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Nantucket
Lighthouse
School
End of School Year Update
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1 Rugged Road
Nantucket, MA 02554
ph: 508.228.0427
 8 Painted Chairs ticket sales have picked up considerably over the last couple of weeks. Perhaps this increase in sales is due to Kim England's offer of a $50 gift certificate to Force 5 for the student(s) who sell the most 8 Painted Chairs tickets by Labor Day. Lighthouse Alumni Parent and Trustee Suzanne Keller has just doubled that offer! So now, the student(s) who sell the most tickets by Labor Day will win $100 gift certificate to Force 5! Current top ten: 1) Lucy and Declan Hehir at 67 2) Virginia Bullington at 47 3) Henry Schwed at 44.5 4) Blake Lazarus at 40.5 5) the Wisentaners at 34 6) the Levesques at 34 7) the Maltbys at 23 8) Annie Valero at 17 9) Ben Rudd at 16.5 and 10) Isaiah Williams at 16.5 Pick up all the supplies you need (tickets, cash box, table and chair) at Diana Kim England Goldsmiths, and schlep it across the street to 51 Main Street where the chairs will be on display starting Monday, July 13. Sell at any time that works for you between Monday and Labor Day! OR sign up to sell tickets at the upcoming Sidewalk Art Show at the Nantucket Atheneum Garden, Aug. 15 from 12 - 2:00 p.m. or 2 - 4:00 p.m. by contacting Jane Lovering. This is a great activity for children and their babysitters.
Good luck and thank you Kim and Suzanne. July 23 - 25, 2009
Nantucket Lighthouse School and private island gardens
The Nantucket Garden Festival, featuring workshops and seminars; vendors offering rare and unusual plants, garden decoration, and other garden accoutrements; garden tours; and other special events is just two weeks away! Mary Casey, Capital Campaign Co-Chair, has emailed parents asking for volunteers to help us run this important fund raising event. If you are willing to help please contact Mary Casey. If you would like to register for any of the events, you may do so online, using our secure Web registration.
We hope you will join us July 23 - 25 for the Nantucket Garden Festival.
Breaking Garden Festival News:  David Wheeler, the founder of
the literary gardening journal, HORTUS, has been awarded one of the
Royal Horticultural Society's (RHS) highest accolades, the Veitch
Memorial Medal.
The Veitch Memorial Medal is
awarded annually to persons of any nationality who have made an
outstanding contribution to the advancement and improvement of the
science and practice of horticulture.
David
will be speaking at the Nantucket Garden Festival's Dinner in the Garden
party on Friday, July 24, at 6:30 p.m. Seating is limited and filled on
a first-come, first-served basis. |
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End of Year Projects
An All School Celebration 
At Lighthouse School, The end of the school year signifies the celebration of a year of learning. Children, from the Kinderclass through the Primary 5/6 classes, invite their families into their classrooms and present the work that they have created in the process of in-depth studies. Students take great pride in the display of their projects and written work and delight in the admiration of their families. This year, end-of-year projects were celebrated on one special evening with class presentations and an All School Potluck, which was organized by Angie Cruz and the Parent Council. Thank you!
The Upper Primary Class began the festivities with a presentation of a play which dramatized two sisters daring escape from slavery and the meeting of helpful Friends that they met along the Underground Railroad. Afterwards, families were invited to view the paintings and projects they have been working on in relation to the study of Harriet Tubman and Slavery. (Above, collaged 'stained glass' window. Below, Mason Dixon Line map, page from Lesson Book re. Harriet Tubman)
The Kinderclasses were excited to share the many projects they undertook as a part of their ongoing study of Farming and Gardening. In addition to their actual garden, there were handmade seed packets from seeds saved, a beehive with bees buzzing about (pictured), handcrafted grass brooms, dyed wool and weavings, beanstalk planting and measuring charts, the Earthworm nursery, and the list could go on.
The Primary class has been studying Old Nantucket and Whaling this year. They were happy to share their textile world map, a model whaling ship, ceramic scrimshaw whales teeth, and sailor's valentines and other related projects and lesson books. They were especially eager to show off the beautiful Lightship baskets, which each student wove with the expert instruction of Dale and Michele Rutherford. The class also raised money to treat themselves to a real Whale Watching voyage from Provincetown.
The Primary 5/6 Class introduced their parents to the work they have done as a part of their study of Astronomy and the Constellations. This study was inspired by their prior focus on Ancient Greek mythology. Students displayed their lesson books describing the solar system and the constellations. They unveiled the ceramic mosaic of constellation tiles that they created with Nell Van Vorst, whom installed the piece in the classroom doorway. They invited their parents into the Sky Box to view different constellations, which they also depicted on small painted globes.
We applaud our Lighthouse students and their teachers for all of their thoughtful and beautiful work! Pictured are just a few examplesl of class projects. We thank parents for joining us in celebration of a wonderful school year!
Have a joyful and playful summer one and all and we look forward to seeing you in the fall! |
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LIGHTHOUSE SCHOOL CARNIVAL!
Despite threatening weather reports, our annual end-of-year Lighthouse Carnival was a go and fun was had by all- both Lighthouse families and the many friends and visitors that make a point of attending. Each class creates its own Carnival game/s and 'work' each respective 'booth.'
Who needs rides from off-island anyway?
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Small Schoolers Onstage!
Small School students invited their families to a presentation of three class plays. Lizza Obremski's class enacted a folktale of Anansi the Spider. Kate Pelletier's class treated all to a rendition of The Little Engine that Could. Lizbet Carroll Fuller's class presented a play based on the picture book of One Fine Day.
It isn't easy to perform in front of a 'large' audience and our little ones deserved all of the applause that they received. BRAVO Small Schoolers!!
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Team Lighthouse School
Saturday, August 22, Jetties Beach
Registration starts at 8:30 a.m.
Walk starts at 9:30 a.m.
We invite you to join or donate toward the Lighthouse School team for the Walk Now For Autism Speaks by clicking here! The Nantucket Walk is a grassroots walk-a-thon reflecting the unique
spirit of Nantucket, bringing year-round Island residents, summer
residents, visitors and supporters together to walk as one strong voice
for autism research, awareness, advocacy and family services! The Walk
is Chaired by Suzanne and Bob Wright, Co-Founders of Autism Speaks, and Co-Chaired by Lighthouse School's own Sydney Fee Barsanti, whose son Rourke (Beck's big brother) has Autism.
The Walk Now For Autism Speaks is a family friendly 1.5 mile walk with light refreshments and children's activities, so bring the whole family along.
Let's band together to support this worthy cause, insuring that vital family services are available for those whose lives have been impacted by autism. Register to walk with Team Lighthouse School or donate here.
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"What does Primary Mean?"
The Why and Wherefore of the Lighthouse Class Structure
As many visitors will note, Lighthouse School classes are not named numerically (1st grade, 2nd grade, etc). Why?
Lighthouse School's philosophy and curriculum is inspired by and designed to address the educational and developmental needs of individuals as they embark upon the path of learning. We recognize that human growth and development takes place in a series of developmental stages, each of which represents alternating periods of acquiring new information and experiences and then integrating and consolidating that experience. Learning is often thought of as climbing the steps of a ladder but the human learning process does not take place in such regular and incremental steps.
Lighthouse classes are designed as 2 year programs. This gives child and teacher the opportunity to work together over a longer period of time and provides a sense of continuity. Children are given the experience to be both the younger and the older student. Necessarily, there are different academic expectations for younger and older students within the same class. Where appropriate, teachers will design parallel lessons for the two groups in certain academic areas, such as mathematics and spelling. Social studies and unit studies topics are designed to alternate from year to year, for instance the Kinderclass will study the Wampanoags one year and Farming and Gardening on alternate years.
We are concerned with each child as an individual. Developmental research informs us that, while children are likely to experience a similar sequence of developmental stages, the rate at which they journey through this series of stages may differ. We also know that this rate tends to differ between boys and girls, and that boys are likely to be developmentally 'younger' than their female counterparts. This can be especially evident in boys with summer birthdays. While children generally spend 2 years in each Lighthouse class, it may be that a child is ready to move on to the next class in one year. It may be that a child would benefit from an extra year in a given class. By not giving our classes numerical names, we create more flexibility in terms of meeting individuals actual needs. We are not emphasizing the 'skipping' of any one grade in one case, and we are able to mitigate the false and destructive notion of being 'held back.' Without an emphasis on climbing the numerical ladder of grades, and with the one and only intention of meeting the individual's academic, social, and emotional needs, we can place children in the class that is most appropriate for them.
Despite the unconventional names, classes inevitably correspond with a conventional 'grade' and the basic curriculum of each class will be found to correspond with a traditional grade's curriculum when and where that curriculum is developmentally appropriate to the age group. The greatest difference between a Lighthouse curriculum and conventional grade level curriculum, in terms of academic content, lies in the younger classes. Many of today's pre-schools and Kindergartens have forgotten that the magical thinking and the playful imagination of the young child remain a child's most precious birthrights and house the seeds which will flower into creative and profound thought. At Lighthouse, we are committed to honoring the spirit and magic of childhood and to taking the time to introduce a young child to abstract academic ideas in a timely, and meaningful fashion.
For the record!
Small School is our Lighthouse pre-school.
Kinderclass is a little different ,in that it is similar to Kindergarten but it is generally a 2 year program.
Primary Class represents grades 1 and 2.
Upper Primary Class represents grades 3 and 4.
Primary 5/6, well, that is self explanatory.
Lizbet Carroll Fuller
Director of Education
Nantucket Lighthouse School
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