Albert Einstein once said, “You have to color outside the lines once in awhile if you want to make your life a masterpiece.” In an educational climate that is based increasingly on accountability measures and standardized practice, Connecticut River Academy has been committed to fulfilling these expectations within the context of theme-based programming. We believe that doing so promotes...
Voices & Stories
Alison Suffet Diaz | Sammy Lyon December 31, 2017
We walked into what we thought would be a crisp fall day in Boston, but instead was a sweltering humid 80+ degrees at the end of September. We were coming all the way from Los Angeles to meet up with educators and students from up and down the East Coast, all of us sweating together in the beautiful library of Boston Green Academy for a day of sharing, learning and inspiration. A year and a...
Jesse Delia December 21, 2017
Environmental Leadership (EL) is core to the mission of Common Ground High School - we believe that all students can learn and lead at high levels. In addition to the thematic threads that weave through all four years at CG, students build an EL portfolio over their time here that charts their struggles, successes, growth, and impact on the community. In addition to written reflections, the...
Rupu Gupta (Past) November 22, 2017
by Rupu Gupta, Shuli Rank, and Nezam Ardalan, NewKnowledge For the past year, Teaching Our Cities (TOC) -- led by Common Ground High School -- has highlighted how a connected and supported network of educators from a series of New England schools can advance meaningful work at their respective institutions. Teams from six environmentally-focused schools worked to develop new curriculum that...
Rebecca Cutter October 16, 2017
Building a strong “sense of place” is one of nine school-wide outcomes at New Roots Charter School. It’s also the name of our fall intensive program, designed to orient students to our school culture and important landmarks in our community. Getting our students rooted not just to their school building, but to downtown Ithaca as a whole, makes sense for both philosophical and practical...
Jhakeem Haltom September 18, 2017
In the Summer of 2015 New Roots' founder and Principal, Tina Nilsen-Hodges, sent our lead science instructor, David Streib, and myself as the Dean of Student Life to a science teachers’ conference hosted by the SUNY College of Envirionmental Science and Forestry and developed by the Haudenosaunee Environmental Task Force. The conference was focused on ways of incorporating a local...