THE "TO BE NAMED" ACTON SV NEWSLETTER - JUNE 2021 EDITION

Hello Acton SV Family and Friends!

Welcome to our first edition of The "To Be Named", Acton SV Monthly Newsletter. This will be a place to share updates on our official launch, what is happening in our studios today, opinion pieces and insights, and upcoming events. We are excited you are here to follow our journey!

Maria Ferrari & Shannon Scordella, Co-Founders

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WHAT SCHOOL SHOULD BE LIKE!

This year has given us the privilege to really dig deep and reflect what a school experience should be for our children. First and foremost, we believe school should be fun and relevant.

There is a growing body of research demonstrating that students need meaning and a personal connection to the material they are learning in order to stay engaged, motivated and have effective information processing and long-term memory storage. School is not just about a rich academic curriculum. That’s just one dimension. School is this amazing and often missed opportunity for students to gain the skills and habits that will allow them to face the real world with character and confidence. This year we set out with a clean slate and focused on what is important to us and refused to maintain the status quo. Our students grew leaps and bounds in their technical skills (math, reading, writing, science) but more importantly grew inwardly gaining confidence, resilience, courage and empathy. Here is a little summary of the last two months….

QUESTS

After completing the Entrepreneurship Quest, many of our learners participated in our inaugural Children’s Business Fair. This was an amazing opportunity for them to create a product, pitch and successfully engage customers. Over several weeks, the students learned how to calculate profit margins, cost of goods, time management and execution. Despite early nerves as customers approached their business booth, the students rose to the occasion and created an amazing Fair for the community while getting hands-on experience of what it takes to launch a successful business.

WRITER'S WORKSHOP

In Writer’s Workshop, the students focused on the art of Persuasive Writing. They put their skills to the test by writing persuasive letters to parents and the Mayor of Redwood City on social issues they are passionate about (water conservation, pollution, smoking laws, ocean health...to name a few). Writing is a daily part of life here at Acton SV. Beyond Writer’s Workshop, the students continue to self-express in their daily journals through gratitude pieces, affirmations, poems and even song lyrics. These are showcased to our parent community every Friday afternoon during Open Stage.

We concluded the novel study on The Phantom Tollbooth, by Norton Juster, where, quite fittingly, the big themes are about using learning and curiosity to appreciate the things of everyday life, value time, and seizing the day. This is a great novel to adventure into the meaning of words and roots and how words are used to express thoughts creatively through idioms, puns, hyperbole, metaphors and similes.

CORE SKILLS

In Math, students learned about time - how to tell and measure time as well as units of time and conversation. More abstractly, the emotions we can feel about time are at the forefront of life lately. As our school year comes to a close, we will reflect on the amazing memories and what we have accomplished in a short time span, say goodbye to great friends and look forward to making new ones as a new school year begins.