

Students explored the natural environment through field study groups, evening hikes, campfires and community-centered activities, supported throughout by chaperones Tasha, Drew, Emma M., Emma W., Gage and Alyssa.

Stanbridge is proud to offer experiences that meet students where they are and help them grow into confident, capable young people. Learn more at www.stanbridgeacademy.org

How much weight can a boat hold before it sinks? Our elementary students found out this spring — by building the boats themselves.

They folded foil, loaded pennies, watched some float and some go under, and then talked about why. That conversation led somewhere: into engineering, problem-solving and the kind of curiosity that carries over into the next day's lesson.

Hands-on science is built into our curriculum because that's where the learning unlocks.

See how we teach at stanbridgeacademy.org

Reading instruction in our Elementary program meets students exactly where they are. Younger students are building fluency through picture books, repeated read-alouds, and programs like Lexia and Explode the Code. Students in the middle grades are working through Roald Dahl novels in group studies, using Mad Libs and vocabulary work to bring grammar to life. Older elementary students are developing comprehension stamina, practicing inference, and learning to go back to the text to support their thinking. Story maps are used across all grades to help students track characters, setting, problem, and solution, building the foundation for genuine reading comprehension at every level.

Elementary students have been doing science the right way: hands on. This month, classrooms introduced states of matter through cooking (including a classroom batch of mashed potatoes), gardening and observation. Students experienced solids, liquids and gases through real activities rather than definitions alone. Sequencing, gathering information and organizing ideas are skills that carry well beyond any single subject. What's your child's favorite hands-on learning moment from school this year? Share below.