Greetings from CS!
GREETINGS FROM THE COMPUTER SCHOOL
Welcome to the 2024-2025 school year! This year's school-wide theme is Impact, and we will discover more about how our actions impact other people and the world. We will look at the impact of individual characters's choices in texts (like in Romeo and Juliet andTo Kill a Mockingbird). We will delve into environmental impact in Science classes and historical impact in Social Studies. Our all-community read, Wonder, will start students thinking about how our choices as individuals can impact other people. Throughout the year we will be revisiting the theme through writing prompts, activities, conversations, projects, community building, and much more.
To begin walking down the same path, we will begin the year connecting our community through summer reading discussion groups, our first All School Meeting, and Curriculum Night. We'll break the ice, show school spirit, and review how our classes will work. We will also schedule Listening Conferences with parents and guardians so we can get to know you and your children better. We will plan more events, both live and virtual, that will get us grounded as we forge ahead through the middle school universe!
Learning Outside the Classroom
In addition to our exciting and stimulating classroom activities, we connect with cultural institutions and the vast array of learning opportunities afforded to us by virtue of living in NYC. Our 6th and 7th graders have visited historic Philadelphia, the National Constitution Center, and New York Historical Society as part of their study of the Road to the American Revolution, and have walked through the biodiversity of the Upper West Side.
Through our partnership with The New Victory Theater, our students will attend a variety of performances, travel to Hidden Valley, Camp Mason, and Ramapo, and experience Alvin Ailey in performance and practice.
What We’re Reading (and more to come...)
6th and 7th graders are starting off the year with units on Identity and Community: How does conflict impact individuals and community? How do writers express themes of “self” and “identity” in their work? How do a writer’s literary choices affect a reader’s experience? Texts include Same Sun Here, The Dreamer, and To Kill a Mockingbird.
8th graders will venture into their identities, asking how we become who we are? To what extent does race, culture, and nationality influence our identities? What else influences how we define ourselves? Texts include The Outsiders, Born a Crime, and Romeo and Juliet.
Building Community
As always, each grade, as well as mixed groups of students, will engage in activities that help them feel included, supported, and connected to their classmates. Students will have opportunities to collaborate, make new friends, build leadership skills, and feel inspired by their new experiences.
All School Meetings
As the 8th graders embrace their leadership roles within and outside of the CS community, they also lead our All School Meetings (ASMs.) In doing so, they write and direct performances that foster the values and mission of CS, help us to encourage our peers, and deepen our compassion for one another and our collective cultures. ASMs afford opportunities for eighth graders to showcase their talents and their voice, to celebrate the academic and creative achievements of the community, and to keep our school spirit high. We will kick off the year with an energetic welcome that will help us adjust to a new year - and for 6th graders to a new school, followed by an ASM celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month!
We'll continue working as a community to engage all learners, inside and outside the classroom. Thanks, as always, for sharing your children with us.
