Liam and John visited client schools in our home state of Massachusetts last week. Here are Liam’s reflections on their day.
First Stop: Catholic Memorial – West Roxbury
Pulling into the parking lot of Catholic Memorial School in West Roxbury, one immediately
Image credit: Catholic Memorial Facebook
notices the gleaming athletic fields and the campus steeped in Catholic character and tradition. “CM” is still the all-boys hockey powerhouse it’s known to be, and, as we learned on our visit, the school is in the midst of exciting changes. A brand-new innovation lab with a laser cutter and 3D printer opened this past year for student and faculty use. The library has transitioned into an Academic Resource Center, complete with laptop stations. A new science wing and student quad are slated to be built, as is a renovation of the field house. The service learning program, always essential to the school’s ethos, has grown significantly. Catholic Memorial is a school that takes pride in its past while looking intently toward the future.
Second Stop: Thacher Montessori School – Milton
A pleasant drive along the leafy and stone-walled streets of Milton brought us to Thacher
Image credit: Thacher Montessori Facebook
Montessori School, a beautiful blue-colored campus that abuts Wakefield Farms. We arrived with lunch waiting, graciously provided by Mr. Don Grace, Head of School. We learned in conversation with Don that Thacher is of the AMI (Association of Montessori Internationale) line of Montessori, meaning the school models its philosophy and curriculum after Maria Montessori’s original methods. This AMI interpretation, we learned, is distinct from the AMS (American Montessori Society) interpretation, in which outside resources and ideas extend the original methods. This is not to say that Thacher does not take advantage of outside resources. In fact, the school partners with Wakefield Farms to provide working experience for its students, and it is exploring a partnership with the Museum of Science in Boston. An Antioch environmentalist and speaker is due to speak on campus this fall, which will kick off the school’s sustainability initiative this year.
Third Stop: Inly School – Scituate MA
Surrounded by classic New England neighborhoods and acres of farm land, Inly School’s
Image credit: Inly Facebook
campus is nestled into a pretty hillside. Four acres of trails and woods are maintained for outdoor learning ventures. Stepping foot on campus, one could feel the positive “buzz” that surrounds the place. Students cheerily greeted Donna Luther, Head of School, as they rushed off to “the barn,” a multi-purpose stage and gymnasium space, to play piano, play basketball, hula-hoop, and build structures out of blocks. It was obvious that students were excited to be at Inly, and we learned on our visit that there was much to be excited about. Fourth grade students recently played a version of John Hunter’s World Peace Game, a collaborative mission game that caught the attention of the Pentagon (watch the Ted Talk here).
Middle school students at Inly spent a week with MIT’s Nuvu School of Innovation created by MIT alumni and PhD students. The lab is “an anything-goes, get-your-hands-dirty, dream big kind of place that offers instruction in robotics, engineering and applied sciences, information technology, design and interaction design, computer programming, alternative energy, social sciences, and digital arts and media.” (Marcott 2013). Plans for a new round barn are slated for build by the end of this school year. This structure will house multiple science labs and classrooms, as well as a state-of-the-art innovation center. A truly warm and innovative place, Inly School is on the rise. Find more on the Nuvu School here.