First graders built the first snow fort of the season.

Getting the Most Out of Our Wild Ride Together

5th graders help carry some of the many
 blankets donated to aid victims of the hurricane.

To put a positive spin on it, the combination of a powerful late season hurricane and another very 
early snow has allowed us to appreciate some of what we take for granted. Living without electricity means no heat, no gas and difficult mobility and communications. There are thousands whose homes were destroyed or are are currently unlivable. There are many opportunities to reflect together on what is truly important and to understand what life must have been like during the our grandparents' or great grandparents' times. Then there are questions about whether the current weather is the "new normal," how it may be connected to a change in our climate and what role we may have played in these changes..... Such events and the questions that arise from them can be unsettling to us all. Adults have life experience to help put this all into context, 

Fourth-graders' science experiments with erosion 

take on new meaning after hurricane Sandy.

but our children do not. So how can we help them process these events in a way that allows them to feel positive and in control? 

• Most important is to carefully listen to their questions and to address their fears and concerns, (sometimes the most urgent ones are unspoken) in ways that help to put recent events in a positive perspective. 
• Such events can provide opportunities for us to understand and value things that we had not considered before and to build new bonds between family members and neighbors. 
• These experiences provide the setting for memorable and formative shared stories. 
• Helping children to realize that trying circumstances are not permanent and to develop the stamina to get through them provides a powerful lesson that they can draw on throughout their lives. 
• Then there is reaching out to help others who are in 

  

  Fifth graders helping to load donated outer wear

   greater need. There are countless ways to get involved. The school's focus on donating blankets and coats has elicited a tremendous response from students and parents from all three divisions. We had several of our youngest students go up and down their street asking their neighbors to pitch in. It is being engaged in solutions to problems that makes us all feel in control. Modeling that for our children can be a tremendous gift to them.

High Praise for the Responsive Classroom Approach

The Responsive Classroom approach to teaching has been at the core of how we run the Lower School. We have in-school Responsive Classroom training and many of our teachers have attended 1 day and 5 day workshops. Just next week, five of our new teachers will be off to a workshop. And for several years now we have had the privilege of having Ruth Charney, now retired, but one of the "founding mothers" of the Responsive Classroom approach, and author of one of the most influential teacher resources, "Teaching Children to Care," visit us to help us be our best. It was interesting to read in the Sara Mosle's  Teaching Lessons from the Online New York Times Opinionator Blog her praise of the Responsive Classroom approach. Sara as written about public education for the The New York Times, The New Yorker and Slate, among many other publications. Currently she is a sixth-grade English teacher as St. Philip's Academy where former D-E faculty member, Miguel Brito, is the Head of School. Click here to read Teaching Lessons.

From fifth-graders, John, Arthur, Donald, Tavis, Jacob and Paulina:

Dear Parents,
At this time, we would like to inform you to please start donating food for the Center For Food Action. We will start collecting food now, and food should be donated by November 16th. After all, what if we were in the situation where we did not have enough to eat? 
Remember that we will accept things like boxed foods, crackers and other food that does not spoil. Please remember to donate, please!