Getting out of the classroom and heading into our city or beyond is a hallmark of our Speyer curriculum, and lately, it seems our students are everywhere! We gathered details on just a few of the latest field trips Speyer students have embarked upon — read on to find out about all of the fun!
Read MoreOften, when folks hear that our curriculum features Debate starting in Kindergarten, we get a few questioning looks. How do you teach debate to five-year-olds? Well, first you have to have an amazing Debate teacher like Speyer's Ms. MacKay…and then just sit back and watch it unfold! We thought we would check in with her to get the scoop on what is happening in Debate in the Lower School these days…and this is what she shared!
Read MoreRecently, our Speyer Chess team competed in two tournaments: the 2022 All Girls NYC Chess Championship and the New York State Championship…and all we have to say is one word: Champions! We're so proud of all of our students – read on for the details!
Read MoreHenri Matisse said, "Creativity takes courage." If we take this as truth, then our Speyer students are courageous every day, especially when they are exploring Art. Art is infused into every corner of our Speyer curriculum under the thoughtful and challenging guidance of Mr. Fortunato in Lower School and Mr. Sherry in Middle School. Check out a few of our latest Art highlights!
Read MoreCheck out just a few highlights of what’s been happening at Speyer!
Read MoreFrom welcoming award-winning authors to exploring Pascal’s Triangle, from kicking off our all-school art project to celebrating National Chess Day, our gifted learners have been busy since the first day of school. Read on to find out what’s been happening at Speyer!
Read MoreWe are back! A few snapshots to show what we’ve been doing in the first few days of the 2021-2022 school year. What will our Speyer students discover this year?
Read MoreOur students are exploring the history of the original people of New York with a specific focus on the ingenuity of the Lenape people as it relates to invention. With a behind-the-scenes peek into the American Museum of Natural History by an anthropologist and a very special visit from two individuals based out of Ketchikan, Alaska who are working to revitalize Native cultures, our students were able to see how what they are learning comes alive beyond the classroom.
Read MoreSpotted off the Boulevard and Zooming into California State University, East Bay: our Speyer girls at their first "Rocket Girls" workshop! Joined by Dr. Danika LeDuc, a chemistry professor specializing in biophysical chemistry and Associate Dean at College of Science at Cal State East Bay, this was the kick-off event for a series of workshops just for our girls launched by the Affinity Group for Parents of Girls!
Read MoreSpotted on and off the Boulevard: our younger female Speyer students tinkering, building, and exploring their love of design and math! Yes, guided by some of our fearless Lower School faculty, our students kicked off two new groups: Girls&Math and Girls Design Squad!
Read MoreFrom writing newsletters to discovering the history of NYC, all of our students have been hard at work! Check out a few of the highlights happening at here in our Speyer News Round-Up!
Read MoreThe Speyer Legacy School is thrilled to share that we have hired our next Head of Lower School, Dr. Heather Pinedo-Burns! In the words of Head of School Larry Donovan: “Heather’s experience and expertise and her many positive personal qualities make her the best fit for Speyer.” Dr. Pinedo-Burns is currently the Director of the Hollingworth Preschool at Teachers College, Columbia University.
Read MoreWho gets to tell the historical story…and why? What does it mean to “discover” land where people already existed and thrived? What are the consequences of essential omissions from historical texts? These were the questions that our fourth graders have been asking during their latest Humanities unit, tackling the big themes of perspective, discovery, and exploration as they studied of Christopher Columbus and the Taino people of the Caribbean. In their “Columbinating Event,” the students showcased what they learned in Humanities, Art, Writing, Science, Spanish, and more, highlighting one of the hallmarks of Speyer’s curriculum: interdisciplinary units of study.
Read MoreWe all know NYC is amazing, yet our city is more than just the metropolis in which we live – it’s also an extension of Speyer’s classrooms. One could say it’s been a field-trip-palooza these past few weeks, with treks to Central Park, Brooklyn, museums, and more!
Read MoreIt’s that time again when our Lower School students get their groove on in the most amazing way. We’re so excited to have Kelly, Lizzie, Tim, Jaimie, and Seiko, our artist-educators from the National Dance Institute (NDI) back for another year of exploring dance and music through the lens of a specific year-long theme. They will be sharing different styles of dance to each grade, providing new challenges in their sequential NDI curriculum, and working with the Lower School teachers to find connections between this year’s theme and grade-specific curriculum. Of course, all of the hard-work will culminate in a fabulous performance next May!
Read MoreIn the first Lower School Assembly of the school year, the Lower School Team brought to life the book ish by Peter H. Reynolds. The book follows a little boy Ramon as he rekindles and rediscovers his love of drawing…even though his pictures aren’t perfect. Exploring the book’s themes of believing in yourself and remembering the beauty of the non-perfect “–ish” ness of learning was the best way to wrap up our first full week of school!
Read MoreWith mere days left in the school year, it’s been only what can be called a Culminating Event-a-palooza, with concerts, presentations, and more as many of our students welcomed their families, our faculty, and other guests as they shared months and months of work, learning, and creating! We’ve got the full round-up for you!
Read MoreIt’s one of our favorite annual end-of-year happenings! This week, the gym transformed into a performance space as our K-4 students celebrated the theme "Voices of Change" in their "Event of the Year" with National Dance Institute. This event is a culmination of their year-long learning about activism, social justice, innovation, and togetherness.
Read More"The most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will do." Thomas Jefferson. Knowing the power of words is one of the many skills Speyer students learn…you could even call them WordMasters. That nickname would be quite appropriate, as Speyer students placed FIRST in the nation in the latest WordMasters Challenge and THIRD nationally in the culmulative year-long competition!
Read MoreIt was a Wednesday, so we asked “Where is Speyer?” The answer: welcoming their parents to a Hall of Literature! Yes, it was the First Grade Hall of Literature, where our first graders shared books they authored with their families, which was the culmination of months of preparation!
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