a vast, diverse resource community
As Mount Vernon’s youngest learners, our MVLittles continue to blur the lines between school and the real world, they are discovering that our school is a vast, diverse resource community in and of itself. This year, our teachers sought out resources that were the closest to them, walking students to various sites on both campuses, and inviting members of our faculty and staff from different departments to share the well in the Preschool. Preschool and Early Learning Center (ELC) classes traveled to the Glenn Campus to explore the audience seating, lighting, and stage in the Black Box Theater, and visit the beekeeping project in the School’s apiary. While on Founders Campus, they zoomed in on bugs in the Science Lab, experimented with tools in Studio(i), and visited the stage in the Fellowship Hall to check out what is behind the curtain.
consulting from within
In addition to exploring alternate campus spaces, students interacted with various members of the Arts Department, Admissions Team, Brand/Communications Team, and Upper and Lower School Faculty, each of whom served as internal experts.
For example, the Young Fives class invited Admissions representatives Kirsten Beard and Sarah Garletts in to the classroom as users when investigating what they might be able to design to make the Courtyard space more inviting and playful. The students realized that they were not the only people who used the space, and knew that they needed to consult with others who would have some opinions. Kirsten Beard, Chief Admissions Officer, said “Sarah and I were honored to have been invited to be interviewed about the ways that guests engage on the courtyard. I like how they thought about what could help create an inviting environment as the first place that guests and prospective families see when they come to campus. We enjoyed hearing about their visit to MODA and are very excited about them integrating some of the ideas they saw in those exhibits, here on our campus.”
When our Early Pre-K students became interested in investigating Theater, Brittany Schmutzler and Matthew Neylon were able to consult with them on the use of costumes, wigs, makeup, props, and the magic of the stage in productions. Not only did they come to the classroom to talk with the students and answer their questions, they brought props and artifacts for the children to keep in their classroom and continue to investigate and integrate into their learning and play scenarios. They were also helpful in organizing some of the on (and just slightly off) campus trips that this group took. The students were able to visit the Black Box Theater, the stage in the Fellowship Hall and the Orbit Theater in the Providence Chapel.