Capitol Hill Day School

While learning about shapes and colors in Spanish class, Early Childhood students studied a famous painter. Students created portraits inspired by this artist’s work. Can you guess who the artist is? 🎨

One student described inspiration as: “when you see something, and then you do something, and that reminds you of what you saw before.”

Portraits are now on display in the Rose Window Room!

Today is Poem in Your Pocket Day! We celebrated by giving students poems this morning, encouraging them to share with friends and tuck them into their pockets. A perfect way to wrap up Poetry Month! 📝

We’re loving these warmer temps and big smiles. Have a great weekend! 🌞

Eighth Grade Physics 🤝 Winter Olympics

The Closing Ceremonies may be over, but the Winter Olympics still have us inspired! Each year, our Eighth Graders take a science field education trip to a curling rink, experiencing force, friction, and momentum firsthand.

🥌 From Science Teacher Chris Miller:

A fundamental aspect of our approach to teaching science at CHDS is connecting everything we do back to natural phenomena, the things we see happening in the world around us. In Eighth Grade, our first unit, “Contact Forces,” gives students a chance to explore, investigate, and explain what happens when objects move and collide. In the classroom, students use a variety of methods to learn about friction. But to really experience friction in action—and have some fun in the process—we step outside the classroom and take a trip to a local curling club.

After learning the rules and practicing the basic skills needed to play, we split into teams and hit the ice for a series of matches. We wear special coverings on our shoes that change the amount of friction we apply. Sometimes we need to slide, such as when we glide along the ice while throwing a rock, and other times we need to walk quickly down the ice sheet without falling.

One of the important jobs in curling is using a special broom to sweep the ice in front of the moving stone. The sweeping reduces the force of friction on the stone, helping it slide to where we want it to go. We have a blast on the ice, and even better, the experience becomes a key reference point for students, helping them connect the concepts they learned in the classroom to the way friction works in the real world.

With love from Capitol Hill Day School 💌

Third graders are diving into their study of watersheds. 💧 They’ve been learning how runoff and pollution impact rivers and lakes, including our local Anacostia River. With all the snow and ice in our neighborhood, students grew curious about how melting snow affects pollution and runoff. They investigated these questions and brainstormed solutions.

Here are some of their ideas, including helping clean up our local parks, which they started yesterday morning!

Spend your summer at Capitol Hill Day School! ☀️

Camp registration is open, and sessions are filling up fast. Visit www.chds.org/summer to explore our summer programming and sign up today!

Available camps include:

🧪 Little Scientist (rising prek + k)
🧑‍🍳 Chefs on the Hill (rising prek + k)
🏛️ Museum Mania (rising 1st + 2nd graders)
🦸 Superheroes in Training (rising 1st + 2nd graders)
✏️ Words, Numbers, and Games, Oh My! (rising 1st + 2nd graders)

..and more! Visit our website for the full list of camp session descriptions. See you this summer!

Alumni happy hour highlights! 📸

Just before our winter break, we caught up with CHDS alumni to reconnect, reminisce, and celebrate. We loved seeing so many familiar faces, and can’t wait to do it again soon!

Don’t miss out on our next event — visit www.chds.org/alumni to update your contact info.

Welcome to the 7/8 Arts Choice Shareout! 📖🎨 Yesterday afternoon, students shared pottery, prints, and magazines from their first semester electives, along with thoughtful reflections on their process. Well done, 7th and 8th Graders!

Founders Day is almost here! Join us this Saturday, January 10, as we celebrate our tradition of connecting learning to the larger world and giving back to our community by making trail mix for Martha’s Table, painting river rocks for the Sasha Bruce House garden, and cleaning up Garfield Park with FiPA.

🔗 Visit www.chds.org/foundersday to learn more + register. We can’t wait to spend this special morning with our Capitol Hill Day School community!