Curricular Alignment & Growth
October 2019
INSIDE ATRIUM Dear Atrium families, As a young 6th grade teacher in the early 1990s, I found myself in conversation one afternoon with a considerably more seasoned faculty member. It was winter in southern California, and we sat at an outdoor table, deep in shared thought about our school’s curriculum. Carolina, my colleague and mentor, was helping me to see the power of curricular choices for shaping not just students’ knowledge, but their understanding of the world. What you teach, she said, has the power to shape a child’s perspective and inspire transformation. Carolina paused, and then declared that “curriculum isn’t just what you choose to teach—it’s everything that happens at school. We have to be intentional about everything that happens at school.” It was exhilarating and meaningful to hear this; Carolina’s words affirmed a nascent feeling I hadn’t yet named. But to be honest, I didn’t yet understand just how true her words are. I wasn’t yet aware that a child’s schooling could be so deep, so all-encompassing, so important. Though inspiring, it was daunting at the time to consider how much responsibility that gave me as a young teacher. At Atrium, we relish that responsibility. I am very proud, alongside Atrium colleagues, to share in the wonderful opportunity to help transform children through a curriculum of “everything that happens at school.”
Atrium’s curriculum is in the challenging academic material we teach and it is in the nuanced way we teach it. Our curriculum is in the kindness and compassion that we encourage to course through each spontaneous human interaction in the hallways. Our curriculum is in the drive for equity and justice that shapes each student’s perspective and actions. Our curriculum is in the school culture that grows stronger with each family’s presence here. Our curriculum is in the prevailing joy at Atrium that, as one parent wrote recently, makes kids “so happy they can’t wait to get to school every day.” As purposeful as we are about everything that happens at Atrium, we continue to grow and improve as a school. Our Board-approved and newly-launched Strategic Plan calls us to become even more thoughtful and intentional about curriculum. This edition of Inside Atrium documents many of the ways we do this. In these pages, you’ll learn how we align and document program grade-by-grade to grow the cumulative power of an Atrium education.You’ll read about how teacher professional development leads to shared faculty vision and greater cohesion in curriculum. And, you’ll see how preserving emergent curriculum ensures that unexpected learning opportunities turn into powerful, durable lessons that affirm the importance of children’s ideas. Warmly,
Marshall
A Seasoned Perspective by Liz Perekrests The New Strategic Plan for Atrium includes a strong commitment to grow our program and incorporates the phrase “joyful teaching and learning,” a commitment that has always been an essential part of curriculum planning at Atrium. And, it feels new and exciting to name specific interconnected capacities that Atrium students develop as they grow. It feels right and important to create deeper documentation of each subject area guided by these goals. There are many ways to create innovative and exciting curriculum that inspires leadership in all subjects at all levels, allows children to acquire academic expertise and aesthetic expressiveness while cultivating kindness, courage and compassion, right? Yes, this is possible, and in my twentieth year at Atrium, I feel grateful and excited that we are part of this creative process, and look forward to honing our curriculum. When we document a whole year across subjects using these capacities, it allows us to dig deeply into a child’s overall experience and creates new ways that we can integrate several subjects, create opportunities for various types of learners, and figure out what’s missing. And, it allows us to have fresh conversations with our colleagues, about how each grade connects to the larger purpose of an Atrium education. When teachers explore a topic in depth with the hope of inspiring students, we feel rewarded when we watch their eyes light up as they engage in discussion and ask powerful questions during our lessons. When children ask how they can make change, and feel determined to share their opinions about a topic we’re studying, we know we’re changing lives. Joyful teaching and joyful learning is alive and well at Atrium. It’s why both teachers and children run up the ramp each morning, eager to start the day. Fourth grade teacher Liz Perekrests has taught at Atrium for two decades, and her adult daughter is an Atrium graduate. Liz is also one of two faculty members who currently serves on the Atrium Board of Trustees.
Across Atrium, Faculty Align PreK–8 Curriculum At Atrium, each grade is a rich, integrated and intentional experience. Each year, children develop strong academic skills as they excitedly explore ideas, facts, deep truths, and even deeper questions. We promote interdisciplinary connections and connect social justice to both academic and social-emotional learning. Each grade strengthens every child’s empathy and resilience, empowers children to collaborate, and fosters a powerful sense of inclusivity. Within such purposeful and whole excellence, we always leave ample room for what educators call emergent curriculum: spontaneous, joyful and dynamic in-the-moment learning built around student discoveries, interests and passions. Metaphorically, each grade at Atrium is like a polished, purposefully-crafted stone, and each child’s multi-year experience becomes an artfully-designed necklace of those stones. Each grade builds on previous years and leads thoughtfully to the next. We plan a great deal for the capacity- building, sequential effect of an Atrium education. The cumulative impact is significant and meaningful. Presently, the faculty are closely focused on creating even greater alignment from one grade to the next: PreK through 8th grade. This work takes many forms, and you’ll observe its impact as your child’s education unfolds over the years. Here are some of the strategies and professional practices we’re engaged in, to ensure that your child’s grade-by-grade learning is thoughtfully aligned: • In PreK through 5th, teachers have authored grade-by-grade Theme Maps, charting each grade’s Central Theme, and noting unifying connections among science, social studies, social-emotional learning, and social & environmental justice. Strong continuity is evident when these grade-by-grade documents are viewed together. • In September, our faculty attended the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) regional conference. Groups of Atrium teachers participated in sessions together to bring refreshed, shared practices to our classrooms. • This summer, we implemented an aligned early literacy curriculum for Kindergarten to Grade 2. • Our full faculty, over a two-year span, are implementing well-tested practices drawn from the Next Generation Science Standards, which develop profound understanding of science content as students strengthen communication, collaboration, inquiry, problem solving, and flexibility. • Similarly, faculty are developing and implementing an Atrium-specific PreK-8 sequence of social justice learning benchmarks, to support students’ development as justice-minded, active, and kind-hearted citizens. This work draws upon our partnership with Facing History and Ourselves. These are just a few of the many ways we deepen our overall intentionality: Atrium’s curriculum is ever-evolving and growing, and we continue to reflect and refine daily. Such work is deeply embedded in our new Strategic Plan.
The Butterfly Effect: Migration Is Beautiful When Middle School math teacher Liz Caffrey heard about the project happening at her previous school in California, she knew she wanted to introduce it at Atrium. The Butterfly Effect: Migration Is Beautiful project was started by Bay Area youth activists at the Live Oak School, who wanted to create paper butterflies as a visual representation symbolizing the 15,000 immigrant children previously in U.S. detention to raise awareness about the situation at the Mexican border. Liz discussed the project with Spanish teacher Susanna Lara and the idea was brought to Atrium’s Anti-Bias and Equity Group (ABE) to consider how the whole school could be involved. Soon, the project became an interdisciplinary, whole-school effort––another example of emergent curriculum at Atrium. Each Atrium student will make a butterfly made of recycled materials in Spanish class, and students in PreK–3rd grade will read books about immigration in their classes or in library. 4th and 5th graders will discuss migration in Spanish class to increase their awareness before making their butterflies. In Middle School, students are learning about immigration in social studies and in math. Social studies teacher Paul Capobianco discussed the history of immigration in America through the Facing History and Ourselves curriculum. In math, Liz Caffrey is using the project to connect math to social justice by connecting data about immigration with data about detention. Students examine the situation from an objective lens, asking what they can learn and interpret from the immigration graphs. “I want to be connected to what I teach,” said Liz. “Sometimes you can learn difficult information objectively through statistics––what does it tell us? It’s important to see how this is connected to us.” The original Butterfly Effect project has now exceeded 15,000 butterflies from around the world, and they will be on display at the Russell Senate Building Rotunda in Washington DC from November 18–22, before being delivered to the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), who will send them to the children detained in ORR shelters. At Atrium, art teacher Talin Megherian will display the butterflies in the school as a visual social justice/art installation. Middle School students were so moved by the project that they asked to write postcards to the children in detention, which will happen in coming weeks. “There is no explanation for the hate rhetoric around immigration,” Susanna said. “This is a way to bring the issue to the table [for our students] in a way which can raise awareness and send a message about social justice, diversity, equity and inclusion, and empathy.”
A River Runs Through It: Water Curriculum at Atrium Tightly gathered around a lab table, our 6th graders lean in closely to observe as Laura pours water from a calibrated beaker into three smaller vessels. One holds gravel, another sand, and the third is filled with loose organic soil. With informal predictions in mind about how much water each vessel would allow, students call out their reactions. “Whoa!” says one, furrowing his brow. “Huh. That’s not what I thought,” goes a second reaction. “Wait––is this what ‘water table’ means?” queries another. A fourth smiles as she says “Yes!! That’s what I thought it would be!” Quickly, the conversation pivots to the concept of groundwater, and how substrate material influences subterranean flow. The students are riveted as they puzzle through the principles. It’s easy to take water for granted, yet it is vital to every living process on earth. In Atrium’s curriculum, water provides a fascinating, everpresent window into earth science. There are countless interdisciplinary ways to explore and study water, and rising challenges to global ecosystems teach students to be active, justice-minded stewards of sustainability. By design, across the grades Atrium students develop a wellspring of understanding the significance of water. First, this understanding comes from joyful immersion in nature. In the earliest grades, children use their senses and develop the power of observation to learn the basics of scientific inquiry. Pre-Kindergarten students return to the natural wonderland of Mount Auburn Cemetery time and again to discover water’s forms across the seasons—ice, snow, clouds and fluid. Kindergarteners ask “How does water interact with land, and how do humans interact with water?” Ideas and new questions emerge over multiple experiential visits to the Charles River. Sixth graders help kindergarteners navigate sidewalks and public transportation on a combined journey to Watertown Square. There, at the river, buddy teams collaborate to observe nature and journal together. The Charles River flows into Boston Harbor, and so the First Grade studies the Atlantic Ocean. Wonder and appreciation for the natural world grow as they tidepool, visit the Aquarium, and explore the Boston Harbor Islands. Back at school, first graders strengthen both their research and literacy skills through informative written reports, and turn their classroom into a delightful museum exhibition of sea creatures. Second Graders visit Willow Pond in Mount Auburn regularly, and follow in Thoreau’s footsteps at Walden Pond as well. These quiet, subtle experiences require close attention, like watching a bullfrog camouflaged amidst a plant-lined shore. They wonder over empty snail shells in the mud, and marvel in silence at a stealthy great blue heron. Inspired to sketch and write, second graders develop metaphors and a literary sensibility as they happily compose nature poetry. K: Exploring the Charles
PreK: Ice, Snow, Clouds, Fluid
2: Poetry Inspired by Willow Pond
1: Onwards to the Atlantic!
3: Caring for the Planet’s Water
Soon, Atrium students’ appreciation for water yields action as they become justice-minded global citizens. The longstanding Third Grade RAPP Project is now in partnership with anthropologist Jane Goodall’s global Roots and Shoots program. Students learn that caring for water means caring for the planet, and so our third graders enthusiastically lead Atrium’s participation in the annual clean-up of the banks of the Charles River. By the time Atrium students reach Fourth and Fifth Grade, they increasingly apply scientific skills and can skillfully act upon their care and concern for the world. Their curricular view appropriately widens to global climate and weather. Through experiments, geography, and meteorological maps, they learn how climate and the availability of fresh water impact the daily lives of people around the world. Each student develops architectural skills to design and craft a shelter best suited to a given climate and environment. Together, they see clearly how access to water shapes human activity everywhere. The global stakes are high when it comes to water, and so Middle School students vigorously dive into science, make deeply meaningful cross-disciplinary connections, and act upon their understanding. In Grade Six the class reads A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park, which follows both fictional and true-to-life narratives of Nya and Salva, living in South Sudan. Their stories are marked by scarcity; Nya must walk for miles every day to gather fresh water for her family’s survival, and Salva is a “Lost Boy” refugee. Students draw striking parallels between Salva’s unpredictable journey between refugee camps and the cyclical journey of the water cycle, experimenting to determine the conditions necessary for cloud formation and precipitation, prototyping and testing water filters, and proposing technological innovations incorporating biomimicry and water cycle processes to provide clean water. To culminate the unit, students participate in either a live-streamed joint interview with Salva (now in his mid-’40s) and Linda Sue Park, or a similar TEDTalk. Students are powerfully impacted; one wrote, “I enjoyed learning about how different places, not just America, have trouble with water. Whether it’s that the people have too little, too dirty, or even too much water, there are different problems that we learned about throughout this unit. I especially enjoyed reading ‘A Long Walk To Water’ in ELA because of how it connected to many of the stories that we were learning about in Science.” Back close to home, Seventh Grade science encompasses tiny microbial life as well as four days of fieldwork spent on complex Cape Cod habitats where land meets sea. Our students even participate in a shark-tagging project that maps migration patterns! Students research graphs that ‘tell stories’ about the global causes of climate change, and generate evocative images and color patterns in the Climate Data+Art Visualization Project. Eighth Graders explore ocean acidification by connecting the chemistry of acids and bases with global climate change. They closely examine a case study on carbonated communities of intertidal zones, analyzing experimental results to support or refute research hypotheses. Continued on back page 4/5: Global Climate in Our Daily Lives
7: From Microbes to the Habitats of Cape Cod
6: Refugee Journeys & Water Cycles
8: Addressing Ocean Acidification
5th and 8th Graders Discuss Meaningful Curriculum Tommy, 5th Grade
“I really like the fifth grade security camera project: a shop owner wants to provide a security camera but he can’t see 15% of the store, so we have to figure out how to move the camera so he can see more of the shop.”
Anna, 8th Grade
“In social studies, we talk about difficult ideas when we study genocide. We can talk to our teachers without feeling judged and doing that in eighth grade shows how mature we are and how our teachers can trust us.”
Composting Passion Project Leaves Lasting Legacy In eighth grade at Atrium, students complete a Passion Project at the end of the year, giving them an opportunity to complete a deep dive into a topic of interest. Last year, eighth graders Maya and Cecily worked together to introduce pizza box composting to the school, starting a new tradition that continues across the school this year. Maya (L) and Cecily (R) Atrium’s PTA offers a pizza lunch on Thursday, and Cecily and Maya noticed that all the boxes were being thrown in the trash, something that both girls found problematic. Working together, they began by considering ways to reduce Atrium’s negative environmental impact and settled on making pizza lunch more environmentally friendly.
“We realized that the biggest issue with pizza lunch was the waste created by the greasy boxes, plates, and napkins, which could not be composted at Atrium, so we started trying to bring a composting company (these have the resources to compost grease, dairy, and meat, which cannot be composted without a facility) to Atrium,” Maya explained. “Most things can be composted, and food waste is something that in America we don’t much think about, but every year 40% of food gets tossed in the garbage can,” added Cecily. “If you think about how much food you throw away every day, you would be surprised. Instead of this waste going to a landfill like it often does, it can be repurposed and turned into rich soil that is excellent for gardening.” The girls were pleased––though unsurprised––that their proposal was approved and met with encouragement. Maya said, “Atrium’s receptiveness to our idea shows that Atrium values student ideas and considers them seriously. It also shows that Atrium is a school that is continually striving to improve and will prioritize what is important long-term.” Though the girls have both graduated from Atrium and moved on to Concord Academy (Maya) and Minuteman High School (Cecily), they are proud of the legacy their Passion Project leaves at Atrium. “If every student at Atrium learns the basics of composting, this can encourage generations of environmentally conscious people who will also compost, and that is our ultimate goal,” Cecily said. “My hope is that faculty, students and parents might try composting at home, or at least understand why reusing in general is so, so important.”
Joe, 8th Grade
“Math stands out the most. Multiple projects grab the attention of the class in a drastically different way than conventional learning styles. Projects like the sixth grade candy box grab all our attention and make it really interactive, fun, and hands on.”
Oona, 5th Grade “The hero project in secod grade was probably one of the longest projects I’ve ever done. It was cool learning about different people; acting like them––memorizing quotes. I think it got us ready for third, fourth and fifth grades.”
Professional Growth Strengthens Teachers & Students Since our founding in 1982, Atrium has been committed to lifelong learning. All faculty at Atrium participate in professional development all year long–– to enhance their own skills and knowledge, to refine curriculum, and to ensure that our students all reach great depths of understanding. Vitally, being students themselves makes our teachers even better. Carefully planned and guided by Assistant Head of School Kathy Hanson, our teacher growth activities are thoughtfully and specifically selected to support students’ growth. In doing so, we also realize Atrium’s Strategic Plan, an essential vision for strengthening the capacities of young people. Here are some highlights. So much of a child’s education begins with strong reading and writing skills, and Atrium teachers tailor instruction to each student’s unique needs. In the summer of 2019, Atrium faculty participated in four literacy conferences. Alyssa, Terri and Julie attended Leveled Literacy Intervention. Liz P, Kathy and Diane engaged in the Leading Well Literacy Leadership program, and Melissa attended Columbia University Teachers’ College Units of Study in Phonics Institute. Monique attended the Picture Writing & Image Making Summer Institute. Each of these faculty members have begun to implement key new practices in their work with our children. In an age when the importance of science is often challenged or disregarded, Atrium is powerfully committed to developing our students’ scientific literacy and commitment to global sustainability. Liz P attended New England Aquarium’s Go with the Flow: Water’s Journey Around the World; Laura went to the 2019 Space Science SSEAT, a collaborative institute sponsored by the Smithsonian and Harvard-Smithsonian
Center for Astrophysics. Julia and Laura both took part in the interdisciplinary Approaching Walden through the Walden Woods Project. This summer, Atrium faculty made a particularly intensive commitment to training to promote greater equity, inclusion and diversity in our school community and world. Audrey and Julia went to the Developmental Designs/Education for Equity Institute, and Susan and Jaleesa attended the Multicultural Teaching Institute at Meadowbrook School. Jill, Talin, Susan, Kathy, Merry Murray, and Sydney attended the White Responsibility Conference hosted by Boston University High School. And, via Atrium’s close partnership with Facing History and Ourselves, Liz P, Diane and Julie attended Beyond Borders: Facing Identity, Membership, and Belonging Through U.S. Immigration. Numerous other highlights characterized this summer in professional development, including the Atrium School Math Institute for Middle School Teachers, led by Liz C and attended by Nicole and Sam; and Mia and Bob each completed their Certificate in Early Education Leadership at Harvard Graduate School of Education. Through this year, faculty will attend the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics regional conference, the Spirituality in Education Conference at Columbia University, the Progressive Educators Network Conference, the National Science Teaching Association workshops, and the Working for Justice, Equity and Civic Agency in Our Schools PSN Conference and Study Tour, a Facing History program that takes Atrium teachers to Montgomery, Alabama as they explore America’s Civil Rights history.
A River Runs Through It (Continued from page five) From their earliest years at Atrium, our students grow in their wonder for water and its central role on our planet. By eighth grade, that wonder remains, and our neargraduates have also become clear-eyed, impassioned advocates for science and global sustainability. Our new Strategic Plan calls for Atrium School to cultivate four interconnected capacities in students, one of which is a “commitment to citizenship, sustainability and impact.” By our purposeful curricular choices, the inspired guidance of their teachers, their fieldwork and the time they spend in our sustainable green building, Atrium students develop a powerful sense of global responsibility, and they are moved to positively contribute to their communities in ways small and large. Contributors include the PreK–5th grade teams, Laura Page, Julia Schroeder, Kathy Hanson and Marshall Carter.
Newsworthy at Atrium •
In November, leaders from Cooper School in Charleston, South Carolina will visit Atrium. Currently K-5, Cooper soon opens a Middle School and is seeking insights from exemplary programs like Atrium’s. Cooper staff will meet with our faculty and observe classes.
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Recently, Mount Auburn Cemetery invited Atrium School to help map out their future as they further develop their school connections. Mia, Kristin B, Jill, Renee and Marshall participated in a planning session that brought together educators from Watertown, Lesley, Tufts, BB&N, and Shady Hill. We envision our current Mount Auburn partnership expanding: within walking distance, Atrium students can learn even more from the scientific, historical, natural and literary resources of our beautiful neighbor.
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This year we expand our learning partnership with the Richard Lewis Media Group (RLMG). A leading museum design firm located a five-minute walk from Atrium, RLMG designs innovative exhibitions for premier public and private museums across the country. Last year, our current 8th graders tested and refined the design of a new Smithsonian Museum of Natural History exhibit, which they’ll now personally visit this spring on their Washington DC class trip. This year, Atrium students will travel to RLMG to help test and refine an exhibit in development about the United States Supreme Court, as well as a regional nature center in Virginia. RLMG staff will visit Atrium classrooms to teach our students about
the design & build process, lessons Atrium students will apply to their own engineering work. •
Atrium is going even greener! This fall, each light fixture at Atrium will be replaced with long-life, environmentally sustainable technologies. Our energy usage costs will drop, as will our long-term energy usage.The motors that drive our HVAC system have already been replaced to reduce energy usage as well. Best of all, this federally-incentivized program for schools and non-profits through Eversource bears no cost to Atrium. Our school wins, and so does the Earth!
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The Spring 2019 Fund-A-Need raised money for a Visiting Artists and Performers program this year, and we’ve begun! Brazilian drum troupe Grooversity got the whole school to its feet in October, and folklorist and New York Times writer Devi Lockwood recently presented to the Middle School about her global travels collecting stories of water and climate change. This year, we’ll be visited by Acoma Native American potter Evelyn Ortiz, dancer and Atrium alumna Victoria Awkward, and many more storytellers, musicians, artists and writers.
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Our annual Wine and Sushi Community Forum is on Thursday November 7. Please come to hear and participate in Science and Engineering Across the Grades.
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And finally, Atrium School’s Board of Trustees voted unanimously to approve a new Strategic Plan, developed over the last year through broad community involvement. Join Marshall and members of the Board to learn about Atrium School’s future at these Strategic Plan Parent Coffees: Tuesday, November 12 at 8:45 a.m. Wednesday, November 13 at 2:00 p.m. Thursday November 14 at 7:00 p.m.
ATRIUM SCHOOL | 69 GROVE ST. WATERTOWN, MA | 617-923-4156 | www.atrium.org