KENT PLACE SCHOOL
Voyager 2011
Learning in the 21st Century By Sue Bosland, Head of School s we enter the second decade of the 21st century, we emerge into a new era of teaching and learning.Though many familiar practices and concepts remain as we prepare our students for their colleges, communities and workplaces, a new overlay of innovation and transformation has evolved as a result of technology, global access, new and interconnected fields of study and a facts explosion.We embrace the opportunity to prepare our students to be leaders in an emerging global community, and we take seriously the need to respond with purpose, thoughtfulness, expediency and resiliency to the needs of the 21st-century student.
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Leadership is a hallmark of a Kent Place School education. Students practice leadership
skills on a daily basis in seamless integration with their classroom and extracurricular experiences.The actual leadership skills needed for success in our world today are not so different from those that have always enhanced a person’s leadership potential and profile for success.There has, however, been a shift in emphasis from top-down leadership styles to a more team-based approach.The shift is subtle, yet it is important to notice and integrate into the 21st-century educational experience.
Academic, community and work environments increasingly emphasize the team approach to projects and initiatives.The collective energy and wisdom of group work has proven highly effective in multiple settings.The way Kent Place and a growing number of schools emphasize this is through the conscious prioritizing of collaboration and interpersonal competence as a part of the learning and teaching environment. Students must understand and appreciate working with others who may have different work styles and perspectives than they do.Teachers present their materials and lessons in multiple ways to address myriad learning styles and personalities in the classroom and to model leadership in multiple settings.
Ninth grader Denae Wilkins takes part in a discussion during her Pen to Paper class.
Effective communication is a key trait of leaders, and it is one we have always cultivated in our students; and through technological advances, which seem to emerge daily, we have increased the number of ways and the power with which we communicate. Strong written and oral communication are still emphasized in our classes, and now we apply those fundamental communication skills through Web 2.0 portals such as Skype, blogs, wikis,VoiceThread and more, allowing us to reach out to resources beyond the campus walls.We are also beginning to offer a few courses online through the Online School for Girls, an exciting opportunity for our students to take advanced classes with other young women across the nation, taught by world-class teachers on the faculty of other top educational institutions.
Innovation and creativity are integrated into all subjects more than ever as we work to
Juniors Emily Matsuda and Angela Lu work on an experiment during their chemistry lab.
Editor’s Note: 21st Century Learning & Voyager This issue of Voyager follows the conceptual outline of the “Framework for 21st Century Learning,” developed by the educational think tank Partnership for 21st Century Skills. P21, as the initiative is known, is a national organization that advocates for 21st century readiness for every student and, in turn, has developed a vision for student success in the new global economy.This framework includes 21st-century student outcomes and support systems categorized into core subjects and 21st-century themes: • Learning and Innovation Skills • Information, Media and Technology Skills • Life and Career Skills • Support Systems In the pages that follow, you will see articles, written by Kent Place faculty and staff, that speak to skills and initiatives we have developed to prepare our students to lead in a global community.
find solutions to new and complex problems that span across different academic disciplines. Kent Place has a tradition of kindling intellectual growth and creativity through outlets such as student newspapers, formal debates and in-depth classroom discussion. Also, dance, drama, music and the visual arts continue to thrive at Kent Place.Yet now we incorporate the creative process into what were previously considered more technical subjects, such as in our new architecture course and the STEM electives (science, technology, engineering and math – see story on page 15). Vision and solution-orientation are terms increasingly used in education as we create
meaningful goals and hold ourselves accountable to reaching them.We ask more essential questions in our classes and in our faculty and staff meetings to ensure that we are deeply analyzing and looking through different lenses – in short, doing effective critical thinking – to acquire information, solve problems and create new pathways of learning for the future. The faculty and staff ’s “community read” this summer, MindSet, by Carol Dweck, speaks to the importance of a “growth mindset,” which includes,“…the love of challenge, belief in effort, resilience in the face of setbacks, and greater (more creative) success.”
The concept of global education, or the preparation of students to thrive as adults in highly multi-cultural, closely linked world of limited resources, has increasingly touched all subject areas and school initiatives.The mission of the Global Learning Program at Kent Place School is to empower young women as leaders who understand, evaluate and take action in response to the challenges and opportunities of the interconnected world. Through local, national and international travel, our students experience multi-cultural exchanges, language immersion opportunities and service learning – all of which are grounded in our curriculum and co-curricular program goals. International School Exchange programs and partnerships with global schools also enhance our academic program and intended student outcomes.
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learn more with your phone... Snap this QR code with your mobile phone and be directed to P21’s site to learn more about their “Framework for 21st Century Learning.” New-model phones come with QR readers. If yours doesn’t, go to the app store and search for QR Reader. Watch for more QR codes throughout this issue. Students at Kent Place School now start world languages at the PreKindergarten level and have increased choices of world languages as they progress through the program in the three divisions. By Grade 6, students are all enrolled in both Latin and either French, Mandarin Chinese or Spanish. Fluency is reached at younger ages, instilling the confidence that inspires our graduates to pursue additional languages in college and beyond. Language proficiency is especially important as our students pursue experiences and careers abroad. An all-school Global Perspectives Day and a long list of speakers and scholars that visit Kent Place School also serve to enrich students’ global perspectives and understandings.
The fifth grade class participates in weekly library time with Primary School librarian Deborah Afir.
and examination of choices based on the tensions between critical points from our past and new challenges for the future.” Jacobs goes on to highlight New Jersey education and writes about three specific goals that the state has set to ensure that the new standards: “1) address global perspectives; 2) employ 21st-century digital and networking tools; and 3) identify salient interdisciplinary linkages for real-world applications.”
Department chairs and division directors engage in ongoing curricular conversations, which motivate review and analyses of our academic program. By electronically mapping our curriculum, we determine opportunities for interdisciplinary work, as well as ensuring a curriculum that works seamlessly across grade levels and longitudinally from Primary School through Upper School. Key 21st-century topics and skills continue to be evaluated and considered as we enhance the educational experience we provide for our students. Financial literacy, ethical decision-making, the STEM subjects, media literacy and sustainability are just a few of the areas of study that have emerged as important learning components to more intentionally infuse into our academic program in meaningful ways.
Upper School students collaborate on a project in the new Great Room lounge space.
Technology is integrated into all of our courses of study with the result that students can gather and share their work, findings and ideas at the touch of a button.Technology, when thoughtfully implemented, truly enhances the learning experience – from research to effective communication. Our Primary School teachers use SmartBoards, laptops and the media lab to bring technological tools to our youngest students. Our Middle School just started a Netbook program, and the Upper School has reached its 10-year mark with its laptop program. Each Middle and Upper School student and teacher can utilize technology anywhere on campus – in groups and individually – with the help of our wireless Internet capabilities and the portability of our hardware. Science classes use probeware connected to computers, enabling accurate and efficient data recording and analysis. Budding authors take their laptops to the writing center. Language classes have the capability to Skype into classrooms across the world.
We are already one decade into the 21st century.The educational climate is exciting and filled with possibility.We appreciate the “tried and true” while we discover, embrace and enhance new avenues of study and employ newly researched methodologies for teaching and learning. Combining successful core studies and competencies with innovative practices, relevant curriculum and future-oriented skills will ideally create a top educational experience for our girls and young women as they prepare to be the pioneers and leaders of tomorrow.
Academics are at the core of all we do as a top college preparatory school.
Heidi Jacobs, in her book Curriculum 21, talks about curricular review in the 21st century as an approach that “…should begin with specific rethinking
First graders Claire Fernicola and Hillary Galle discuss a page from their spelling book.
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Seventh grader Olivia Reiter and Elise Bossert work on their Netbooks in the Middle School Media Center.
Sixth grader Jessica Ken-Kwofie gives an oral presentation in English class.
Pre-Kindergarten student Annabel Barker explores mixing colors during academic choice time.
primary school A Primary School for the Future By Dr. Sergio Alati, Director of the Primary School/Interim Academic Dean
Teaching 21st-century skills in the Primary School
s we approach an era in which success will be defined by transformed priorities, one must consider the implication on education from the time a child begins her journey in the school setting. Research on 21stcentury skills tells us that the big educational ideas to come will encompass critical thinking, problem solving and technology integration, while building on mastery of core content and background knowledge.Tony Wagner, at Harvard Graduate School of Education, identifies seven key skills:
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• Critical thinking and problem solving • Collaboration and leadership • Agility and adaptability • Initiative and entrepreneurialism
Fifth graders Riley Kaufman and Anya Gunewardena receive computer instruction in the lab.
• Effective oral and written communication • Accessing and analyzing information • Curiosity and imagination Wagner advises schools to use academic content to teach these “survival skills” at every grade level and hold students accountable for a new standard of rigor. These novel expectations value project-based learning, cooperative learning opportunities, creative thinking and problem solving as vehicles to meet these criteria.(1) Using Wagner’s framework of 21st-century survival skills, we can see many ways that teaching and learning will change to meet the demands of an evolving global world. Many teachers in the Primary School regularly model creativity and demonstrate the active use of imagination in their teaching. Examples of modeling creativity include use of various Web 2.0 tools such as VoiceThread, blogs and TodaysMeet. Each of the many accessible Web 2.0 tools allow for children to demonstrate learning by reaching them through different teaching and learning modalities. For example,VoiceThread allows the teacher and students to have an interactive, online dialogue, either in writing or by voice recording.The students can respond to each other’s posted work, record a small moment from a book or written piece or reply to a question or problem posed by the teacher. A blog allows students to have an online exchange of thoughts around a given prompt or essential curriculum topic. TodaysMeet is a Web 2.0 tool that enables students to post immediate responses to something they are watching such as a video or lecture. Students can respond with their thoughts or react to another’s posts, all of which allow the teacher to follow a student’s train of thought and respond with authentic and meaningful feedback.
Creativity is also integrated into all aspects of curriculum as students extend their thinking through presentations, written pieces and multiple ways of solving problems. In math, an important goal is for students to display metacognition when solving problems and to develop an understanding that there are often multiple methods for formulating a correct answer. In a world language class, students can be seen writing commercials in another language or developing skits in small groups. In dance class, girls choreograph their own creative movements to match segments of music. In art class, students follow guidelines to create art pieces using specific media while relying on experimentation, innovation and diligent effort.The opportunities for creativity are unlimited and enhanced by the preparedness and inspiration of the faculty.
First grader Meagan Canfield and her classmates practice rhythm together as they rehearse for a concert.
In the past two years, the Primary School has developed relationships with partner elementary schools around the world in which a cultural exchange of thoughts, ideas, art, writing and sharing of lifestyles inform the global perspective of each child as they prepare for their next step to Middle School and their life outside of Kent Place. Students can interact with other students by Skyping and writing pen pal letters. Such opportunities weave together the importance of not just understanding isolated technology tools or the importance of an active, global curriculum, but the implications that these pedagogical strategies can have on teaching and learning. As students learn to communicate globally, they develop an authentic curiosity and passion. Further exploration, critical thinking activities, research using programs such as NoodleBib, and opportunities to communicate and interact with peers and faculty members nurture our students’ evolving global perspective, as they investigate the world with purpose.
As students journey into their older Primary School years, opportunities to collaborate and demonstrate leadership increase. Girls work together on long-term projects or explore intricate math problems together as they make sense of complex concepts or probing questions. Collaboration is also demonstrated when classes work together to role-play during Morning Meeting to help the Primary School strengthen its sense of community. In each grade, students are given responsibilities and leadership opportunities to fulfill: announcements in the dining hall, the word of the week bulletin board, daily PA announcements, Admission events, flag salute and the fifth grade Leadership course are just a few examples.
As a school, our goal is to help prepare students with skills needed for a fruitful and rewarding life within a global, interconnected environment. In the Primary School, it is our aim to move beyond proficiency in core subjects and toward promoting a higher-level understanding of academic content by interlacing 21st-century themes into students’ courses of study. This is achieved by helping students create real-world connections at a young and impacting age and allowing girls to apply this learning in significant and influential ways. The result is a body of students prepared not only to live successfully as entrepreneurs and inquisitive, adaptable citizens and scholars, but also to confidently take on the challenges and opportunities of an interconnected world. (1)
Third graders Penelope Spurr and Tyler Newman use strategies to help them measure their classroom during a math unit.
Wagner,T. (2008). The Global Achievement Gap:Why Even Our Best Schools Don’t Teach the New Survival Skills Our Children Need – And What We Can Do About It. New York, NY: Basic Books.
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middle school Middle School and the Ethics of Being Connected By Dr. Karen Rezach, Director of the Middle School/Director of the Ethics Institute f you ask people which school years were the most personally challenging, most will agree: Middle School. Dramatic physiological and emotional changes occur between ages 11 and 14. Social acceptance, aspiring for recognition from adults other than the parents and the struggle for selfidentity are issues Middle Schoolers grapple with on nearly a daily basis.
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Helping Middle School students succeed in their struggle to find their emerging autonomous selves is one of the most significant contributions that Middle School educators can make, whether in the 19th, 20th or 21st century. More than developing any academic skill or teaching any piece of content-area knowledge, Sixth grader Brooke Naylor identifies nouns on a 3M board in the truly successful Middle English class. School program is one that takes the child who enters Grade 6 and provides her with opportunities for self-actualization so that she leaves Grade 8 as a confident, self-aware young woman ready to embrace the opportunities that the Upper School will afford her. Unlike previous generations, however, the 21st-century Middle School student lives in a world as foreign as the Twilight Zone to many of the adults in her life, making it difficult to formulate a comprehensive educational program that both meets students’ current needs and anticipates students’ future requirements for success.The Kaiser Family Foundation, in its January 20, 2010 report, states that, “…today 8- to 18-year-olds devote an average of 7 hours and 38 minutes to using entertainment media across a typical day (more than 53 hours a week). And because they spend so much of that time ‘media multitasking’ (using more than one medium at a time), they actually manage to pack a total of 10 hours and 45 minutes worth of media content into those 7-1/2 hours.”
Students are growing up with a web-based set of social values rather than the values that were traditionally developed through home and school. The anonymity and isolation of web-based interactions have proven to be particularly challenging for Middle School students, educators and parents, and they require us to equip our students with a new set of decision-making tools and higher-level thinking skills.
Sixth graders Madeleine Gapusan and Julia Cozine work together during Spanish class.
share information, but also to the very same leadership skills and values that we try to instill in our Middle School students: scholarship, teamwork, empathy and integrity. Empowering our girls to be confident decision-makers who are willing to put their ideas into practice and share their expertise for the benefit of the greater good has always been a goal, but now – in the 21st century – it is an absolute mandate.
At Kent Place, we meet the requirements of this mandate through our comprehensive program of ethics education.When learning the practice of ethical decision-making, students are first required to understand their personal “values” and identify their origin; they then discover what values are most important to them. Students are taught ethical decision-making through a framework of self-reflection and deliberation between conflicting values.The practice of ethical leadership requires of our students the ability to articulate their well-considered decisions, as well as to respect the decisions of others whose value rankings may differ from their own, especially given cultural perspectives and personal experiences.
Gary Hamel, author of Leading the Revolution and Competing for the Future, coined the phrase “Generation Facebook” to identify the generation currently in our Middle School. Interestingly, at the same time that we, the educators, attempt to determine which skills will be required of our students in their future careers, business strategists are also attempting to predict the ways they must adjust to values and skill set that the members of “Gen F” will bring with them. In an article that Mr. Hamel wrote for The Wall Street Journal, he states,“If your company hopes to attract the most creative and energetic members of Gen F, it will need to understand these Internet-derived expectations, and then reinvent its management practices accordingly.” Here are a few of Mr. Hamel’s Internet-centric expectations in the 21st century: • All ideas compete on an equal footing. On the Web, every
idea has the chance to gain a following – or not; and no one has the power to kill off a subversive idea or squelch an embarrassing debate.
• Leaders serve rather than preside. On the Web, every leader is
a servant leader; no one has the power to command or sanction.
• Tasks are chosen, not assigned. The Web is an opt-in economy.
Whether contributing to a blog, working on an open-source project or sharing advice in a forum, people choose to work on the things that interest them.
• Power comes from sharing information, not hoarding it. The
Web is also a gift economy.To gain influence and status, you have to give away your expertise and content. And you must do it quickly; if you don’t, someone else will beat you to the punch.
What these expectations speak to is a world in which nothing is prescribed or predetermined.The power of the individual to decide, create and influence a worldwide audience is certainly revolutionary.These expectations speak not only to higher-level cognitive skills required to create, evaluate and
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Seventh graders Allyson Heath and Tyler Goodwin learn how to use their new Netbooks with Middle School Technology Coordinator Marni Endlich.
Through case studies and an examination of their current lives, students are given the chance to debate ideas on equal footing, to serve by educating others about the process that led to a decision, to contribute ideas on an ethical issue of particular interest, and to share information on experiences and perspectives that will increase global understanding.We are, in this way, affording our Middle School students the opportunity to prepare for and master the Internet-driven expectations for success in the 21st century.
The greatest challenge yet to come in education is equipping students with an ethical compass so that they can contribute to their Web-based world in a way that is considerate, accurate and deeply grounded in their personal, not web-based, value system.
In the Dark Ages of the 20th century, we used to say,“Knowledge is power.” In the 21st century, self-knowledge is power and self-assurance is key. Guiding Middle School students through their social/emotional development to ensure that not only their skill base, but also their self-advocacy and selfawareness, are developed, is an essential component of an educational program designed to meet our students’ needs as they pursue their work, family and community lives in the 21st century.
upper school The Serious Business of Collaboration: Teaching Leadership for the 21st Century By Elizabeth Woodall, Director of the Upper School ohn Dewey, over a hundred years ago, envisioned school as a place where students convened as a community to learn things together, to be guided through experiences; and it was to be a place where they would hone their ability to contribute to society. His hope was that education could be a journey in which ideas intermingled.
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The education and business worlds are now saturated with opinions and expectations as to what “21st-century skills” students must know to be successful in our ever-changing world. At Kent Place we’ve identified three key skills that we believe will take our graduates far: communication, collaboration and problem solving.
Writing the analytical essay, reflecting on a French movie, testing a hypothesis in the chemistry lab or even generating a new formation for defense on the soccer field all require elements of creativity; they all generate new manifestations of both known and unknown ideas. Sir Ken Robinson, a contemporary philosopher of education and creativity, writes,“Most original thinking comes through collaboration and the stimulation of other people’s ideas… In practical terms, most creative processes benefit enormously from collaboration. This is one of the great skills we have to promote and teach.” The creativity skills that our students practice and learn here will carry over to success in their communities and careers. Essentially, without collaboration, innovation cannot occur.
“The future belongs to a different kind of person with a different kind of mind – creators and empathizers, pattern recognizers and meaning makers.” As an Upper School community we continue to focus our conversations, classroom activities and club and committee meetings on building these skills. From encouraging more study groups and peer-to-peer learning sessions to having individual club presidents pool resources for a common goal, our students practice aspects of leadership through learning both factual information and the ability to communicate and leverage it.
Ms. Gillespie uses a Smart Board during her Advanced Algebra class.
Dewey’s values of learning and community directly link to communication and collaboration, key components of 21st-century learning. Problem solving, especially categorized into critical thinking and creativity, gives purpose or relevance to learning; it charges the learner to contribute to society with her knowledge. So while we are in the 21st century, our goals are grounded in solid standards; our task now is to meet and exceed those standards with tools relevant to our present time in order to equip future leaders.
Many education think tanks have developed sets of technology standards for the classroom. Kent Place uses the framework devised by the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE). ISTE identifies standards for students, teachers and administrators. Its premise is that “technology literacy is a crucial component of modern society. In fact, the globalizing economy and technological advances continue to place a premium on a highly skilled labor force.” Our responsibility as educators demands that we create ease and eagerness around technological advances as tools to advance key areas around technology literacy: creativity and innovation; communication and collaboration; research and information fluency; critical thinking; problem solving and decision making; digital citizenship, technology operations and concepts. At Kent Place, we have focused on creativity, communication and collaboration as we recognize that the other standards can be subsets of these three.
The skill of communication through written and spoken word, across disciplines and beyond school walls, will always remain at the forefront of education. Communication brings people together around information, and it is information, after all, that allows people to make choices that bring about real outcomes.Today, advanced communication technology allows us access around the world and, as importantly, it allows us to organize and access information more readily so that we can use the information together.
Collaboration and communication cannot be separated. Girls like to connect on common goals – whether those shared one-to-one or by smaller and larger groups.That common goal, for most girls, connects to a challenge or a problem they are facing or around which they have found passion. Modeling collaboration on these goals needs to be more of our learning process. Problem solving requires creativity and imagination as tools for innovation, and working together allows our young scholar-leaders to learn to identify problems, break them down into smaller parts or to reframe the problem in a larger way and, ultimately, to generate solutions.
In the past, creativity was relegated to “arts” or “creative writing” courses, and often the work was produced independently. Creativity now exists across disciplines and can be co-constructed among students and teachers.
Sophomore Anna Fountain keeps up with her reading for English 10 in the library.
Both faculty and students use the latest technology to practice self-direction, collaboration, creativity and innovation.We use phone and videoconferencing to connect with people and resources – other teachers, students and subject experts. E-mail and teacher websites for information, projection sheets, PowerPoint presentations or YouTube videos allow learning to take place wherever a student or faculty member can access the Internet. Students may submit assignments without ever printing a document (reducing our carbon footprint); they can do group projects with members from different classes and from home because they can conference together.Teachers can work on curriculum through shared documents to weave together related curricula. Seemingly a great leap from John Dewey’s schoolhouse.
Daniel Pink, author of A Whole New Mind, writes,“The future belongs to a different kind of person with a different kind of mind – creators and empathizers, pattern recognizers and meaning makers.” Schools, Kent Place included, must continue to work on how our work as educators helps students recognize patterns so that they can determine value and meaning and then potentially deviate from the pattern to create new meaning.
Just as we have adopted new technology standards, student and faculty leaders of the Upper School together drafted set of values to serve as a guide for the educational environment they wanted to have at Kent Place. These became the Four Pillars of Leadership – pursue passion, model integrity, think community, live respect.These values recognize 21st-century skills while maintaining the personal mission of the school – values with which even the esteemed John Dewey would probably agree.Together, we will continue to help each girl find her voice so she can be a confident, competent, contributing change agent to the world.
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KPS Tech Terms: A Brief Guide Don’t know a wiki from a blog? Never heard of NoodleBib? Below are some of the software and technology programs and terms used throughout Voyager and every day in our classrooms at KPS.
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Core Subjects and 21st-Century Themes
global literacy Globally Speaking: World Languages at Kent Place By Dr. Katharine MacCornack, Chair of the World Language Department We work to help our students ultimately obtain fluency in their chosen world language and to gain confidence in engaging in dialogue on advanced topics with their peers around the world – a connection that is made possible through the amazing advances in telecommunications. In Upper School Spanish, Señora Citarella is establishing a regular Skype conference with the Insituto José Manuel Estrada in Buenos Aires, Argentina, which will allow our girls to communicate with students abroad and learn their opinions and values.The French program has a new online learning tool in Face-à-Face for level four, which provides a state-of-the-art website and authentic resources, including video,VoiceThread,Wimba Pronto and instant feedback for student learning and performance. AP French integrates world media like TV5 Monde, a Francophone international television station, to keep up with current events, listen to news and use as a resource for presentations and discussion topics for their classmates.
Part of the mission of global learning is to instill in our students the value of service.The Upper School has a service learning opportunity planned for June 2011 in Costa Rica to study biodiversity and to work on a project with a village. Our hope is to work with the World Leadership School to establish a partnership to provide an ongoing experience for global leadership to our girls.
The fourth grade Spanish class participates in a letter writing exchange with students from the Integración Juvenil school in the Dominican Republic (pictured behind the girls).
stablishing the global mindset for bright, sensitive leaders begins early at Kent Place School in the World Languages program, which employs fully 14 faculty members who are specialists in French, Spanish, Mandarin Chinese and Latin. And while learning to speak another language throughout her journey at KPS, the student will engage in conversations about global issues, participate in programs to extend her knowledge and grow her understanding of others, interact with teachers, students and people of different cultures.
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Perhaps the greatest advantage to the age of technology and global education is the opportunity to learn from authentic sources and to exchange ideas with people from other cultures around the world. The World Languages department supports Kent Place’s mission: to provide a lens through with the girls may engage in the extraordinary multicultural diversity in our world and gain the skills, knowledge and passion to become leaders throughout their lives.
We introduce students early to the concept of communicating with people from other cultures. In the Primary School, we began a cultural exchange in 2009 with the Integración Juvenil school in the Dominican Republic. Each fourth grade KPS Spanish student wrote a letter to a student at the school. Dr. Alati delivered them when he went to visit and brought back letters from the Dominican students that delighted our girls. Each fourth grade class made a video of their school in Spanish to share with the other school. During Dr. Alati’s visit, the Kent Place fifth graders spoke to him in Spanish via Skype to ask him about his experiences there.This will be an ongoing partnership.
As students in the World Languages grow and mature in their grasp of the language, they are able to participate more deeply in cultural exchanges and even travel. MS Mandarin students, for instance, will be using ePals.com, a digital-based learning opportunity for students, to practice their language skills and learn more about Chinese culture.
Sixth graders Mica MacInnes and Sophia Mastrangelo correct their homework in Chinese class.
Technology is in use during Dr. MacCornack’s French 2 class.
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The Global Learning Program By James Palmieri, Operations Manager he mission of the Global Learning Program at Kent Place School is to empower young women as leaders who understand, evaluate and take action in response to the challenges and opportunities of an interconnected world.To accomplish this, we have defined four key components – global curriculum, community service, partnerships and travel – that will shape the growth of the exciting global initiatives already underway on campus.
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Global Curriculum
Beginning in Primary School, classroom instruction and co-curricular activities promote an awareness of the contrasting cultures, customs, languages and challenges of nations across the globe.Though clearly present in world language, history and science classrooms, KPS has an ever-growing list of class offerings that allow curious students to explore, comprehend and form perspective on places, people and issues of interest to them. In addition, an array of guest scholars and speakers are invited to campus to speak to our students throughout each school year, most notably on Global Perspectives Day. The potential of growing our global curricular programs through technology use and integration, and Kent Place’s core values of leadership, ethics and diversity, is unlimited.
Tenth graders Julie Flanagan and Virginia Saylor spend time with students from the Empopongi School in Kenya.
around the globe. Our efforts are designed to connect learning in a unique way and create educational environments that prepare all students to succeed in our diverse and technologically advanced society. KPS has already begun establishing the groundwork for international partnerships in Korea, China,Tanzania and the Dominican Republic. Locally, Upper School students have maintained a successful partnership with Saint Benedict’s Preparatory, an urban all-boys school located in Newark, NJ.Together, our young leaders will work to find new and innovative approaches and solutions to our worlds’ pressing problems.
Travel
For many years, cultural and language immersion opportunities have been provided to students. Recently, Middle and Upper School students have set foot in Mexico, Canada, France and Italy, in addition to many cities around the United States. International travel experiences allow students to “step outside of their comfort zone” and gain a truly global perspective about the world in which they live. Students who have the opportunity to travel abroad return home with a greater appreciation of their own culture and an increased enthusiasm for learning.
Junior Laura Abrams works with some children at the Faraja Primary School in Tanzania.
Community Service
We are aware that the sometimes hidden needs within our local and surrounding communities are often overlooked due to the greater awareness on national disasters and international crises. KPS provides opportunities for students to show compassion locally by engaging in the preparation of meals for the less fortunate, fundraising for meaningful causes and by promoting awareness for both human and animal rights, to name a few.Therefore, beginning at the Primary level, a community service leader within each KPS division is committed to increasing our positive impact and expanding local service learning opportunities for our students.We connect our local and international community service efforts by focusing on issues that span the spectrum, including hunger, clean drinking water and the rights of the handicapped. In addition to our student participation, we strive to provide service opportunities for our faculty, staff, parents and other members of our school and local community.
In 2009, the KPS Global Service Learning Initiative was introduced with an aggressive approach to combining the benefits of student international travel with community service. As a result, two student groups have already traveled to Africa, specifically to the Masai Mara region of Kenya in 2009, and to the foothills of Mount Kilimanjaro,Tanzania, in 2010. By providing a full workweek of physical and academic service at schools in need, KPS students and faculty truly achieve the initiative’s mission of Embrace, Envision, Empower.
The development of the Global Learning Program at Kent Place School has been deemed a priority for the 2010-2011 school year. Work is underway as our team has enthusiastically begun to develop program goals and benchmarks that will provide all students with a learning experience that considers interconnecting multiple perspectives from around the globe. Our primary goal is to make the global learning program at Kent Place School authentic and exciting!
more about global programs... As soon as our Spring Break trips return to campus, we will post reflections, photo galleries and possibly video. In the meantime, snap this QR code to learn even more about our global programs.
Partnerships
Partnerships with local and global schools and communities provide opportunities to work, exchange ideas and build new knowledge with people
KPS Sophomore to Study Abroad in Israel Traditionally, students wait until their junior year of college to travel and study abroad.These days, more high school students than ever are seeking out study abroad experiences in preparation for their college careers. On February 1, KPS sophomore Lilli DeBode arrived at Alexander Muss High School in Israel (AMHSI) located in Hod Ha’Sharon, near Tel Aviv. Sophomores, juniors and seniors from all over the United States are embarking with Lilli on this eight-week experience. With partnership
lilli’s personal blog... Read about Lilli’s adventure through her personal blog by snapping this QR code or visit http://lillidebode.blogspot.com/.
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between her teachers from Kent Place and the faculty in Israel, Lilli will continue her Kent Place studies while broadening her horizons with study abroad.
In addition to her KPS classes, Lilli is taking intensive history courses that incorporate on-site learning and field trips. Lilli’s “classroom” will be the land of Israel itself, a country overflowing with history, politics and culture.
For more information about AMHSI, please visit www.amhsi.org.
Sophomore Lilli DeBode
Supply and Demand in the 21st Century
financial literacy
By Elaine Schwartz, Upper School Economics Teacher
role of the CEO and the practical responsibilities of the COO, they have their own entrepreneurial experience.
Mrs. Schwartz poses with AP Economics students.
soft drink tax? Too high and people will not purchase soda; too low and revenue will be insufficient. Problems with the yuan? But Chinese drivers are purchasing General Motors cars. French workers strike? They want to retire at 60. As you can see, the issues are endless and fascinating, and they relate to all that we do in AP Economics.
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Just as Harry Truman could not find a one-handed economist, our economics students learn that answering economic questions involves saying,“on the one hand…but on the other…” In their first assignment, students learn what economics is all about: trade-offs.We live in a world with scarce resources. No one can have an unlimited quantity of goods and services. More of one commodity means less of something else. If we grow broccoli on one farm, we cannot use that land for asparagus. Similarly, using our resources for Social Security means less is available elsewhere.Throughout the year, faced with questions that have no definite answer, students use economic concepts, the ideas of economic thinkers and economic history to form their own conclusions.
In AP Economics, students also have the opportunity to develop and run a website. An optional activity, www.econlife.com is managed by a website committee.Volunteers oversee design decisions, select daily content and implement an advertising plan to generate traffic. For a “notes” section, every day, students post links to articles, podcasts and media that they have enjoyed. On the lighter side, they state a memorable fact and the trends that are hot and those that are not.We also have a timeline to show the historical background of a current event or idea and links to handy economic tools. Students are asked to approve submitted comments before they are posted and to brainstorm for new ideas. In my daily blog, I connect history, economics and current events. Our mission? To engage and educate. Currently numbering close to 800 each month, our goal this year is thousands of visits to econlife.com.
In so many ways our AP Economics course reflects our educational mission for the Kent Place woman. Students have the independence to make meaningful decisions through their course work, their entrepreneurial project and their website.Through basic economic concepts, the ideas of economic thinkers and events from economic history, they have the tools to become global, independent thinkers. And then, through our website, they can share knowledge with their classmates and beyond Kent Place. Indeed, equipped with the tools for achieving independence, mastery and a sense of purpose, our economics course prepares Kent Place women to function knowledgeably in an unknown future world.
kps student-run website... Snap this QR code to view the KPS student-run website www.econlife.com.
As students learn the basics of macro- and microeconomics, during the second term, they have an independent project. In groups composed of a CEO, a COO and a CFO, they write business plans and compete for venture capital. Learning about balance sheets and income statements, the visionary
civic literacy
How to Be a Citizen of the 21st Century By Rick Morey, Chair of the History Department
surveyed believe that the people are themselves the source of the government’s power. But happily, civic literacy is alive and well in Kent Place School.
At Kent Place, civic literacy permeates the curriculum, across departments and grade divisions. Fifth graders, for example, explore answers to the question “What is freedom?” as part of a focus on early American history. In activities and lessons developed by their teachers Susan Mascioli and Sally Snyder, these Primary School students also look at human rights from both local and global perspectives. In support of the themes of human rights and freedom, the course features units on the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and Bill of Rights and the federal government. Students investigate citizen wants and needs during the year, including the importance of balancing rights with responsibilities.
This year's Mock Trial team advanced to the finals of the Union County Mock Trial Competition.
ot so long ago, the study of what we now call civic literacy was held in polite disrepute. Burdened with course titles such as “Civics” or “Problems of Democracy,” schools sponsored courses in government and citizen responsibility with limited enthusiasm. In this earlier era, students might learn how a bill becomes a law (with the visual aid of a talking cartoon “bill” with arms and legs). Students were unlikely, however, to learn much about the actual content of a legislative bill. A few years ago a series of interviews with random citizens produced startling results. In one such survey, as reported this year in The Washington Post, a significant number of people failed to recognize the Bill of Rights, and many thought these rights too extreme to be entrusted to their fellow Americans. Less than half of persons
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In Chris Clemens’s course Portraits of Leadership, eighth graders study men and women who have led others with varying degrees of sincerity and success. In the seventh and eighth grade elective It’s News to Me, students learn to become critical consumers of media reporting, discovering ways to separate objective reporting from agenda-driven commentary.This class on occasion combines with the ethics elective to share thoughts on principled responses to media.
In History 10, our sophomores experience a substantive unit on the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, and students engage in a simulation of the Constitutional Convention of 1787, later producing a research paper on an important clause or guarantee derived from the Constitution. A new senior year elective, AP Government and Politics: U.S., supports an intensive examination into the workings of government on the federal and local levels, with special attention to the evolution of the modern Supreme Court. (continued on page 10)
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Upper School history instructor Reba Petraitis is a member of the Terrorism and 9/11 Curriculum writing team, a statewide initiative sponsored by families and friends of September 11 victims. Last spring she taught pilot lessons in her Contemporary History Grade 12 elective, prior to the curriculum’s wider release for the 2011-12 school year. The Terrorism curriculum includes lessons suitable for all age groups, so it is likely that Primary and Middle School divisions will also benefit. [See page 21 for more about the Terrorism and 9/11 Curriculum]
Each year the school community honors several special dates that are significant to the American civic landscape.These days are opportunities to show students that the activities of governing bodies are real and ongoing and have impact on our lives. Among these days are Constitution Day (September 17) and the first Monday in October, which marks the first day of the new Supreme Court term.While these commemorations typically unfold in the classroom, there are other expressions. One example is the visit of AP Government and Politics: U.S. seniors last September to a Primary School assembly.The seniors explained the significance of Constitution Day and urged these younger learners to appreciate the special nature of our government under law.
Chair of the History Department Rick Morey
Senior Jenny Dranetz and junior Olivia Donatelli represent countries in committee during the Ivy League Model UN Conference.
In addition to engaging in conversation around the civic calendar, Kent Place students test their communication and critical thinking skills in other venues throughout their years here. Activities such as mock trial, Junior State of America, and Model UN are popular with students in all four Upper School years. Instructors have initiated projects with students in environmental science, statistics and world language classes in recent years.
With the goal of enriching the entire learning community in a wider embrace of citizen awareness, this is indeed a salutary age for civic literacy at Kent Place School. Should one of our graduates be quizzed by an intrepid opinion pollster, she will never be stumped by those infamous questions.
The KPS Model UN delegation travels to the Ivy League Model UN Conference (ILMUNC) in Philadelphia.
health literacy
Relationship Wellness
By Sara Every, LCSW, Middle/Upper School Counselor & Health Educator he health education program at the Kent Place School offers a comprehensive curriculum with an emphasis on self-advocacy.We seek to form and foster healthy relationships and personal growth within the context of community. Our interdisciplinary programs are founded upon the core values of integrity, leadership and global awareness, and we integrate these themes in an age-appropriate manner.These values are embedded in classes such as Women’s Life Studies as well as our advisory program, peer education and Sisterhood groups.We empower our students with available information and spark their curiosity with related resources and opportunities.We encourage parents and families to engage in conversation in an effort to help the student define her values and beliefs.
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“We empower our students with available information and spark their curiosity with related resources and opportunities.” Students thrive and learn in relationship to one another, their teachers, coaches, mentors and families.Within these varied relationships, students gain a sense of themselves, their abilities and their resources.They exercise key skills such as creating healthy boundaries, negotiation and self-advocacy. Beginning with Primary School Women’s Life Studies (WLS) classes, students are encouraged to reflect upon and practice these skills with a greater emphasis on personal safety and relational aggression.They engage in activities such as skits to practice using “I” statements and to identify language to communicate effectively with their safe adults. Students are encouraged to find their voices, create strategies and to identify their support systems.
Once a student enters Middle School, peer relationships become integral in her day-to-day world and can impact her self-esteem, social status, academic performance and emotional well-being. Unique to their generation is their relationship to technology and at times their dependence upon it for socialization. This lends itself to a constant engagement in peer relationships and communication. It also creates opportunity for vulnerability. Aside from peer relationships, girls are keenly aware of messages provided by the media and their parents.The Middle School Health Program creates an opportunity for dialogue. Girls are offered greater opportunities to explore the impact of these messages with regard to healthy relationships, peer pressure, eating disorders, sexuality and stress. Page 10
Students are encouraged to role-play within scenarios that reflect pressures and situations with conflict.They are challenged by one another to confront these situations in a “real-life” manner. In a recent WLS class, girls acted out being pressured to drink alcohol at a party. Not only did they find words to deflect the pressure but also used body language, an assertive voice and supports around them. Each scene got better as they developed creative strategies using humor, wit and common sense to develop and practice these life skills.
Outside formal class time, groups are offered in which eighth grade girls serve as group facilitators with sixth grade girls.They focus on transition to Middle School, bullying and time management. The Sisterhood group has also been implemented in an effort to assist girls in building strong relationships, identifying warning signs of an unhealthy relationship and developing communication skills.
At the Upper School level, students are challenged to become more selfaware and to explore both the motivations and the consequences of their decisions. Aside from athletic and academic pressures, some girls may choose to participate in romantic relationships. Our Peer Education Program trains a select group of seniors to facilitate groups and offer mentorship to the freshmen. The Grade 10 Women’s Life Studies class also provides an opportunity to role-play in skits and challenge each other in an inclusive group discussion.The topics of mental health, addictions, dating abuse and eating disorders are covered in greater depth.
“Students are encouraged to role-play within scenarios that reflect pressures and situations with conflict.They are challenged by one another to confront these situations in a “real-life” manner.” Our goal for the Kent Place Health Education program is to educate and empower girls to be self-aware, ethical and resourceful decision makers. We are passionate about our programs and our approach to providing a dynamic and ever-evolving curriculum.
The Path to Lifetime Fitness By Michelle Stevenson, Physical Education/Athletics hat does “lifelong health and wellness” have to do with 21st-century learning at KPS? More than you might think.The answer to this question is the basis for a new movement and approach to physical education. Educating students about their choices – whether in activities or in diet – and helping them to understand the impact they have on overall wellness is one of the main goals of the program.
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The process of teaching our students healthy concepts about physical wellness begins with the concept of how our bodies expend energy.We teach students about the variety of ways in which they expend energy and what that means to their overall system. Activities like walking, running and swimming will expend energy at different rates depending on the exertion involved.The rates depend on intensity, a person’s body mass and duration of exercise. A person that weighs 150 pounds walking for 30 minutes would burn between 105 and 370 calories. This range depends on level of intensity, on a spectrum between light and vigorous.This type of range provides the opportunity for students to decide how much energy they would like to expend at any given time.
Kindergarten girls listen to Mrs. Benthien as she introduces a skill unit on kicking and punting.
With this information, a student can then determine how much fuel they would need to function efficiently each day.This lends to lifelong Kindergarten girls practice a drag back in physical education class. Kindergarten girls practice a three point balance called Tick Tock Boom! understanding of various levels of performance, healthy weight management and ongoing maintenance. For yoga units specifically designed to provide tools that can be used outside of example, our students will understand that if their activity level decreases the classroom and in everyday life. Learning to breathe in times of stress may because of a demanding desk job, then they will need to lower their energy seem obvious; however, we have found that students appreciate the time to intake accordingly in order to maintain a healthy and balanced metabolism. incorporate these stress management tools during the school day. It is the basic health concepts that we start out with in the Primary School. Healthy heart concepts and manual pulse checks are taught and reinforced throughout the Pre-K-12 experience. Later, when students have a better understanding of the impact of their choices on health, we introduce methods they can use to monitor their vital statistics. New technology provides valuable tools such as pedometers and heart rate monitors to help determine energy expenditure so that our graduates will be able to make choices about their health with all the information they need.
The physical education department acknowledges that our activities can greatly contribute to preparing our students with some of the essential 21stcentury skills, even if they do not seem directly linked to the maintenance of physical health.Team-building and problem-solving activities and leadership opportunities are embedded into every unit of study. Learning how to work together, using resources efficiently and accomplishing a common goal are all expectations that will impact students as they graduate from Kent Place School and move into college and beyond.
In teaching our students good habits for maintaining physical wellness for their adult lives, there is in addition to food intake and physical exercise a third key concept. Stress management is instrumental to the overall wellness of our students. KPS students at all levels are exposed to meditation and
Our hope is that some of the information we provide and the many opportunities to practice these skills support all of our students in the pursuit of lifelong health and wellness in the 21st century.
Upper School students participate in step aerobic and Zumba-inspired movement classes.
Mrs. Stevenson reviews an energy expenditure log and basal metabolic rate information with a student.
It’s DERBY time! Join us for a night of familiar Kent Place traditions, as well as a few “Kent”ucky surprises at our
20th Annual SPRING FLING!
Saturday, April 30, 2011 6:30 – 11:00 p.m. KPS Field House
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environmental literacy The Importance of Nature in 21st-Century Learning By Leslie Jones-Wentz, Primary School Science Teacher s it important for students to spend more time outdoors? Is there value in giving children time to explore nature, to form connections to the natural world? In the Kent Place Primary School we think the skills students gain by being careful observers of the natural world are vital to their future and to the future of our planet.
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In his book entitled Why Science? James Trefil presents his summary of the great ideas of science and areas to consider when creating curricula and teaching science.“All life is connected,” he writes.“Living things on earth interact with one another in complex webs called ecosystems. Understanding how these systems work is essential for the future management of our planet.” In the Kent Place Primary School we use varying and age-appropriate ways to teach the girls about this connectedness and their roles in promoting a sustainable future for the planet.
This is just one of several “citizen scientist” programs in which our girls participate.Younger girls communicate with fellow students in Mexico as part of Journey North’s Project Monarch Watch, and fourth graders plant tomato seeds that have been exposed to conditions simulating the atmosphere of Mars in a program called Tomatosphere.
Our goal is to empower each girl so that she develops a sense that she can make a difference.We stress the importance of biodiversity, of paying attention to surroundings and caring for and respecting all living things.
The environmental literacy curriculum begins early in the Primary School. For example, while all grades begin the year doing fieldwork, first grade students also do nature scavenger hunts, looking for patterns, shapes and colors that exist in the natural world. Second grade girls carefully design and plant their “Three Sisters” garden with help from the Upper School Environmental Club.
During the annual fifth grade trip to the New Jersey School of Conservation (NJSOC) in Stokes State Forest, the girls participate in outdoor fieldwork with experienced faculty from Montclair University and the NJSOC, embodying everything we teach the girls during their Primary School years. They are reminded to respect nature, protect natural resources, live sustainably and to work together to achieve these goals.
Whether the girls are collecting data or releasing praying mantis nymphs they raised, the focus is always on getting them outdoors while teaching that crucial connection to and love for the natural world. It is our hope that they become global citizens armed with the concern and knowledge to work with others to create a sustainable planet.
Fifth grader Anjolie Charlot and Mrs. Jones-Wentz canoeing at Stokes.
While preparing students to be informed global citizens, we begin with lessons that are “place based” and driven by student-centered inquiry. Starting in the youngest grades, we create lessons that allow students to develop a deep connection and an appreciation for their immediate or local surroundings.
David Sobel, professor of education at Antioch University, argues that children must be given the opportunity to explore and be a part of the natural world before they can move onto dealing with environmental problems. “[We must] cultivate relationships between children and trees in their own backyards as a precursor to their working to save rain forests as they get older, when they can actually do something about it,” writes Sobel. “Talking to trees and hiding in trees precedes saving trees.” Primary School science classes maximize time outdoors, particularly in the fall when the girls return to school. Students observe, draw pictures, write detailed field notes and also harvest produce from a “Three Sisters” garden (corn, beans and squash) they planted the previous spring.They watch migrating birds and Monarch butterflies that stop by our large butterfly bushes and honeysuckle vines. Later, the girls learn to identify birds that visit our winter feeders.They document species and numbers, and then submit their data to the scientists at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology as part of “Project Feeder Watch.”
Alia Jaffrey and Eileen Cohn
Madsion Pryor, Cara Savoy and Jessie Zietsman
Paige Willsey and Kaitlin Kramer
Shefali Murti and Bethany Frith
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Fifth grade students collaborate to solve a task presented during one of the Action Socialization Experiences at Stokes.
“In the Kent Place Primary School we think the skills students gain by being careful observers of the natural world are vital to their future and to the future of our planet.”
Third graders Cameron Bentley and Julia Anderson harvest gourds.
Connecting Disciplines in Environmental Science By Rose Chaffee-Cohen, Upper School Science Teacher wo students in fly-fishing gear slowly wade into the Passaic River carrying fine mesh nets and water-testing equipment.They are Kent Place students from the AP Environmental Science class collecting aquatic macroinvertebrate insects and water samples in order to evaluate the river’s water quality.Their results will go into a database managed by the Great Swamp Watershed and will be used to analyze trends related to local water quality and address any problems that they identify.
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As one of the first lab exercises students complete in AP Environmental Science, the Passaic water sampling exemplifies both the interdisciplinary nature of the subject as well as the need to take action in the light of environmental knowledge. Students not only develop laboratory and field study skills, but also discuss sources and ramifications of water pollution, policies in place to protect water quality and personal steps toward conservation. In the AP Environmental Science class we are asked to examine issues through multiple perspectives and find the connections between disciplines in order to construct a more holistic understanding of the topic at hand.You may associate environmental science with water pollution, climate change, ecology and soil sampling, and yes, it is these things; it also bridges economics, historical perspectives, political action, experimental methods, nature writing and more.
Environmental Club students model their recycled fashions during Earth Day 2010 festivities.
Adele Irwin ’11 and Jennie Poole ’12 scan their water samples for macroinvertebrate insects.
AP Environmental Science has not until recently been offered in high school science departments. (It wasn’t offered when I went to high school just 15 years ago.) It has, however, become the kind of course that every student should take before graduating and one that exemplifies 21st-century learning. The interdisciplinary nature of the subject allows students to capture and coordinate a variety of different knowledge and skill sets, rather than compartmentalizing everything separately. It also emphasizes a continually changing body of knowledge and technology that calls us to action.
Seniors Celine Delle Donne and Sarah Mahalick take a break from weeding strawberry crops in a work-andlearn field trip to Fernbrook Farm in Bordentown, NJ.
Jennie Poole ’12, Adele Irwin ’11, Aleena Karim ’13, Olivia Wolff ’12 and Elizabeth Gully ’12 look on as Joann Mondsini, Director of the Berkeley Heights Wastewater Treatment Plant, displays the final product of the treatment process.
artistic endeavors, like the eco-boutique and fashion show, community speakers, like Maureen Ogden and Americorps, as well as frequent challenges to the student body, like composting, that ask them to examine their actions through an environmental lens. The concept of 21st-century learning implies the benefits received from integrating technology or social networking into curricula, and AP Environmental Science uses both in each of these examples. It is, however, just as much about making connections among isolated subjects and planning for actions that will transform our environment within a generation.
With environmental science, the subject is the place where we live, work and grow our food, and so it is no longer about what you know, but what you are going to do with that information. After reviewing the basic knowledge behind a topic, we are forced to ask “What now?” and examine the action steps that both individuals as well as governing bodies can take to effect change. In many cases, solutions are identified that aren’t extremely high tech but rather built upon a foundation of what we have known about the environment and nature for centuries.
The Environmental Club at Kent Place exercises a similar mission of not only educating the community about environmental themes, but calling individuals to action. It, too, takes an interdisciplinary approach by involving students in
Adele Irwin ’11 and Jennie Poole ’12 wade into the Passaic River to collect water samples for testing.
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creativity & innovation
Beyond Duchamp – Teaching Art in the 21st Century By Ken Weathersby, Chair of the Visual Arts Department
he Art Department is a hub of creativity. Our students bring incredible energy and imagination to the art studios in Upper, Middle and Primary Schools.They explore different media, honing skills and building confidence, but the question arises:What should art learning in the 21st century look like?
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Our answers might start with integration of new thinking about art and understanding of new media.
how we make and critique art. It means that students learn that context and clarity of thought really count. New variations and new modes of art production – including relational aesthetics, and current re-examinations of a variety of older styles – mostly happen within the post-conceptual frame. At the same time, a resurgence of drawing and emphasis on design means that traditional basic visual skills must remain accessible to students.We also believe these basic skills have intrinsic value.
New Means
“In the Upper School, students now show up in the art room with a large and ever-increasing set of creative media already at their fingertips: digital still image and video cameras, online social networks, cell phones, digital editing software for visual material and sound, and more. ”
New Thinking
As certainly as Picasso was the dominant figure in the art of the first half of the last century, his contemporary Marcel Duchamp remains a strong and unavoidable influence on art made today. That means that the conceptual aspect of art is indispensable. Duchamp’s innovations, such as presenting found objects like a factory-made urinal or bottle rack as art, foregrounded the artist’s thought process in the act of selection as absolutely central to art.
The reality that, for decades now, “anything can be art” raises important questions: in fact it raises the bar. It means we can take nothing for granted in
In the Upper School, students now show up in the art room with a large and ever-increasing set of creative media already at their fingertips: digital still image and video cameras, online social networks, cell phones, digital editing software for visual material and sound, and more.Younger and younger students have more and more access and fluency with these media. Collaboration becomes natural and fluid. Almost any image from the history of film or painting or photography is available as a reference within a few seconds.These technologies are readily (and frequently) combined with traditional techniques of drawing, painting and sculpting in our art studios.
A number of new additions to our curriculum in the form of projects and courses address aspects of the need to prepare our students with 21stcentury skills. After much consideration, we are beginning to infuse digital media like Photoshop into the Primary School and Middle School art programs. In Upper School, we continue to work across a variety of media, combining the traditional with the innovative. A new course in architecture was added this year, a first for Kent Place. Digital photography courses increasingly draw inspiration from a wide range of sources for projects, from avant-garde film (Agnes Varda, Chantal Akerman) to Baroque painting (Caravaggio). Collaborative and concept-driven projects are becoming a staple of the Upper School studio and portfolio classes.
21st-century learning in art at Kent Place means working with both old and new media while looking ahead, exploring and expressing the rapidly changing times we live in.
Connecting with the Classics through Web 2.0 By Joel Chace, Upper School English Teacher, and Dr. Amanda Berry, Middle School English Teacher hat if Shakespeare’s greatest characters could tweet or friend each other on Facebook? When old classics meet new technology, the results can be surprising and enriching. In our English classrooms, we have found that innovative and collaborative use of technology can draw students closer to the text and yield new connections. Amanda Berry’s Grade 8 English students have assumed roles and journeyed to Shakespeare’s Verona through an online social networking site. Eleanor Lear and Joel Chace’s Grade 10 English students have used technology to enter into the text of a novel in order to reflect on the impact on language of a technological society. In both courses, community-driven projects have led to creative reflection about the texts.
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A project about Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet on Ning, the social networking site, enabled Grade 8 English students to find deeper meaning in the text. Students were engaged by the technology in a way that encouraged personal connections with both characters and text as they related the literature to their own experiences. Instead of remaining passive readers or audience members, they climbed onto the virtual “stage” and joined the action.
As the unit began, each student assumed the persona of one of the characters in the play and created a page and profile for her character on the class Ning site.The social networking aspects of the site engaged the students, who explored the features of the site while in character.The student playing Lady Montague used the site’s “get married” feature to show her relationship to Lord Montague. Other characters “friended” each other, leading to further discussion about relationships in the play. Throughout the following days as they read through the play, students posted comments in character about what was happening in the story. They were also required to add responses to the posts of other characters, generating conversations online. Not only did the students exercise creativity in imagining what their characters would say or do; they became invested in their characters that they were helping bring to life.
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As a culminating activity at the end of the play, students were asked to deliver a brief speech in the voice of their character describing how that character changed throughout the course of the play.They were invited to use creative formats for the presentation, and the resulting pieces included original songs, journal entries and a eulogy.This part of the assignment was successful because they had time to become familiar with their roles.The social aspects of Ning also gave students incentive to explore point of view and experiment with language. One student Lady Capulet wrote: “I look back at how I was before all of this happened, and I pity how foolish I was.Thinking that Juliet was as happy with her arranged marriage as she appeared, and that she was fine with following in my footsteps as a lady of a house. I should have known that she was different, because she changed my life the first day I saw her. And telling her tragic story will hopefully have the same effect on others.” The online conversations with other characters helped her to assume her role with understanding.
It was surprising how effectively cutting-edge technology could be employed to enhance the study of Elizabethan plays.This past spring term, Kent Place sophomores and their teachers discovered that George Orwell’s 20thcentury novel 1984 also lends itself extremely well to an experiment in social media as well as to discussions of how technology is used and abused in Orwell’s book and in our contemporary society.
The novel 1984 presents the reader with a nightmarish world in which Big Brother’s Inner Party turns technological tools against its citizens. Oceania’s populace is continually monitored for even the slightest sign of subversive thought and behavior. Privacy has been effectively eliminated.
Each sophomore was asked to imagine that she belonged to The Brotherhood, a group of rebels who, like the novel’s main characters Winston and Julia, hate everything the Inner Party represents. Each student (continued on page 15)
critical thinking & problem solving
STEM: A Pathway to Critical Thinking
By Maura Crowe, Middle School Science and Math Teacher
he U.S. Department of Labor predicts that 15 of the 20 fastest-growing occupations will require significant science or mathematics training to successfully compete for a job, while fewer students are choosing to pursue advanced study in these areas.(1) This is of particular concern for girls, as gender differences in these fields tend to surface in middle school, with females less likely to major in science despite high performance in advanced
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Eighth graders Gabriela Mottesi and Zoe Pappas test their bridge.
science courses.(2) Now more than ever, students need a solid foundation in these fields in order to be prepared to thrive in the rapidly changing 21st century.
Kent Place recognizes this need and applies the philosophy of a STEM education to its science, mathematics and technology courses.The idea of a STEM education was initiated over 10 years ago by the National Science Foundation and other government agencies in their quest for national standards for science education. It focuses on the integration and the commonalities of the disciplines of science, technology, engineering and mathematics, offering students project-based learning to address real-world issues that affect their lives and communities.This method is ideal for promoting critical-thinking and problem-solving skills and bridges the gap to a 21st-century education.
Knowledge in these courses is not based on memorization and facts alone, but is constructed through research and application and connected to previous knowledge and real-world experiences.The redesigned Middle School science curriculum allows for each grade level to approach all scientific disciplines in an integrative and cumulative manner. By organizing the content intuitively, our goal is to model for the students real-world scenarios in which problems are solved incrementally through accumulation of knowledge and experience. In a new elective course, Engineering in Our World, students investigate and construct a variety of internationally recognizable architectural structures, such as the Eiffel Tower, that demonstrate the STEM disciplines while discussing historical events relevant to their creation. Throughout the course, students strengthen and apply problem-solving skills in order to build, test, evaluate and modify their own models based on local and global structures. Using mathematically scaled proportions, students execute an engineering plan to build their models. It is through these integrative experiences that students learn valuable skills for success in the 21st century, such as collaboration and communication.
Engineering students display their bridges.
(continued from page 14) created a “secret” Brotherhood name used to log onto a teacher-generated wiki. Students used various software programs, such as Google Docs,Wordle and TodaysMeet, and writing prompts to record and comment on each other’s ideas about 1984 itself as well as related questions and concerns that arise in everyday, contemporary life.The prompts were patterned on the following examples: “In the world of Big Brother, individual privacy has quite effectively been eliminated. To what degree is this happening in our 2011 society? How are the technological advances that allow for such compromised privacy scary and how are they useful?”
“Winston’s colleague Syme suggests that Big Brother’s ‘rebellion will be complete’ once Newspeak has been ‘perfected.’ How concerned should we be, in our 2011 society, that our language is being ‘perfected’? How are our own abilities to reflect, to question and to think critically weakening?”
One student responded to the latter prompt: “In an article I read, teens in the 1950s had thousands more words in their repertoire as compared to today’s teens; we are slowly losing vocabulary.” This concern about the loss of language was echoed by another student: “Our language is being ‘perfected’ by shortening words, such as what is up to ‘sup.’ Although this is not limiting thought, it is making our vocabulary much smaller and less refined. But I do not think that we will lose language totally.” As part of the process, the students engaged the issues of language and connected with their own experience. In this particular exercise, the experience of using the technology became an extension of the very ideas contained in the text.
“Impersonal” and “superficial” have become connotations attached to the phenomenon of social networking. However, Kent Place teachers and students have begun to realize that this sort of collaborative communication can actually deepen the exploration and understanding of literary works. The networking draws all students into the conversation as active participants in the process, but allowing students to experience classic texts through modern media helps them internalize more than the stories and characters.With these tools, they process the very societal relationships, structures and ideas the literature addresses.
Seventh grader Claire Eckles investigates the properties of matter in science class.
Throughout the science and mathematics courses, students think critically and logically, learning from the challenges they face.Through the Science Expo they are asked to be innovators and inventors, meeting the world’s needs through creatively designed solutions.Through opportunities such as the American Math Challenge, students learn collaboratively, interacting not only with their classmates but also with schools worldwide through a weeklong mathematics contest. Collaboration extends to KPS Global Service Learning opportunities and technological advances such as Skype, affording students the opportunity to interact with the global community.
We live in an increasingly technological and globalized society, and our curriculum adjusts accordingly. At Kent Place, we possess an opportunity to utilize the technology around us to promote critical thinking and truly become a 21st-century learning environment. (1) (2)
Bureau of Labor and Statistics, Fastest growing occupations, 2004-14, http://www.bls.gov/emp/emptab21.htm De Welde, K. A., Lauren, S., & Thiry, H,Women in Science,Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM), http://www.socwomen.org/socactivism/stem_fact_sheet.pdf
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Problem Solving in the Primary School By Maureen Kroeger, Primary School Math Coordinator hat does mathematics look like in the Primary School in the 21stcentury? Acquiring skills can lack meaning if one cannot determine when they should be used or how to apply them.That is why problem solving, often synonymous with “word problems,” has been the cornerstone of a quality mathematics program at Kent Place for a long time.
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“For 21st-century educators and students the concept of problem solving continues to be the mark of effective mathematics programs...” For 21st-century educators and students the concept of problem solving continues to be the mark of effective mathematics programs, but the definition of the concept expands beyond just solving situational problems. It has become a process used to learn new concepts and skills as well as the product of learning. Instead of just applying understanding of skills such as whole number computation to problems, students make decisions based on their understanding of place value, basic facts and number sense, to determine how to come to a solution. Instead of being prepared in advance by practicing multiple, two-digit addition problems they are left to use what they know, then apply and ultimately determine a solution and defend it.
Understanding the parameters of a problem can often be the main stumbling block for students. It is important that they grapple with information to figure out what to do when they don’t know what to do.When students are encouraged to use what they know, often multiple processes are developed based on individual and collaborative understanding.Too often, educators and parents worry when they see a child struggle.The tendency is to step in and “direct” the process to a solution.When this happens, student invest-
ment in the problem and critical thinking can fade and give way to a more passive approach focused on what to do, rather than why it works or if there is a more efficient way to do it. Dialogue should not only be about solutions, as well as, a reinforcement of the underlying structure of the mathematics, which enables efficiency and fluency in attaining solutions.
Problem solving can be a creative endeavor. Initiating problems or tasks that are open-ended creates a world of possibilities for students.They can showcase their abilities while exploring ideas of others. A strategy such as posing an answer and asking what the question might be is an example of this. If the answer is 10, what is the question? Depending upon age, grade and mathematical experience, the sky is the limit! Responses could include knowledge of whole numbers, rational numbers and integers, work with exponents and an understanding of place value – the list is endless! As the various mathematical ideas are exposed and explored, class discussions are rich. Through communication and representations of problem strategies and solutions, students walk away knowing their own strategies but also others to consider.
The process of problem solving has become critical for 21st-century learners. Due of the increased availability of technology and information, we have access to learn whatever we choose to learn, whether it be through YouTube videos, collaborating via networking sites or researching on the web. Understanding problems, accessing support systems, collaborating and analyzing processes and solutions is what has become the “basics” of mathematics education today.
This is not to say that basic facts and computational skills are not important. Rather their importance, along with estimation and mental math skills, are even more essential.These skills allow greater ease and efficiency in assimilating information in order to learn new concepts or skills or to solve problems. It is an exciting time to be learning and teaching mathematics today. Exploring problems through meaningful context, thinking creatively and critically, analyzing and justifying solutions reinforce the power and value of mathematics in our society now and the world in which our children will lead.
communication & collaboration
Grow Your Audience: Communication Skills in the Primary School By Amy Heuer, Third Grade Teacher
As I begin each school year, I find myself thinking about June.What do I want my girls to know and be able to do at the conclusion of our year together? How will we, together and as a community, reach these goals?
My goals for my girls are simple: to love school, to be confident in themselves as learners and people and to be able to advocate for themselves. None of this happens without the participation of each girl, and therefore I integrate choice, collaboration and exploration into most activities.
Learning is much more than tackling an assignment in isolation, and I ensure my classroom reflects this.There are tables for the girls who determine they work best at them, but these tables are off to the side with a large open space as the focus of the room.The space is always in use. Students sprawl out to read or write quietly, form groups for research, math activities and small-group instruction and come together for our frequent full-class discussions. Throughout the day, girls are given the opportunity to find “smart spots” to work, depending on their own needs and preferences.
Third grader Nika Naumovich reviews her writing with Mrs. Heuer.
uring their Primary School years, children experience a turning point in how they view relationships and their place in the world. Developmentally there is a shift from “all about me” toward something more like “I’m one of many and my wants may not be the same as my neighbor’s wants” and “I need these people to like and respect me.” With this change comes the realization that how and what we say matters. Because of this, one of my biggest responsibilities as a Primary School teacher is to foster effective communication skills.
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My girls quickly learn that choice comes with responsibility, and this is when they truly begin to understand the difference between rights and privileges. Everyone has the right to be heard, to share individual points of view, all in a safe learning environment, where the expectation is you too will listen and be respectful. In every classroom, there are some students who speak up more than others; in my class, every voice is important.When I pose a problem or ask a question, I often have the girls “think, pair, share.” When I say “turn and talk,” the girls know to think for a moment, share their ideas with a partner and then participate in the full-group discussion.
Girls in my class also learn to speak to their audience.When they share their thoughts at Morning Meeting or read their stories and poems at our many (continued on page 17)
(continued from page 16) publishing parties, they understand the importance of being prepared and speaking clearly.They have a great deal to communicate, and they learn to do so effectively.
Our persuasive writing unit is an example of collaboration and communication coming together in my Grade 3 classroom.To demonstrate the difference between fact and opinion, to understand differing points of view and to anticipate these differences, we begin with group debate.The topics are chosen for their appeal to my girls: Should we have uniforms? Should all Primary students be allowed frozen yogurt at each lunch? Should there be school in the summer? Girls prepare their debates in groups; having learned specific jobs for group members throughout the year – speaker, recorder, time-keeper and peace-keeper – roles are automatic and the girls can concentrate on their tasks.
Catherine Pothier and Julia Anderson each hold up a reader’s response to their writing.
Having experienced persuasion through group work, we move on to independent persuasive writing. Each girl chooses her own topic, determines her audience and selects the most persuasive arguments accordingly. In the end, each girl becomes an effective communicator on a real-life situation that matters to her.
By giving students the intellectual and physical space to move, problem-solve and experiment, all within the context of clear expectations and a compassionate climate, my girls rise to the occasion.They know it is OK to falter, to try again and to feel really good when they succeed.
Eileen Cohn, Alia Jaffrey, Nika Naumovich, Kiley Parker, Elsie Shi and Mrs. Heuer showcase a fruit salad they prepared in celebration of Chinese New Year.
June 13 through August 19 June Fun Summer Express Pre-K Camp Junior Camp Day Camp Passport Program Excel Creative Arts Workshop Traveling Adventures Camp Counselor-in-Training Afternoon Clinics Success for Girls Extended Care Summer Academy
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Please visit www.kentplace.org/summerexplorations for more information or call (908) 273-0900, ext. 297.
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Computed: Technology in 21st-Century Education By Kimberly Pearson, Director of Technology
technology literacy It is said that it takes a village to educate a child. But it takes a technology team to support the 602 laptops for faculty and Grades 3 – 12 student laptops available on campus today. Kent Place offers unparalleled support, with three instructional technology coordinators devoted to the infusion of curriculum and technology, three technicians supporting hardware, a network administrator and a director of technology. Kent Place’s commitment to the adoption of high-tech tools and personnel support enriches the learning environment of our students.
In addition to the technology in their Media Center, Middle Schoolers also use Netbooks to complete projects in class.
Sixth grader Babi Oloko uses a Polyvision board for various games in Mlle. Loko’s French class.
ducation is in the midst of a paradigm shift to 21stcentury learning, and Kent Place has been a leader in embracing this concept now for many years.The concept of 21stcentury learning indicates an educational system that is flexible, creative, collaborative and challenging. It address the rapidly changing world we live in filled with new problems and endless possibilities.
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Today’s students are digital learners – they literally take in the world via the filter of computing devices: smart phones, handheld gaming devices and laptops they take everywhere. According to a recent survey,(1) children ages 8 to 18 consume more than six hours of electronic media per day. Kent Place uses these tools to enable our students to become truly media literate as they function in an online, collaborative, research-based environment – researching, critiquing, evaluating and creating new knowledge!
As you walk through the halls of Kent Place you see and hear evidence of the school’s commitment to 21st-century learning on three levels: technical emphasis, updated infrastructure and evolution of pedagogy and curricula to adapt to the 21st-century learner. First, the school’s budget provides teachers and students with the technical tools needed to enhance the learning environment. Second, new and renovated buildings provide the infrastructure needed to support 21st-century classrooms. Finally, and most importantly, teachers are immersed in pedagogy and development of curricula that hold the attention of the 21st-century learner.
In 2000, Kent Place began its path toward this challenging and innovative way of teaching with the Upper School 1:1 program (one laptop to one student). In its origin the board, administration and faculty saw this as a wonderful opportunity for our students to utilize real-world tools.This program supports the Kent Place School course of study and affords students equitable access to hardware, software and network resources. The laptop is a technology tool for learning and developing communication, collaboration and problem-solving skills necessary for participation and leadership in a global community. Over the years, the 1:1 program has changed and expanded, we began utilizing the Apple iBook and then saw the opportunity in 2005 that a tablet computer could offer in conjunction with our course of studies. The tablet computer offers all that any laptop does with one additional option of being able to turn and fold down the screen so they you can interact with the computer using a stylus pen and ink or write directly into software programs.
Kent Place expanded the laptop program to the Middle and Primary Schools with cart systems by 2002.This provided a classroom set of Apple laptops to our students but with limitations since one cart only supplied 18 machines. Over the years we have increased the number of carts to meet the growing demand of the teachers for their course work. Currently our Primary School has a cart of 18 Apple MacBooks per grade in third through fifth grades. In addition, students in Kindergarten through fifth grade also have access to a state-of-the-art computer lab. The 1:1 program was extended this year to our Middle School through the use of Netbooks, which are small, lightweight and inexpensive laptop computers. Providing each Middle School students with a Netbook allows for an active learning environment with more opportunities to collaborate and problem solve. Page 18
Recently Kent Place has undergone two major construction projects that have transformed our facilities, especially the classrooms. As you walk through the new Academic Center and Primary School building you will see not only students collaborating and problem solving on computers, but teachers delivering instruction in new and innovative ways.The new classroom has shifted away from the standard lecture- or teacher-centered instruction of the past to an exciting media-rich and project-based environment. Faculty members are rewriting their delivery methods due to the use of interactive boards and projector-equipped classrooms found in all divisions.Teachers and students are immersed in a wireless network that provides a plethora of learning tools available at their fingertips. A visitor to campus today can see in minutes that the buildings and classrooms have undergone a metamorphosis; yet the school remains grounded in its commitment “to a liberal arts education that combines tradition and innovation.”
The course of study remains at the core of all we do at Kent Place, and the marriage of technology and the 21st-century learner is having an exciting impact on all. Curriculum at Kent Place prepares students to become techsavvy individuals that readily display the key 21st-century skills.
These skills, identified by ISTE (International Society of Technology Education), are integrated into the course of study and are being used as a foundation for curricula revision. • Creativity and innovation • Communication and collaboration • Research and information fluency • Critical thinking
• Problem solving and decision-making • Digital citizenship • Technology operations and concepts
While students remain at the center of Kent Place developments, our educational system can only be as advanced as our faculty. Professional development has been essential to curricula revision, not only on the use of the equipment but to the change in pedagogy when delivering course concepts in the classroom. In the spring of 2010, the faculty and staff embarked in full-day exploration of Web 2.0 tools, web resources that take the Internet from what is called the “read web” to a new generation of sites that allow a community of users to interact with the site and each other by adding or updating the content – the “write web.” There are many examples of Web 2.0 tools that are increasingly integrated into lesson plans at Kent Place. Listed below are just a few: Wiki. Community-edited content, like the famous Wikipedia
Blog. A nickname for weblogs, where web writers log their content
Social network. Like Facebook and Ning, in which users can interact through content and messages. Social bookmark. Sites that allow users to mark their favorite web pages and share with colleagues or students. Google Docs. Collaborative Web-based word processing, spreadsheet and presentation documents. Web-based communication utilities. Like VoiceThread and Skype, allow users to communicate by voice and video.
This day of exploration not only opened more possibilities in the classroom but for personal and professional growth as well.Teachers are developing personal learning networks (PLN) to connect with other teachers all over the world to learn and share information.
It’s hard to deny: these tools make learning more fun.There is an air of passion in our classrooms for all that the school day offers and a thirst for more. Kent Place embraces a global mindset, engaging in authentic learning and encouraging digital literacy that will provide our students with the 21stcentury skills essential for their future.The technical emphasis, updated infrastructure and evolution of pedagogy and curricula have transformed the educational experience for both faculty and students, and we are excited about all the possibilities that the future holds. (1)
1Generation M2: Media in the Lives of 8 to18 Year-olds, A Kaiser Family Foundation Study, January 2010
Kent Place for Life: Alumnae Helping Alumnae Build Career Skills
life and career skills
ent Place graduates succeed in a wide range of endeavors, from science and business to writing and the arts. Many alumnae maintain bonds with Kent Place and come back to share their experiences with students through career panels or classroom visits.
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Recognizing the importance of a strong professional network in today’s challenging world, the Alumnae Association Board, under the direction of former President Meyra Green ’64, and Board member Pam Kapsimalis Parsells ’79, through the Alumnae Board Mentoring Program, provide opportunities for young alumnae to gain valuable career direction. Board members serve as
Michelle Manket ’06
I definitely had a very positive experience with the KPS Mentoring Program! I was connected with a KPS alumna mentor as well as a father of a student in the Primary School. Lindsay Weinschenck ’97 was able to share her experiences and help me see the career path that she took so I could start focusing on where I want to be down the road and how I could best get there. Seth Rutman, a contact from UBS that was offering an internship position to a KPS grad, could not have been more generous with his time. Although we agreed that the position that he was offering in his office was not the right position for me, he was able to share some of his contacts, which actually led me to the company for which I currently work. The whole process of my job search showed me that the amazing Kent Place community, of which I feel so lucky to be a part of, is in no way restricted to the campus boundaries. Everyone
liaisons and match graduates with one or more mentors who have volunteered to provide career guidance in their areas of interest. The program recently expanded to internships, helping place college-age alumnae in positions over the summer or winter break. For questions or more information, please e-mail mentor@kentplace.org.
Below are just a few of our alumnae participants and their thoughts on the program.
Eliza Zweig ’08
who has been a part of Kent Place knows what a special place it is, and that common bond engages us to invest a personal interest in the success of our peers.
I feel so lucky to have found a job in this economy, especially one that is so closely aligned with my interests and aspirations. I truly feel that Kent Place has helped to give me the personal confidence and skill set, as well as a strong network, that enabled me to do so. I am still close with my friends from KPS and amazed at what interesting and impressive things they are doing. Here in D.C., I am surrounded by other alumnae with jobs ranging from teaching third grade through Teach for America to working as a government contractor on war-gaming projects while simultaneously earning a master’s degree. Michelle is currently living in Washington, D.C., and works for Calvert Investments in Bethesda, MD.
Alexandra Spicehandler ’05
When I attended the first KPS Mentoring Program event, I had expressed my interest in publishing – particularly book publishing, and Betsy Busch Crosby ’66 was assigned to be my mentor. Betsy contacted different alumnae on my behalf to see if anyone would meet with or talk to me in order to discuss the industry and any potential opportunities that they might know of.
Not long after that, Deborah Wiley ’64 reached out to me via e-mail, and told me about her family’s publishing house, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., and a little bit about its history.We then spoke by phone about the general industry, and what makes Wiley in particular so unique. I also asked Debbie about her own experiences in publishing, and from this conversation was able to gain some insight into that world. I told Debbie I was very much interested in applying to positions at Wiley, and so she kindly forwarded my resume to human resources.Within a month or so I got a call to come in for an interview! I didn’t actually end up getting the first job I interviewed for, but they called me back in to interview for another position that opened up shortly after.
I have now been working at Wiley as an editorial assistant in higher education (working specifically with engineering and computer science textbooks) for a little over a year and a half and have loved every minute of it.Throughout my time here at Wiley, Debbie has continued to reach out to me to keep in touch, often inviting me into her office for a quick catch-up. Because of Betsy, Debbie and the Alumnae Board Mentoring Program, I was able to get my foot in the door of what is currently an exciting, rapidly changing and highly competitive industry.These two women truly went above and beyond for a fellow KPS alumna, and their encouragement and support have been unwavering.
It has been such a pleasurable experience, and I strongly encourage all alumnae to reach out and continue to take advantage of the myriad opportunities that Kent Place offers.
Kent Place helped set me up with a great internship. I remember I was packing to go home for spring break when I got a call essentially telling me that they had found a couple of internships that fit my interests (at that time it was marketing) and right then and there I got the phone number of Laura Kleinbaum ’04, and the two of us set something up for the summer. It was so easy, and the job really gave great insight into what it is like to work for a smaller and newer company.
Because Laura is only a few years older than me, it was really helpful to work with her because she gave me a lot of great advice about my resume, the job world, etc. And having that initial basis of knowing certain teachers and students from Kent Place in common made it more comfortable and fun to work with her. Eliza is a junior at Lehigh University. She is currently studying abroad in Cape Town, South Africa.
Marisa Adam ’07
I was studying abroad when I reached out to Kent Place. KPS was the most direct process I went through in the internship hunt for the summer of 2010. I think this is due to Kent Place’s small but robust alumnae network. I contacted the school and Meyra worked with me all the way to ensure that I got an internship. I have a wide range of interests, and she had options in several of those areas. I ended up working at UBS Wealth Management. I was exploring finance and business to see if I’d like to pursue a career in that field. I learned a ton. Marisa is a senior at the University of Chicago majoring in English language and literature with an intensive focus on political science and cinema and media studies.
Allison Goldberg ’09
I went into my internship at J. Mendel without even knowing much about public relations, and after a whole summer of working with Meghan Brophy ’04 in the PR department, I’m definitely considering a career in that field. KPS helps alumnae in continuing to build skills after graduation. I feel like Kent Place is always there for me in some way when I have had any questions about internships or a career path. I learned a lot working with Meghan at J. Mendel, not only about public relations but also about being an employee in general. It was a really positive experience for me and I recommend that other KPS grads take advantage of the Alumnae Board Mentoring Program. Allison is a sophomore at Lehigh University and recently declared a major in sociology/social psychology with a double minor in Spanish and communications.
Alex is an editorial assistant in higher education at John Wiley & Sons in Hoboken, NJ. She currently resides in NewYork City.
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News & Views Kent Place Renews Academic Accreditation By Kathy Zagorski and James Palmieri, Accreditation Co-Chairs tarting in the fall of 2010, Kent Place School began preparations to renew its accreditation with the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools as well as pursue its accreditation with the New Jersey Association of Independent Schools (NJAIS). NJAIS, our primary accreditation agency, is recognized by the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) and has been evaluating member schools since 1995. Often considered the “gold standard” accreditation agency, the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools, formed in 1887, is a peer-based, non-profit and voluntary association dedicated to educational improvement and excellence. Because we value our membership with NJAIS, and because of our long and successful partnership with Middle States, KPS will pursue dual accreditation.
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Resting on the concepts of self-regulation and quality improvement, accreditation is critical to the mission of any educational institution. It serves as a seal of approval demonstrating to other schools, colleges and universities that the school’s graduates meet specific expectations. Membership in a premier accreditation body like NJAIS allows member schools like Kent Place to strengthen their independent educational missions by meeting NJ state certifications standards which in turn provides a credential for private, corporate and foundation fundraising.
The process of accreditation is based on self-evaluation, followed by a peer review. Its greatest value is a careful, intensive study by the school of its entire operation.To achieve maximum effectiveness, every element of the school community must be involved, permitting views of the school’s operation from as many aspects as possible.Various school constituent groups will be represented on standard sub-committees during the self-study process, including administrators, faculty, staff, past and present parents, alumnae and
board members. Each sub-committee will examine, discuss and respond to nine key standards identified by NJAIS: • Philosophy/Mission
• Personnel
• School and Community
• School Governance
• Counseling/Health
• School Finance
• Program/Instruction
• School Plant/Safety/ Equipment/Services
• Technology
The purpose of this evaluation is to determine to what degree the school is staying true to its mission and thus providing a thorough education to its students. As a result, KPS will develop an action plan as well as an accountability system for monitoring the plan’s implementation.
The self-study process will culminate in October 2011, when a visiting team consisting of more than a dozen professional educators from the Northeast region will conduct a peer review over four consecutive days at Kent Place. Members from both the NJAIS and Middle States accreditation agencies will be present on this team. During their time on campus, review team members will glean a true understanding of the quality of our educational program, our students and graduates, our faculty and staff, our policies and procedures, our accomplishments and our goals for the future.Team members seek meaningful conversations with students, parents and nearly all school employees to enhance their understanding of our school community. At the conclusion of the visit, review team members vote on recommendation to the Accreditation Committee. We are confident that Kent Place School’s pursuit of re-accreditation will be a tremendous success.Thank you in advance for your participation and support.
Kent Place School Upper School Academic Achievements 2010-2011 Advanced Placement Scholars
2011 National Merit Scholarship Program
AP Scholar with Distinction Melanie Appleby ’10, Suzanne Brown ’10, Callie Deddens ’10, Geena De Rose ’10, Hilary Devaney ’10, Alexa Dragoumis ’10, Anna Dugan ’10, Sara Firkser ’10, Marisa Immormino ’10, Sara Javed ’10, Lisa Kretsge ’10, Kathryn Krinsman ’10, Megan Malloy ’10, Claire Marsden ’10, Meredith Mitnick ’10,Tara Nicola ’10, Daniela Quintanilla ’10, Amber Rashid ’10, Emily Sannini ’10, Jacqueline Taylor ’10, Rachel Terry ’10, Amy Tourgee ’10, Carlisle Uhlman ’10, Rachel Uhlman ’10, Nicole Whang ’10, Caitlin Wraith ’10 and Allison Youngdahl ’10
Finalist Jaya Robillard ’11
AP Scholar with Honor Kendall Beeman ’11, Emily Churchill ’10,Ashley Hughes ’10, Mira Korber ’11, Dana Ludwig ’10, Mary Millard ’10, Jayne Pasternak ’11, Brooke Raphalian ’10, Marisa Slabbert ’11 and Krista Zsitvay ’10 AP Scholar Zayba Abdulla ’10, Elena Bartlett ’11, Hannah Benn ’11, Catherine Ciriello ’11, Celine Delle Donne ’11, Meghan Ferguson ’11, Caroline Giroux ’11, Emily Hilton ’11, Eliza Hull ’11, Lili Hutchison ’11, Adele Irwin ’11, Jennifer Dranetz ’11, Abigail Johnson ’11, Emily Johnson ’10, Rene Johnson ’10, Maryam Khan ’10, Samantha Klein ’11, Regina Lane ’10, Ashley Luz ’10, Catherine McDonald ’11, Elizabeth Miggins ’11, Emily Miller ’11, Joanna Mleczko ’11, Michelle Napor ’10, Elizabeth O’Connor ’10, Emilia Pazniokas ’11, Sarah Remshifski ’10, Jaya Robillard ’11, Paige Shepperly ’11, Charlotte Steele ’10, Molly Stubbs ’11, Amanda Walker ’10, Malina Welman ’11, ElizabethYoder ’11, MargaretYoder ’11 and Stefanie Zavodny ’11
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Commended Students Elena Bartlett ’11, Meghan Ferguson ’11, Elizabeth Miggins ’11, Emily Miller ’11, Emilia Pazniokas ’11 and Stefanie Zavodny ’11
2011 National Achievement Scholarship Finalist Abigail Johnson ’11 Referred to Colleges Abrina Hyatt ’11 and Alexis Quarles ’11
2011 National Hispanic Recognition Program Elena Bartlett ’11
“Kent Place scholar-leaders continue to make us all proud with their achievements in and out of the classroom. Recognition by the world outside our community affirms the value of the skills and content gained from a Kent Place education.” – Elizabeth Woodall, Director of the Upper School
KPS Teacher Helps Roll Out New Statewide Terrorism and 9/11 Curriculum ver the past two years, Kent Place School’s Reba Petraitis along with another dozen teachers and administrators from across NJ formed a committee to develop a Terrorism and 9/11 curriculum for K –12. Sponsors of this course of study included the Families and Friends of 9/11, the Holocaust Commission and the Liberty Science Center.The committee sought to raise awareness of the relationship between the nature, causes and history of terrorism and the events, effects and remembrances of 9/11.The goal of the curriculum is to inspire students to take action at local, state or national levels in order to promote world harmony.
O
The curriculum is divided into seven themed units. Each unit addresses an essential question applicable to all grade levels. I.
Human behavior
II. Terrorism: from the playground to the world stage III. The historical context of terrorism IV. 9/11: a case study in contemporary terrorism V.
Post 9/11: consequences and challenges
VI. Remembrance and memory
“We should do all we can as a school community to broaden students’ understanding of threats to civilization under the law...This vigorous new curriculum can do just that.”
– Richard Morey, Upper School History Chair
Said senior Caitlyn Kroeger,“The best part about the class was the permission to speak about controversial issues without being judged. I heard many new ideas. My views of terrorism and those involved have been completely changed.”
The curriculum will be released in 2011, and the Kent Place Upper School History Department intends to offer the course as a senior elective for the 2011-12 school year.
“We should do all we can as a school community to broaden students’ understanding of threats to civilization under the law,” said Upper School History Chair Richard Morey.“This vigorous new curriculum can do just that.”
VII. Building for the future
During the 2009-10 academic year, Kent Place, along with 60 school districts throughout NJ, participated in the pilot study of the curriculum. Students in the Upper School history class of Reba Petraitis, co-author and 9 – 12 coordinator of the curriculum writing team, tested the lessons from November 2009 to April 2010. “The class on terrorism taught me how to analyze stories from all sides and look deeper than what our news stories are telling us,” said senior Eliza Hull. “From the pilot, I learned about different types of terrorism that do not usually come to mind, and many are in our own history as a nation.”
Save the Date!
Journalism Ethics April 4 • 9:00 a.m.
A distinguished panel of journalists will discuss ethical issues in their field. How is “ethics” defined, experienced and “lived out” in the world of journalism and news media? Who chooses which stories are covered? Who decides how the stories are covered? Are news organizations biased regarding ethical dilemmas in the world? What happens when the media makes a questionable cal, or publishes an erroneous report?
9/11 and terrorism curriculum... In the next couple of months, the 9/11 and Terrorism (bullying in the elementary grades) curriculum will be posted on the Holocaust Commission website. Snap the QR code to be taken directly to the site or visit www.state.nj.us/njded/holocaust.
16TH ANNUAL
Girls’ Leadership Institute AT KENT PLACE SCHOOL
JULY 25-AUGUST 5, 2011 FOR GIRLS ENTERING GRADES 7 OR 8 APPLICATION DEADLINE IS APRIL 1
Panelists
• Bill Grueskin, Dean of Academic Affairs, Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism • Byron (Barney) Calame, Former Public eEditor of The New York Times
• Alix Freedman, Deputy Managing Editor at The Wall Street Journal, in charge accuracy and fairness
• IDENTIFY YOUR LEADERSHIP STYLE
• EFFECT CHANGE IN YOUR COMMUNITY
• LEARN EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION
• Karen Pensiero, Assistant Managing Editor at The Wall Street Journal, responsible for post-publication accuracy and fairness
• BUILD SELF-CONFIDENCE
For more information, please visit our website at www.kentplace.org/ethics/events
Summit, New Jersey (908) 273-0900, ext. 303 www.kentplace.org/gli
• Nik Deogun, Managing Editor, CNBC
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Voyager
Professional Development & Discovery
2010 Halsey Faculty Award Recipients
T
he MacDonald Halsey Fund, established in 1980 to honor retiring Headmaster MacDonald Halsey, recognizes individual faculty members and provides assistance for their professional development needs.The funds are usually put toward the development or significant revision of curriculum or other major school programs, or a formal workshop or conference. The fourth grade French class performs a song and dance for their AIM play Comment y aller? (How do you get there?)
The AIM Gesture Approach Program for Grades 3 and 4 Barbara Tejerina, Primary School French Teacher
Mme. Tejerina received a Halsey Grant to refine and develop new curricula for Grades 3 and 4 using the Accelerative Integrated Methodology (AIM) gesture approach for language learning. This methodology introduces signing to support acquisition of vocabulary and grammatical structures, with lessons targeted toward performing a play, song and dance. It accommodates all learning styles, effectively giving the students a fun, energetic and rewarding experience in the world language classroom. In addition to extensive practice in speaking, there is also a comprehensive and structured writing component. The great results in all skill areas that the girls exhibited when Mme.
Tejerina piloted the program in Grade 3 in 2009 inspired her to continue with AIM. Each unit of the program is to be completed in one semester, and her grant work includes revising plans already in place for the first unit, learning and practicing the gestures and scripted plans for the second unit and establishing timelines for the different sections of both units. She also studied the techniques for teaching story re-telling and story extension, important additions to the second unit. Mme. Tejerina is enthusiastically looking forward to her further implementation of AIM and to the wonderful work her third and fourth graders will be producing.
Designing an Integrated Middle School Science Program Wendy Hall, Chair of the Science Department
The Science Department was awarded a Halsey grant to continue work on developing an integrated science curriculum for the Middle School. Our work this past summer focused on the seventh and eighth grades. Our first order of business was to identify the theme that would be the focal point the course. For the seventh grade we identified the theme of energy, a central concept that permeates the physical, life and earth sciences and for eighth grade we selected the theme systems and interactions, one that addresses how parts of a system must interact in order to have the system function. Our work
continued as we developed two new units. Using backward design, a method of designing curriculum by setting goals before choosing activities or content to teach, we developed a unit in the seventh grade that addressed the chemical reactions necessary for the human body to obtain and use energy. In eighth grade we integrated astronomy and the laws of motion to create a unit that allows the students to study physics concepts while exploring space. The work we accomplished this past summer has been incorporated into this year’s course work.
Human Rights/Freedom Curriculum for Grade 5 Susan Mascioli and Sally Snyder, Primary School Teachers
As Grade 3 teacher Mrs. Snyder and Grade 4 teacher Mrs. Mascioli transitioned into a new Grade 5 partnership in the Primary School, restructuring the social studies curriculum to examine the history of the United States through many different lenses was one of their goals. With human rights as its core “big idea,” the revised program begins with a global perspective by studying the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Through literature, history books, primary sources, film and photographs, the students examine what it means to have economic, political, cultural and religious freedom. The theme of human rights taps into issues of diversity within the Primary student population, as well as drawing from students’ family experiences and
traditions. The theme serves as an historical thread weaving through the founding of our nation, to the writing of the Freedom Documents and, subsequently, to the structuring of the U.S. Government. The compromises of the Civil War, the issues of immigration both past and present, the Civil Rights and Women’s Rights movements and the Holocaust all are discussed, debated, researched and written about with the overall perspective of how human rights have been impacted. Activities are designed to help students develop strong skills in reading and writing both fiction and nonfiction texts. Throughout the year, active discussion on current events expands students’ critical-thinking skills and reminds us of the importance of human rights for everyone.
Developing Middle and Upper School Pre-Assessment Tools Linda Ormont, Middle/Upper School Learning Specialist
To measure how far we have come, we need to know where we began. As a best practice, it is important for teachers to gauge their students’ knowledge, skills, attitudes and interests as they begin a course or unit of study. With a summer 2010 Halsey Grant, Ms. Ormont created an online notebook of pre-assessment tools for KPS teachers. She developed faculty workshops to present the principles and rationale for pre-assessment, as well as classroom applications. All Upper School teachers attended the workshops in January 2011,
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and several teachers modeled their pre-assessment work. Primary and Middle School teachers will attend workshops in the upcoming months.This project is part of a number of ongoing curricular initiatives at KPS, including Understanding by Design, Differentiated Instruction and Growth Mindset. In addition to helping teachers target their instruction, effective pre-assessment helps students become aware of their progress by seeing the before, during and after of learning.
Upper School Architecture Course & Professional Development on Diversity Sue Goss, Upper School Art Teacher
A new course, supported by Halsey Grant and developed by Ms. Goss, has been added to the Visual Arts program addressing the design and engineering of architecture from the Roman arch to contemporary dynamic design. The course is thematic and addresses sacred architecture, American architecture, sustainable and recycled architecture, emergency structures and contemporary architectural trends. It explores how needs have influenced the historical development of architecture, how buildings reveal social status and 21stcentury societal needs that impact contemporary architectural design. Ms. Goss also used professional development funding to participate in the 2010 Summer Educators’ Institute at Fairleigh
Dickinson University on “Creating Multicultural Learning Environments.” This intensive, four-day summer program addressed current issues of diversity within our schools and offered skills and strategies to help both teachers and students understand the impact of words and action upon the culture of an institution. Special emphasis was placed upon fostering community discussion on the importance of diversity within our developing worldviews, the need for genuine tolerance and acceptance of diverse beliefs and lifestyles, and the role of affinity groups in maintaining a safe environment for each community member.
Engineering Elective for Middle School Maura Crowe, Middle School Science and Math Teacher
Ms. Crowe received a Halsey grant to develop a Middle School STEM elective during the summer of 2010. STEM focuses on the integration of the disciplines of science, technology, engineering and mathematics, offering students the ability to use project-based learning to address real-world issues that affect their lives and communities. The STEM platform is ideal for promoting critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Over the summer, Ms. Crowe researched STEM best practices and how to best integrate these practices into the curriculum of the new elective, entitled Engineering in Our World. In this new course,
students construct and investigate a variety of internationally recognizable architectural structures that demonstrate STEM, while discussing historical events relevant to these models. The goal is for students to strengthen and apply problem-solving skills in order to model, test, evaluate and modify their own architectural models. With hands-on experience, students are exposed to careers that involve both engineering and architecture. This elective is now offered in all three trimesters of the school year to both Grade 7 and 8 students.
The Star 2010
Jordan Cobb ’13, Denver Hinton ’14, Kelsey Evenson ’13, Elizabeth Robillard ’13 and Samantha Narciso ’13
Mira Korber ’11
Juliette Norrmen-Smith ’13
Chair of the Music Department and STAR Director Edel Thomas
Veronica Child ’14
Jenna Immormino ’12, Grace Berkman ’12, Lindsey Gieger ’12 and Claire Crispo ’14
Upper School Chorus and Orchestra
Upper School Chorus
Mary Libera ’14
Maddie McHugh ’12
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Two is Now One: Upper School Fall Play
Down at the Bottom of a Deep Dark Pit
I
n early November, Kent Place Upper School students presented, not one, but two fall plays: Science Fair and Down at the Bottom of a Deep Dark Pit. Science Fair, a wicked comedy of high school angst written by Kent Place alumna Jeanmarie Williams ’85, told the story of five earnest students who share their science projects. Down at the Bottom of a Deep Dark Pit by alumna Chisa Hutchinson ’98 presents tales of life as lived by six remarkably candid black women. Samantha Narciso ’13
Science Fair
Katja Yacker ’13 (above and left)
Joey Massa ’13
Kendall Beeman ’11
Kendall Beeman ’11
Elanor Haglund ’12
Julia Cicchino ’12
Kendra Jain ’14
“My inclination is to say, first, that this was an opportunity for us to ‘give something back’ – the chance to perform plays written by our own alumnae…But on the other hand, these plays were so good in and of Jordan Cobb ’13 themselves, they really didn’t need any additional reasons for finding their way to our stage.These are sharp, provocative and strangely timely pieces, and they’ve given the acting team plenty to talk about.” Abrina Hyatt ’11
“Being a part of such a controversial production was thrilling. We were not afraid to push boundaries and make the audience think. I love playing characters that are hard to love and understand, so playing Michelle gave me an interesting connection with the audience. The production heightened the connection between the actor and the audience to a degree that was so powerful, and they were still thinking about how our performances affected them afterwards.”
– Bob Pridham, Chair of the Drama Department and play director
Janeen Browne ’13
– Kendra Jain ’14
“I thought it was really great how Chisa Hutchinson was there on opening night to wish us luck and encourage us to do Morgan Hoit ’12 our absolute best and most of all to have fun. Having her there that night made me realize just how closely related all of us Kent Place women are, whether we are still at Kent Place or have graduated years ago. Playing characters created by women who came before us was sort of like viewing the world through their perspectives. Knowing that those perspectives were shaped by experiences they had when they were in my position only made my experience with this play more unique.” – Abrina Hyatt ’11 Page 24
Brianna Morgan ’12
Brianna Morgan ’12
Samantha Narciso ’13
Abrina Hyatt ’11
Ndidi Umezinwa ’11
Grandparents & Special Friends Day & Primary Book Fair
Second grader Olivia Kim with her grandmother Nim Kim and fellow classmate Riley Wagner with her grandparents Jody and Stan Lipson
Kindergartener Ella Zander with her grandparents Peter and Sandra Idstein
Sixth grader Brooke Naylor with her grandmother Corinne Davies
The Upper School Dance Ensemble performs during the Thanksgiving Assembly.
Fourth grader Darby Speno with her grandmother Gail McShane
Fifth grader Laura Mills with her grandparents Tsuneko and Daniel O’Connor
Fourth grader Isabella Racioppi with her grandparents Lizbeth Hernandez and Nick Racioppi
Sixth grader Jacqueline Cook with her grandparents Janine and Thomas Cook Third grader Cara Savoy with her grandfather Peter Donath
The Primary School Book Fair in action.
Fourth grader Sophia Gilbert with her grandfather Ira Gilbert Fourth grader Sarah Johnson with her grandparents Guy and Gloria Burke
Fourth grader Anna Gomez with her grandparents Dr. John A. Smith and Francine Kelly
Third grader Paige Willsey with her grandparents Jean and Jack Welby
Third grader Adrianna Guarino with her grandparents Linda and Elliot Stack
Fourth grader Miranda Fiore with special friend Karin Strupp
Third grader Anya Kumar with special friend Karuna Srivastav
KPS Pep Squad performs its traditional routine at the annual Thanksgiving Assembly.
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2011
Voyager Kent Place School 42 Norwood Avenue Summit, NJ 07902-0308 www.kentplace.org
Congratulations! Last year’s Voyager issue on Multicultural Education at KPS won a Bronze Award in the 2011 Council for the Advancement and Support of Education’s District II Accolades Awards.
Voyager Credits Editor Rachel Naggar
Professional Photography Judi Benvenuti Alex Cena Peter Byron Benjamin Solomon
Comments about Voyager should be directed to the editor at (908) 273-0900, ext. 217 or naggarr@kentplace.org.
Contributors Sue Bosland Ryan LaMountain Rebecca Shaffer
Design Abbie Moore Design Printing Graphic Concepts
Printed with 100% Renewable Energy and Vegetable/Soy based Inks