Class II concluded their unit on New Amsterdam with Dutch Day on March 5. The girls went back in time to New Amsterdam in the 1600s. Wearing period costumes, they learned what it was like to not have electricity and to work by (battery-operated) candlelight. The students took their weekly spelling test in horn books [...]
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Class IX Writes Islamic Travel Narratives
March 10, 2010
The Humanities course for Class IX, required of all students, is an innovative course combining the disciplines of history, English, and art history. Exploring the rich field of ancient civilizations, the course introduces students to the literature, art, history, economies, religions, and political systems of many different cultures. This term, the students were given a [...]
read moreThe Lower School Gets Jazzed!
March 10, 2010
On March 4, the Lower School had a very special treat: a jazz band gave a performance in an assembly! Jazz singer Jesse Palter, accompanied by the other three members of the Jesse Palter Quartet—Marion Felder on drums, Ben Williams on bass, and Mike Jellick on piano—filled the auditorium with music to the delight of [...]
read moreClass IV: Revolutionary Voices
March 5, 2010
The American war for independence came to life on March 2 and 3 at Marymount’s Middle School, when Class IV students presented their “Revolutionary Voices” to a delighted audience. Representing historical characters from George Washington, Benedict Arnold, and Abigail Adams to Betsy Ross, Phyllis Wheatley, and even King George III, the girls read speeches they [...]
read moreField Trip to a DNA Lab
February 22, 2010
On February 19, Marymount’s AP Biology class traveled to the Dolan DNA Learning Center West, in Lake Success, NY. Students completed a bacterial transformation laboratory in which a harmless strain of E. Coli was manipulated and engineered to have additional DNA (genes). Students inserted a plasmid with the ampicillin resistance and green fluorescent protein (GFP) [...]
read moreClass VII: A Midsummer Night’s Dream
February 22, 2010
The talented actresses in Class VII wowed audiences with their performances of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream on February 18 and 19, the culmination of the Middle’s School’s four-year speech and drama curriculum. With crystal-clear diction and enough expression to convey the full meaning of Shakespeare’s complex language, the students offered captivating interpretations of Bottom’s [...]
read moreClass II and Georgia O’Keeffe
February 1, 2010
In the past month, Class II has enjoyed a very special extended project designed by their art teacher, Jennifer Croson. After learning about the life and artwork of painter Georgia O’Keeffe, renowned especially for her studies of flowers, skeletons, and the scenery of the American southwest, Class II students went to the Whitney Museum of [...]
read moreReading from A to Zimbabwe
January 14, 2010
This week marks the beginning of one of the Lower School’s most beloved winter traditions: the A-to-Zimbabwe Reading project. Running through March 12, the project encourages students to read books with their families by giving them the extra incentive of raising money for children in Zimbabwe. Families can decide how much they would like to [...]
read moreClass VI Trip to the UN
January 14, 2010
Every year, Marymount’s Class VI takes a trip to the United Nations to learn firsthand about the invaluable work being done there. The current Class VI made the trip on Wednesday, January 13. They began the day at the Holy Family Church across the street from the UN, at the International Catholic Organizations Information Center. [...]
read moreExperience Designers Speak to Upper School
January 12, 2010
In the first Upper School assembly of the new semester, students heard a presentation from two members of ESI Design, an experiential design firm that uses technology, space, communication, and educational theory to design everything from websites to museum exhibits, in such wide-ranging locations as Los Angeles, Shanghai, and Times Square, New York City. Frank [...]
read moreAfrican Travels in a Lower School Assembly
January 8, 2010
On Wednesday, January 6, the Lower School ushered in the new term with an assembly presentation from Allie Michels, daughter of Robyn Lipman, the Lower School administrative assistant. Ms. Michels, now a freshman at Washington University in St. Louis, MO, told the students about her trip to Kenya in the summer of 2007 with the [...]
read moreClass I Visits the Archives
December 17, 2009
On Friday, December 11, Class I went on a special expedition—to the Marymount Archives, guided by Mrs. Susana Acosta, the School’s archivist, who gave the girls a fascinating tour among the artifacts, yearbooks, and even old graduation dresses carefully preserved as evidence of Marymount’s rich and varied history. The girls were enthralled by a collection [...]
read moreClass II Curates Algonquian Museum
December 16, 2009
On the morning of Wednesday, December 16, Class II proudly opened their Algonquian Museum, the grand finale to their in-depth study of Algonquian history and culture. The Algonquians, one of the most numerous of North American peoples, included in pre-colonial times tribes ranging throughout New England and the eastern regions of Canada. They also populated [...]
read moreFrench Poetry at the Metropolitan Museum
December 9, 2009
On November 7, French teacher Virginie Mahou attended a workshop at the Metropolitan Museum of Art about the current exhibition on Jean-Antoine Watteau (1684-1721), “Art, Music, and Theater,” in which attendees discussed the connections between these different arts. Afterwards, she had the Class XII students in her French Advanced Readings Class study French poetry inspired [...]
read moreClass III Dissects Cow Eyes
December 9, 2009
As the culmination of their fall term, Marymount’s Class III had the opportunity to watch cow eyes being dissected on Tuesday, December 8. After studying light and color for much of the term and learning about the anatomy of the eye, the students were well equipped to identify the different parts of the eyeball. On [...]
read moreClass VI: Canterbury Tales
December 4, 2009
On the mornings of December 1 and 2, Class VI gave two extraordinary performances of scenes from The Canterbury Tales, filling these stories from fourteenth-century poet Geoffrey Chaucer with new life in adaptations that were written and acted by the students themselves. On each morning, after a recitation of the Prologue in the poem’s original Middle [...]
read moreLower School Musicians at Carnegie Hall
November 23, 2009
How do you get to Carnegie Hall? As music teacher Sarah Mehaffey tells her students, you have to practice, practice, practice! And that’s exactly what the girls in Classes I and II have done: since September they have been exploring Cuban, Chinese, and American Folk music through the Musical Explorers program sponsored by Carnegie Hall. [...]
read moreSpeakers for Social Justice
November 23, 2009
This fall, as part of its social justice curriculum, Marymount’s Upper School has welcomed three distinguished sets of speakers, who spoke to classes on the importance of taking concrete action to resolve social issues.
On October 26, a volunteer group from Invisible Children came to Marymount to share their story with Classes X and XI: Invisible Children is a [...]
Lower School Science: Indoors and Out!
November 18, 2009
In the Lower School, students learn about science all over the place; they discover that science affects every aspect of their lives, from the food they eat to the sounds they hear to the way they see. Science teacher Margaret Siciliano introduces the girls to the world of scientific ideas by exploring familiar places and [...]
read moreMarymount: Pilot School for Youth and Philanthropy Initiative
November 18, 2009
Class X students at Marymount have the opportunity to be the first students in the United States to participate in the Youth and Philanthropy Initiative (YPI) currently implemented in over 250 schools in Canada and the UK. Founded by entrepreneur Julie Toskan Casale, Marymount’s 2010 Commencement speaker, YPI allows students to learn about the theory [...]
read moreExploring Religion in New York’s Museums
November 18, 2009
Religious Studies in the Middle School emphasizes the importance of exploring our own spirituality—and also of exploring the resources around us, in particular New York’s many museums. Recently, spiritual life coordinator Alice Kearney Alwin has led two field trips for Classes V-VII to museums: first the Metroplitan Museum of Art, and second the Museum of [...]
read moreClass IV Takes a Trip to the Sun!
November 9, 2009
On November 5, Class IV walked from Marymount through Central Park to the American Museum of Natural History where they explored the Rose Center for Earth and Space and attended the planetarium show “Journey to the Stars.” [...]
read moreMobile Computing Initiative
November 9, 2009
The Mobile Computing Initiative (MCI) is a pilot program to introduce mobile computing into the high school classroom. At Marymount, this program is in place in two advanced courses: AP Physics C and AP French Language where the students received an iPod Touch to use as a learning tool. [...]
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Latin: Scary Stories
November 5, 2009
Students in Class VII Latin during the Halloween season worked on writing their own “scary stories” and presenting them in comic-book format. Click on the images below for a sample of this frighteningly delightful work. [...]
read moreLiterary Lottery: Chinua Achebe
November 2, 2009
Marymount’s Literary Lottery gives Upper School students the chance to see some of the world’s finest authors and poets in person at events in New York City, primarily at the 92nd Street Y. The lottery, run by writer-in-residence Cathy Blackburn, is made possible through the Maggie Murray Fund and has allowed students to see such [...]
read moreMiddle School STEM Event for Parents and Daughters
October 28, 2009
STEM—Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics—was celebrated and explored by Middle School students and their parents on Friday, October 23.
read moreAfrican Studies Class Visited by Hararghe Catholic Secretariat from Ethiopia
October 27, 2009
The Upper School African Studies class received a visit on Tuesday, October 27, from four members of the Hararghe Catholic Secretariat of Ethiopia, brought to Marymount by Mr. Jerry Stanton, parent of Amelia ’09, through his work for Catholic Relief Services. Ms. Caroline Brennan, who also works for Catholic Relief Services, accompanied the Secretariat members [...]
read moreClass X at YSOP
October 20, 2009
On October 15-16, for the thirteenth year running, Marymount’s Class X took part in an overnight event run by YSOP—Youth Services Opportunity Project, as part of their social justice curriculum. The program is designed to personalize the face of hunger and homelessness in New York City for the students, to challenge some of their assumptions [...]
read morePilgrim’s Progress through the Middle School
October 7, 2009
Marymount’s Middle School had an unusual visitor on Tuesday, October 6: a pilgrim from Plymouth Plantation in Massachusetts, acting and speaking in every respect as a man hailing from the year 1627. Francis Cook—or “Goodman Cook,” as he taught the students to say—visited first Class IV and then Class VII, taking both grades on a [...]
read moreConnecting with New York’s Resources
September 30, 2009
This year Marymount has gained memberships to two New York institutions that will allow the School to increase yet further its use of the resources surrounding us in Manhattan.
The first institution is the Rubin Museum of Art, located on West 17th Street, which houses an incomparable collection of art and artifacts from the Himalayas. The [...]
Lower School Irish Assembly
September 28, 2009
Every Wednesday the Lower School gathers for their weekly assembly. It is a time to come together as a division, to celebrate special occasions, to hear from guest speakers, and to share important information about the life of the Lower School.
On Wednesday, September 23, the Lower School had the treat of an assembly on Irish [...]
New Classrooms in the Metropolitan Museum of Art
September 23, 2009
One of the most treasured resources at Marymount has always been its close relationship with the Metropolitan Museum of Art, located just across Fifth Avenue from the School. The Museum’s proximity has meant that students have unparalleled access to artwork from all over the world. Now, thanks to a special agreement between Marymount and the [...]
read moreDepartmental Summer Reading
September 22, 2009
It is no surprise that Marymount’s English department assigns summer reading to its students each year. What is more unusual is the School’s departmental summer reading program, in place since 2002. To emphasize the importance of reading for students and teachers of every subject, each department in Marymount’s Upper School chooses one book that explores [...]
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Chez Nous Online
May 29, 2009
Middle School Literary Journal
Published by students, for students,
Chez Nous online is a treasure chest of articles and features detailing the trips, visitors, and interests of our staff writers. Following in the spirit of innovation, our website promises to be not only an eco-friendly gallery of our work, but also a continuing hub of activity.
Class V Greek Mythology
May 21, 2009
As part of the four year Middle School integrated speech curriculum, Class V presented Greek Mythology, acting out scripts and narrations based on their studies of ancient Greek culture and the Gods and Goddesses. The presentation represented a final project for Class V based on the culmination of work in Language Arts, Social Studies, Art, [...]
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Class II Science – Insect Study
May 8, 2009
After learning all about insects during their science unit, Class II students were able to experience what it would be like to become an insect predator. The lesson, titled “I’m Stuck on You,” featured three different habitats – the ground for grasshoppers, the wall (tree) for beetles, and the air for flies. The girls [...]
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Class III – Robotics Showcase
May 7, 2009
On May 7, Class III students presented their programmed robot cars to their parents in the gym. Each girl worked with a partner to program a choreographed routine for their car. Part of the showcase included students teaching their parents about NXT bricks and how they built their cars.
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Middle School History Day
May 6, 2009
In keeping with our RSHM goal for this year, the Middle School Student Council sponsored a Dress as an Historical Character Day on Friday, May 8. After choosing an historical figure who has made a significant difference in the life of others, students became well versed in their chosen character and shared relevant information with [...]
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Class II – Invention Convention
April 22, 2009
Class II presented a wide variety of unique and creative ideas in its annual “Invention Convention,” part of the Science curriculum. The inventors’ parents and other Lower School students were invited to observe as the inventions were demonstrated.
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Animated Collage Project
April 20, 2009
Class VIII art students explored collage and computer animation through on-table projects that were transformed into digital format. Collages were scanned and the images were animated with Adobe Photoshop CS3. Note: media may take a few moments to load.
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Class VII Study Tour
March 23, 2009
One of the culminating activities of the Middle School curriculum is the Class VII Study Tour in Europe. This year, for the first time, students travelled to Spain as well as France to enrich their understanding the language and culture of these countries. The girls prepared in their French, Spanish and Latin classes. The girls [...]
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Class IV Revolutionary Voices
March 5, 2009
The interdisciplinary presentation of “Revolutionary Voices” integates social studies, language arts, speech, drama and art. Each student researches, writes and performs a monologue based on a character from the American Revolution.
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The Elements Multimedia Project
March 2, 2009
Class V science students explored the elements and the periodic table. Each student researched and illustrated an element, and reported on it's "vital statistics." Click on the control bar under each image to learn about the element. Note: media may take a few moments to load.
AF Lithium
AH Chlorine
AM Sulfur
AM Tungsten
AR Platinum
ASA Copper
AV Flourine
BSM Iodine
CC Magnesium
CI [...]read more
Class IX World Civlizations Festival
February 23, 2009
The World Civilization Festival is a celebration of the cultures of the ancient world (prior to 1300 CE) in which Class IX Humanities students choose a person, event, document, artwork, or other historical feature to present to their classmates in a five-minute creative performance on stage. Students worked with two faculty mentors in literature, history, [...]
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Earthwatch Expedition Live from the Field and Into the Classroom
February 19, 2009
For ten days in February, Dr. Stefan Cornelis, an Upper School history teacher, joined a team of conservation scientists in Churchill, Manitoba, Canada as part of the Earthwatch expedition, Climate Change at the Arctic’s Edge. He kept the community engaged and informed through daily blog entries, and on two occasions he was able to participate [...]
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Class VIIA – A Midsummer Night’s Dream
February 18, 2009
The Class VII productions of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream integrated language arts, speech, drama and art.
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Class VIIB – A Midsummer Night’s Dream
February 16, 2009
The Class VII productions of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream integrated language arts, speech, drama and art.
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Class III Cow Eye Dissection
February 9, 2009
Class III recently concluded a comprehensive study of light, lenses and color by dissecting a cow’s eye. Teachers from different divisions and departments participated in this activity with the girls. The scientists were able to see the anatomy they had studied as they examined each complex layer of the cow’s eye. They were also able [...]
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Upper School ESU Shakespeare Competition
February 2, 2009
At an assembly on February 12, nine Upper School students participated in the ESU (English Speaking Union) Shakespeare competition, open to students in grades 9-12. The Competition encourages students’ “appreciation of literature as they explore the beauty of the language and the timeless themes in Shakespeare’s works.” Participants interpret Shakespeare’s works in their own way [...]
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Lower School International Week Highlights
January 29, 2009
Lower School celebrated the Chinese New Year and family heritage.
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International Week Lower School Assembly Aboriginal Culture
January 17, 2009
Australian Aborigine Cultural Presenter, Cameron McCarthy, a member of the KuKu-Yalanji tribe, gave a wonderful performance for the Lower School as part of International Week. He played a didgeridoo, displayed artwork and demonstrated a variety of artificats including boomerangs and a bullroarer, which was implemented as a means of communicating over extended distances. He also [...]
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International Week Middle School Heritage Project
January 15, 2009
Middle School students and teachers contributed artifacts reflecting their family heritage to the Heritage Day “Museum.” Students also wore the colors or clothing from their family’s original country of origin.
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Upper School International Week Flamenco Latino
January 14, 2009
As part of International Week at Marymount, Flamenco Latino performed for Upper School Students. The troupe demonstrated various Flamenco rhythms created by clapping, foot work, voice, music and the use of castenets. The multicultural influences on Flamenco dancing were described and demonstrated through the dances performed.
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