Gatherings

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Each week, the elementary and middle school children come together to share in a large group experience. All areas of the curriculum are incorporated into projects through which the children gain a deeper understanding of what they can ultimately achieve when collaborating with others. Over years of working together, students develop a rich connection and appreciation for the larger community.

Kitchen-Science

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Beginning four decades ago, Studio’s groundbreaking Kitchen-Science Program was well ahead of its time. Students learn culinary and cultural arts, as well as the sciences of physics, chemistry, and botany. They help to prepare, serve, and clean up lunch, which are important contributions to our school community and beyond.

Our Kitchen-Science Program was featured on ABC’s nationwide broadcast of The Chew.

Literary Discovery

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In this weekly class, kindergarten and elementary students explore a variety of genres, including poetry, short story, fable, mythology, and fantasy. They develop thinking skills, share their work, and help one another to communicate their ideas more fully. Using observations, memories, feelings, and thoughts, their own literary style emerges to create powerful written pieces.

Morning Group

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All elementary and middle school students meet and talk together each morning to share their thoughts and feelings with the group, exploring ideas, conflicts, and desires. As each person makes his or her contribution to the group, others listen; in this way, students learn about themselves as both speakers and listeners. In turn, their classmates listen and respond to one another. Our approach to both the group and the individual reveals itself most vividly in this class.

One World

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One World class combines the sciences and social sciences, blending together life, earth, and physical science with history, civics, and geography. Studying the subjects in tandem allows students of all ages to make perceptive and deep connections between the disciplines, thereby developing a way of thinking and building knowledge about the world. The core concepts of the curriculum are structure, growth, systems, cycles, transformation, and interdependence. Topics and concepts are revisited as students’ thinking matures over the years.

Reach Out

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In Reach Out class, elementary and middle school students develop an understanding of how to interact with others in the school community, in the neighborhood, and in the world. They engage in projects that promote change in society and are beneficial to others. Past projects have included singing at a senior residence, reading to children in a homeless shelter, working in and donating to a soup kitchen, and participating in a bird population study with the New York Audubon Society.

Studio Players

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Middle school students work on memorization, recitation, and elocution as they read aloud from a variety of texts, including poetry, monologues, dialogues, speeches, and classic full-length plays during their weekly Studio Players class. Reading an entire Shakespearean play is a highlight, as is writing, producing, and performing a full-length original musical for the entire community.

Thinking and Writing

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Elementary school students work in pairs with a teacher to explore their own minds, discover their unique voices, apply newly acquired writing skills, and express what they want to say, while experimenting with various ways to write what they think and imagine. Initially, beginning writers use the perspective, composition, and tone of drawings to shape their writing. Later, they seek new ways to convey their ideas, thereby developing a deeper study of the art and the craft of writing.

Tutorial

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Through talking and weekly assignments, elementary and middle school students come to understand and accept the myriad ways to perceive the world and one’s role in it, and to love learning for its own sake. The class addresses the importance of character, as well as intellect, and sharpens students’ critical, analytical, and abstract thinking. One’s individual responsibility to be an informed, compassionate, and active participant in

today’s society is explored fully, with the goal

of becoming the authority of oneself.

Work Period and Assignments

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Work Period and Assignments class is a foundation for learning how to work: to have one’s vision and carry it through to completion, with problem solving, thinking, creating, and persisting all being called into play along the way. Open-ended materials are offered that encompass all curricula and subject matter. Each student generates an idea, plans and gathers materials, and brings his or her idea to fruition. Bringing their inner vision to completion promotes both their cognitive development and emotional growth. Additionally, it paves the way for students to complete assignments and homework independently.