News & Updates 9/15/23

 

Earlier this week, we conducted a fire drill, and the firefighters and our new faculty reported that they were so impressed by our students! From PK to grade 8, students exited in complete silence and waited patiently for the buildings to be checked. We always worry about the reactions of our youngest students, and the teachers do so much to prepare them for the loud noise and the process of a fire drill. Their hard work paid off, and no tears were shed. Whew! Thank you to our teachers and to the fire department for keeping our students safe.

 

Linda Zola, the founding teacher of our school, is celebrating her birthday this Sunday. She joined us via Zoom for Morning Meeting, and we sang the New School birthday song (which she wrote!) to her with heart and soul! For the rest of the day, I had conversations with teachers about how far we've come- which presents a perfect opportunity to revisit our history.

 

Nantucket New School was the dream of six visionary families who felt that island children deserved a sound choice in education. Together with Linda, they founded Nantucket New School in 1985 in the basement of Prentice and Patti Claflin’s home. When enrollment reached twenty-five students, the School, with the generous assistance of its parents, arranged to purchase the School’s first campus at 45 Surfside Road. The School moved into the Louise F. Walker building on the Nobadeer Farm Road campus in 2002, due in large measure to a generous matching grant by the Weezie Foundation, and enrollment grew to about one hundred students in grades pre-kindergarten through eight. Here we are, twenty-one years later, standing at an enrollment of one hundred and seventy-six.

 

We've come an incredibly long way in our short history, and the feeling on campus is we're really hitting our stride!

 

TK, Lori, and Miguel were hard at work today getting the campus ready for the wind we're expecting tonight. The chickens and turkeys have already safely roosted in the fairy forest! Stay safe out there. 

 

 

After school registration is live! The fall session runs from 9/18 to 12/14. Registration is on a first come first serve basis but there will be a waitlist option. All information about availability, groups, etc. can be found in the registration link.