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Renbrook School Holds Alumni Event
Renbrook School Holds Alumni Career Day
Renbrook School in West Hartford held its 3rd Annual Career Day with Renbrook alums talking about their various career this past Friday, November 2.
This program is for 7th- and 8th-grade students and is designed to give them an opportunity to learn about some potential careers/career fields from former Renbrook students who now work in those fields, to show them the often curvy road through life to a career/careers, and to instill a sense of being part of a community much bigger than their classmates and teachers.
This year four alumni were excited to return to Renbrook and to speak with students about their Renbrook memories, their career paths, and their successes and failures. Alumni guest speakers were Sophie Cottrell ’82 – SVP of Communications at Hatchette Book Group,
Max Sinsteden ’02 – Cofounder and Director at Olasky & Sinsteden, Ali Lazowksi ’06 – Founder and CEO of Bare Life and recent 40 over 30 award winner, and Friya Bankwalla ’08 – Digital Publicity Assistant at Penguin Young Readers.
Renbrook Students Participate in HMF Fit Kids Run
Senator Chris Murphy Visits Renbrook
Senator Chris Murphy came to visit our grade 5-8 students to talk about his life in legislative office and to answer a few questions form our eighth grade hosts. Thank you for visiting Mr. Murphy!
Wesleyan Students to Build Renbrook Student-Designed Playscape
How might Renbrook students create a playscape that children of all ages and abilities would enjoy? K-5 students at Renbrook School worked on just that and Wesleyan University Design & Engineering students selected a Renbrook prototype to build to scale!
Third Grade Oregon Trail Hike
Third grade set out for the “Oregon Trail” through the Renbrook hiking trails! Students worked together to build wagons in teams and traversed rough terrain with their wagons, making important decisions as a group along the way!
JK visits Bushy Hill Farms
Apples and cider & donuts…oh my! A good time was had by JKDS at Bushy Hill Orchards in Granby,CT!
Lower School Students Are Dreaming BIG!
JK Story Explorers Program
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.
Why Project Based Learning?
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.
Landforms in STEAM
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.
With Liberty and Justice For All
8th graders got a lesson in flag folding today. Did you know that each of the 13 folds has specific symbolism?
How to Fold the Flag
8th graders got a lesson in flag folding today. Did you know that each of the 13 folds has specific symbolism?
Designs Galore!
2nd graders have been hard at work designing their bulletin boards! Stop by and check them out in the Nelson Building.
Our Brains at Positive
During this year’s faculty in-service days at Renbrook, I presented the lower school teachers with a TED Talk titled, “The Happy Secret to Better Work” by psychologist, Shawn Achor. Shawn is a quick-witted, passionate storyteller with an overall helpful message to anyone who is looking to become more productive in their work.
Actor Malachi Weir ’86 Visits Renbrook 8th Graders
Taking a break from his busy acting schedule, Malachi Weir who graduated from Renbrook in 1986, spent time with our 8th graders discussing their hopes and dreams. Malachi is best known for his work on the show Billions, Wisdom of the Crowd, Chicago PD and The Tick. Current teacher Chris Ladd and retired teacher Jim Ladd beamed with pride while watching Malachi speak with our current Renbrook leaders in the 8th grade.
7th Grade Annual Camp Jewell Voyage
7th graders learned problem solving, planning, communication and teamwork on their trip to Camp Jewell!
8th Graders Take a Tour of Hartford
8th graders had a rare opportunity to visit the State Capitol and Legislative Offices, the Supreme Court and the Connecticut State History Museum. They finished off their visit to Hartford with an interactive tour from Hannibal to Hartford:The History Behind The Adventures of Tom Sawyer at the Mark Twain House.
6th Graders Visit the CT Science Museum and Wadsworth
6th graders studied physics at the CT Science Center this week including simple machines like pulleys and wheels. The ‘Bionic Me’ expo got the kids on their feet to learn about the power of the human body. “Making Myths” was a second stop on their trip where they viewed the ancient collection at the Wadsworth as a prelude to their study of mythology. They visited galleries with a docent and entered the Education Art Studio to make an amphora design featuring a monster of their own design battling Hercules, inspired by a piece in the museum’s Ancient Greek collection.