A joyful place to learn, create, and excel

Our seniors brought their energy, positivity, and thoughtfulness to the Senior Retreat last week — making it a truly memorable one!

From honoring a senior tradition (and adding their own twist) to contributing to a joyful music-palooza, stepping up to the mic and singing along, glowing in sync, building a perfect candle bonfire, circling up to share and reflect, and not letting the mist-then-rain dampen their spirits (or their s’more artistry), this group really brought it.

The Class of 2027 ended the night with a raucous purple and gold competition, followed by a lively singalong to Earth, Wind & Fire’s “September.”

Upper School English Teacher Annie Funnell P’14, P’16 called it a “spectacular September finale.” Scroll for some wonderful bonding moments with our seniors! 💜💛

We saw a bit of a (rather organized) AP Economics free-for-all outside of Hope Building yesterday, but that was the intention, explains teacher John Hanson P’34, P’36.

“Our class was a market simulation with buyers and sellers, with the goal of buying and selling a particular good – a trip to Bermuda in this case – to see how a market can be formed to efficiently arrive at an equilibrium price and quantity. I use this simulation with my AP Economics students as an intro to our next topic: the supply and demand model.

“They made some excellent observations about market structures, especially what happens to prices with monopolies and when businesses collude to act like a monopoly,” Mr. Hanson continues.

“The students were split evenly into buyers and sellers. Buyers received a maximum budget amount, and sellers received a minimum sale price. They negotiated a few times, agreeing on a price for the trip. After four rounds of negotiations the class’s average price was only three dollars away from the model’s predicted price of $340.

“The fifth round of negotiation, and the one you photographed, was a free-for-all. I let them join together and collude, I also increased the number of buyers and reduced the number of sellers in an attempt to get the price to increase. In fact, the average price was over $20 higher during this final round!

“What is fun about the simulation is that students can clearly see how an increase in price leads to both more trips being supplied and fewer trips being demanded. It also shows how we derive both supply and demand curves, which we did during the final few minutes back in the classroom. We finally arrive at a market equilibrium price and quantity based on those curves to determine the going rate for any particular good. It was also great to have a productive class outside while the weather is still nice!”

This week, Nursery’s Chickadees and Mockingbirds, along with their teachers, met their 3rd-Grade Buddies — the first of many meetups throughout the school year 🐤!

The Lower School and Nest groups began their time together in a gathering circle, playing fun name games to break the ice and get to know one another.

Once everyone was paired up with a buddy, the Mockingbirds ventured over to Fire Pond to explore the outdoors and play with their new friends.

Meanwhile, the Chickadees brought the 3rd-graders along on their current apple study, journeying all the way to the far side of the farm to hunt for fruit on the apple trees! 🍏🍂

“Creating these cross-campus connections throughout the school year is such a meaningful way to celebrate learning and build a true sense of belonging — our school-wide theme for the year,” says Nest Director Michelle Dolan.

We’re excited to see these new friendships grow 🌱 across the seasons. 💫