our school

From the Head

Advent Turns Inside Out

December 2009

Dear Families and Friends,

With all the diversity of experiences that the city has to offer, you’ll seldom find all 188 of our students inside the school on a given day. It never fails. We are out and about. Take last Thursday for example, a 65-degree day with the sun shining through the bare tree limbs. Our oldest children donned their skates regardless of the temperature, to get their exercise on Boston’s Frog Pond.

With the flexibility to take advantage of what Boston has to offer, I suggested that Sixth Graders listen to Alan Khazei announce his candidacy for the United States Senate on Boston Common earlier this fall. They’d been having discussions in class about the right to vote, and this seemed like an experience not to be missed. That day our Sixth Graders learned that you don’t have to be a politician to run for office, and that a man who focused his efforts on community service had something more to give to his potential constituents. The issue of suffrage became that much more profound within the context of their medieval studies after watching Khazei in action.

Later, this class visited Higgins Armory in Worcester, the world’s second largest collection of armor in the world, and the Gardner Museum, two more opportunities in which to deepen their understanding of medieval society. Now after three months time, they are immersed in writing about human rights in the mid fourteenth century. Each student has shared his or her perspective, drawing from real world encounters they had “in the field” this fall. Taking on the role of a persona of their own choosing, those who might have worked the fields no doubt benefited from their three days at the Farm School in November.

At the Farm School
credit: Amanda Golden

How could one better get to know a peasant’s plight than by taking part in essential chores on the land? When Sixth Graders bring closure to their thematic experiences with presentations in January, they will have become experts on feudalism. In the process, they learned about social relationships and rights, all part of daily life in historic times.

This fall Second Graders explored life along the Charles, walking along the river at Broadmoor Audubon Sanctuary in South Natick. Third Graders envisioned revolutionary history at the Paul Revere House and Lexington Green.

Visiting Paul Revere's House
credit: Annalee Harris

And during three days and two nights in New York City, Fifth Graders put themselves in the shoes of immigrants coming through Ellis Island and living in the tenements of the Lower East Side.

These are only a few of the many excursions we’ve taken between September and November, 2009 at The Advent School. They represent learning as it should be – active, first hand, and connected to the real world. Our address may be Brimmer Street in the heart of Beacon Hill, but our campus is the entire city of Boston and beyond. We’ve turned Advent inside out to take advantage of learning at its best.

Sincerely,

Nancy Harris Frohlich
Head of School