Evolve Newsletter: April 2016 Edition

evolve

K I N G S L E Y ’ S C A M PA I G N F O R I N N OVAT I O N A N D E XC E L L E N C E INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

Letter from the Head of School and Board Chair.................................................. 1

Overview of the Evolve Campaign...... 2 In Their Own Words................................. 3 Innovation Through Collaboration: A Teacher Perspective............................. 5 Evolve Campaign FAQs........................... 6 New, State-of-the-Art Learning Spaces.................................... 7/8 Impact on Students’ Learning: A Student Perspective............................ 9 Capital Campaign Donors & Campaign Steering Committee.......... 10

#TALKINGaboutANevolution

#TALKINGaboutANevolution Dear Friends of Kingsley,

offer leadership opportunities for our students to develop their creativity, collaboration and problem-solving skills.

With the renovation of the courtyard this past summer, our youngest students’ now experience a much-enhanced space for outdoor play that extends learning beyond the classroom. Plans for new, hands-on projects that utilize the new indoor/ outdoor planters are underway to teach the life cycle of plants as well as environmental stewardship within their own community.

The second edition of our Campaign newsletter showcases the impact our recent physical expansion has made on our students’ learning and our curriculum development. We are delighted to share how our students and faculty are using their new learning spaces in dynamic ways.

Since October, we have witnessed new and exciting opportunities for faculty collaboration that has broadened our programming. From the Kindergarten Engineering Design Workshop and the new Lower Elementary sound wave project to Upper Elementary’s new ball and ramp math unit, our students’ learning experiences have significantly grown to include more integrated STEAM projects and increased opportunities for critical thinking and collaboration among student peer groups.

As we pursue our long-term objectives, our top priority is to support faculty-led curriculum innovation and new ways to

The full restoration of the Fairfield building is a priority to sustain this valuable asset. Over time, we plan to make further improvements to the Toddler and Preschool classrooms as well as replace the roof and upgrade the windows throughout the building.

We thank the many friends, faculty, staff and families in our community who have supported the Evolve Campaign thus far. This extraordinary generosity is what enables us to deliver our promise of an unparalleled education to current and future Kingsley families. We hope you will join us to support the Evolve Campaign. We have more to do and simply cannot do it without your partnership. Thank you for your ongoing commitment to our students and faculty. Your support of Kingsley’s Evolve Campaign is very much appreciated.

Sincerely,

Renee DuChainey-Farkes, Head of School Charlotte Hemr, Chair, Board of Trustees

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WHAT IS THE EVOLVE CAMPAIGN ABOUT? The Evolve Campaign is a one-time, multi-year fundraising effort to facilitate the expansion and enhancement of Kingsley’s programmatic offerings and physical spaces. This effort seeks to raise $6.7M in support of: • Full reconfiguration of the Exeter building along with the addition of the fifth floor • Restoration of the Fairfield building, including the renovation of the courtyard • Annual Fund which helps sustain operating expenses

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P4 student

Third-Grade student

First-Grade student

IN THEIR OWN

WORDS

Fifth-Grade student

Sixth-Grade student

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“

I could stand in front of students and describe the engineering design process all day long, but nothing replaces learning by doing.

These students know exactly what “design criteria” and “testing” and “improving” mean because they performed these functions themselves.”

INNOVATION THROUGH COLLABORATION: A TEACHER PERSPECTIVE–MELANIE FLORES What was the idea behind creating the Engineering Design Workshop for Kindergarten students?

The Kindergarten Engineering Design Workshop aligns with Kingsley’s vision and the desire I had when I first came to Kingsley: to bring engineering to the curriculum and to every child. I proposed the idea this year to expand engineering at Kingsley to include our Early Childhood Program by creating a new workshop for kindergarteners.

In these workshops, students learn how engineers approach problems firsthand by actually going through the engineering design process. They have the opportunity to design a solution to an everyday problem, exercise critical thinking and formally present their designs and their work (both written and orally) to a mixed audience –all at a level that is accessible and student-friendly. The formal presentation component is a significant new addition to our younger students’ learning experience and they are excited to do it! I’m grateful that our school has the space and the technology to support this kind of experience and growth.

What impact do you feel these types of experiential projects have on our students’ learning?

I could stand in front of students and describe the Engineering Design Process all day long, but nothing replaces learning by doing. These students know exactly what “design criteria” and “testing” and “improving” mean because they performed these functions themselves.

They all jumped and walked in their shoes and evaluated for themselves whether their designs were robust.

How have the new learning spaces offered more opportunities for teacher collaboration to develop new programs like the Kindergarten Engineering Design Workshop?

The workshops represent a collaboration between the classroom teachers, our librarian Bindy and myself. Bindy reads aloud The Most Magnificent Thing by Ashley Spires and What Do You Do With an Idea? by Kobi Yamada to kick-off the project with students. The new spaces like the Innovation Centers are utilized to meet with classroom teachers, which provide the ability to use a wider variety of materials when working on projects.

Kindergarten students display their engineered shoe designs during their presentation.

What’s on the horizon for new curriculum development involving engineering and technology for both campuses?

I’d love to continue building and enhancing the Engineering Design Workshop and see what’s possible with more collaboration with Exeter teachers! We could add peer testing in addition to students testing and evaluating their own designs…that would be the true litmus test for robustness and user friendliness.

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LIVE. GROW. GIVE. ANNUAL FUND GIFTS HELP US LIVE. CAPITAL GIFTS HELP US GROW. GALA GIFTS HELP US GIVE.

HOW CAN I FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE EVOLVE CAMPAIGN? The best way to learn more about the Evolve Campaign is to reach out to a member of our Campaign Steering Committee, Renee DuChaineyFarkes or Kristi O’Connor. Personal conversations are often the best way to hear about what is happening with the Campaign and to learn how it is supporting our students and faculty.

In addition to a personal conversation with one of our Steering Committee members, we have added a new resource page on the My Kingsley website. The Evolve Campaign resource page features stories about the campaign’s programmatic impact, progress to date, FAQs, related campaign videos and pictures. You

can also find contact information for our Campaign Steering Committee with email links.

WHEN WILL SOMEONE SPEAK WITH ME ABOUT THE CAMPAIGN? All members of our community will be asked to support the Campaign.

In addition to maintaining your annual support, our parent volunteer-led Campaign Steering Committee will ask each family to consider a special gift in support of our capital objectives over the next 16 months. If you are interested in speaking with someone immediately about your support for the Campaign, please reach out to a member of the Campaign Steering Committee or the Advancement Office.

HOW CAN I MAKE A GIFT TO THE CAMPAIGN? In the spirit of sustaining our annual operations, we encourage you to first make your Annual Fund commitment as soon as possible.

We ask you to consider making a capital gift as well in support of the Exeter expansion and Fairfield restoration.

To discuss a capital gift in support of the Evolve Campaign, please contact a member of our Campaign Steering Committee, Kristi O’Connor, director of advancement, at koconnor@kingsley.org (617) 226-4902 or Renee DuChaineyFarkes, head of school, at rduchaineyfarkes@kingsley.org (617) 226-4907. Capital commitments may be paid out over the course of up to five years and at variable installments.

#TALKINGaboutANevolution

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NEW STATE-OF-THE-ART LEARNING SPACES

THAT WILL…

Clockwise from top left: Lower Elementary students review their writing project with Ms. Kellogg in the Project Studio.

Upper Elementary students in the new Science Lab observe and collect data on how different sized beakers impact a lit candle when placed over it.

Preschool students in Ms. Rekha and Ms. Liz’s classroom enjoy a spring day in Fairfield’s renovated courtyard.

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ADVANCE OUR PROGRAMS AND INNOVATE

OUR CURRICULUM.

Clockwise from top left: Lower Elementary students in the 3rd Floor Innovation Center researching topics for their Passion Projects.

Librarian Bindy Fleischman assists an Upper Elementary student with a book selection for his research paper.

Kindergarten students learn how to play “Twinkle,Twinkle, Little Star” on the xylophone​in the Performing Arts Studio.

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“

It was helpful to have a lot of space in the lab not only to work in a group, but also so our cell materials and notebooks were easily accessible when we needed to stop and take notes.”

IMPACT ON STUDENT LEARNING: A STUDENT PERSPECTIVE–IAN G. What is it like being on the new 5th floor?

I love being on the fifth floor because it feels like a new beginning! Now that we have that floor, I feel it’s easier to stay focused on lessons from my teachers, to complete assignments with classmates and to use the Project Studio.

Tell us more about the new Project Studios…

The Project Studio is a learning space with a projector, whiteboard, laptop adapters and Wi-Fi Internet. They are great for bringing in your computer and collaborating on group projects because you’re away from the main classroom. If you want to work quietly and focus on a certain assignment Sixth-Grade student Ian G. works on his Mini Senior or group work, the Project Studio Project with teacher Pete Ferraro. works well for that too. I have used it for Writer’s Workshop and for conducting research on my Fibonacci Project.

What types of experiments have you conducted in the new Science Lab? I did a really cool group project where we created model cells using everyday materials. It required an understanding of both cell diagrams and parts of a cell because we replicated cells with common materials such as marbles and pasta. It was helpful to have a lot of space in the lab not only to work in a group, but also so our cell materials and notebooks were easily accessible when we needed to stop and take notes.

How has the new Library and Digital Media Center enhanced your learning?

The new Library is much better. It’s easier to access and is bigger with a lot more room for technology and more shelves for books compared to the old Library. Now we have new projectors, all new computers and more books. The books are much easier to find and there’s a lot more to choose from, which helped me to find my topic for my MSP (Mini Senior Project).

For my MSP, I researched China and its relationship with Hong Kong. When you become a Sixth Year and have long-term research projects, you are taught how to use particular keywords to find websites that will give your research evidence. The Library is perfect for this type of work.

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CAMPAIGN DONORS We would like to recognize the generosity of the following families who have made capital commitments of over $3.96M in support of the Evolve Campaign as of March 16, 2016. We sincerely appreciate the leadership and support these families have provided in helping us launch our Campaign.

Meg Succop and Robert Adams P’21, ’18 Liz and Steve Beckhardt P’16 David Belluck P’15, ’11, ’10 Jamie and Damon Brown P’21, ’18, ’17 Heather and Christian Carrillo P’24 Mei Mei Chow and Edgar Casado P’19 Ellie and Brian Chu P’25, ’23 Yael and Thomas DeCapo P’18 Kim Dellarocca P’21 Renee DuChainey-Farkes Jessica and Greg Fisher P’20, ’18, ’16 Tracy and Matt Friedman P’22, ’19 Dee and Richard Gordon GP’22, ’21, ’21, ’16, ’14, ’10 Julie and Howard Hall P’19, ’16 Charlotte and Kurt Hemr P’20, ’17 Gabriela Cesaro and César Hernández P’20, ’20 Jodi and Hal Hess P’22, ’18 Lisa Wohlleib and Seth Hoogasian P’17, ’17 Viva and Geoffrey Hyatt P’22, ’20 Ashley and Bruce Jacobs P’21, ’16, ’14, ’10 Jessica Duda and Marc Jaffan P’25, ’21 Lisa and Chris Jaynes P’18, ’16, ’16 Tara and Reid Jordan P’22, ’20 Lauren Joy P’17, ’15 Leslie and Chris Kingsley Charlotte and Lowell Kingsley Juanita and Victor Kingsley Lucy Moon-Lim and Richard Lim P’25, ’18

Melani Cammett and Angelo Manioudakis P’22, ’14, ’13 Michael Mars P’15 Erica and Chris Mastrangelo P’21 Vicki Delmonico and Chris Merrill P’23 Stephanie and Todd Morrison P’23 Mimi and Brett Moss P’18, ’16 Maria and Ali Motamed P’25, ’23, ’21, ’19 Alyssa Irving and Chris Mrazek P’24, ’22 Kristi and Brian O’Connor P’22, ’19 Maria and Thanos Pantazis P’25, ’23 Alexandra and Minesh Patel P’22, ’21 Catherine and John Pena P’22, ’20 Stephanie and Randy Pierce P’22 Kathleen and Whit Porter P’20, ’18 Erin and Robert Reilly P’03 Daniela Corte and Stuart Roseman P’19, ’17 Ella and Tedd Saunders P’24, ’24 Jill and Niraj Shah P’19, ’17 Molly Shannon P’24 Becky Kidder Smith and Tom Smith P’21, ’16 Darla and John Soukas P’19, ’17 Stephanie and Brian Spector P’25, ’22, ’20 Kristina and Hunt Stookey P’21, ’18 Wendy Yeh and Larry Tsai P’20, ’18 Alexandra Chabrerie and Ian Watson P’16 Susan and Kyle Weaver P’23, ’20 Nicole Zatlyn and Jason Weiner P’22, ’19 Ilana Braun and Jed Weiss P’25, ’22

CAMPAIGN STEERING COMMITTEE MEMBERS: HAL HESS, Campaign Co-Chair (hal.hess@americantower.com) JILL SHAH, Campaign Co-Chair (jill@jillshah.com) NIRAJ SHAH, Campaign Co-Chair (nshah@wayfair.com) BECKY KIDDER SMITH, Campaign Co-Chair (bkiddersmith@gmail.com) JOHN SOUKAS, Campaign Co-Chair (johnsoukas@comcast.net) *RENEE DUCHAINEY-FARKES (rduchaineyfarkes@kingsley.org) *KRISTI O’CONNOR (koconnor@kingsley.org)

DAVID BELLUCK (david@belluck.com) CHARLOTTE HEMR (charlotte@hemr.net) ASHLEY JACOBS (ashleygjacobs@gmail.com) JOHN PENA (johncbpena@gmail.com) ROB REILLY (rob.reilly@fmr.com) MOLLY SHANNON (mkshannon@wellington.com) KRIS STOOKEY (kstookey@gmail.com)

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KINGSLEY MONTESSORI SCHOOL 26 Exeter Street, Boston, MA 02116

#TALKINGaboutANevolution