The older children have been learning about the three branches of government. At the end of the year we went on three field trips to observe the legislative, judicial and executive branches in action. The City of Syracuse was amazingly hospitable and willing to enrich the learning of our students. On May 5 we took Read More >>
Cells, Trees and ESF (Written by Nora, Neona and Marina)
This year, Neona and Nora’s science class was learning about plant and animal cells. To get a better understanding of plant cells we visited E.S.F. (Environmental Science and Forestry.) We went there for two and a half hours and in that time we visited two different labs. The first one we went to was Chuck Read More >>
Margaret Bourke-White Field Trip
On Thursday, October 16, 2014, nineteen of our oldest students visited Syracuse University’s campus to view Margaret Bourke White’s exhibit of 180 vintage photographs taken in the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia, Germany, England and Italy in the 1930s and 40s. Prior to our field trip, Andrew Saluti, Assistant Director to SU’s Art Galleries, visited The New Read More >>
Civil War Class Visits the Onondaga Historical Association
The oldest group of students are taking part in a social studies unit looking at the causes and events leading up to the Civil War. This is a continuation of the Westward Expansion unit they completed last year. They have had remarkable discussions about what freedom is, what you can own and Read More >>
Highland Forest, October 2014
In many schools children are taken on camping field trips to celebrate the end of the year, as a reward you might say. At the New School we visit Highland Forest twice a year. The first time is scheduled near the start of school, and the second trip is within weeks of the end of Read More >>
Westcott Cultural Fair
The Westcott Cultural Fair is always a festive way to begin our school year. This year, during Investigations, the children, expressing their love for books, created signs to carry . The titles of books they chose was wonderfully varied: Kensuke’s Kingdom, Private Peaceful, Cat Warriors, Blues Clues, The Fantastic Mr. Fox, Diary of a Wimpy Read More >>
James Pass Arboretum and our tree unit
The older students (ages 9 to 12) have embarked on a tree exploration. They started out looking at how trees grow – by observing their rings. We soon learned that not only can you tell how old a tree is by its rings, but you can also determine whether it was a “good” growing year Read More >>
Mesopotamia – The Cradle of Civilization
For the oldest students (grades 4 and above), our study of “Mesopotamia” – the land between two rivers – began with a discussion of “How do we know what we know?” How can we possibly know about a civilization that existed over 5,000 years ago? The children displayed a solid understanding of this concept listing Read More >>
Apple Picking at Beak and Skiff
Thanks to the Brower family, we now have our own school van. Transporting ten children at a time, we went on our first field trip of the year to pick apples at Beak and Skiff. The apples we picked were then the main ingredient for some delicious recipes the children cooked during Investigations at school. Read More >>
Midsummer Night’s Dream
The older students at The New School thoroughly enjoyed Syracuse Stage’s production of Midsummer Night’s Dream. Once again we were treated to front row, center seats. Following are comments, compliments and observations made by our students Ben, Ciara, Ace, and Maia particularly enjoyed the costumes: All the costumes were very detailed. The costumes were really Read More >>