Why Improv?
March 13, 2016
“When you study improv you’re studying how to play again and how to access that part of your mind that’s not judgmental. It teaches the students to actively listen and accept what another person says as the basis of something that can grow."
Read MoreUnit on China Takes Off
March 13, 2016
Responding to young children’s natural playfulness can yield inspiring and unexpected results. That’s what Felix Chen and Karolye Eldridge discovered while teaching a 3rd grade unit on China.
Read MoreEighth Grade Quaker Meeting for Business
March 12, 2016
The eighth grade met for their monthly Meeting for Business (MFB), a special Meeting for Worship focused on specific topics that are relevant to the grade. The eighth grade team began the practice two years ago so students could talk about social or academic concerns in a respectful space.
Read MoreSeventh Grade Skypes with N.H. Senzai
March 12, 2016
The seventh grade had the opportunity to Skype with N.H. Senzai, the author of Shooting Kabul. The novel, which is and important current read in the seventh grade English class, follows an Afghan family's escape from Afganistan and subsequent emigration to San Francisco.
Read MoreMiddle Schoolers Showcase One-Act Plays
March 12, 2016
Eighth grade students in theater classes produced two one-act plays that they had written and stage-designed in the first semester.
Read MoreA Pop-Up Comes to the Muller
March 11, 2016
A pop-up living room, tucked away in the corner of the Muller Lobby, this week quickly became a cozy oasis for students looking for a quiet spot for lunch or study. The installation was one of a series of pop-ups that is being created by students in the Upper School arts and theater classes.
Read MoreMoebius Strip Valentines
March 11, 2016
Students in a Middle School math class were spotted turning Moebius strips into Valentines with just a few quick snips of their scissors. Here’s how Math Teacher Justin Solonynka described the exercise: “Any opportunity to present that math is more than just numbers — that it's about problem solving, pattern finding, and engagement with our physical world — is exciting to me.
Read MoreAFS Seniors Receive National Merit Accolades
March 11, 2016
Five AFS seniors have been named Finalists in the National Merit Scholarship Program, which recognizes scholastic excellence. The five are Makarios Chung, David Goulden Naitove, Jacob Jacobson, Eli Russell and Lucy Silbaugh. All are eligible to be considered for National Merit Scholarships, which will be awarded to about 7,400 students nationwide.
Read MoreTheatre Students Showcase Work at the PA Shakespeare Festival
March 11, 2016
Upper School Theatre Teacher Megan Hollinger took a mighty team to the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival’s annual high school competition, where AFS students were chosen to perform a scene in the Festival's final showcase.
Read MoreWhat a Zoo
March 11, 2016
The first graders who were playing with the robotic reptile soon learned that its menace didn’t include an ability to bite. So, of course, they put their hands in the snake’s mouth over and over again and giggled in joy at their discovery as they placed their mechanical animals into the cardboard habitats that the first graders had created. The event marked the culmination of a collaboration between Upper School robotics students and their first grade partners.
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