The 79th Street Gate: A Lower Division Newsletter

Dear Garden Community:

As we move through the autumn season, my thoughts (and I hope those of others) center on a very small word, THANKS. We are thankful for so much. Sometimes, it is those quiet moments. At other times, it is all the activity around us. I appreciate the time at school, but we also appreciate our home lives. We can be grateful for the forces of nature and the forces of people in our own lives.

Applying this same thought process to Garden School and its community, we can all be thankful for our Re-opening and Return to School Plans, our spacious campus facilities conducive to such a variety of learning opportunities, all of our staff members who give so generously of their time and talents, and our parents who wisely chose Garden and support the school mission.

A favorite tradition around the Thanksgiving Table is for those gathered to state why they are thankful. At school I always say, “I am most thankful for children with smiling faces.” Although “smiles” may be hard to see under the masks, eyes give smiles, too. Seeing the smiles on our students, your children, make being involved in education so very worthwhile. We get to see so many smiles!

So, continue to read through this newsletter. It is full of reasons for all of us to say THANKS.

With sincere thanks,
Bill Vogel

Typically, for young children, getting to know themselves and their classmates entails conversations, role-playing, photos, and show and tell. Who Am I? can be easily answered with just a name, or a much more detailed, multi-day set of activities. The calendar can become a spark for discussions of family traditions, and lead to the study of maps, virtual trips, or family album viewing. A sense of identity and ownership can begin with the child’s “cubby” picture, name on the classroom chair, and family photo for the classroom wall. More elaborately, the “All About Me” posters present commonalities and unique facts about individuals. While “All About Me” is a very telling opportunity for youngsters, many Garden alums can happily recall this repeated activity during their upper division days with Mrs. Elkind!

First, second, and third graders have been busy discussing the notion of school community, friends, and classmates. They frequently look to maps and the globe. One of their first-grade classmates has been virtually joining the group from another state since the beginning of the year. And, since everything becomes a teachable moment, geography and history from that region has added to classroom lessons. The second graders added “interviewing” to their skill set as they wanted to know more about each other; and this included “on-air techniques” for those learning remotely. Third graders continue the theme of community by researching Native American groups. The Iroquois Confederacy is being studied by the class, and independent research projects will be coming soon, beginning with resources from our school library.

Fourth grade has begun its journey across the United States in the Northeast. Through songs and puzzles the class has learned the eleven states and capitals. Further study included unique landforms, bodies of water, resources, and weather. The students followed the timeline of the history of the region from the Native Americans with their own cultures through the arrival of immigrants who were instrumental to the growth of the economy. Students practiced their public speaking skills when becoming part of the women’s rights movement. Discussions on the growth of cities in the Northeast included the introduction of population density maps. The students were then able to use their understanding of population density to analyze the electoral college maps. The highlight of this unit was taking a virtual field trip of the landmarks of the region. Students were able to “travel” throughout the classroom to learn interesting facts of more than a dozen sites. Then they scanned a code that transported them to places such as the Erie Canal where they learned how locks work, Bunker Hill for a 360 degree view, and the Brooklyn Bridge for a walk across. Next the class will head to the Southeast.

Why do people leave their homelands? Fifth Graders were presented with this question at the opening of the Settlements Take Root chapter. As they approach the end of the chapter, they have explored the political, economic, and religious reasons that motivated immigrants to leave their homelands. Starting in New Spain and the search of gold, students categorized the pros and cons of establishing St. Augustine. Then they moved up the coast to the English settling in Virginia and New England. The students became journalists and used the 5 W’s to write an article about the Pilgrims' first winter. A highlight for this chapter was a simulation that determined who would survive in the Jamestown Settlement. Students were given choices for situations faced by the settlers, and their decisions awarded or deducted from their score. At the end, most students made it through the Starving Time. The chapter finishes up with the French and Dutch settlements. Up next will be daily life in the colonies.

The Sixth Grade is finishing its exploration of the Fertile Crescent. They understand the importance of water for trade and agriculture. Many of their discussions have focused on technological advances of the Sumerians, Assyrians and Phoenicians and their subsequent effects. The class participated in a jigsaw activity to help create a chart used to write about the consequences of technology during these early civilizations. Students were responsible for learning about one of three civilizations, and then they taught two other students about it. The class was surprised by the harsh punishments found in Hammurabi’s Code, and enjoyed discussing which they felt were cruel or fair according to the crimes. The students are looking forward to moving into Ancient Egypt next.

These are just a few of the social studies topics enjoyed by students in the lower division. Many other segments of the curriculum involve reading and research, others require knowledge gained through games and simulations, still more require investigation of self and others. The social studies/history faculty has offered a rich variety of Upper Division courses in American History, Area Studies, Ancient & Medieval History, Art History, Economics, Political Philosophy, and Revolution and Terror. Advanced Placement courses can be taken in World History and US History. The most recent additions to the program include electives in Activism to Legislation and Humanity through Conflict.

If someone would come to visit our Prekindergarten classroom midmorning on a Tuesday, they would see the students having a cooking class. This past Tuesday, the students participated in their Tuesday cooking class from home, in a Zoom class. The ingredients needed were posted in the Pre-K Google Classroom for families to buy ahead of time. To keep with our pumpkin unit of study, we read the book Seed, Sprout, Pumpkin, Pie by Jill Esbaum. This is a nonfiction book that reviewed the life cycle of a pumpkin and introduced some new facts about the different types of pumpkins that are grown. Orange pumpkins are the ones that might be seen most often. However, it was fun to learn about the green, red, tan, yellow, white, and even blue pumpkins that are also grown. The end of the book talked about the pumpkin pulp being made into delicious breads, desserts, and soups. By the time we got to the end of the book we were ready to sample something pumpkin. Putting together the ingredients listed, step by step, the children made a delicious pumpkin dessert. One bite was enough for everyone to know that they were a good cook. Waiting to eat the rest of their dessert until after lunch was the hardest part of the whole activity. As a follow up, the students listened to The Counting Pumpkin Song from Miss Molly Songs as they drew their own version of a pumpkin patch adding their favorite types of pumpkins to their picture. What a cool lesson over Zoom! But more to come as these great cooks will soon be designing their own aprons to be used throughout the year and testing many new recipes.

Report cards were emailed to families yesterday. As noted, families may feel that an individual ten-minute Zoom Parent/Teacher Conference may provide further insight and help set realistic goals for their child. Please use the Google Form below to inform us of the three teachers you would like to meet.

Click to Register
Complete the form ASAP, but no later than Wednesday, November 18th
Ms. Petruso will email appointment times by November 20th
Zoom links will be provided
Conferences will be held on November 24th from 3:20 to 7:50PM
Let me know if you have any concerns or need to schedule a more comprehensive meeting (wvogel@gardenschool.org)

Garden School’s Dining Room is one of three “named” spaces on campus (the others are Roberts Library and Richard Marotta Hall). It was dedicated by our Board of Trustees many years ago in appreciation of William Poll, a parent of seven Garden School graduates and a long-time member of the Board of Trustees. His family owned business is well known in New York City.

Ms. Ana Mesias heads our Food Service and cooks delicious meals each school day. We all have our favorite foods, and Ms Ana caters to us all. On Thursday, November 19th, the Food Service Staff will be preparing Garden School’s Annual Thanksgiving Feast. The entire school community (faculty, students, and staff, …meal plan or not) is invited to enjoy turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, and dessert. Please do not plan to bring your lunch that day but do bring your appetite. Individual meals will be brought to all in homerooms! We are thankful for Ms. Ana, her talents and her smile!

We are so very thankful to our resident student/artists and our art instructor, Mr. Orlowski. Students explore their inner selves as they are inspired through masterpieces, seasonal motifs, classroom instruction, and themes of (Dis)Abilities and Inclusion. The pumpkin artwork is inspired by Yayoi Kusama, who is challenged by mental illness and lives in a Japanese mental institution, and the fingerprint portraits are a Chuck Close inspired activity. He is physically challenged, following a collapse of his spinal artery in 1988 that left him paralyzed.

As you know, Nicole Adams had continued on as this year’s President. However, she is now passing the torch onto our new Parents’ Association Co-Chairs Christine Marengo and Evelyn Frey Zamora.

Please join us in thanking Nicole for her leadership of the parent group. Nicole has been an instrumental community leader and Garden families owe her a great debt of gratitude for her stewardship of our mission. Especially during these challenging last eight months, Nicole has been a source of calm and enthusiasm pushing forward with ambitious goals, teacher support, and a few key initiatives including picture day and our recent Garden Gear pop up shop.

As current VP and Treasurer, Christine and Evelyn graciously volunteered to step in as co-chairs of the Parents’ Association for the remainder of the year and we could not be more excited to have them in this role. They hold their first Parents’ Association Happy Hour gathering on Thursday, December 3rd at 6:30pm on Zoom. Perhaps a bit different than meetings of the past, there will be a little time for business, but even more for connection. Please RSVP here.

As always, the Parents’ Association is a conduit for engagement, sharing ideas and volunteering opportunities. Grade level questions can continue to funnel through Grade Reps, interest in volunteering can be sent to PTA@gardenschool.org, and any questions about your child’s program or other school related issues should be sent to Mr. Vogel in LD or Mr. Battaglia in UD.

There have been questions about how Garden will respond if the Mayor announces a move to fully remote in city public schools. Being an independent school means that we are not governed by decisions the mayor makes about city schools. As members of NYSAIS and SORIS, we look to Albany. Back in September, the Governor indicated statewide closures would only be considered if positivity rates went above 9%. The city may move remote because of the logistic and resource challenges to staying open with rates above 3%. We will continue to make decisions based on the circumstances within our community, keeping an eye on the data, and following all laws that govern independent schools in NYS.