UEL Mini Olympics By Sabine Howe One of the events particularly unique to MCS is our Upper Elementary (UEL) Mini Olympics. Each year at MCS, our wonderful UEL students participate in eight different events and compete against one another in the spirit of the Olympics. Individual and team events are presented. Our Olympics are usually...
Alana Fiordalisi: MCS takeaways “incredibly relevant to my college experience” By Al Daniel Emojis enlivened Alana Fiordalisi’s introduction to what could be the basis for her career. Currently a sophomore and computer-science major at the University of North Carolina, Fiordalisi knew nothing of binary code until she was in the adolescent age group at the Montessori...
Questions by Leandra Merea Strope, MCS Music Specialist (I’m new here.) Again and again, it happens — a student comes to me with a question, and then as I’m standing there trying to give her an answer, she turns and dreamily walks away, usually to the water fountain, completely oblivious to my attempt to address...
Work away! Work away! It’s time for group! by Camille Perkins, MCS Toddler Teacher I love group time in our toddler environment. It can help ground the children at the beginning of the day, become a learning platform for a new concept, and it can bring us together as a cohesive community. It doesn’t take...
The Affective Component of Learning Science By Derek Starkenburg, MCS Adolescent Math/Science Guide One of the most important affective components of learning is seeing a subject made accessible and invigorating. If students can be introduced to a discipline in a manner that is engaging and developmentally appropriate for their plane of development, they can establish...
Helping others has Pirated Amaresh’s heart by Al Daniel Sneha Amaresh ’13 might hesitate to dance in front of acquaintances. With that said, when you want to coax her, it helps to let her know when a meaningful stake is in it for others. And so here she is, a sophomore at East Carolina University...
The Joy of Self-Expression Through Art by Holly Dykes, MCS Art Specialist Teacher While in grad school, I worked in a library. It had recently been built and decorated in, what I thought, a pretty wild fashion—fuchsia and orange, hot pink and neon green, stripes, and checks. When I asked the people who worked there...
If You Give a Toddler a Ball by Tim Daniel, Head of School (With apologies to the great Laura Numeroff) If you give a toddler a ball, he’ll probably just throw it over the fence expecting you to pick it up and give it back to him. And when you pick up the ball and give...
Grace and Courtesy in Elementary by Kalpu Shah, Upper Elementary Program Director and Teacher Grace and courtesy in the elementary years. How does the refinement of grace and courtesy survive into “the age of rudeness,” you might wonder? We don’t talk much about grace and courtesy in the elementary years the way that we talk...
After Scaling Cliff Bradshaw, Musical Actor Knows What He Wants by Al Daniel The 1930s have proved a prosperous decade for Ben Richardson-Piche ’14, even though he was barely alive in the 20th century. A lifelong Durham-area resident now going north to Kent State University’s musical theatre program, Richardson-Piche cites period pieces as his...
