Many hardy people braved the cold to attend the presentation on Raising Mindful Children, the sixth installment of the Commons Speaker Series. The discussion began with an overview and introduction to mindfulness by Siobhan LeGros, Lower School art teacher and mindfulness instructor, with several exercises to focus awareness and practice...
As part of their study of physics, eighth grade scientists began a new engineering challenge with a goal of designing and building a snow sled that would experience the lowest force of friction. To kick-start the project, students brainstormed a list of ideas related to the challenge. From that list,...
As part of a presentation to the all-school Curriculum Committee, members of the unofficial IDEA (Inquiry Driven Exploration Approach) group shared some of the exciting and curricular-connected projects that have been happening in and out of the Commons. Each of the sub-groups that were formed at the Commons retreat last...
The 3A and 3B classrooms went off the grid this week as the culminating event in their study of electricity, circuits, and solar power. What started as an inquiry-based project on alternative sources of energy grew into a fantastic, authentic challenge to utilize solar energy to power individual desk lamps...
On Tuesday, January 20th, the three Rochester-native producers of the climate change documentary Comfort Zone were our featured presenters in the Commons Speaker Series. The evening began with a screening of their documentary which follows the film makers, Dave Danesh, Sean Donnelly, and Kate Kressman-Kehoe, on their shared journey to...
We are excited to unveil the New and Improved (and much more user-friendly) Commons Control website! This site has been functional and has been referenced earlier in this blog (here and here), but the new website has improvements which invite data analysis, provide background on the systems, and house an...
The geothermal system that is installed between the Commons and the Field House is used primarily to heat the greenhouse. The basic premise and purpose of the system is that the liquid which is circulated from the greenhouse through the deep piping and wells in the ground will be cooled...
Many of you are aware of the Gift of Giving event that took place in the BCCE on December 12th, as organized by the Harley Humanitarian Club. We are delighted to have Kate Veverka as our guest blogger to help us learn more about the concept behind the club as...
Part of the beauty of having a fully operational workshop in the Commons is that students can work to fulfill identified needs in the community. Last year, the valiant members of the Upper School Design Thinking class built shoe shelves for outside the CMEE, make Adirondack seats for the playgrounds...
This Tuesday, the 9th Grade Rights & Responsibilities class welcomed Ann Johnson to class as a guest presenter. Ann is the Director of ACT Rochester and has held the position since 2009.She has also been involved with several organizations, including Facing Race and Embracing Equity; Rochester’s racial equity initiative, Rochester...
