An Evening Under the Stars: Kindergarten Night Magic
Culminating their integrated classroom unit on nighttime, Kindergarten students and their families gathered at Nashoba Brooks School for Kindergarten Night Magic, a beloved decades-long School tradition and an important part of the Kindergarten curriculum.
After an early sunset on November 8, everyone took part in a wide a variety of night-themed activities, including stargazing with science teacher Kelly Western, playing with glow in the dark balls in a giant parachute with Lower School P.E. teacher Megan McGuin, campfire sing-a-longs with music teacher Paul Benzaquin, and roasting marshmallows with their parents.
For six weeks leading up to Night Magic, students learned about night workers, nocturnal animals, and why the day is light while the night is dark. They read night books, solved night themed math problems, learned about animal habitats, studied the solar system, played cooperative night themed games, wrote books about night, and learned nighttime poems. Night Magic provided an opportunity for students and teachers to share what they have learned with their families, while enjoying a memorable evening at school under the stars.
“Night Magic is a wonderful example of curriculum integration here at Nashoba Brooks,” said Kindergarten teacher Caroline Ashley. “The event incorporated the work we do in our classrooms with music, science, library, art, and physical education.”
Kindergarten teacher Kath Moriarty added “working under the same thematic umbrella makes the subject matter resonate that much more with our students.”
It was a magical evening for students, teachers, and families.
As part of interdisciplinary work across science, humanities, writer’s workshop, and transliteracy, Grade 4 students engage with the Invention Convention which provides a hands-on opportunity for students to creatively solve a novel problem. With the timeliness and acknowledgment of National Engineers Week, this STEM, invention, and entrepreneurship program starts with our students exploring their lives, and the lives of others, to identify a problem they are passionate about solving.
What a bee-autiful sight! The Nashoba Brooks beehives have been buzzing all summer and have produced their first batch of honey! With the help of Mel, our apiarist partner, Grade 1 students were able to extract a few jars of honey from one of our hives. Students will further explore this wonder of nature during science class this year as they learn more about the natural world and our local environment.
Grade 3 students participated in a favorite Nashoba Brooks tradition: a Sharing of Understanding. This event hosted family members to listen and learn about what their students have been working on at School, including a recorder recital and in-depth explanations of multiple indigenous peoples.
It was a packed weekend on the Nashoba Brooks campus for Fall Weekend!
Thank you to all the parent volunteers, student ambassadors, faculty members, and all other roles who contributed to making this weekend so memorable for our School.
After weeks of hard work, Grade 3 students had the opportunity to present their Community Hero projects to their families and their interview subjects!
The Nashoba Brooks School campus was bursting with excitement Friday, November 4, through Sunday, November 6, as we celebrated our annual Fall Weekend.
After almost a year of research, school visits, interviews, self-reflection, and essay writing, the Grade 8 class is enjoying a variety of excellent high schools to choose from.
Alongside the book fair and poetry month, April has been a wonderful time for literature at Nashoba Brooks School. Sharon Draper and Jen Campbell, two celebrated authors, left their mark on the community over the past few weeks.
More than 75 parents responded to this year’s annual School survey and numbers were well balanced across all grade levels. The results of the survey are impressive and the feedback the parents offer to the School is glowing.
As Black History Month comes to a close, students and faculty alike celebrate diversity, acknowledging that a school is not only classrooms, gymnasiums, and fields, but also the people within these walls. Each year and at every grade level our students contemplate the presence and importance of different backgrounds, experiences and beliefs. And this month provides community members with an opportunity to reflect on what it means to be Black in America.
Situated on a beautiful 30-acre campus in historic Concord, Massachusetts, Nashoba Brooks School enrolls all genders in Preschool through Grade 3, and students identifying as girls in Grades 4 through 8. Nashoba Brooks is an independent school designed to build community, character, and confidence in its students.