The 79th Street Gate: A Lower Division Newsletter

Dear Garden School Community:

Often, one of the first activities undertaken each morning is a check of the weather. Lately, it has been snow, sparking mixed emotions. Children are thrilled with cancelled classes, extended sleep, warm pajamas, hot chocolate, and hours to play in the snow. Adults may see the idealistic, picturesque landscape fade to transportation concerns, shoveling aches and pains, skipped garbage collections, and children home from school needing meaningful activities.

Meteorologists are quick to list “snowfall records” to shatter. One of those on the list was in 1978, my first winter at Garden School! I read, with fascination, the recounting of this snowfall event by some of our alums on Facebook. My how this brought back memories and a quick reminder of Garden’s growth since then--a growth in programming (early childhood, afterschool, summer, transportation), an emphasis on diversity and world languages, changes in building and structures, and developed share visions.

And so, we come to the Snowfall of 2021, yes cancelled classes, fun play, missed parking spots--some things never change. We all move forward, and at Garden we now look to The Road to 100, our strategic plan for the next several years—reminding us of our rich traditions while providing a map for continued growth. Partner with us on this journey.

I delight in seeing the wonderment of the snowfall in the excitement of our students, and the aches and pains of shoveling will subside! Enjoy the Winter Break. See you on February 22. What is the weather going to be?

All the best,
Bill Vogel

Note From the Nurse

As you know, each week we hold on-campus COVID surveillance testing. Because of the volume of PCR tests from outside clinics representing students and staff across the school that we received this week, we did not hold on-campus testing yesterday. In fact, the "pool" was actually larger than ever this week. Testing continues on campus the week after break.

As we evaluate all of our other measures, we are also evaluating risk on campus after our upcoming break. Thank you for completing this week’s survey. If you have not yet competed it, please do so here. Our goal in all of this is to limit exposure to students and staff, and thus every family in the community, by understanding travel plans and reducing the risk of COVID on campus after break.

We again will ask any family traveling outside of the five contiguous states, flying, or spending time outside of their “bubble” to meet the following criteria before returning to campus:

Self-quarantine and go remote for 14 days from the day after you return to your bubble or
Self-quarantine and go remote for 10 days from the day after you return to your bubble with a PCR test administered between day 6 and 8.

We have all worked so hard and limited our activities, so now is the time to double down on our efforts. The bottom line is we need to remain aggressive in our approach to keeping COVID off campus and reducing spread when and if we do not. We thank everyone in the community for the sacrifices they have and will continue to make to achieve these ends.

Our social studies curriculum takes a student from the person to the community to the world. Often concepts are discussed, facts investigated, and projects completed. At times, we take slight detours to match calendar events and those topics currently being discussed in real time.

Early Childhood

The nursery class begins each month by looking at our “Starfall” Calendar and discussing the “special days” highlighted that month. We recall looking at each month on the calendar as we move forward, giving some structure to our social studies work.

February might be the shortest month, but full of topics to be discovered: weather (snow), Groundhog’s Day, Lunar New Year, Valentine’s Day, President’s Day, and Black History Month. We use our senses and kinesthetic materials, and a wealth of resources (SmartBoard, NatGeoKids, Scholastic Magazines of “My Big World,” newspapers, globes) in our topical discussions. Soon, we “flip” the calendar page to March and on to more interesting social studies topics.

One of the people being studied for Black History Month, in our Early Childhood Department, is Faith Ringgold. She is a painter, mixed media sculptor, writer, speaker, and performance artist. She was a professor emeritus at the University of California where she taught art from 1987 until 2002. She is the recipient of more than 75 awards including 22 Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts Degrees. Crown Publishers published Faith Ringgold’s first book, the award-winning Tar Beach in 1991. It has won over 20 awards including the Caldecott Honor and the Coretta Scott King award for the best-illustrated children’s book of 1991. Tar Beach was read during social studies class this month. This book inspired our young scholars in nursery, pre-k, and k to recreate their own versions of flying over the rooftops and the George Washington Bridge in the night sky. Their creations will be displayed in the showcase in the Early Childhood hallway.

Valentine's Day was the focus in Social Studies this week in Kindergarten. The students were so excited to exchange valentines with one another as well as create gifts to take home to their families. We learned about the story of Valentine's Day and why so many people from different countries celebrate it. Teaching about this holiday is such a fun way to educate young children about the importance of showing love to those around them, as well as showing appreciation for the little things in life that make us happy every day. The students completed an art/writing project about different things that they love. What do you love reading? What do you love playing? What do you love making? Whom do you love? We also created cards for our families with a special surprise inside... a coupon book! Looks like some families will be getting some free hugs and kisses, breakfast in bed, or even a story read to them this weekend. How else can you show your loved ones that they are so special to you? Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

Grades 1-2-3

It is imperative to educate students from a young age of the importance of black history in our society. The first graders continue to explore famous black individuals as part of Black History Month. Building on background knowledge from the histories of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks, we read many biographies including Ruby Bridges, Harriet Tubman, and Jackie Robinson. The students recognized themes of unjust and unfair laws. They were mind boggled that such an unfair time of history existed. The students wrote about the perseverance and courage that these individuals endured. We examined the poem ‘Dreams’ by Langston Hughes. We practiced reciting and signing this poem, and the importance of never giving up on your dreams like the people we learned about.

The second graders have been learning about landforms and maps in social studies. Students are working on creating a map of their own island, with a compass rose, legend, and several landforms. They will present their completed work to their classmates when we return from the February break. We are also learning about African American inventors, and how their inventions solved problems and made peoples' lives better. We use a timeline as we learn about these people in history, to show the order of their wonderful inventions. Students are working on a timeline of their own lives that they will present later this marking period. We also had the pleasure of James' mother sharing a Lunar New Year read aloud over zoom. What a wonderful way to help us appreciate and celebrate the Year of the Ox!

The third graders have been learning about the thirteen colonies. They each researched a colony and created a travel brochure to persuade potential European settlers to move to their colony. They did a wonderful job presenting their colorful brochures to the class. February is Black History Month! The third graders are learning about the Civil Rights Movement. We have been discussing the March on Washington, the Montgomery Bus Boycott, Brown v the Board of Education, and some of the activists of the 1950s and 60s. After the winter break, the third graders will each research an important member of the Civil Rights Movement and present their information to the class. The Civil Rights Movement was such an important time in our country's history. We look forward to the discussions that are sure to follow with this caring and inquisitive group!

Grades 4-5-6

Fourth Grade has completed their tour of the Midwest Region. As with each region, the students learned the states and capitals, geography, resources, economy, and history. This region introduced document based written responses. Students wrote about the changes to, and effects of, farming in the Midwest using charts, graphs, and maps to support their ideas. Students researched one civil rights hero in an "expert group," took notes, and created a digital group poster project to share their information with the class. The members of each group shared a document to create their poster. During presentations, classmates took notes to become familiar with all four civil rights heroes. Next stop on the journey across the United States is the Southwest.

Fifth Grade has heard the “Shot Heard ‘Round the World”. On the way, students analyzed primary sources such as letters and engravings, listened to parody songs, and wrote a newspaper article about the Boston Massacre. A highlight was using the internet to create an itinerary for a field trip to the NY historic site Fort Ticonderoga. Students explored all that this real historic site has to offer and planned a day trip as though they were going to visit the Fort. Students made decisions about what they would like to do, see, eat, and purchase. Throughout the lessons the class has discussed the roles of different groups during the Revolutionary War. They predicted what role African Americans may have played in the Revolutionary War. After reading an article, the class created a chart about the differences in opinions in each of the colonial regions on whether African Americans should be able to join the military. Partners then viewed images of war heroes and created captions of their contributions to share with the class. The class will continue down the road to Yorktown.

Sixth Graders are completing their study of the civilizations of early India. They have discussed and written about the geographic factors such as landforms, rivers and climate that affect the development of a civilization. Settling in the Indus River system provided irrigation that led to food surplus that allowed the population to grow and develop into an advanced civilization. The class enjoyed completing “fast facts” graphic organizers about Hinduism and Buddhism. After researching and recording the information on the fact cards the class engaged in a cooperative activity. The students have opportunities to give and receive information from other students. The repetition of concepts lets students state and rehearse newly acquired information, giving them a chance to master the new material. The class also learned about modern African American teens who are making a difference. The research task in this project is for students to select one modern teen and millennial, research his or her background, learn about the influence and impact the person has made on the world, and locate a relevant quote made by the person or about him or her or include an interesting insight or fact about the person’s life. The next chapter will take the class to ancient China.

As we evaluate measures to limit risk, we are looking at in-home cross over between siblings and family members. Please review these notes below.

When a sibling is in close contact to a person who tested positive:

It is disruptive, however, one way to drop risk factors across the school is to keep siblings of close contacts home in the event of a positive case on campus.
This means that if you have more than one child here and one was a close contact, the other sibling(s) do not return to school until the affected (the actual close contact) child is symptom free and has a negative PCR test on day 4 or later after the last contact.
For example, AA was in contact with a person who tested positive on January 15th, he can get tested on Jan 19th or after, and if AA does not have any symptoms, his brother can return to school in person while AA remains home for a 10-day quarantine.

Isolating at home:

If anybody in your household tests positive for COVID and cannot isolate, the duration of the quarantine for the whole family increases.
For example, if BB tests positive, she isolates for 10 days and, during that period, she is considered infectious as she may transmit the virus to those around her. Her sister shares a bedroom and the whole family shares a single bathroom and kitchen. Therefore, the rest of the family is a contact for the duration of BB’s isolation period and they begin their post-contact quarantine after 10 days. Thus, the whole quarantine period for BB’s parents and her sister is 20 days from BB’s positive test or onset of symptoms.

If someone gets sick at home:

If someone in the family experiences COVID-symptoms or was in contact with someone who has tested positive, do not send your child to school.
Isolate the affected individual in a separate bedroom, contact your health care provider, and get tested immediately if there are symptoms (wait until day 4 without symptoms)
Your child may return to school after negative test results.

As always, please send any question to Elena Sokolova if you would like to learn more or have a more nuanced question that we can address.

The Lower Division began the celebration of Black History Month with an art project inspired by the Dynamic Cubist painter Jacob Lawrence. The artist’s Migration Series tells the story of the Great Migration, during which many African Americans expanded from the rural areas of the South to the cities of the North, Midwest, and Western United States. Lawrence’s often faceless figures seek a better life and equality for themselves and for their children. One painting from the Migration Series shows how the education opportunities were so much better for African American children in the North.

This week they learned about the monumental sculptures of Simone Leigh and her commitment to the representation of African American women, like herself, in art and art history. Simone Leigh is a Contemporary artist working in ceramic and bronze. She has been chosen to represent the United States at the 2022 Venice Biennale.

The first and second graders drew portraits of African American icons Martin Luther King Jr and Jackie Robinson, coordinating with classroom study.

"A Black skin is not a badge of shame, but rather a glorious symbol of national greatness," wrote historian E. David Cronon. It is a quote that certainly reflects outsized contributions to music in America from the Black community. Mr. Heineman, our music teacher, often thinks that America’s cultural contributions over the last century are one of our greatest points of pride as Americans. Black history could be more plainly put as simply ‘history,’ influencing his approach to this legacy throughout the year in all of his classes.

Currently, most grades in Lower Division Music classes are acting out winter activities to recordings by Thelonious Monk and Woody Shaw, 1st graders are exploring musical contrasts and movement to Jazz music from all eras, and 4th and 5th grade have begun their Jazz units, discovering the impact of visionary artists such as Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Billie Holliday, John Coltrane, Joe Henderson, and Bobby Hutcherson. Perhaps listening to some of these greats may be inspirational to you.

新年快乐！ xin nian kuai le!

Happy New Year to all the Lower Division families.

This week we learned about the Chinese New Year which starts today, February 12th, and runs about two weeks in China. It is the most important holiday in mainland China, and it is a time to visit family, eat and exchange gifts. It is like combining Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s all together over a 15-day period.

In the early childhood classes, we watched a video about the New Year. We talked about the Chinese calendar, which is based on the lunar year, so the date of Chinese New Year changes every year! And children learned the origins of 12 Chinese Zodiac Animals. Our 1-3 grade students are busy making their Ox 牛 🐂 (niu) lanterns.