Allendale Columbia School Ranked As One Of Newsweek’s Top 5,000 STEM High Schools in America

Posted on December 19th, 2019 by acsrochester

Allendale Columbia School was recently ranked as one of Newsweek’s Top 5,000 STEM High Schools in America. More than 30,000 high schools in the country were analyzed over a three-year period to determine the rankings. Newsweek, with its long history of reporting on scientific breakthroughs, technological revolutions and societal challenges, partnered with STEM.or to rank America’s Best STEM High Schools.

Recent AC STEM Activities

NASA Thanks AC Sixth Grade Citizen Scientists for Their Research
AC sixth graders just completed a month-long citizen science project through NASA’s GLOBE Program, recording more than 330 cloud observations. On December 17th, the class virtually met with NASA Education Specialist Marile Colon Robles who thanked the students for their work and reiterated the importance their cloud data plays in NASA’s on-going studies. Read more

 

“Girls Who Code” Club Represent AC at Rochester Maker Faire
This past November, Allendale Columbia School was a sponsor at the Rochester Maker Faire, where our “Girls Who Code” club taught visitors how to make brush bots and paper circuits. Read more

 

AC Robotics Teams Compete at Local FIRST Robotics Competitions
Four AC robotics teams recently competed in local FIRST robotics competitions. Representing the lower school in the FIRST Lego Robotics City Shaper challenge, were the “Wolf Pack” and the “Lightning Boltz”, led by AC faculty member Donna Chaback. Teresa Parsons, with the help of AC parent John Palomaki, led our middle school team, the “AC Aces”, while the upper school team, “Team 11779”, led by Phil Schwartz and Maya Crosby, competed in the FIRST Tech Challenge. Read more

 

Second Graders Learn About Cities by Meeting with a City Planner and Building Their Own!
Second graders met with 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. Read more

 

AC-RIT Collaboration Continues to Thrive and Enrich Learning Opportunities for Students
Students in Math 7, Math 8, Algebra I, and Honors Algebra II continue to participate in a series of classes with RIT. Most recently, students conducted a color absorption experiment using RIT’s light equipment, and they have also recently learned about cryptography and the use ciphers to create and crack codes. Read more

Posted in: AC in the News, Centers for Impact, Eighth Grade, Eleventh Grade, Fifth Grade, Highlights, Invent, Lower School, LS Birches, Middle School, MS Birches, Ninth Grade, Second Grade, Seventh Grade, Sixth Grade, Tenth Grade, The Birches, Twelfth Grade, Upper School, US Birches

Upper School Musical Production of Godspell Celebrates Community

Posted on December 19th, 2019 by acsrochester

This year’s upper school musical was selected to celebrate the best part of AC: our community. The evening featured live art and the work of several local artists. For students, this show was also about what they could learn as actors and as members of a community. It is a unique show in that there is so much left to the imagination beyond the text of the script. The focus throughout the production was on connecting through different acting techniques and art-making that creates a strong ensemble.

When developing the concept for AC’s version of Godspell, we considered where strong examples of community are found. As artists, creators, and innovators, we are members of a community that is bigger than themselves. Examples of this can be seen on stage, in galleries, and at festivals, from events at AC to Clothesline Arts Festival to Burning Man, which inspired today’s production. In AC’s Godspell, artists worked their craft on-stage, painting, building mini-sculptures, crocheting, making pottery. Actors interacted with the artists and with the audience as well, and mingled with them during intermission.

Godspell was a true celebration of the arts and community.
View all photos in the Godspell gallery, which are available to purchase to support AC Theatre productions.

AC Danced Art from ACS Rochester on Vimeo.

Posted in: Eleventh Grade, Ninth Grade, Tenth Grade, The Birches, Twelfth Grade, US Birches

AC-RIT Collaboration Continues to Thrive and Enrich Learning Opportunities for Students

Posted on December 19th, 2019 by acsrochester

Students in Math 7, Math 8, Algebra I, and Honors Algebra II continue to participate in a series of classes with RIT. Most recently, students conducted a color absorption experiment using RIT’s light equipment, and they have also recently learned about cryptography and the use ciphers to create and crack codes.

RIT Light and Color Collaboration 

Students in Honors Algebra II and Math 7 collaborated with RIT’s Kara Maki (Associate Professor, School of Mathematical Sciences, College of Science) on a light and color unit. Dr. Mark Fairchild, a professor at RIT, visited AC’s classroom to talk to the students about light, color, and perceptions of color. In math class at AC, students made serial dilutions to measure color absorption and transparency and analyzed the relationships graphically.  Students also visited RIT to tour various math and science labs, including astronomy, biology, color science, and 3D Printing. During their visit, students learned about locating stars and looking at planets, observed bacterial growth, created 3D molds, and conducted a color absorption experiment using RIT’s light equipment.
RIT Cybersecurity Collaboration
Students in Algebra 1 and Math 8 collaborated with RIT’s Lana Vershage (Director of Women in Computing, Dean’s Office, Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences) in the areas of Sustainability and Cybersecurity. The students learned about how good designs and smarter technology can help global change. One example of this was the concept of solar ovens and students were even able to construct their own to try at home. Students also learned about cryptography and used ciphers to create and crack codes.
Posted in: Middle School, MS Birches, Partnerships, The Birches, Upper School, US Birches

“Girls Who Code” Club Represent AC at Rochester Maker Faire

Posted on December 19th, 2019 by acsrochester

This past November, Allendale Columbia School was a sponsor at the Rochester Maker Faire, where our “Girls Who Code” club taught visitors how to make “brush bots” and paper circuits. The students guided participants through the process of building “brush bots” made from tooth brushes, a small vibrating motor, and fun decorations. “I had a lot of fun watching and helping kids make their brush bots,” said AC student Harmony Palmer. “I loved watching their smile grow as their bots moved and helping them helped me learn things as well.”

“Girls Who Code” was established by members of the upper school AC Codex club (Liza Cotter ’20, Anna Blake ’20, Mary Cotter ’22, and Harmony Palmer ’23) as a way to develop their coding skills, while sharing their experience with younger students through mentorship.

“I’ve really enjoyed working with younger girls because I see a lot of my younger self in them. I’m glad I can support these girls to explore something new that they could become passionate about,” said Mary Cotter ’22. The lower school girls seem equally pleased with the collaboration saying, “We love working with the upper school girls because they will help us if we don’t understand what to do, but they don’t do the work for us.”

The club has future plans to participate in various coding competitions, including Lockheed Martin’s CodeQuest later in the year.

Posted in: Fourth Grade, Invent, Lower School, LS Birches, The Birches, Upper School, US Birches

AC Robotics Teams Compete at Local FIRST Robotics Competitions

Posted on December 19th, 2019 by acsrochester

Four AC robotics teams recently competed in local FIRST robotics competitions. Representing the Lower School in the FIRST Lego Robotics City Shaper challenge, were the “Wolf Pack” and the “Lightning Boltz”, led by AC faculty member Donna Chaback. Teresa Parsons, with the help of AC parent John Palomaki, led our middle school team, the “AC Aces”, while the upper school team, “Team 11779”, led by Phil Schwartz and Maya Crosby, competed in the FIRST Tech Challenge.

The “Lightning Boltz” team received the Rising Star award at the competition. This award is given to rookie teams that show promise to go on and do great things. Nice job Boltz!

The “AC Aces” alliance lost their semi-finals match to the eventual tournament champions. It was an excellent first run of the year, and we look forward to participating in the Corning Qualifying event on January 12th.  

“Team 11779” had a successful event, participating in the final qualifying matches with teams that consistently qualify for the state level tournaments. 

 

Posted in: Fifth Grade, Invent, Lower School, LS Birches, Middle School, MS Birches, The Birches, Upper School, US Birches

AC Senior Kasi Natarajan Commits to University of Iowa’s Division I Men’s Swimming and Diving Team

Posted on December 19th, 2019 by acsrochester

On November 26th, AC senior Kasi Natarajan signed his national letter of intent to attend the University of Iowa, where he will pursue his study of business finance and compete at the Division I level as a member of the Iowa’s men’s swimming and diving team.

Kasi has been a member of the varsity boys swimming and diving team for our HAC athletics program for 6 years. He joined the team in 7th grade and during his time he has earned numerous accolades.

Last year, he finished 2nd overall in the 1-M Diving Event at both the Section V Diving Championships and Genesee Region Diving Championships, while also qualifying for the NYS Diving Championships.

As a junior and sophomore, Kasi also took 4th place at Section V’s Diving Championships. 

Kasi, throughout his diving club career, is a 5-time qualifier for AAU nationals in the 1M, 3M and 10M events, and is also a 3-Time National Qualifier for the 10M tower diving event.

Kasi has been able to achieve all this, while also balancing a rigorous academic schedule in which he’s earned honors status throughout his entire high school career at Allendale Columbia.

Posted in: College Advising News, Kid Kudos, The Birches, Twelfth Grade, Upper School, US Birches

AC Students & Faculty Connect With Classrooms Overseas to Celebrate World Kindness Week

Posted on December 18th, 2019 by acsrochester
AC students and faculty celebrated World Kindness Week November 11th-15th. Lower School teachers in grades 2-5 were given the opportunity to sign up with Empatico to connect their classrooms with others overseas. By doing so, AC students could participate in online activities and discussions about empathy and kindness with students around the globe.
Lower, Middle, and Upper School students also filled in hearts to share how they exhibit kindness to others. The hearts are displayed on the Global Engagement bulletin boards in each division.

Students also celebrated International Education Week November 18th-22nd. The week was dedicated to celebrating the benefits of international education and exchanges worldwide. It is a joint initiative of the US Department of State and the U.S. Department of Education to prepare Americans for a globally interconnected world and encourage the development of global leaders. AC celebrated the week by conducting a Kahoot! cultural trivia contest in the middle school and upper school. There was also a middle and upper school international photo contest. Our Lower School students participated by bringing in photos of their international or domestic travels. Photos are displayed on the Global Engagement bulletin boards in each division.

Posted in: Eighth Grade, Eleventh Grade, Fifth Grade, First Grade, Fourth Grade, Global Engagement, 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

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