Reporters from ABC News, Mashable and Vice and executives from Apple and Hopscotch-Coding for Kids visited Ms. Guptar's Digital Essentials class this morning to see the creative games our fifth graders have been coding with Hopscotch's iPad app. The Hopscotch crew also gave out stickers to celebrate yesterday's release of its first-ever iPhone app.

Reflections, the Upper School art and literary magazine, won a national Silver Crown from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association for its 2015 issue.  This is the first time Reflections has won an award of this caliber in recent years. Publications up for Crown Awards are reviewed by a panel of judges who evaluate the overall excellence of the entire publication, looking at design, photography, concept and writing.  Read the award-winning issue here.   And look out for the 2016 issue soon!

Six 12th graders presented their Senior Scholars projects last week in front of panels made up of their peers, faculty, staff and community experts. The Senior Scholars program allows students to spend a year researching a topic of their choice, during which they work with mentors who are experts in their fields. It culminates in a written paper and an oral presentation.  Learn about this year's topics and the students who presented or view photos.

Athletics Director Dick McGrath provides a truncated look at the coming week because the season is winding down and the playoff situations for many of our Upper School teams are still evolving.  Updates will be posted on the Athletics website early next week.   

This week's senior speakers were (left to right) Gil F. and Kirt T.! Gil spoke about the importance of visualization in planning for the future. He explained that although his senior year didn't happen as he thought it would, he was still able to make the most of it, thanks to using visualization.  Kirt talked about how he uses humor to navigate the ins and outs of daily life, recounting many funny memories throughout his life.

Parents joined their first graders in class last week as reading partners.

More photos. 

Sixth graders worked in small groups ("families") to share the job of carrying 5 gallons of water for 3 miles to better understand what life is like in regions where people lack access to water. Five gallons is the amount of water many small families in rural areas of developing countries consume in one day.  They also wore T-shirts emblazoned with facts about the World Water Crisis and the phrase "Ask me why I'm walking" to raise local awareness about the issue. Many students also asked friends and family to donate to specific charities the improve water access. More photos. 

 

Students are also building inventions of their own creation, which may help solve the Crisis. 

 

PreK students welcomed special experts to their classroom, who taught them how they make maple syrup on their farm in Virginia. Students then had pancakes and a maple syrup snack!