The End of Summer

The winds were blowing in just the right direction for a late summer Jubilee! 

When we heard the news of the Jubilee, the older students quickly made our way down to the bay for one of the best science lessons you can imagine. Within steps of the statue of our founder, Marietta Johnson, we saw one of the most amazing sights around.

We quickly gathered enough flounder, crabs and shrimp to feed an army – or at least a class full of hungry kids.  We took our bounty back to the school and learned to prepare it ourselves.  Delicious!  Many of the students who have lived in the Mobile Bay area their entire lives had never actually seen a Jubilee until that day. 

Our writing journals are sure to be full of details of a day at school we will never forget!

And if we weren’t already the luckiest kids in town, we had already planned a field trip to Weeks Bay for the very next day! So once again, we found ourselves exploring the local water.  This time, we pulled seine nets, then identified, categorized and recorded our findings.  We found that Moon Jellies and Pin Fish were plentiful.  We also hiked through the bog to observe the beautiful birds, plants, and marine life. 

Back on our campus, we are learning about light spectrums and made cool bracelets that change color when exposed to sunlight.  Our math lessons continue to focus on basic multiplication and are moving into division on different levels for each student.

The younger classes love reading together, painting, and learning Spanish.  They are also exploring colors and numbers in creative and unusual ways.

We are all making preparations for our annual Fall Festival on Friday, October 28^th.  The parents are having fun coming up with new ideas for our silent auction and new Preschool Pumpkin Patch Party.  This fundraiser is always open to the community and is one of the best events of the year. 

 We are bringing towels to school now, just hoping for another Jubilee!

The School Year Begins

Our school year began after Labor Day, when we were greeted by cooler weather, new teachers, and new students.  The parents held a festive covered dish dinner where new families, teachers and board members were welcomed.

We jumped right into our schoolwork, with the Pre-K classes learning all about colors and numbers in both English and Spanish. 

Kindergarten students have been exploring the outdoors looking for insects to examine.  They are also raising butterflies and love creating and working on various puzzles. And Kindergarten class wouldn’t be complete without painting, and our students have been busy mixing colors and creating masterpieces!

The older students are discovering remarkable facts not found in most history books about explorer Christopher Columbus.  We are writing our own play about Columbus to present on Columbus Day.  Another area of study is the life of historian Howard Zinn, author of “Young Person’s History of America”.

Science and Math classes are measuring everything in sight!  We have used every type of measuring instrument and scale possible.  Reviewing math facts has been a “ball” since we have used our hovering math balls to pass, bump and punch around to each other during the game. 

We have also started our yearlong exploration of plants and animals native to the Fairhope and South Alabama region by collecting and researching a large number of specimens. Our new frog and turtle habitat has been fascinating to create.  We are planning many informative trips around the area for further study throughout the year.

All students have enjoyed our writing journals.  We write every day on topics we take turns choosing.  We enjoy going to the library several times a week, and our current group reading adventure is, “The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho. 

All students participate in art class several times a week, and we are currently studying abstract pointillism, with Andy Warhol’s work as our guide.  Our school wide group project is a large glass mosaic of our historic bell tower. 

Ringing the bell to signal the end of the school day has been a tradition at our school for over 100 years.  We are still excited to be chosen to ring the bell at the end of our school days in 2011.  It’s going to be a great new school year!