The sixth grade at Echo Hill Outdoor SchoolOur Middle School
A walk through may find students reading Twelve Angry Men, finding the boiling point of a mystery liquid, sitting on the floor trying to solve Tangram puzzles, or acting as Supreme Court justices debating a case. You also may find a class listening to a lecture on Renaissance art, peer editing their latest writing, practicing math facts, or composing music. The middle school faculty strives to balance traditional curriculum with hands-on investigations. The focus is on the process, whether it is learning to do research or guiding a student to be more organized.
| Science Expo The Middle School Science Expo took place the week of March 10. Each student completed and presented an individual project and participated in a group competition. On the morning of March, 13, students met in the gym for these group challenges.They built space shuttles, catapults for marshmallows, Rube Goldberg devices or mouse trap dragsters. The projects were to be made mostly from recyclable plastics, cardboard, paper and duct tape. In the afternoon there was an egg drop from the school roof. |
|
 |
Fifth grade students work on keyboarding skills. |
 |
Author, Nancy Robson, reads an excerpt from the sequel to her first novel, The Course of the Waterman, which the eighth grade read earlier this year. Mrs. Robson also shared the challenges and rewards of creating a novel and entertained questions from the students. |
 |
|
| Fifth grade students constructed fabulous houses for Spanish class. Rooms and furniture were labeled in Spanish, and students presented their creation to the class. | |
 |
 |
| Fifth grade science class explores chemical change. | |
 |
 |
| Fifth grade students work on research projects with our librarian. | |
| Eighth grade Introduction to Physical Science students are introduced to fractional distillation. |  |
London Times Three
Our 2007 Summer Trip to London with Ms. Roddy and Ms. Bennett
Tuesday, June 12 and Wednesday, June 13
by Rachel Upadhyay
On Tuesday, we arrived at the airport in London and met our tour guide Alan. Shortly after we went on the London Underground and stopped at our hotel. After we were given some time to unpack, we went to pick up a picnic lunch to eat in Kensington Gardens, where we found many exotic plants and a squirrel perched on a man's leg, eating some nuts out of the man's hand. Kensington Gardens is also home to the Sunken Garden, an elaborate garden located in a dug-out pit with beautiful landscaping. Later, we toured Kensington Palace, home of an informative exhibit of Princess Diana of Wales and other interesting displays. These displays include the state apartments, displays of the royal court and ceremonial dress, and famous dresses worn by the famed Princess of Wales. We then went to 'Cafe Uno' and had a dinner of spaghetti and meat sauce, or for vegetarians, there was pasta with assorted vegetables. After dinner and a fabulous dessert of Tiramisu was finished, we dispersed back to our hotel rooms for a good night's rest.
The next day, we started off the day by going downstairs to eat a complimentary, traditional English breakfast of tomatoes, eggs, toast, tea or coffee, pastries, and other foods. Then we began our journey to Windsor Castle, home to luxurious state apartments, marvelous architecture, beautiful gardens and St. George's Chapel. The castle is known as the world's largest inhabited castle. After that tour, we ate lunch at 'EAT.' in the town of Eton. Next, we journeyed to Eton College, founded in 1440 by King Henry VI. It has educated nineteen prime ministers and multiple members of royalty including Prince Harry and Prince William, sons of Princess Diana of Wales. While there, we toured the Schoolyard, the College Chapel and the Museum of Eton Life. In the schoolyard, there is an astounding statue of the college's founder, in the museum there are many displays of what students experience, and in the Chapel we witnessed members of the chorus practicing. After the informative tour, we ate at 'Maxwell's', where we were given a variety of entrees and desserts including burgers and mango-and-raspberry sorbet. When we were finished, we ventured to a theatre to view the classic play 'Mary Poppins' which turned out to have wonderfully choreographed dances and great songs. Finally, we tucked into bed at the hotel and prepared for another spontaneous day.
Thursday, June 14 and Friday, June 15
by Emily Brookshire
Our morning begins with a leisurely walk to Buckingham Palace for the “Changing of the Guard” ceremony. After we saw the Changing of the Guard, we walked around to the back of the palace to see the Royal Mews. The Royal Mews is where they keep the horses and all of the Queen’s carriages and cars. As we finished with the Royal Mews, we walked down to the Thames River for our river cruise. From the boat we saw the Tower Bridge, Houses of Parliament and many other historic sites. When we got off of the tour boat, we went to the Tower of London. This was a prison that was built over an ancient Roman castle or fortress. We saw some torture and war devices, but my favorite thing there was the Crown Jewels. The crowns and jewelry were absolutely beautiful. After the Tower of London, we had a lovely meal of fish and chips and then saw a West End Theater Performance of “The Sound of Music.” It was the BEST play I have ever seen. The set was just remarkable and the cast was really great. I loved it! We finished with the play and walked back to the hotel. All of us finally got what we truly needed, a good night of sleep.
Friday
Today we started out our sightseeing with a trip to the Shakespeare Globe Theater. We saw how the characters wore dresses for that era and some of the instruments used. Our group also got to see a play practice of “Romeo and Juliet.” The one person we saw that really made the day special was....Prince Philip! He is a patron of the Theater and was visiting. That was very cool. Then, we continued on to St. Paul’s Cathedral. Many famous people have been buried in this church and it was where Princess Diana was married. The cathedral was so amazing. It is incredibly large and has such beautiful paintings on the ceiling. After we saw some tombs in the crypt, we started our death climb. We climbed 250 winding steps up to the Whispering Gallery. That is where you and a friend can go to opposite sides of the room, whisper into the wall and you can hear what they say on the other side. Then we walked up nearly 250 more winding steps to balcony. We were eye level with some of the tallest buildings in London. Then up about 100 more steps until we were as high as you could go. When you looked out we could see for miles. That was a lot of fun, until we had to walk down all of the steps.
After St. Paul’s, we went on a Jack the Ripper tour. Jack killed many women in a certain time period. The story itself was spooky but our tour guide was a nerd. He said yeah after every sentence. And then...(breath)... he took out...(breath)... her liver...(breath)...yeah...Over all though, it was a really, really amazing day!
Saturday, June 16 and Sunday June 17
by Lindsay Gilbert
Saturday was a very busy day. We saw a lot of cool stuff. The first thing that we saw was Westminster Abbey. It was SO beautiful inside. Luckily, we had a professional guided tour of the Abbey. Westminster Abbey is where the coronations of the Kings and Queens happened, famous people were buried there (like the Kings and the Queens), and church ceremonies are held there. After the Abbey, we rushed over to the official Queen’s birthday parade. This was not on our schedule, but since we were there, our guide found us a front row place on the street. There were guards, police or “bobbies”, and horses everywhere. The parade consisted of a large show of artillery, followed by the Royals in open carriages and on horse back. It was a real treat. We saw, Camilla, Prince William, Prince Andrew and his daughters, as well has Prince Phillip, Prince Charles and his sister, Princess Anne, and the Queen herself.
After that nice treat, it was on to the British Museum. There we got to see exhibits of ancient artifacts that was started from just one collector. There was stuff from all over the world there! It was pretty cool. Then, on to the London Eye. The London Eye is a huge ferris wheel with glass compartments that you stand in. From there you can see all over London. It was a 35 minute ride, so you get how high it goes. After that we went to dinner, then back to the hotel.
Sunday
Today was a free day to go anywhere and do anything. Three of us went on a bus tour that went to multiple places. The first stop was at Warwick Castle, about an hour and a half out of London. The owner of this castle decided that it was too much money to upkeep the place so he sold it to Madam Tussaud’s Wax Muesum where today it is a muesum. The next stop was Stratford upon Avon. That means Stratford on the river. There, we saw William Shakespeare's birth place. Behind the house was a very beautiful garden which we got to walk through. Next was lunch which was at a little pub in a little town. It was very good. The last stop was at the colleges of Oxford where very smart and bright students went to school. There we also got to see the place where Alice in Wonderland was written. It was very cool. Then we headed back to London, and then back to the hotel to pack up and be ready to leave for the airport the next day.
|
 The Class of 2006 presented the school with a beautiful bronze Osprey weathervane |
 The Class of 2007 with their class gift |
REMINDERS
- May 28, 29, 30 - 8th grade Final Exams
PREPARATION FOR THE SECONDARY SCHOOL
What can you do to help your child be a strong candidate for secondary school?
Fifth Grade:
• READ, READ, READ! Encourage your child’s independent reading
habit.
• Begin a resume (list activities, memberships, community service).
• Read progress reports carefully. Work with your child on any weak
areas, such as organization and time management.
• Provide the time and the place for successful completion of homework.
• Avoid over scheduling your child. It is best to do one or two
things well. A good rule of thumb is to schedule no more than one activity
after school each day and no more than a total of three per week.
• Help him/her learn to be independent and responsible. Encourage
him/her to solve problems and be responsible. Resist the urge to phone,
fax or drive to school to collect forgotten books, assignments, deliver
lunch, etc. Encourage your child to talk directly to a teacher or advisor
when there are questions about grades or if help is needed.
Sixth Grade:
• READ, READ, READ!
• Pay attention to areas where teachers note need for improvement.
If necessary, work with the teacher or advisor to develop a plan.
• Encourage independence with time management and problem solving.
• Attend the meetings with the secondary school admission representatives
when they visit Kent School.
• Talk, as a family, about different types of schools (public,
private, day, boarding, co-ed, single gender, etc.)
• Talk with other families about the schools their children attend.
Keep in mind experiences vary with each student, so try to get as many
different views as possible.
Seventh Grade:
• READ, READ, READ!
• Continue to pay attention to your child’s strengths and
weaknesses as noted by teachers. Support your child in setting and reaching
goals for improvement.
• Research schools. Send for information, visit web sites (www.schools.com
and www.petersons.com), and talk to other families about the schools
their children attend.
• Begin visiting schools. Do not limit yourself; visit a wide
range of schools. Leave 8th grade visits for your narrowed list of schools.
Time away from school in 8th grade should be minimal as fall term grades
should reflect a solid effort.
• Register your child to take the SSAT in December. We will review
test taking strategies and have students do practice tests in November.
• Narrow your list of schools to three or four that you feel would
be a good match for your child and your family by the end of this year.
Remember to include a “safety” school where you are confident
of acceptance.
• Ask to see student profiles (average SSAT score and grades of
admitted students) and ask about the acceptance rate. Try to get a real
sense of your child’s chance of acceptance as well as his/her
chance for success if admitted.
• Your goal is to find a school where your child can be successful
and happy.
Eighth Grade:
• READ, READ, READ!
• Visit and interview at the schools on your “short list.”
Be sure to acquire applications from these schools.
• Register your child to take the SSAT in December. We will review
test taking strategies and have students do practice tests in November.
• Pay attention to application deadlines! Submit recommendation
forms to Debbie Williams by early December. These will be completed
and sent by the school.
• Mail your application and fee at least two weeks before the
due date. We recommend Certified Mail.
• Keep a sense of humor and try to minimize stress!
Secondary Schools consider the following in the admission process:
• character
• teacher recommendations
• interview
• what the candidate would contribute to the school community
• grades
• SSAT scores
• student application and essay
Click here to download a pdf copy of "Preparation for Secondary School"