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Yearly Archives: 2017

Many hands work together on greenhouse

The greenhouse is coming along in spite of the delay in getting our building permit.  It was approved last Wednesday, but hasn't come to us yet.  We have dug the foundation ditches with pick ax due to hitting hardpan.  This will make us the strongest people in the whole school.  Muscle men and women!  C.N. Brown has donated all the crushed stone for the foundation and floor.  Deering Lumber donated all the pressure treated beams and gave us a big discount on lumber, so with this community generosity we are financially sailing.  The weather is, of course, our biggest worry [...]

The New School and School Around Us Collaborate

On a cool autumn morning, a bus full of K-8 School Around Us students and their three teachers arrived at The New School ready to work together on collaborative science explorations.   Evan Dewdney was already stoking the fire in our brick oven, generously built for the school as a senior project a few years back.  The goal of the day was to foster connection between the sister schools and create nurturing peer mentorships. Each TNS student was paired with an SAU student based on interests and ages.  After an initial meeting to talk about the day, each pair rushed [...]

Students participate in facilitator training

In order to function effectively in a democratic organization with shared leadership, responsibilities and honoring all voices, the teachers at The New School recognize how integral it is to have good communication skills.  This week, as the students worked on their annual community agreements for the school, they are also learned how to better work within and as a group.  Lauren Tenney is an experienced facilitator, coach, and trainer working specifically with groups to improve function and communication.  Lauren provided an array of exercises to prepare students to actively participate in their own governance. Two days this week, the students [...]

Annual fall student retreat

To begin the school year, The New School traveled to the Joe Dodge Lodge at Pinkham Notch Visitor Center in the famous White Mountains of New Hampshire. For many students this was an exciting, yet challenging way to begin the school year. Upon arrival, they were met by the outstanding AMC Education Staff, including Rachel, Lucy, Owen, and Josh, who we spent the majority of our time with at Pinkham Notch. As students unpacked and got coordinated, groups gathered together and met their AMC Guide. Each group then met with their guide and started to form team names and approach. [...]

THE NEW SCHOOL WELCOMES NEW SCIENCE TEACHER: ALLY MUIR

This summer we've had the pleasure of getting to know our new science teacher and her lively, four-legged sidekick, Cooper!  Ally Muir grew up in New Jersey, but spent summers and college in Maine where she has always felt most at home. After graduating from Colby with a major in Geology and minor in Russian, she taught at The Ecology School in Saco. In the summers she lead long distance bike tours (across country, down the Pacific Coast) and backpacking trips (in the Alps). While living in Colorado she taught at an alternative, residential High School in the mountains and [...]

FARM CAMP – IT’S NOT JUST FOR KIDS!

Ever wonder what families at The New School do in their "real life?"  Last weekend some adult members of The New School community gathered at Dragonfly Meadow Farm in Limerick, Maine, to participate in activities that have been offered to children at the farm's summer camp programs for the past 5 years.  Dragonfly Meadow Farm is home to the Little Farm School, a Waldorf-inspired, early childhood program for ages 2 through 6.  Mary Graham is founder and teacher here, where "daily life on the farm is the curriculum, and the blessings of childhood are preserved through play." The experience was filled with hands-on activities that brought adult campers [...]

GRADUATE SPOTLIGHT: ELI GRATZ

Eli Gratz is on of 2017's graduates of The New School. He will be attending Montserrat School of Art this fall.  Eli's inspiration began at an early age, when he wrote his first comic series about "Bugy."  Through The New School, Eli has turned his passion into an online web comic called "Mars," as his required senior project. Each senior at The New School completes a senior project that includes an original piece of work, 200 hours dedicated to creating the project, a "give-back" opportunity whereby the student does volunteer work in the community, and finishes with a presentation to the senior round table whose members work [...]

SCHOOL YEAR ENDS WITH AWESOME LEAP NIGHT

  View an album of photos from the recent LEAP Night. TNS students' pride and engagement in their learning was in full evidence at the June LEAP Night where they showcased their work from the semester. At LEAP* Night, TNS's version of final exams, students create exhibits of their work and spend an hour with Feedback Teams, pairs of adults who ask open ended questions designed to help students articulate their strengths, challenges and emerging passions. Although new students often find their first LEAP night daunting, after a few LEAP nights students have gained self-confidence and truly enjoy the [...]

STUDENTS ENGAGE IN REFUGEE SIMULATION GAME

Students and teachers from The New School joined members from School Around Us on May 25, 2017, and participated in The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) "Passages." This simulation game was designed to help young learners gain a better understanding of the plight that refugees face.  Students engaged in a variety of activities through a 3 hour role playing experience. Each child, teacher, and volunteer was given a role within the Refugee Passages experience - be it family member, soldier, child, government worker, etc.  Through the active role play, students increased overall awareness of the emotions and difficult choices that refugees face.

STUDENT ART & PHOTOGRAPHY SHOWCASED IN KENNEBUNK

Art in all its forms -- fine arts, crafts, photography, theater and music -- is an integral part of the curriculum at The New School. An exhibit in May at The Brick Store Museum in Kennebunk showcased the wonderful creations of thirteen TNS students in a wide variety of medium, including photography, painting, sculpture, sketching, printmaking, ink drawing and jewelry. TNS is extremely grateful to the outstanding artists and photographers who have mentored students over the past several semesters, including Jean Husby, Michael Wilson, Tess Johnson, Andrew Houser, Greg Rec, Mark Ettinger, Annie Lemieux, Christine Anuszewski and Hope [...]

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