Uniquely Studio classes are integral to Studio’s core curricula and provide daily opportunities for students to broaden and deepen their thinking and learning, while encouraging their passions and supporting their maturation.
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.
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 their 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 class combines the sciences and social sciences, blending together life, earth, and physical science with history, civics, geography, sustainability, engineering, and technology. Studying the subjects in tandem allows students of all ages to make perceptive and deep connections between the disciplines, thereby developing ways 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.
Beginning four decades ago, Studio’s groundbreaking Kitchen-Science Program was well ahead of its time. Students study the culinary and cultural arts, the sciences of physics, chemistry, and botany, and cultivate herbs and vegetables in our greenhouse. They learn to prepare, serve, and clean up lunch, which are important contributions to the school community and beyond as our school also participates in the NYC Organics Collection Program.
Our Kitchen-Science Program was featured on ABC’s nationwide broadcast of The Chew.
Beginning four decades ago, Studio’s groundbreaking Kitchen-Science Program was well ahead of its time. Students study the culinary and cultural arts, the sciences of physics, chemistry, and botany, and cultivate herbs and vegetables in our greenhouse. They learn to prepare, serve, and clean up lunch, which are important contributions to the school community and beyond as our school also participates in the NYC Organics Collection Program.
Our Kitchen-Science Program was featured on ABC’s nationwide broadcast of The Chew.
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 to—and appreciation for—the larger community.
Work Period and Assignments class is a foundation for learning how to work, how to have a vision, and how to carry it through to completion. Unstructured materials are offered encompassing all subject areas and encouraging problem-solving, in-depth thinking, creativity, and persistence. Students experience the joy of fulfilling their inner vision, which promotes both their cognitive development and emotional growth. Additionally, this class paves the way for students to complete assignments and homework independently.
Work Period and Assignments class is a foundation for learning how to work, how to have a vision, and how to carry it through to completion. Unstructured materials are offered encompassing all subject areas and encouraging problem-solving, in-depth thinking, creativity, and persistence. Students experience the joy of fulfilling their inner vision, which promotes both their cognitive development and emotional growth. Additionally, this class paves the way for students to complete assignments and homework independently.
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.
In Reach Out class, students develop an understanding of how to interact with others in order to have an impact within our school community, in the neighborhood, and in the larger world. They respond to people’s needs and their own growing awareness of current issues of social justice and sustainability by engaging in projects that promote change in society. Past experiences have included singing at a senior residence, reading to children in a homeless shelter, working in and donating to a soup kitchen, helping members of the community become more eco-conscious, cleaning up Central Park, and participating in a bird population study with the New York Audubon Society.
In Reach Out class, students develop an understanding of how to interact with others in order to have an impact within our school community, in the neighborhood, and in the larger world. They respond to people’s needs and their own growing awareness of current issues of social justice and sustainability by engaging in projects that promote change in society. Past experiences have included singing at a senior residence, reading to children in a homeless shelter, working in and donating to a soup kitchen, helping members of the community become more eco-conscious, cleaning up Central Park, and participating in a bird population study with the New York Audubon Society.
Middle school students work on memorization, recitation, elocution, debate, and oral expression as they read aloud a variety of texts, including poetry, monologues, dialogues, speeches, and the works of great playwrights from ancient to modern times, including Aristophanes, William Shakespeare, Oscar Wilde, Thornton Wilder, Lorraine Hansberry, and Carson McCullers. This range of experiences culminates in the spring trimester with the students writing, producing, designing, and performing an original play, whose theme is influenced by the studies that have captivated their interests.
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, writers begin with illustrations and use the perspective, composition, and tone of their 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.
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, writers begin with illustrations and use the perspective, composition, and tone of their 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.
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.
