Young Musicians Shine On Stage Throughout December

Posted on December 18th, 2019 by acsrochester

In December, a month known for holiday celebrations and excitement leading up to a well-earned break, AC student musicians did their part to spread joy with performances in two Winter Concerts, caroling at the Genesee Valley Club, performances at the AC Holiday Book Fair at Barnes & Noble and, of course, to complete the circuit, the Holiday Breakfast.

Performances featured works that ranged from pieces connected to Project-Based Learning (“My Paddle (Dip, Dip and Swing)” and “What Do You Do With a Water Waster?”) to classic American pop tunes (“Sweet Caroline,” “Rockin’ Robin” and “We Are the Champions), from major Broadway musical medleys (Phantom of the Opera and Les Miserables) to film music favorites (The Lord of the Rings and The Pink Panther) to holiday pops numbers (“Let It Snow!/Winter Wonderland” and “Christmas in Killarney”). The students not only brought joy to the hearts of their listeners, they had genuine challenges to accept and an authentic way to publicly demonstrate the learning they experienced in the ensembles and music classes that are a standard part of the academic landscape at Allendale Columbia School.
Without the talent and effort of the students who have devoted themselves to the study of music, in addition to their hard work in all other areas of their lives, the fabric of our AC culture would not be as colorful or emotionally meaningful as it is today, so we would like to express our gratitude to students in the 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade music classes, the 4th Grade Band, 4th Grade Chorus, 5th Grade Chorus, 5th Grade Band, Middle School Chorus, Concert Band, Wind Ensemble, Select Chorus, and Upper School Chorus.
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WATCH: Lower School Winter Concert Preview

Mark your calendars for upcoming concerts and musicals!

January 16 – Lower School Solo Performance Night
February 13 – Lower School Musical
March 6 – Lower School Side by Side Band Concert
March 27-28 – Middle School Musical (Music Man, Jr.)
April 28 – Middle & Upper School Spring Concert
May 1 – Lower School Side by Side Choral Concert
May 6 – Lower School Spring Concert
May 22 – Strawberry Breakfast
Posted in: Eighth Grade, Eleventh Grade, Fifth Grade, First Grade, Fourth Grade, Highlights, Kindergarten, Lower School, LS Birches, Middle School, MS Birches, Ninth Grade, Second Grade, Seventh Grade, Sixth Grade, Tenth Grade, The Birches, Third Grade, Twelfth Grade, Upper School, US Birches

Solo Performance Night 2020

Posted on December 18th, 2019 by acsrochester

Join us for an AC tradition: Lower School Solo Performance Night! All students in grades K-5 are welcome to perform for an audience of family and friends on Thursday night, January 16th, 2020, with an ice cream social to follow. To participate, students must register with their performance selections by Friday, January 10th, 2020.

Fill out the Registration Form to specify the song to be performed and whether an accompanist is needed. Submit the completed form to Mr. Costanzo or Ms. Grossman by January 10th (digital or printed copies will both be accepted), and start practicing for the performance!

Posted in: Fifth Grade, First Grade, Fourth Grade, Kindergarten, Lower School, LS Birches, Second Grade, The Birches, Third Grade

Second Graders Learn About Cities by Meeting with a City Planner and Building Their Own!

Posted on December 10th, 2019 by acsrochester
Learning about cities
As part of our project-based learning in Lower School, our second graders are learning about cities and what goes into designing and building one. Project-based learning is dependent upon the collaboration of several teachers and in-depth planning. Throughout this unit, the classroom teacher, Annie King, sought the expertise of our STEM teacher, Donna Chaback and our art teacher, Shari Ellmaker. They worked on concepts of engineering and the arts as they designed blueprints of their ideal city and then worked in teams to decide where certain businesses, landforms, and organizations should be located. Once they had a plan to propose, they presented their ideas to a mock city planning board comprised of Head of School, Mr. Gee, Head of Lower School Mrs. Feiss, Head of Middle School Mrs. Duver, Director of the AC Invent Center Ms. Crosby, and Director of Food Service Mrs. Reynolds.

 

Meeting with a Rochester City Planner to learn about transportation systems
After receiving feedback from the mock city planning board, the students were ready to design their own 3-D city. Public transportation was an issue the mock planning board raised, so the second grade students began their research in this area and quickly became experts learning about a variety of traditional and cutting edge transportation systems. They were captivated to learn about Elon Musk’s Hyperloop train as well as Sea Bubbles which are being tested in Paris, France. They also met Manager of Special Projects for the City of Rochester, Erik Frisch to discuss different transportation systems and learn more about the city of Rochester as they planned and created their own city, Birchville.

 

“What about a homeless shelter?” turns into donating to RAIHN
Next, students wrote and sent emails to members of the AC community asking what is needed to make a community great. One response they got was about a homeless shelter and how shelters are an integral part of a community. Once the students learned this, a deep and meaningful class discussion took place, resulting in their decision to include a homeless shelter in Birchville. This conversation also moved them to want to take immediate action to help those affected by homelessness in the Rochester community, so they decided to sell the crock-pot applesauce they’d been making in their classroom each week. The sale generated $140 which the students then donated to RAIHN, a non-profit that assists homeless families to achieve sustainable independence by supporting them with shelter, food, personalized case management and a network of caring volunteers.

 

Community Art
The students decided early on that they wanted art to be a part of Birchville, so they took a field trip around Rochester viewing a variety of sculptures to help determine what they wanted in their own city.  Then, Art Teacher Mrs. Ellmaker helped them design a collaborative sculpture (called “Colorful Life”) which is located in the center of Birchville.
The formal “ribbon-cutting” of Birchville was held on Monday, December 9th. Click here to view the Spectrum News coverage of this event.
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Posted in: AC in the News, Authentic Learning, Highlights, Lower School, LS Birches, Second Grade, The Birches

Lower School Curriculum Unveiled for 2019-2020

Posted on May 23rd, 2019 by Allendale Columbia School

By Michelle Feiss, Head of Lower School

View the Lower School Curriculum Night slideshowThis past Tuesday evening, we unveiled Allendale Columbia’s new Lower School curriculum for the 2019-20 school year. Over the past 10 months, teachers have met in various teams to research the best programs globally in order to develop new standards for mathematics, literacy, and our project-based learning units for next year at AC. (more…)

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Posted in: Fifth Grade, First Grade, Fourth Grade, Highlights, Kindergarten, Lower School, Second Grade, Third Grade

Lower School Reads for 100 Minutes at Camp Read-A-Lot

Posted on May 10th, 2019 by Allendale Columbia School

Students camped out at school with some good books as Allendale Columbia’s Lower School students completed their 100 minutes of reading at Camp Read-A-Lot on May 10th. (Read the preview, Wolfie Stirs Students to Read and Help for May 10 Read-A-Thon.) (more…)

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Posted in: Fifth Grade, First Grade, Fourth Grade, Highlights, Kindergarten, Lower School, Second Grade, Third Grade

Wolfie Stirs Students to Read and Help for May 10 Read-A-Thon

Posted on May 3rd, 2019 by Allendale Columbia School

by Randy Northrup, 5th Grade Teacher

Students from Nursery through Grade 5 gathered in the Curtis Performance Center (CPC) for a Read-A-Thon Kick-off. Mrs. Michelle Feiss, Head of Lower School, noticed all sorts of camping equipment on the stage and, along with the students, figured that AC mascot, Wolfie, was up to something.

Sure enough, Wolfie shared that he was missing all the fun he had at Camp Howl-A-Lot last summer and was trying to recreate the experience. After talking about all of the fun activities he enjoyed at camp, Wolfie asked what students at AC like to do. (more…)

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Posted in: Fifth Grade, First Grade, Fourth Grade, Highlights, Kindergarten, Lower School, Nursery, Pre-Primary School, PreKindergarten, Second Grade, Summer LEAP, Third Grade

AC’s Younger Students Becoming Global Citizens, Too

Posted on March 1st, 2019 by Allendale Columbia School

Students throughout Allendale Columbia School don’t just learn about other parts of the world, they become global citizens, learning alongside their peers in other parts of the world. That’s just as true in Lower School.

Last year, AC first-graders explored the Amazon rainforest and ran a successful fundraising campaign to become stewards of a section of the rainforest equal to the size of AC’s campus. Building on that experience, AC’s Head of Lower School, Michelle Feiss, brought in Paul Hurteau, Executive Director of OneWorld Classrooms and a former Upstate New York teacher, who thrilled current first- and second-graders with stories of his experiences teaching students in Ecuador, complete with photos of the people and wildlife, poems, and artifacts from that rainforest community.

(more…)

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Posted in: Authentic Learning, Centers for Impact, Eighth Grade, Eleventh Grade, Fifth Grade, First Grade, Fourth Grade, Global Engagement, Highlights, Lower School, Middle School, Ninth Grade, Partnerships, Second Grade, Seventh Grade, Sixth Grade, Tenth Grade, Third Grade, Twelfth Grade, Upper School

RSVP: Next Steps Event for PreK to Grade 4

Posted on February 1st, 2019 by cnickels

Parents of students in Pre-K through Grade 4 at AC are invited to a special Lower School Next Steps event on Friday, February 8th from 8:00-9:30 a.m. We will start in the CPC to learn more about next year from current students. Afterward, parents will be invited to visit and observe classrooms in action from 8:45-9:30 a.m. and visit our with our specialists in Art, Spanish, Music, and PE, and with our Learning Advocate.  (more…)

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Posted in: First Grade, Fourth Grade, Kindergarten, Lower School, LS Birches, Second Grade, The Birches, Third Grade