Academics

For the JK Story Explorers Program~we will be reading a fun story followed by a hands-on extension activity. Whether our intrepid~explorers find themselves hiking along Renbrook’s extensive trail system, collaborating on an abstract painting, or dramatizing their own fairy tale, this program is both enriching and just plain fun! Our hike was our activity following the story “Henry the Explorer”. Henry makes and then plants flags along the path he takes on his exploration, in order that he may easily find his way back home afterward. Renbrook’s Story Explorers made and planted flags along their path on Renbrook’s red trail.

Can you recall the projects you completed as a child in your school? Perhaps you made an instrument for music class, or a diorama for English class, or composed an oral presentation about a U.S. President. While assignments like these can be engaging, you probably don’t remember the specifics of what you learned, and there’s a good reason why. These types of projects only touched the surface of learning because they were not presented as a means to solving an authentic problem, which we now know is one of the keys to making learning memorable and relevant.

Second graders learned about landforms by making their own! Students got to put different materials on their created landforms to see how it flows in Lower School STEAM.

Second graders studied how businesses use needs and wants to provide a good or a service to make a profit. Each student created a business and handmade all their goods and services. Then, we participated in a day of trading, also known as “Renbrookville,” to understand simple economics through a direct experience in a mini-market.

Jack shows off his adirondack chair that he made in his woodworking class this year. All students got to pick an item to design and create in woodworking. Nice work Jack!

We celebrated the culmination of the shoe design project with Renbrook School’s Tinkering Academy. Betsy Flynn, Lower School Learning Specialist, has been working with students in Kindergarten through Grade 5 along with the classroom teachers designing shoes for their buddies. Using a design thinking model, with a focus on empathy, the students interviewed their buddies to learn about their shoe preferences for style, color, and function. Their designs were on full display with a runway show, lights and music! 

On Thursday, April 19, Renbrook ninth graders showed off their Senior Projects.  The subjects varied from the role of advertsing in todays world, to the evolution of hip-hop. Students also displayed their favorite artwork for their family and friends to admire.

Some kindergarten students explored how to program some robots and did an awesome job getting them to start to move!

Leading up to the Invention Convention, fourth graders learn about the world through the lens of one particular country. They research what makes their countries special and they champion these countries as members of a model U.N. Students also study simple machines and the history of inventors and inventions. They then combine what they have learned in these fields of study in order to solve a real world problem people in their regions face today.

Kindergarten students had a blast in STEAM! They are using conductive paint to build simple circuits! 

On February 5, Renbrook School ninth graders participated in “Poetry Out Loud”, a nationwide poetry recitation contest for high school students. The students chose their poems before winter vacation from the Poetry Out Loud Website, memorized them, analyzed them, and recited them at Renbrook School before a panel of judges. Students are judged on accuracy, physical presence, voice and articulation, dramatic appropriateness, evidence of understanding, and overall performance. This year our school winner, Nicole R. ’18 of West Simsbury will move on to the next round of competition. Runner up: Aubrey B. ’18 of Burlington

On Saturday, February 3rd, 14 Renbrook students competed in the Hartford Chapter MATHCOUNTS Competition at the University of Hartford. There were 28 schools, both public and private, represented either by having students compete as Alternates and Individuals. Each school designates four of their “Individuals” who then compete in a “Team” round. Their score in this round along with the average of the scores of these four students make up the Team score. This year there were 25 “Teams”, 205 “Individuals”, and 25 “Alternates” competing. This competition is getting stiffer and stiffer every year as students try to qualify for a spot in the State round and rankings very often differ by a quarter of a point in many cases. Only the five top scoring Teams move on as well as the top 40 Individuals. This year Renbrook had a very respectable showing, ranking 9th out of 25, and we had one student, Sophie G. who ranked 31st /205. She will compete in the State Competition in March.

Congratulations to Sophie and to all our Mathletes and thank you for spending, what turned out to be a very long Saturday, at the competition.

Certificate of Participation Recipients are: Alternates: Sahil A., Andrew K. Will N., and Jayden Y.

Individuals: Manu N., Jake O., Shauna S., Ethan S., Brendan S., and Zoe W.

As part of the history program, fifth grade students created a colonial village, interpreting the life and times of 1700s America. Students learn colonial skills, trades, professions, music, and dance, portraying characters from colonial times. They started the unit by welcoming Plimoth Plantation into their fifth grade classrooms as part of their history program. Colonial Museum teachers taught students about clothing, family roles, home life, school, games, food, and farming. During this annual visit, the visiting guests came to the class dressed in traditional clothing to discuss the Mayflower Compact.

Meet 5-month-old german shepherd Valor and 2-year-old Elka. They are both Fidelco Guide Dogs who came to visit with 7th graders as a kick-off to their annual Fidelco fundraiser at Renbrook! Thanks for visiting Fidelco Guide Dog Foundation!!

Aubrey B. ’18 is officially a Fidelco Puppy Raiser! Renbrook participates in a Fidelco fundraiser each year and some students study canine behavior in class. Volunteers like Aubry take pups at about eight weeks old, love and care for them, participate in weekly activities at the Fidelco training center and when the pups are approximately 14 months old, return them to Fidelco for formal guide dog training. Way to go Aubrey!

Renbrook School’s fifth grade students traveled to the Mystic Seaport for a customized field trip to learn about Colonial Trades. The day consisted of a tour around the seaport and included hands-on adventures in blacksmithing, tinsmithing, rope making, and printing. This trip was arranged to help the fifth graders gain hands-on knowledge of the different trade guilds that they will be portraying at their Colonial Presentation on January 31.

During the month of January, students in grades 1, 3, and 4 have welcomed a new intern into their World Language classes! His name is Gabriel, and he is a 6th grader from Lima, Peru. As a native speaker of Spanish, Gabriel has been helping students with their pronunciation and listening skills through games, activities, and stories. Students have been bursting with questions about what life is like for Gabriel back home in Peru!