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Pleasure Reading
The skills and experiences students gain from reading – from improving literacy to expanding their imaginations – are invaluable. Bernice E. Cullinan, Professor Emeritus at New York University, notes, “The amount of free reading done outside of school has consistently been found to relate to growth in vocabulary, reading comprehension, verbal fluency, and general information.”…
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Salmon Stocking Project
Renbrook’s Grade 5 Science Program actively participates in the Connecticut River Salmon Association Salmon-in-Schools Program. This valuable scientific and environmental learning project is enjoyed by children in schools across Connecticut. Students participate actively in all program phases, from rearing salmon eggs in the classroom to stocking rivers, and Renbrook is thrilled to be a part…
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Aviation and History Combine to Celebrate “Women in Flight”
Renbrook School recently honored the legacy of Frederick B. Rentschler, the pioneering spirit of women in aviation, and the modern-day accomplishments of female pilots across the globe with our annual Flight Day celebration. This year, we honored “Women in Flight.” Frederick B. Rentschler Frederick B. Rentschler, co-founder of Pratt & Whitney, and his family lived…
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Writing from Beginning to End
A Snapshot of Renbrook’s Writing Program InitiativesBy Amy Ma, Director of Writing; English Department Head; Co-Coordinator of Diversity and Belonging “I wrote my way out – Wrote everything down far as I could seeI wrote my way out – I looked up and the town had its eyes on meWait for it … (I’ll write…
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A New Library for Renbrook
The Vision In March 2020, Kathryn Ferrante, Renbrook’s adventurous librarian, and Matt Sigrist, Head of School, began a conversation about exciting new models for school libraries. How could we make our library the heart of the school? Kathryn and Matt recognized that our beautiful library space is currently underused. They were inspired by the learning…
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The Benefits of Play-Based Learning
Renbrook Beginning School Celebrates Global School Play Day The Beginning School at Renbrook embraces a play-based learning approach that encourages children, in partnership with teachers, to make discoveries about themselves and the world around them. Play is essential as children learn to socialize, communicate, make choices, show initiative, collaborate, observe, problem-solve, and ask questions. While…
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Upper School Students Honor MLK and Black History Month
As part of their study of Black History Month, Upper School students in Ross McLay’s Honors History class participated in Senator Chris Murphy’s 2024 Martin Luther King Jr. Essay Contest. Each year, Senator Murphy invites students from across Connecticut to help honor the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. by submitting essays that reflect on…
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The Gift of Summer Camp
As we embark on the Season of Giving and the annual Day of Giving today, we think of others and embrace how our kindness and generosity can impact their lives. The working definition of giving is “to give to another in some terms, to make gifts or presents, or give to charity: to provide love or other…
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Reflections from the Admission Office
Each year, we welcome new faculty and staff members to Renbrook School. For those of us who have been here a while, it’s always interesting to take a fresh look at Renbrook through the lens of a colleague seeing it for the first time. I had that opportunity when I read a letter from our…
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Teal Pumpkins: A Colorful Tradition of Inclusivity on Halloween
Recently, a Renbrook fifth-grade student demonstrated true agency in leading a project with his classmates to help them understand the Teal Pumpkin Project and increase awareness of food allergies. Every year, as Halloween approaches, neighborhoods are adorned with pumpkins of all shapes, sizes, and colors. One particular pumpkin, though, stands out with its distinctive teal…
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The Importance of Developing Self-Regulation in Young Children
by Julie Schlossinger Ed.D. Self-regulation is a fundamental skill that empowers students to manage their emotions, behavior, and attention effectively. As we work together to provide the best possible education for our children, nurturing self-regulation should be one of our key objectives. One of the best explanations of self-regulation that I ever read comes from…
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Nurturing Independence: Developing Agency in Young Children
Every parent dreams of raising children who are confident, capable, and able to make informed decisions. One of the key milestones on this journey is developing agency in young children. Agency refers to a child’s ability to make choices, take action, and have a sense of control over their own lives. It’s a vital skill…
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From Caterpillar to Monarch Butterfly: A Magical Journey!
Ah, the Monarch Butterfly. Do you remember the awe and wonder of witnessing a caterpillar transform into a beautiful butterfly as a child? It’s a magical experience that captivates young minds. Junior Kindergarten students at Renbrook School are so lucky to benefit from the passion that their teacher, Robin Ellef, holds for these beautiful creatures.…
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CONGRATULATIONS CLASS OF 2023!
Congratulations to the Renbrook School Class of 2023! What an amazing group of scholars, athletes, leaders, and friends. We know great things are ahead of you. Members of this class are headed to the following schools, and we know they will make us proud! Go Hawks! Avon Old Farms School, Berkshire School, Choate Rosemary Hall,…
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Legacy Society Profile: Jane C. Shipp
Jane Shipp was Renbrook’s Headmistress for 20 years, from 1990 to 2010. Only Florence Greene, our founding Headmistress, served the school longer. Mrs. Shipp preferred the title Headmistress because she saw her role as head teacher, the first among equals. She left a lasting imprint on the school and is remembered fondly by former students, parents, faculty, and staff. Although she has scrupulously kept her distance since retiring, she watches our doings with keen interest and speaks with great conviction about her love for the school and its mission.
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GIFTS AT WORK: Manafort Family Plaza
Trudging up the hill to the Upper Athletic Fields used to mean emerging on the verge of Edith P. Gengras Field on a muddy pathway under the Sills Family Tennis Courts, squishing through puddles to reach the soccer and field hockey fields. Now, the trudger is greeted by an elegant stone plaza and a stone wall proudly proclaiming “Renbrook School.” The first field is now dedicated to Bruce J. Irving, and beyond it is the new Gengras Family Field.
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ALUMNS IN ACTION: Tim Paydos ’85, IBM’s Global General Manager of Government Industry Solutions
Tim Paydos’s interest in using the latest technology to solve problems can be traced back to the early 1980’s, when the first computer arrived at Renbrook. He remembers sharing the excitement as Marg Ayres, Head of the Math Department, set up the big, clunky Apple computer in the library and called it “the Computer Lab.” Hooked, Tim continued to explore the possibilities of the new technologies as they evolved through his time at St. Paul’s and then at Harvard, where he majored in Foreign Relations with a specialty in Nuclear Wargaming. Tim’s studies included government and history, sociology and psychology, and statistics and probability. How would he use his varied interests and aptitudes? Would he follow many of his talented peers into investment banking? No, Tim was excited to deliver value to society through innovative, geeky technology.
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Renbrook School Celebrates Flight Day
ALUMNS IN ACTION: Emma Kagel ’97, Bioethecist
“Like many who pursue a career in healthcare, it was my personal experiences as a patient that led me to seek a meaningful way to contribute to the practice of medicine,” explains Emma Kagel ’97. Forging her path in the rapidly evolving field of bioethics, she has drawn on her struggles and triumphs as a profoundly deaf child and an early adopter of cutting-edge medical technology. Now she is making a difference at Beth Israel Lahey Health as a compliance officer, addressing ethical issues in medical research. She is also the founder of Bioethics Alliance, whose goal is “to foster evidence-based insights and best practices to advance bioethical dialogue, therapeutic partnerships, and ethical action for a just society.”
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Renbrook’s American Chestnut
Last year’s seventh-grade Life Science class discovered three American chestnut trees in the Renbrook Forest (Renbrook Magazine Winter 2022). This exciting find enabled students to dive into the historical, cultural, and economic significance of this once-dominant hardwood and the introduced blight which swiftly killed over four billion trees in the early decades of the 20th century. It also provided them with a unique opportunity to join the American Chestnut Foundation (TACF) in its bold mission: “to develop a blight resistant American chestnut tree through breeding, biotechnology, and biocontrol, and restore the tree to its native forests in the eastern United States.” By sending twig and leaf samples and other data to TACF’s regional scientist, Renbrook students helped expand TACF’s database of all the known wild chestnut trees in the United States. But this was just the beginning.
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