4th Graders Get Busy Discovering Pi

EMS 4th graders braved the cold weather to celebrate Pi Day (3.14) in the Little School Courtyard. They drew circles, measured the diameter and circumference with string and rulers, and explored the relationship (or ratio) between the two measurements...which, of course, they found to be 1:3.14....or π

It's one thing to tell a child what pi is, it's another to actually have them work it out and see it for them selves.  Experiential learning works best!

Ms. Rota setting up the Pi Day assignment

KIdTown Comes Alive in 1st Grade

As part of the first-grade study of neighborhood communities, each class created and designed a community out of boxes and other construction materials. The completed "buildings" were later assembled to represent a 3-D model of a town. The children discussed the placement of the buildings, needs of a community, and added details like road signs and power lines to make them complete.

Parents and siblings were invited to visit the classrooms to view the neighborhoods. One child commented, "I wouldn't want to live in that town. They do not have a fire station." Yikes!

Learning about the people, places and purpose of a community are important lessons in educating and growing good citizens.  Assignments such as these also set the stage for more in depth social science study that lies ahead in future grades.  Cooperative play, planning and strategic thinking are engaged, as well as the development of imagination and visual-spacial intelligence.
   
~Beth Brennan, Lower School Head

Project Cicero a Great Success

Almost 200 teachers came to EMS this afternoon to browse the tens of thousands of donated books. The teachers filled boxes and suitcases with books for their classrooms and students. The event, involving dozens of EMS families and students and planned by EMS parent Teddi Hunter and Jennifer Backer, was a resounding success.

Many of the teachers were from Teach for America, Newark. EMS also hosted TfA's quarterly professional development workshop this morning.

Congratulations and our Sincerest Thanks to Teddi Hunter and Jennifer Backer

The sorting commences

Over 75 students and parents from EMS and surrounding towns gathered to sort the 300 boxes of donated books (80 of which came from EMS families) in preparation for the Project Cicero drive tomorrow.

Project Cicero truck arrives

Despite the snow, student and parent volunteers arrived this afternoon to begin sorting books donated from 15 local schools. The 24' truck was filled by the first 11 schools, and it will return to collect from the other 4 later this afternoon. In addition, over 5,000 books were donated from the Elisabeth Morrow community. The event, benefitting teachers and students from Englewood and Newark, occurs at 1:00 Saturday afternoon

EMS Students Excel at Regional Scholastic Art and Writing Awards

A few of the Art winners with Ms. Coll Nicolaou at the
reception at Montclair State University

With so much attention given to testing, scores and academic performance 

these days, it's important to recognize achievement in creativity once in a while. For over 90 years, the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards have been celebrating the imaginative minds of middle and high school students on both regional and national levels.

Our Gold and Silver Key Winners (a few missing)

For a school like Elisabeth Morrow, a school that fosters creativity within the curriculum, these awards are looked upon as an exciting milestone in the academic year for our students. This year, these EMS students achieved the following at the Regional level:

Sarah Abrahamsen (Hackensack, NJ)

1 Gold Key for Personal Essay/Memoir, 2 Silver Keys for Photography

Christine Anagnos (Haworth, NJ)

1 Silver Key for Poetry

Ava Chiocco (Closter, NJ)

1 Honorable Mention for Poetry

Noah Crooks (Bloomfield, NJ)

1 Silver Key for Science Fiction/Fantasy

Erika Herman (Teaneck, NJ)

2 Gold Keys and 1 Silver Key for Photography,

1 Silver Key for Flash Fiction, and 3 Honorable Mentions for Personal Essay/Memoir, Humor, Poetry (respectively)

Madeleine Kachikian (Hoboken, NJ)

3 Gold Keys for Photography

Elena Latinsky-Ortiz (Bergenfield, NJ)

Maxine Musto's Gold Key Winning Sculpture

1 Honorable Mention for Poetry

Mariah Leontopoulou-Cochran (Oradell, NJ)

1 Honorable Mention for Poetry

Christian Maloney (Hackensack, NJ)

1 Gold Key for Poetry, 1 Silver Key for Dramatic Script,

1 Honorable Mention for Flash Fiction

Tara McConville (Demarest, NJ)

2 Honorable Mentions for Poetry

Maxine Musto (Bogota, NJ)

1 Gold Key for Sculpture and 1 Honorable Mention for Photography

Alexander Philliou (Haworth, NJ)

1 Honorable Mention for Poetry

Nikki Quinn (Cliffside Park, NJ)

2 Honorable Mentions for Photography and Painting (respectively)

Isabel Riedel (Tenafly, NJ)

1 Honorable Mention for Poetry

Daniel Schwartz (Tenafly, NJ)

1 Gold Key for Photography

Overall, the January regional judging saw EMS with 54 entries in the Art category (4 sculpture, 2 fashion, 2 digital art, 2 painting and 44 photography--a category that allows multiple submissions per student). EMS submitted 27 entries in the Writing category (3 memoir, 1 science fiction, 1 humor, 1 dramatic script, 2 flash fiction, 1 short story, and 18 poetry entries--a category, again, that allows multiple entries). At the regional competition, our students went up against student submissions from New Jersey, Maine, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island.

Ms. Lisa Coll Nicolaou, EMS teacher, who annually coordinates the EMS Scholastic entries, also noted that a number of young alums were also successful on the regional level: Eva Gurian '11 (Academy of Holy Angels), Josh Kurtz '09 (Dwight-Engelwood), Carolina Zuluaga '11 (Academy of Holy Angels), Phoebe Mattana '10 (Dwight-Engelwood), Sofia Joseph '10 (Dwight-Englewood), Alina Sodano '09 (Bergen Academies), Samantha Kirsch '10 (Bergen Academies), and Bryan Rubin '10 (Dwight-Englewood) were among the high school award recipients from New Jersey Schools. EMS also had two known alumni winners from New York, Emily Gruber'11 (Trinity) and Benny Kesslen '10 (Riverdale).

Gold and Silver Key Winners represent the top 15% of all entries received in a particular category for that region. Gold Key Winners are then moved forward for the national-level competition and winners are announced on March 15 with the National Medalists awarded at a ceremony at Carnegie Hall in June.

Appletree: Our Minecraft Curriculum Featured at Annual NAIS C...

Appletree: Our Minecraft Curriculum Featured at Annual NAIS C...: by Aaron Cooper,  Head of School —  Last week, a contingent from The Elisabeth Morrow School traveled to Philadelphia ...READ ON at Appletree Online.

The Fifth Grade Dissects Sharks

The fifth grade science classes are dissecting sharks this week. Despite some initial squeamishness, the students demonstrated in intimate detail how well they know the shark's anatomy. One of the groups even found three unborn sharks and an undigested fish. All in the name of science!

Morrow House Students Participate In Teen Leadership Conference at the JCC

On Friday, March 1, 7th and 8th grade students that serve on the Student Council joined students from other local middle schools for the first middle school focussed Teen Leadership Conference at the Kaplen JCC on the Palisades.  In this picture, EMS students and Mrs. Ehrlich are accompanied by  Englewood Assemblywoman Valerie Huttle.  

A Community That Plays Together Stays Together!

Families, friends and faculty joined this morning to play together. The happy faces, conversation and special memories speak for themselves.