L I F E AT GFA
HOW DO YOU… …create a sense of place? #1 Environment
2
…prepare students for a technology-driven world? #2 STEAM
4
…build a globally minded school? #3 World Perspectives Program 6 …teach environmental literacy? #4 Seed to Table 8 …make a sustainable campus? #5 Sustainability …foster creativity? #6 Arts
9
12
…spend your time as a student? #7 School Life 14 …build a scholar-athlete? #8 Athletics
18
…teach independent thinking? #9 Journey of Discovery 20 …embody Each for All? #10 Community & Culture
22
…prepare for life after GFA?
24
W E LCO ME TO
GREENS FARMS ACADEMY If you are ready for a bright, bold future, then this is a great place to start. Our 44-acre campus overlooking the Long Island Sound houses three distinct ecosystems — dynamic classrooms for our more than 700 students from PreK–12. Together, we roll up our sleeves, set ambitious goals, and work hard to achieve them. Innovation is not a buzzword at GFA. It is a hallmark, evident in our signature academic programs and a dynamic new schedule, where thoughtful progress travels alongside nearly a century of academic excellence. Our curriculum emphasizes problem-solving and critical thinking, paired with a deep commitment to the development of character and the intentional integration of evidence-based best practices in teaching and learning. Students are at the center of everything here, as known and engaged partners in their own learning. They take responsibility for and pride in their achievements, define what excellence means for them, and then rise to meet it. GFA offers young people the opportunity to test their limits. They are encouraged and given the flexibility to try it all, developing confidence that will inform the rest of their lives. A palpable sense of excitement seems ever-present as our younger students master a new skill or discover a passion — a process supported by talented educators in an atmosphere of warmth and care. We believe education can be joyful. We invite our students to think big and question often. We challenge our community to embrace new ideas and tap into new sources of strength. We inspire each other to build a better world, grounded in our core values of passion, integrity, empathy, curiosity, and excellence. GFA cultivates curiosity and prepares students for an evolving world. Our students are ready for big visions, shared solutions, bold responses to human need, and global challenges. They think critically and present with confidence and poise. A sense of service is fundamental to our students and graduates, reinforced by our motto: Quisque Pro Omnibus or Each for All. At GFA, students develop a passion for learning and are prepared to pursue a life of purpose. We are so pleased that you have discovered GFA and invite you to spend some time exploring this Viewbook. More importantly, we hope you have a chance to experience GFA in person by scheduling a visit to campus. We look forward to getting to know you.
BOB WHELAN, P’24 Head of School
ENVIRONMENT SENSE OF
PLACE THE SOUND
2
GREENS FARMS ACADEMY
THE MARSH
www.gfacademy.org
AUDUBON
How do students develop a sense of place in their surroundings? It starts when they view the campus as a sprawling outdoor classroom. They are able to connect with the marine life of Long Island Sound, the rich and diverse salt marsh, and the Audubon Woodland all as part of the curriculum. Within these ecosystems, students conduct research for environmental science, press apples for cider, and draw inspiration for nature writing. They get their hands into the soil in the organic garden. Connecting to the landscape builds an appreciation for it, and in turn can lead to the desire to protect and conserve. The goal—environmental literacy—is achieved as students reflect on their interactions with their surroundings, all from our 44 acres.
#1
www.gfacademy.org
GREENS FARMS ACADEMY
3
CURIOUS AND I N N O VAT I V E How do we best prepare students for college and beyond in a technology-driven world? It happens in the messy, challenging, exciting process of learning to use design to solve real-world problems. And it helps to collaborate with fellow students in the new STEAM Shop. All GFA students take STEAM classes, but some will choose to concentrate in STEAM, going on to work individually with faculty members to engage in research. These students complete a culminating project, from conception to design to realization, and they earn a diploma with a concentration in STEAM. “In order for our students to become innovators and to stay competitive, we need to concentrate on the creative thought that leads to that innovative edge. The STEAM program at GFA allows faculty to foster that creative thinking.”—Director of STEAM at GFA 4
GREENS FARMS ACADEMY
www.gfacademy.org
GFA incorporates STEAM projects in the Lower and Middle School curricula, but students begin the formal STEAM concentration in the ninth grade.
S
T
E
A
M
SCIENCE
TECHNOLOGY
ENGINEERING
ARTS
MATHEMATICS
Examples of STEAM courses: Engineering Digital Design AP Computer Science Robotics Multivariable Calculus
Examples of STEAM electives: Mathematica Game Theory iOS Programming Mathematical Modeling
#2
www.gfacademy.org
GREENS FARMS ACADEMY
5
The World Perspectives Program works to empower students to become effective global citizens.
“Despite a language barrier and different cultural backgrounds, I connected with my host brothers as if they were some of my oldest friends.” —GFA student writing from Peru
Learning about foreign cultures begins in kindergarten, where our students get their first exposure to “world perspectives” by studying the Maasai culture.
“I draw from the World Perspectives Program when formulating an argument each time I write a paper in college.” —GFA alum, class of 2013
Students present their theses in a daylong symposium on topics such as: “The Cultural Context of GMOs Debates in the U.S., France and China,” “Oil Company Malpractice in Developing Countries,” “Impact Investing: Benefit to the Poor or Poor Benefits?” “Civil War in the Ukraine: Is the West at Fault?”
6
GREENS FARMS ACADEMY
www.gfacademy.org
WORLD PERSPECTIVES
It’s one thing to say, “The world is flat.” It’s another to prepare students for that world. How do you build a world perspective in a Connecticut suburb? “Many schools offer world literature, send students on trips, and talk about Global Studies. I am proud that GFA has taken years to carefully and thoughtfully integrate world perspectives into the curriculum, PreK-12, and to build a far-reaching, substantive program.” —Janet Hartwell, Former Head of School When students who pursue this line of study reach the Upper School, they can take a range of courses such as International Relations (also taught in Spanish), Challenge 20/20, Arabic Language and Culture, and Big Histories. They also develop and present a Global Thesis to an audience of faculty and peers at the end of their senior year, earning a diploma with a concentration in Global Studies.
3
# www.gfacademy.org
GREENS FARMS ACADEMY
7
“It’s all about the big questions,” says GFA’s Seed to Table program coordinator. “We don’t focus on doom and gloom. We ask what are the problems of the past, and how can we improve things for the future?”
SEED TO TA B L E Woven through the Lower School curriculum, the Seed to Table program immerses students in the experience of following a seed. They plant and tend the soil in the organic garden. They harvest, cook, and consume their produce. Finally, they learn to preserve their crops for use during the winter months. It’s also a study of contrasts: local vs. global, garden vs. grocery store, organic vs. mass produced, and what it all means. If sustainable agriculture stands on three legs: economics, soil and air quality, and community, how do we best evaluate our impact on the process? Ask the Lower Schoolers. They are doing the research.
8
#4
GREENS FARMS ACADEMY
www.gfacademy.org
EDUCATION
S U S TA I N A B I L I T Y “Acts of conservation without the requisite desires and skill are futile. To create these desires and skills, and the community motive, is the task of education.” —Aldo Leopold, conservationist, in 1944. We ask ourselves constantly how to develop a more efficient and low-impact campus. As a result, we use events and education to engage the entire community in thinking about how our actions affect our environment. We address: • • • •
Waste reduction Energy conservation Green purchasing Organic fertilizing
ENERGY
• Banning of pesticides Greens Farms Academy • Food sourcing A Green Ribbon School • Water usage
We couldn’t be more proud that GFA has been recognized as a 2015 U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon School. One of only six independent schools in the country to receive this recognition, we believe it represents how much work we have done on our campus, but we also know how far there is to go.
WASTE
Greens Farms Academy A Green Ribbon School
#5
www.gfacademy.org
WATER
GREENS FARMS ACADEMY
9
EYES WIDE
OPEN
I was born in Australia, and moved to Hong Kong, London, Singapore, and now Connecticut. I think of myself as an Australian who celebrates Christmas and Chinese New Year. As for languages, I’ve studied French and Mandarin. When I came to GFA, I found a place that was really open-minded to ethnicities. I’ve got a lot of fellow travelers in my classes. Now I’m signed up for International Relations, and I expect to work on a Global Thesis during my senior year. I want to put all the cultures I’ve witnessed to good use. Oh, and I’m interested in Psychology too. I want to learn to get behind the social tags to see where people really come from. That’s a great question to work on.
10 GREENS FARMS ACADEMY
www.gfacademy.org
www.gfacademy.org
GREENS FARMS ACADEMY 11
A RT S W H E R E YO U TA K E T H E L E A D THE
All Lower School students, 85% of Middle School students, and more than half of the Upper School students are actively involved in excelling in musical and theatrical pursuits. If, as some say, “creativity is the currency of the 21st century,� then how do we best foster creative thinking in the school setting? At GFA, faculty who are both educators and artists open the doors for exploration, imagination, and skill building. Our young artists fill the halls with their work, and spread their talents into the world by way of competitions, productions, and exhibitions. In 2015, GFA celebrated the opening of its new Performing Arts Center to showcase both the performing and visual arts. But more importantly, the building provides a stateof-the-art space for students to get down to the daily work of scene and costume design, theatre technology, public speaking, rehearsing, and working on their craft.
12 GREENS FARMS ACADEMY
www.gfacademy.org
GFA alumni become: Actors • Animators • Architects • Art Educators Art Historians • Conductors • Curators • Filmmakers • Gallerists • Game Designers • Graphic Designers • Interior Designers • Installation Artists Media/TV Artists • Musicians • Painters • Photographers • Printmakers Sculptors • Singers • Sound Engineers • Theatre Managers • Web Designers
As students progress in the visual arts program, they learn to engage in “creative discourse,” with an active vocabulary and understanding of how to make art, critique it, and write about it.
6
# www.gfacademy.org
GREENS FARMS ACADEMY 13
H O W D O E S A GFA STUDENT SPEND HER TIME?
4
CLASSES A WEEK WORKING WITH A CAMERA
14 GREENS FARMS ACADEMY
2.5
5
MINUTES A DAY IN THE SNACK LINE
HOURS A DAY AT SOCCER PRACTICE
www.gfacademy.org
3
HOURS A WEEK DREAMING BIG
45 6000
MINUTES TALKING WITH TEACHERS
5
30
MINUTES BETWEEN CLASSES BEING A SOCIAL BUTTERFLY
MINUTES RIDING THE MORNING TRAIN
7
#
MINUTES IN ACADEMIC CLASSES www.gfacademy.org
GREENS FARMS ACADEMY 15
H O W D O E S A GFA STUDENT SPEND HIS TIME?
100
9
MINUTES A WEEK BUILDING APPS IN iOS DEVELOPMENT
16 GREENS FARMS ACADEMY
15
HOURS SUPPORTING GFA ATHLETICS
HOURS A WEEK WITH THE LACROSSE TEAM
www.gfacademy.org
20
MINUTES DRIVING HOME FROM SCHOOL
200 50
MINUTES CHAQUE SEMAINE EN FRANÇAIS HONNEURS
MINUTES A DAY IN HISTORY CLASS ASKING THE BIG QUESTIONS
365
10
HOURS A WEEK SKETCHING RANDOM DESIGNS
DAYS A YEAR TRYING TO ANSWER THE BIG QUESTIONS www.gfacademy.org
GREENS FARMS ACADEMY 17
How do you build a Scholar-Athlete? It starts in Lower School athletics where the goal is the improvement of each child’s skills, the maintenance of good health and fitness through exercise, and the development of a lifelong, positive attitude toward participation in physical activities.Â
Competitive athletics begin in the Middle School with combined teams of 5th and 6th graders that practice three times a week, and 7th and 8th graders that practice daily. Both groups compete interscholastically. In the Upper School, students choose from 50 interscholastic sports, independent studies, and fitness classes. GFA teams are regular finalists in the FAA and New England Prep School Athletic tournaments. GFA athletes are known for their sportsmanship, their hard work in the classroom, and their team spirit.
18 GREENS FARMS ACADEMY
www.gfacademy.org
STRONG ANDS P I R I T E D
8
# www.gfacademy.org
GREENS FARMS ACADEMY 19
J O U R N E Y OF D I S C O V E RY How do you build Independent Thinkers? Here’s how we do it at GFA. We ask a lot of questions. We foster an atmosphere that allows academic risk-taking. We state the problem, not the solution, meet around Harkness tables for discussion-based learning, get out of the classroom for placebased learning, hire faculty who are seekers, encourage independent studies, independent research, and off-campus study, and provide signature programs so students can pursue an academic passion in depth. And we trust our students to think broadly and deeply while keeping goodness at their core.
20 GREENS FARMS ACADEMY
www.gfacademy.org
GLOBAL ONLINE ACADEMY GFA is a Global Online Academy school. Our Upper School students can take a course online that meets the way their other courses do, only the teacher and classmates are around the country or the globe. Sample subjects include digital journalism, forensics, Arabic, computer programming, world religions, architecture, and bioethics.
9
# www.gfacademy.org
GREENS FARMS ACADEMY 21
What a school looks like when its motto is
QUISQUE PRO OMNIBUS, EACH FOR ALL Lower School students know what it means. Ask any one of them, because they’ve all memorized the Code of Conduct: • Be kind to others • Respect everyone’s right to learn • Take responsibility for yourself and your school
22 GREENS FARMS ACADEMY
www.gfacademy.org
It may get more complicated as the years go by, but the underlying code remains the same. It’s a school where you can go as far as you want, but you’re expected to support your classmates along the way. You’re expected to develop rapport with your teachers because they are there for you in the halls as well as in the classroom. You will “dare to be different, dare to be yourself,” as they say in the Middle School, but in the end, the sense of community is what you may remember most about the school.
COMMUNITY I N VO LV E D AND C O N N E C T E D
10
# www.gfacademy.org
GREENS FARMS ACADEMY 23
ALUMNI A R E L AT I O N S H I P FOR LIFE
Deirdre Daly ‘77 U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut “Being at the school taught me to believe in myself and believe that you can do what you want to do. I still go back to that reservoir of strength that I got as a teenager at GFA.”
24 GREENS FARMS ACADEMY
www.gfacademy.org
Andrew Grosso ‘92 Interactive Product Design, Development, and Management “Academically, the quality of my GFA education rivaled the one I got at Duke. The Greens Farms teachers—their insights, and the attention they gave—were unparalleled. But the biggest gift GFA gave me was the community—twenty years later I am still attending weddings, birthdays, and dinners with classmates, and former teachers. There was an amazingly supportive culture of collegiality and friendship and I’ve tried to recreate that in all the worlds I’ve worked in since.”
Jenna Augen ‘03 Winner of the UK Prize in Theatre “My memories of GFA theatre are all fond. I got to play a wide range of roles in a very short amount of time, and I got to direct as well. It was a wonderful place where my instincts were allowed to flourish. I treasure every opportunity GFA gave me, but especially those it provided in the arts.”
Sean Obi ‘13 Playing Basketball for the University of Maryland Terrapins; formerly played for Duke Blue Devils “I went to GFA with my American brother. It definitely made me more responsible academically. Athletically I had an opportunity to show my potential and it made me a better leader. I had interaction with all students, not just other players. It made me appreciate people better. It just made me all around better at what I do. “
GREENS FARMS ACADEMY
Email: admission@gfacademy.org www.gfacademy.org
Greens Farms Academy does not discriminate against any person in admission, financial aid, program involvement, employment, or otherwise because of sexual orientation, race, religion, age, gender, national origin or disability.
Design: PlazaDesign.com • Photography: naruphotography.com 8/2018
35 Beachside Avenue, PO Box 998 Greens Farms, CT 06838-0998 T. 203.256.7514 F. 203.256.7591