The New School

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 [...]

  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 [...]

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 [...]

Steve Schaefer's class deciding which historical periods to study Students at The New School have a strong voice in the design of their classes. This is apparent in Steve Schaefer's second semester history class where students are defining the historical periods they want to learn about, based on their families' histories. For several weeks students explored their family trees through the website Ancestry.com. They were particularly looking to uncover the time frames and countries from which their ancestors immigrated to America. (Two students discovered family records going back to the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries!) Students are now narrowing [...]

A major goal of The New School is to help young people identify their passions and gain the confidence to actualize them before and after high school. Students are encouraged to weave their interests into their coursework throughout their time at the school -- and this is particularly true during senior year. Senior Projects are a significant undertaking that students must complete in order to graduate. With ongoing guidance from their Faculty Advisors and roundtable committees of students, faculty and parents, seniors design projects that engage their talents and interests while challenging them to grow in new ways. [...]

In February, four students and TNS Teacher Marylyn Wentworth spent over two weeks in Peru during a recent Intensive. (They had spent the first semester learning about Peru's history and culture, and planning the trip.) The group was based in the city of Cusco, which was the historic capital of the Inca Empire from the 13th until the 16th-century. Each morning the students were immersed in learning Spanish at a Spanish language school; during the afternoons they assisted with the school's after school program for children living in poverty. And of course they visited Machu Picchu and other amazing sites [...]

Students on the England Intensive have been journaling about their adventures --- below are some excerpts. Led by Language Arts teacher Christine Knowles, the group so far has visited The Tower of London, The British Museum, Globe Theater, Stratford-upon-Avon, Oxford, Windsor Castle, and lots more! FROM SOPHIE: Essentials such as bathrooms and caffeine were accessed before deciding to go to the Tower of London for the rest of the day’s activities. The tour started with a projected short film talking about all the families that had lived in the fortress and how they were all related/connected. It began [...]

The TNS community was recently treated to an evening of performances by a dozen students in Theater Class. Under the direction of Paul Dervis, students performed a variety of scenes adopted from plays and books that showcased the acting skills they had acquired over the semester. After the performances students answered questions from the audience. Paul, who is an accomplished playwright, director and film critic, loves teaching at TNS (this is his second year at the school) and is such a proponent of the school's philosophy that he joined the board of directors. We hope he will continue [...]