|
|
Steve says…
Steve Roushakes
Dear Students,
This is an unusual and difficult time, we know. We made the transition to online classes fairly smoothly, and that’s kept us connected to one another, but it’s not the same as day-to-day, face-to-face interaction. We’re a people school, after all, and the heart and soul of The New School is dialogue and community. Video conferencing has allowed us to make the best of an immediate and restrictive situation, but I know we’re all looking forward to the day when we can return to The New School proper.
In the meantime, please take care of yourselves. Structure and balance of activities are your friends. Cabin fever is real, so try to get some fresh air, communicate with family and friends, and do the things you love to do — safely, of course. And challenge yourselves to try something new. We’re enormously proud and grateful to you for your good-faith efforts to make online learning work. You deserve a break.
One last time: we’re proud of you, we miss you, take care of yourselves.
See you on April 14th,
Steve
|
|
|
30th Anniversary Celebration Update
Considering the spread of the novel coronavirus, we have decided to postpone the 30th Anniversary Celebration until June 5, 2021. We wanted to make this decision sooner rather than later so that anyone coming from out of state could adjust their travel and lodging plans accordingly.
The health and safety of The New School community and our guests are our priorities. We believe it is in the best interest of the entire New School family that we postpone the event so that everyone can focus on taking care of themselves and their loved ones in this difficult time.
Even though we will not be holding the event until next Spring, we still want to take the time to look back and celebrate 30 years of The New School. Stay tuned in the coming months for announcements about how we can work together virtually to mark this important milestone in the school’s history.
We are thinking of you, always.
|
|
|
|
Distance Adaptation
Noelle Andreano
Distance learning has required all of our teachers to find creative ways to connect with and teach students digitally. Since the Math teachers can’t teach in front of their classroom whiteboards, they’ve come up with creative ways to write out equations and problems that students can see in real time.
One solution was to use the digital drawing tablets that donors helped fund at the beginning of the school year. Thank you to all of our generous donors for giving teachers the resources to continue creating meaningful connections with students, even while they can’t be in the classroom together.
Take a look at some of the equations Eden had her AP Calculus students working on last week!
|
|
The New School Bonus Programs
The New School participates in bonus programs that generate donations for the school when you do your everyday shopping online. They are easy to sign up for, and can have a big impact for students and teachers.
Here are two easy ways to support The New School while you shop:
1. AmazonSmile works with your existing Prime account and donates 0.5% of the price of eligible purchases when you select The New School as your charity: https://smile.amazon.com/ch/82-1288652
2. On CauseNetwork, you can shop over 1,000 retailers that will donate a portion of every purchase you make to The New School. You can sign up at: https://newschoolva.causenetwork.com/
Thank you for your support!
If you have any questions about these programs, contact our Development Manager, Noelle Andreano, at nandreano@newschoolva.com
|
|
|
|
International Teacher’s Conference
Noelle Andreano
Earlier this quarter, Diana was a panelist at an International Teacher’s Conference administered by the State Department, IREX, and the Fulbright International Teacher Exchange Program. Diana was invited to be a panelist because she is a Fulbright exchange alumna, participating in their Teachers for Global Classrooms program in the Philippines in 2015.
The session she spoke at was for a group of teachers from Eastern Europe and Central Asia and was on media literacy classroom practices. She discussed our New School portfolio process, with a specific focus on the essential skills of information literacy and critical thinking & analysis. She shared some of her favorite science hoax websites (“Ban Dihydrogen Monoxide!”) and talked about using them as practice for critical thinking before tackling other pseudoscientific theories. Through listening to another panelist’s insights, Diana found that our essential skills have a lot in common with international baccalaureate programs.
Spreading the word about our programs and the hard work of all of our teachers impacts teachers around the globe!
|
|
|
Black Millennials for Flint
Noelle Andreano
On March 6, Diana and Carolina hosted a remote guest speaker in their Environmental Sociology class. LaTricea Adams is the founder of Black Millennials for Flint, an all-volunteer non-profit organization that started as a direct aid response to the Flint, Michigan lead crisis, but evolved into a nation-wide advocacy organization working for a lead-free USA. LaTricea shared about her work in Flint, MI, Washington, D.C., Baltimore, MD, and Memphis, TN. The class discussed themes of community advocacy, racial and environmental justice, health effects of lead on pregnant women, children, and cognitive development. Thank you, LaTricea, for sharing your time, passion, and expertise with us!
|
|
|
|
French Fromage
Noelle Andreano
As part of their food unit, Selma’s French 2 class learned how to make cheese from scratch. They were introduced to homemade “FROMAGE BLANC”. It is a fresh, easy-to-make French-style soft cheese. The name means “White Cheese” and it makes an excellent cheese spread with herbs and spices added to it. It can also be used by itself as a substitute for cream cheese or ricotta in cooking. Once they were shown the process, students taste tested plain and savory cheeses, and were given the chance to experiment with different toppings to figure out their favorite flavor combination. Honey was a popular choice!
|
|
|
Scientific Study
Even though the Science Fest will not be held this week as a result of distance learning, we wanted to share a few of the projects students have been working on. In Electrodynamics, students were exploring the impact electricity has on our world, and discovering how understanding the laws of electricity can keep us safer. They created experiments to gain hands-on experience with the concepts they studied.
Students’ experiments included testing different wire gauges to see what gauge created the strongest electromagnet, creating Faraday cages to test what radio frequencies would be blocked by different materials, and creating enough electric current in potatoes to light up a bulb.
|
|
|
|
Info and Contact
Why are we sending you this newsletter?
One of the distinguishing features of our school is our sense of community. This newsletter is one more way to build and maintain that community among our current students, parents, faculty, and alumni. We hope you like it!
Please send feedback to info@newschoolva.com
Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook for weekly updates and photos of what’s happening in our school community!
|
|
|
|
|
