Speyer launched its first-ever celebration of Brain Awareness Week! Taking part in the global campaign to increase public awareness of the progress and benefits of brain research, different subject teachers came together in a collaborative effort to engage students to explore ways the brain processes information, how we can improve self-regulation, and and how exercise and mindful breathing play an important role in brain development.
Read MoreWhat was it like for immigrants coming to America at the turn of the century? What happened at Ellis Island? How did new immigrants live in our city in the late 1800s? Our second graders have been exploring these questions and more during their Immigration at the Turn of the Century unit. To further their study, they traveled to the Tenement Museum on the Lower East Side and “time-traveled” during a dramatic role-playing exercise at school!
Read MoreBefore heading off to Spring Break, the entire Kindergarten welcomed one and all to their Agents of Change Library, transforming the area outside of their classrooms into an interactive and informative collection about their Agents of Change.
Read MoreWe came, we checkmated, we conquered! Speyer Chess made their way to the 2019 NY State Scholastic Championships in Saratoga Springs, NY…and brought home not one but TWO State Championship titles and multiple individual awards!
Read MoreIt’s an explosion of creativity on the Boulevard, featuring art from our youngest students. Led by art teacher Ms. Keener, our Kindergarteners, first graders, and second graders explored a variety of African American artists to celebrate Black History Month!
Read MoreThat’s right…three straight wins for the Dragon Debaters! Going head to head or should we says argument to argument with all of the top schools from New York and New Jersey, Speyer’s debate team trekked uptown to Hamilton Grange School…and, once again, everyone knew Speyer was not going to give away their shot to take the top prizes.
Read MoreFinancial planning, debt management, environmental stability…all of these topics (and more) were tackled last week when the folks from PricewaterhouseCoopers took over the Boulevard and Middle School classrooms to work with Speyer's students for the second session of this year's Financial Literacy curriculum. Moving beyond the "what" to the "how," each grade explored a different financial concept.
Read MoreThe motto in the Dining Hall was “Move over the dumplings and make way for Macbeth,” as it became a stage for Speyer eighth graders to presented their own unique take on the Bard's famous tragedy. The second annual performance was a direct result of their exploration of the themes in the play and their weeks-long in-depth analysis of the text. In their presentation, they depicted a trial of Macbeth, with speeches from attorneys and excerpts of the play and the eigth graders' writing exercises — all to present various arguments to the audience, who was serving as the jury. With more explanation of the process and the extraordinary path from the first lines of text the students studied to their final bows, we have a guest View writer: eighth grade Humanities teacher and Deputy Head of School Mr. Deards!
Read MoreIt’s official: other schools tremble when the Dragons are in the house! Case in point: the recent victories at MATHCOUNTS Manhattan on Saturday, February 2! Speyer's Middle School math team took THIRD place out of 43 teams, finishing FIRST among all independent schools. As a top-five team, Speyer qualified for the state MATHCOUNTS championship in March! But the awards didn’t stop there!
Read MoreQuick: state a few reasons to close Rikers Island. Now, come up with many to support it remaining open. Now, do the same exercise with the topic of safe injection sites or significantly increase funding for space exploration. This gives you a little glimpse into the life of a Speyer Debater. In two recent tournaments, the Speyer Debate Team took on teams from schools around the city and with all of the fabulous results, we have guest writer Debate Coach Mr. Glasser!
Read MoreIf you build it, they will come. One could say the amazing museums of NYC are fields of dreams, dreams full of creativity, art and inspiration. Yes, our sixth and eighth graders ventured off the Boulevard to explore two of those artistic fields of dreams – the Met and the Whitney – to bring a different perspective to what they are studying in the classroom.
Read MoreMy bud-dy, my bud-dy! It’s the third year of Code Buddies, when Middle School students guide Lower School students through a challenging and creative coding project. The Makers’ Lab and the Boulevard became a hive of activity as students shared ideas, tinkered, tested, debugged their code and solved problems. This cross-divisional project allows the students to focus on the critical mindset for computational thinking: reframing failure as iteration!
Read MoreA living museum featuring Manhatta and the people that first lived on this island: the Lenape. An interdisciplinary Literary Lollapalooza that explored all aspects of bringing a book from the brainstorming phase to a completed manuscript (and more). A cross-curricular celebration sharing discoveries about how and why the United States transitioned from loyal British subjects to revolutionaries and finally to the founders of a new nation. Parents of first, second and third graders were treated to all of these culminating events, showcasing these grades’ first semester unit of studies!
Read MoreWell, 2019 is off to a tremendous start, as Speyer was honored with a Blackboard Award as an Outstanding School! Selected as one of only 14 recipients, Speyer received the award as recognition of the hard work and dedication of our fearless faculty and confirmation of the need for a place for accelerated learners to be with like-minded, curious classmates! And, man, what a perfect way celebrate our 10th year!
Read MoreSpeyer Chess came, saw, and conquered to end 2018 and ring in 2019. With determination, grit and teamwork, our players competed in round after round, game after game…and the end result: an amazing FOUR National Championships and TWO City Championships! Amazing is the only way to describe this feat for a school in its 10th year!
Read MoreThough all of us have our sights on for Winter Break vacation, Middle School is still bustling and busy in these final weeks. Wondering just what our older students have been up to? Well, we have a glimpse into just a few of the collaborative projects that have been spotted everywhere from Humanities to Science to Music!
Read MoreLawrence T. Donovan, Jr., Head of Lower School at Poly Prep Country Day School, Brooklyn, NY, has accepted the invitation of the Board of Trustees to succeed Dr. Barbara L. Tischler as the Head of The Speyer Legacy School effective July 1, 2019.
Read MoreSpotted on the Boulevard: Grandfriends!!! Yes, before we all scattered for Thanksgiving weekend, our Kindergarten and first grade students welcomed their Grandfriends to Speyer for a fun-filled morning!
Read More83. That’s the number of museums in Manhattan…and we are pretty grateful to have them all right here, in our “backyard,” to use as an extension of our classrooms. Which of the 83 have our students trekked to recently? Read on to find out!
Read MoreDid you know that research shows there is a 92% increase in happiness when you practice gratitude each day? This cool fact was discussed at the recent Lower School Assembly, when all of our lower school students gathered to chat about the theme of this season – gratitude – and how to maintain that focus all year long!
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