n e w s - Mary McDowell Friends School

A Monthly Newsletter for Parents
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Debbie’s Note
MMFS News is published the
first Friday of each month by
Mary McDowell Friends School,
a Quaker school for students
with learning disabilities.
November 2010
In This Issue
Debbie’s Note
1
Peace Summit
2
Announcements
3
Alumni Spotlight
4
PA News
6
MMFS Afterschool
7
IRS Tax Deductions
7
PA Grant
8
Community Service
9
News From the Divisions
10
Soccer Season
12
Birthday Book Club
13
November Calendar
14
December Calendar
15
Pumpkin Picking Photos
16
Halloween Parade Photos
17
For more
MMFS
soccer,
see page 12.
Mary McDowell Friends School
20 Bergen Street
Brooklyn, NY 11201
(718) 625-3939
www.marymcdowell.org
By now most of you should have
received a letter asking you to participate in The Mary McDowell
Friends Fund. Also referred to
as the annual fund, The Mary
McDowell Friends Fund is the
school’s primary fundraising effort.
Tuition does not cover the full cost
of an MMFS education. The Mary
McDowell Friends Fund makes up
the difference between tuition and
the actual cost of educating each
Mary McDowell student.
Every student benefits from the
generosity of our annual fund
donors. Gifts to the annual fund
support such things as a teacher-tostudent ratio of almost 1:3 so that
each student receives the individual
attention and specialized support
that he or she needs; an exceptionally talented and dedicated staff of 93
full-time and 16 part-time individuals; state-of-the-art technology; faculty professional development; and
tuition assistance to ensure the
diversity of our student body.
All members of the community are
asked to contribute to the annual
fund as their means allow. We
solicit current and former trustees,
current parents and grandparents,
past parents and grandparents,
current and former staff members,
friends, corporations, foundations
and matching gift programs. Gifts
to the annual fund are applied
directly to the current year.
Please think carefully about what
you can give this year. No gift is too
small, and every gift counts. Your
participation will
demonstrate your commitment to
the future of Mary McDowell
Friends School and inspire others to
give.
I want to thank the following
MMFS parents who have graciously
agreed to serve on this year’s volunteer cabinet of the annual fund: Tom and Amy Jakobson, Leadership
Chairs; Kimberly and Timothy
Dowling, Lower Elementary Parent
Chairs; Ann McHugh and Clare
O’Brien, Elementary Parent Chairs;
Tracy and Stephen Callahan, Upper
Elementary Parent Chairs; Maria
Nunes and Diana Biagioli and
Aram Flores, Middle School Parent
Co-Chairs; and Lynn Gernert and
Susan Weiler, Upper School - 9th
Grade Parent Chairs. I also want to thank past parents
Vivian Colon-Mendelson and Craig
Mendelson for serving as our
Alumni Families Chairs.
Finally, each year a number of foundations support the school by gifts
to the annual fund and by curriculum or general operating grants. If
you know someone at a foundation
who might be interested in supporting MMFS, please consider putting
us in touch with the foundation. For more information about our
foundation program, please contact
L.J. Mitchell, Director of
Development.
Thank you all for your support. Together we can make great things
happen for the students of Mary
McDowell Friends School.
Continued from page 2 (Debbie’s Note)
Peace Summit
To wrap up this year’s mini unit on the Quaker testimony of
Peace, students, faculty and staff gathered at the
middle school on Thursday, October 21st for a school-wide
“Peace Summit.” Each class was responsible for exhibiting a
presentation or project featuring a topic the class had examined during the Peace mini unit. Some of the topics included
human rights music, how to deal with bullies, poems of
peace, wishing for peace, peacemakers and tools of peace.
Students had a great time presenting their projects and
exploring their classmates’ projects.
For more photos of the Peace Summit visit the online
photo album on our webpage: www.marymcdowell.org.
SAVE THE DATE
Mary McDowell Friends School
Benefit Cocktail Party and Silent and Live Auctions
Join us on
Thursday, April 7th, 2011
from 6 to 10 pm
at the Tribeca Rooftop
Please be on the lookout for
additional information soon!
2
Upcoming Events You Won’t Want to Miss!
Nov. 9 - 12 .......... Elementary School Book Fair
Nov. 11 ................. Parent Teacher Conferences for All Divisions (Veterans Day), No School
Nov. 12 ................. Middle School Parent Teacher Conferences, No School for Middle School
Nov. 15 ................. Meeting at 23 Sidney Place: Introduction to New Neighbors, 7:30 pm
Nov. 17 ................. Eighth Grade Meeting about MMFS Upper School, 6:30 pm
Nov. 23 ................. Middle School Service Day
Nov. 30 ................. Author Visit: Sharon Robinson
Dec. 6 .................... Middle School Meeting about Costa Rica at Bergen Street, 6 pm
Dec. 9 .................... PA Meeting at Bergen Street, 7 pm
Dec. 14 ................. Upper School Meeting about Europe Trip, 6:30 pm
Dec. 21 ................. Elementary School Winter Performance, Noon Dismissal
Author Sharon Robinson to Visit MMFS
On Tuesday, November 30th, Sharon Robinson,
best-selling author of numerous works of fiction and
non-fiction, will be visiting MMFS. Ms. Robinson has
written a number of children’s and young adult books
including several widely praised books about her
father, baseball legend Jackie Robinson, such as Promises to Keep: How Jackie Robinson Changed America,
Jackie’s Nine: Jackie Robinson’s Values to Live By,
the picture book Testing the Ice, illustrated by Kadir
Nelson and her most recent picture book, Jackie’s Gift,
illustrated by E.B. Lewis.
In addition to her writing career, Ms. Robinson is an
educational consultant for Major League Baseball. In
this capacity, she oversees school and communitybased educational programs. “Breaking Barriers, In
Sports, In Life,” the department’s core program, is a
national character education program designed to
empower students with strategies to help them face
obstacles in their lives. The message is delivered by
examining the values demonstrated in the life of Jackie Robinson. Since its inception in 1997, the program
has reached over 14 million children across the United
States, Puerto Rico and Canada.
Ms. Robinson will be meeting with students in the
elementary division from the Longobardi, Fox, Mott,
Obadiah, Cuffe, Fell, Penn, Whittier, Levi and Fry
Rooms. The entire middle school will also have the
opportunity to meet with her during her visit. In addition, she will be autographing copies of her books.
To learn more about Sharon Robinson, please visit her
website at sharonrobinsonink.com.
Scholastic Book Fair
Our 10th annual Scholastic book fair will be held in the Bergen St. lobby from
Tuesday, November 9th through Friday, November 12th. Everyone is welcome!
Parents, please join us on parent - teacher conference day and get a head start on your
holiday shopping. Remember, a portion of the proceeds will go to our school library.
3
PRESTON WOLLNER
Preston Wollner moved on from Mary McDowell
Friends School in 2002 after four years at the
school, and mainstreamed at the Lab School in
Chelsea. He is now a junior at the School of the
Art Institute of Chicago and looking forward to a
semester abroad – possibly in Japan.
Several other McDowell kids followed Preston to
the Lab School, so there were plenty of friends
close at hand. But, by high school, Preston had
become frustrated with the Lab School’s arts program. “He felt that the other kids were not as serious as he was about art,” noted his father, Don
Wollner (Preston’s mom Martha Wollner completes
the Wollner family). In ninth grade, Preston transferred to Edward R. Murrow High School.
Murrow had good support for LD kids – a
resource room and a study hall where Preston
could catch his breath and catch up on assignments. It also had a well-regarded selective fine
arts program.
Preston’s areas of interest – artistic and otherwise
– include sculpting, puppetry, performance art,
film and philosophy. This past summer, he split
his time between working in construction and taking a college course on the philosophy of politics.
The School of the Art Institute of Chicago has no
shortage of distinguished and talented alumni
who span the entire spectrum of the arts – among
them, artists LeRoy Neiman and Georgia O’Keefe,
designers Cynthia Rowley and Halston, writer
David Sedaris and Saturday Night Live’s Nora
Dunn. It also has a solid LD and ADD support system, including special needs counselors and extra
time on tests.
York. He recently swapped his dorm and two
roommates for a two-bedroom apartment with one
roommate and a fireplace.
“Preston’s organizational issues continue to hound
him, and he still gets frustrated, but he’s doing
very well,” his father observed. Noting that Mary
McDowell did a great job helping Preston get
ready for higher education, Don comments that his
son has learned to cope. For example, Preston
writes himself notes before he goes to bed, so he
doesn’t forget anything that needs to be done the
next day.
Preston and his family continue to feel that he
really lucked out school wise. He was not in such
great shape when he came to Mary McDowell, but
his three years there set him on a path that continues to bear fruit for him—even as he approaches
the end of his formal education.
Kris Hallam
Mother of Andrew Corby, Alumnus 1999
Preston has settled into Chicago – winters and all.
It’s an interesting town for him to get to know—a
huge American city that does not resemble New
4
A L U M N U S F E AT U R E D I N C O L L E G E N E W S PA P E R
This article featuring alumnus, Andrew Lasky,
appeared in the St. Francis College student
newspaper last year.
Andrew will graduate from St. Francis College
in May 2011 with a B.A. in Communications
and a concentration in Radio and Television
Production. His summer jobs have been as a
production assistant at Brooklyn Community Access TV and in the video department
of Euro RSCG Life, a health care advertising agency. He even helped build the set for
Martin Scorsese’s new HBO series, Broadway
Empire.
The Voice of the Student at …
St. Francis College
If you see Andrew Lasky in the hallways of St Francis College you can always expect a show from him,
whether it is music or magic -- because Lasky excels at both.
When creating music, Lasky does everything from writing the songs, creating the rhythm and even
editing his music.
“I come up with the music first, then add lyrics -- all my songs are based on my personal experiences in
life,” he said.
Although he has been playing drums since he was 13, his favorite instrument is the guitar. “It is quite
versatile” said Lasky.
The artists that inspire Andrew’s music are Dave Matthews, Spanish language star Juanes and
Brooklyn-based Jesse Ruben.
Throughout the summer, Andrew played several open mic nights in New York including the Perch Café,
Bar4 in Park Slope and The Singer’s Forum.
Lasky gets most of the inspiration for his songs from his favorite musician Juanes.
Both Lasky and Juanes are from Medellín in Colombia. Lasky said Juanes’ lyrics make him feel “close
to home”.
Lasky also said that “through his music, he (Juanes) is getting the word out on who we are as a country
(Colombia) and the desire for world peace.”
Andrew hopes to one day collaborate with Carlos Santana. “He is a virtuoso at his craft”.
The real genre of Andrew’s music is unknown, but he categorizes it as “accoustic alternative with rock
influences.”
His current album is getting airplay on the music sharing websites Purevolume.com and Ultimate-Guitar.
com.
But Andrew is not only a musician -- he is a magician as well.
He does everything from card tricks to illusions. His mentor is St Francis College Alum, Tom Bilach.
So whether it is music or magic, Lasky holds a few aces up his sleeve.
5
PA News
We’re happy to report that the first PA meeting of the
2010-2011 school season went extremely well. We usually have a packed house when we bring you several of
the fine attorneys who specialize in the field of Special
Ed. and the process of getting our children the appropriate education that, by law, is their right. The October 21st
PA meeting was no exception. Special thanks to Regina
Skyer, Lauren Baum, Mel Hoffman
and Alex Hindes who offered their
expertise and very patiently
addressed our questions and
concerns.
The next PA meeting will be held on
December 9th at 7 p.m. at 20 Bergen Street and our guest
will be none other than Head of School Debbie
Zlotowitz. Debbie has very kindly agreed to repeat her
amazing presentation that gives parents the opportunity
to see what it’s like to have learning disabilities by putting us through some pretty eye-opening exercises.
Even if you’ve seen Debbie’s presentation before, we
encourage you take advantage of this rare opportunity
to get an inkling of what your child experiences each
day living with an LD.
This year’s first Family Fun Day, Bowling Day, was held
on Saturday, October 16th at Bowlmor, and we’re pleased
to report that a great time was had by MMFS students,
their siblings and parents, who also chowed down on a
pizza lunch. Crafts Day, the next Family Fun Day event,
will be held on Saturday, February 12th, 2011.
ported the fundraiser. If you did not yet participate, we
would still welcome any contributions! We rely on the
support of all of our families to raise the money needed
to fund the PA activities.
Thank you to our wonderful
group of parents who have
volunteered as class parents
and grade representatives.
Lower Elementary
Anderson – Bonnie Eissner and
Tanja Kumra; Fox – Vicki Botel
and Rachel A. Connelly; Krisberg
– Robin Templeman; Longobardi – Jessica Gargagliano
Elementary
Mott – Tanya Sateika; Fell – Gigi Sharp; Obadiah –
Nicole Fox; Cuffe – Cindy Alfieri
Upper Elementary
Fry – Karen Cohen; Whittier – Karen Potter and Miriam
Mayerson; Levi – Val Arnade; Penn – Monica Elias
Middle School
6th Grade Alice Paul – Colleen Kelly; Ham Seok-heon –
Carolyn Casey; Woolman – Myriam Juarbe and Monica
Panzani
7th Grade – Danielle Mowery
8th Grade – Rosemarie Gray, Kate Groby and Lisa
Kiamie
Upper School – Susan Fox and Karen Frieman
We always look forward to hearing from you. If you
have any questions about anything, please contact us.
Until next month,
Maria, Tracy, Merry and Cathy
The Sally Foster representative acknowledged that the
new format was a “big disappointment” for all of the
schools who took part in the program this year. Sally
Foster is reevaluating the program for next year and we
will look at other fundraising alternatives as well.
While we fell far short of last year’s total, your cash contributions were a great help in filling the gap. We send a
heartfelt thank you to all of you who have already sup-
Maria Nunes
President
mnunes212@mac.com
917-549-7792
Tracy Callahan
Vice President
tydell@aol.com
917-667-0596
PA Library: The MMFS Parent Library has a number of
DVD’s relating to ADD, Learning Differences, Dyslexia,
Success in School, Self-Esteem, Social Skills, Bullying,
Living with LD, Disabilities and Discipline as well as
Due Process (Hearing). Please feel free to send in a
note or e-mail to Deborah Edel, Director of Admissions,
if you wish to view any of the titles. Titles can be
found in the MMFS PA Listing sent to you via e-mail.
All DVD’s will be sent home via your child’s backpack.
Merry Alpern
Treasurer
mbalpern@mac.com
718-636-0097
Cathy Brown
Secretary
firewrite@aol.com
718-499-6964
6
Afterschool Program
Hello Everyone,
Happy November!!
We have been having a great Fall afterschool session: lots of cooking,
crafting and playing. We made “ooey-gooey” things, baked apples,
played theater games and started a claymation film. At Bergen Street,
we had our annual Halloween Party. The kids decorated cookies,
played games, made beaded bracelets and necklaces and got “tattooed”
and face painted. We have had a visit from the science “stick bugs” –
very appropriate for Halloween. A good
time was had by one and all.
We have been assessing each child’s method of tackling his or her homework
and “urging” him or her to complete as much as possible during afterschool.
The fall afterschool session ends on December 2nd.
A winter registration brochure will be sent home prior to Thanksgiving.
In Friendship,
Fran Yellen
TAX INFORMATION
INTERNAL REVENUE CODE SECTION 213, AS AMENDED
You may deduct as “medical” expenses the cost of:
1. Special school – if the principal purpose is to alleviate a handicap.
2. Special class in a regular school – if the principal purpose is to alleviate a handicap. (Revenue Ruling
70-285)
3. Special class in a parochial school – if the principal purpose is to alleviate a handicap. (Revenue Ruling
71-347)
4. Tests and evaluations.
5. Therapy, psychiatric care, and psychological counseling.
6. Special instruction or training – such as lip reading, speech instruction or braille (Review Ruling 68-212,
Internal Revenue code, Regulation section 1.213-1
(e)(1)(v)(a).
7. Patterning exercises (Review Ruling 70-170, 1970-1 CB-51).
8. Medicines, drugs, and vitamins; also special foods and beverages prescribed by a doctor (these must
be in addition to the normal diet and supplementation to basic nutritional needs).
9. All medical expenses, even if the child has earned more than $1,000 annual income. You may include
the medical expenses of an additional dependent, provided that that person had income under $1,000 or
is not filing a joint return. (Commerce Clearing House Explanation No. 2019-01).
10. Tution and tutorial fees paid for a child with learning disability caused by neurological disorder
(Revenue Ruling 78-340, September 19, 1978. Reported at 42 U.S.L.W. 2190, September 26, 1978).
7
PA Grant
Summer with Sorobon
by Hally Bayer
Teacher, Elizabeth Fry Room
This summer I was privileged to receive a
Parents Association grant to study math at The
Sorobon School in Manhattan. The Sorobon
School offers math enrichment classes in the tristate area to school-aged children and adults
based entirely around the use of a simple tool
that dates back to the 15th century: a Japanese
abacus, known as a sorobon. Students are taught
to perform simple to complex calculations at a
rapid pace using the tool, including addition and
subtraction (“mitori”), multiplication (“kake”),
Hally Bayer and “Sensei” Tom Sato with an extra-large sorobon used for group teaching
division (“wari”) and even square roots (“kaihou”). First, students learn through physically
of beads that represent 1 each. A bead is counted when
manipulating the beads on the abacus. Later, students
it is either touching the bar or touching a cluster of
begin to visualize the beads in their heads and perform
beads that is touching the bar. For example, to reprecalculations without even using the tool. The process of
sent the number three, you would push a cluster of
picturing the sorobon in your mind without actualthree lower beads up to touch the bar. To represent the
ly using the physical tool is called “anzan.” It is truly
number 6, you would push one upper bead down to the
awesome and humbling to watch a seven-year-old girl’s
bar (representing 5), and one lower bead up to the bar
fingers and lips moving as she manipulates imaginary
(representing 1). The instructor (“sensei”) explicitly
beads and completes an entire worksheet in the same
trains students how to position the sorobon in relationtime you finish a single row! At times I definitely felt
ship to their bodies, as well as which fingers to use to
like I had stepped into the shoes of many of my stumanipulate the beads. Building motor memory is an
dents, as I struggled to conceptually understand the
integral aspect of mastering the tool. In addition, the
sorobon, took inventory of what other students were
Japanese sorobon is not color-coded; it is felt that color
doing around me, sought my instructor’s praise and
interferes with the visualization process.
dreaded his red pen when I made a mistake.
Although The Sorobon School offers classes for adults, I
The Japanese sorobon differs from what most
chose to attend with elementary aged students so I
Americans envision when we think of an abacus. It is a
could make better observations about how to connect
long, horizontal tool that extends into the hundred
the sorobon to my own classroom. Each class began
quintillion place value. The sorobon is divided into
with a traditional Japanese responsive chant that is
upper and lower sections by a horizontal bar. The
loosely translated as: Sensei: “Prepare for class.”
upper section is comprised of one row of beads and repStudents: “We are ready.” Sensei and Students: “We
resents 5. The lower section is comprised of four rows
show you respect.” Sensei Tom was skillful at
Continued on page 9
8
Continued from page 8 (PA Grant)
differentiating among his many students, each working
at a different pace and on a different skill. For example, he typically began the class by reciting a string of
numbers for students to add and subtract. Some students used the sorobon, others performed anzan, while
others were asked to find the answer and then double
or triple it. Incredibly, Sensei Tom was able to keep
track of the correct answer for every student without
even a piece of paper in front of him. Other teaching
techniques used in the class included timed and untimed workbook drills, card games (the playing cards
had columns of sorobon beads instead of numbers!) and
one-on-one conferencing when a student was ready to
advance to a new concept or needed additional support.
The class was like a well-oiled machine with heartily
engaged students and only the clicking sound of fingers
and beads and an occasional giggle in the background.
It was easy to get swept into the rhythm of the sorobon
and very satisfying as I felt myself grow faster and
more agile with the tool. In a strange way, it reminded
me of learning to snowboard as an adult. I had to find
the delicate balancing point where my brain and body
connected. If one went faster than the other, then I
stumbled. If I could keep them in sync, then I could
move forward.
The next step for me in my sorobon journey is to consider more about how to apply this unique learning
experience to mathematics instruction at Mary
McDowell. Several sorobon concepts are directly applicable, such as the emphasis on “ten friends” and “five
friends”—number combinations that together add up to
10 and 5. Other concepts still feel somewhat incongruous with our curriculum—such as starting double-digit
subtraction with the tens column instead of the ones
column. I am incredibly gratefully to the Parents
Association, the Mary McDowell community, The
Sorobon School and particularly to Sensei Tom for providing me with an opportunity to learn more about this
alternative form of mathematics instruction. I look forward to thinking more deeply about how it can benefit
our students towards building their computational fluency and problem solving skills. To learn more about
The Sorobon School, please visit http://betteratmath.
com/Welcome.html.
MMFS Community Service Program
In keeping with the Quaker value of service to
others, the goal of Mary McDowell’s community
service program is to expose children to their
potential impact on the world at a local, national
and global level. In doing so, we hope to instill a
sense of social responsibility, respect for all life
and an awareness of diversity. Participation in this
program will develop students’ understanding of
the many complex issues facing our world today.
Through collaboration and compassion, students
will realize their capacity to effect change. Using
the service learning model, students will have an
opportunity to reflect upon the importance of
their contributions and recognize the inherent
reward in helping others.
During the month of October, the elementary division
hosted their annual Penny Drive. All of the money
collected will be donated to a local animal shelter.
During the month of November, Obadiah and Mott
Rooms will host their annual Food Drive. At the end
of the month the food will be donated to City
Harvest. City Harvest has been serving New York
City for more than 25 years. It is the world’s first
and the city’s only food rescue organization. All food
donations can be dropped off in the school’s lobby.
Also in the month of November, middle school students will take part in their annual Toiletry Bag
Project. Toiletry bags will be given out during the
Brooklyn Monthly Meeting’s Touch Dinner, a free
dinner held monthly for people who are in need of
a hot meal. The 7th and 8th grade students will be
taking part in their annual Cemetery Clean Up of
the Quaker cemetery in Prospect Park.
As part of MMFS’ peace curriculum, Jones House
students are selling t-shirts. All the proceeds will
be donated to UNICEF.
Please be sure to donate to all of our wonderful
community service projects.
In Friendship,
Franna Bari
Community Service Committee Clerk
9
News From the Divisions
Reading, Literacy and English
Mary McDowell Friends School’s approach to teaching
literacy maintains common themes through its multiple divisions, while drawing on different techniques to
best address the changing developmental levels and
abilities of our students. The curriculum is tailored to
meet the specific needs of students, who are placed in
small groups according to ability and learning style.
The program provides a continuum for students to
build skills from decoding to comprehension, to writing in response to reading, to writing across curricula.
Lower Elementary Division
Small reading groups began in early October. Two
reading programs are used in the lower elementary
division. Most groups are taught using the Orton
Gillingham Preventing Academic Failure (PAF) program. In addition Reading Milestones, a sight word
program, is used either to supplement the PAF curriculum or used on its own. Teacher-created learning materials are a large component of each reading group.
These reinforce concepts and skills and are modified to
meet each student at his/her reading level. Games are
also a wonderful way to engage students in the learning
process. Teachers have created board games, Bingo, Go
Fish, Concentration and many, many more. The SMART
Boards in each lower elementary classroom have
enhanced the teaching methods and many teachers
have been developing interactive activities.
their created materials in these folders for others to use.
Heather Harken, assistant teacher in the Longobardi
Room, worked over the summer to rename and organize the reading materials. Her hard work has made
sharing and finding the materials much easier!
Read Aloud and Author Study are other wonderful
reading experiences. The Anderson Room read many
Mo Willems books, Krisberg Room read books by Mem
Fox, Longobardi Room just completed Ramona and
Beezus by Beverly Cleary and Fox Room is starting A
Cricket in Times Square by George Selden. These books
supported the mini-unit, upcoming social studies curriculum, listening comprehension skills and the enjoyment of reading. I encourage all parents to continue
reading picture books to your children!
Sharing teacher resources is also encouraged. Shared
folders are available on all computers and teachers place
Elementary and Upper Elementary Divisions
Reading groups began the week of September 20th,
earlier than usual. Like the lower elementary division,
some students use the Orton-Gillingham program to
develop decoding and encoding (spelling) skills. The
elementary curriculum expands the focus on teaching
reading skills to developing comprehension. Initially,
teachers use books with very controlled vocabulary that
strictly adheres to sounds and rules that are familiar to
students in the group. Eventually, groups move on to
trade books with less controlled content, which challenges students to apply their skills to read non-controlled text containing some words that do not follow
rules they have been taught. Comprehension is
strengthened by directly teaching students the skills to
find the main idea, locate key information in texts,
make predictions and draw conclusions. Students also
develop inferential skills and make personal connections to the text. The curriculum supports students in
their ability to connect the content to themselves, to
other literature they have read and to things, events,
people and/or places in the world.
Writing also becomes a part of the curriculum as students are taught how to answer questions in a written
manner. They begin by filling in blanks to complete a
sentence, progress to echoing a response by looking at a
question and finally to independently writing a sentence to answer a question based on the text they are
reading.
Since the start of this school year, elementary and upper
elementary students have read several trade books,
including Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,
Skinnybones, Chasing Vermeer, Stories of Survival and
several biographies of Jackie Robinson in preparation
for his daughter Sharon Robinson’s visit later this
month.
Continued on page 11
10
Continued from page 10 (News From the Divisions)
Middle School
At the middle school level, twenty-three literacy groups
of four to seven students of similar reading and writing
abilities are formed in the beginning of the year. All
groups meet for seventy-five minutes four days a week
and for forty-five minutes on Fridays, starting the first
week of school. Teachers and students use this time to
focus on spelling, vocabulary, reading comprehension,
expressive language and writing skills. The small group
format facilitates thoughtful, informal discussion in
addition to individualized instruction and constructive
feedback.
All literacy groups begin the year reviewing and completing an assignment based on the summer homework.
As the year progresses, students read books that span a
wide range of genres and formats, including biography,
poetry, books on tape, historical fiction, graphic novels,
mysteries and basic fiction. Each book offers the opportunity to learn and practice different comprehension
strategies. A mystery, for example, might encourage
students to use inferential reasoning, while a biography
might challenge students to consider the importance of
historical context.
Writing and research assignments are integral to the
learning process and support reading comprehension
and a deeper understanding of complex topics. With
Kurzweil, a text-to-speech program, students can download text from a website and the program reads the text
aloud, instantly making complex information more
accessible to students as they research a topic.
In addition to reading in literacy groups, students and
teachers do regular “read alouds” in their homerooms,
during which teachers read aloud to students, students
read in round robin fashion or students participate in
literacy circles.
Upper School
Reading and writing take place across the curriculum
in the upper school and are focused upon most frequently in English and social studies courses. In the
upper school, English classes are small, with about six
students and one teacher each. Consistent with other
divisions of the school, students progress at a pace that
is appropriate to their strengths and challenges as a
group. Social studies takes place in larger classes.
Whenever possible teachers make links between the
two subject areas.
In English this trimester, many of the class groups have
focused on Art Spiegelman’s graphic novel, Maus. The
book tells the story of a son who struggles to come to
terms with his relationship with his father and his
father’s story as a Holocaust survivor. The subject matter reflects the greater maturity of our students as they
enter their high school years and their ability to wrestle
with increasingly complex issues in literature. The fact
that Maus is also a graphic novel makes it more accessible to students whose decoding might not be a strength.
In addition, using a graphic novel in combination with
technology in a slightly more advanced way has bolstered students’ writing skills. For instance, students
selected scenes in the visual/literary dialogue and
inserted them into their written arguments as a precursor to learning long quotation format. This has been an
excellent tool for teaching students to refine their persuasive writing, as it has enabled students and their
readers to both read and “see” the points being made.
Furthermore, the subject matter of Maus ties well into
our first overarching social studies unit, namely the
period from World War I through World War II.
As a rule, the writing process in the upper school is at
least as important as the finished product. Students
work with their teachers not only on creating the initial
structure and content of the essay, but through numerous drafts. This assists students not only to produce
strong writing, but it helps them to deepen their understanding of the subject matter itself.
Abe Maneri, who teaches several of the division’s
English courses and has many years of experience
doing so in both mainstream and special education
schools, says that our students are progressing wonderfully as writers. They are succeeding in learning and
mastering the skills they will need across the curriculum not only in high school, but also in college and
beyond.
Heather Burchyns
Mark Doty
Courtney Nuzum Jiménez
Beth Schneider
Kirk Smothers
11
Congratulations
TEAM
LIGHTNING
on a
Great
Soccer Season!
This is the first year that MMFS has fielded boys’ and
girls’ soccer teams (there was one co-ed team in years
past).
The Lightning girls’ soccer team had an excellent first
season, finishing with a record of 2-3-2. Coaches Meg
Rauen and John Denton report that the team’s play on the
pitch improved greatly over the course of the season, particularly in the areas of ball-handling, on-field communication, defensive play and team strategy. The team
performed very well on offense, scoring a total of 16
goals. In a recent game against Friends Seminary, the
Lightning had only ten players available (a full lineup is
11 in soccer), but still managed to earn a 6-2 victory.
Victory or not, each game was filled with teamwork, hustle, perseverance and sportsmanship – all of which made
for one successful season.
Coached by Earl Hall and Kristen Pedersen, the Lightning
boys’ soccer team had a great season filled with spirit and
determination. The team
finished the season with a
shutout over Brooklyn
Heights Montesorri, 4-0 in
Red Hook, and a team record
of 2-4-0. Over the course of
the season, the boys worked
hard to improve their on-field
communication and defensive
and offensive strategies. The
boys’ perseverance and
determination was prevalent
on the field, both during
practice and on game days.
For more photos of the
soccer season visit the
online photo album on
our webpage:
www.marymcdowell.org.
12
Birthday Book Club
Thank you to the following families who recently participated in the Birthday Book Club.
This is a great opportunity to bring new and wonderful books to our library.
Maura Woodward-Moulton and Ren Moulton
for Renny Moulton
Marya Cohn and Tjebbo Penning for Milo Penning
Maria Bassi and Soumilia Sidibe for Ami Sidibe
Alan and Lisa Sinsheimer for Kate Sinsheimer
Craig George and Kevin Brown
for Alexander George Brown
David and Mary Jane Lifson for Luke Lifson
Lisa Kim and Eunu Chun for Oscar Chun
Janet Bynoe for Christiana Bynoe
Shamus and Rachel Connolly for Ronan Connolly
Gigi Sharp and George Gilpin for George Gilpin
Nuria Lopez and Javier Alvarez for Irina Alvarez
Justine and Tom Anderson for Nika Anderson
Daniela Levanon and Abigo Cuenca
for Jonathan Cuenca-Levanon
Rebecca Perrin and Michael Gulas
for Saban Perrin Gulas
Eric Best for Will Best
Monica Panzani and Vadim Khazatsky
for Alexander Khazatsky
Cathy and Peter Brown for David Brown
Brigitte and Thomas Yohe for Ian Yohe
Ellynne Skove and Roger Gilchrist
for Jackson Skove Menoher
Robert and Jennifer Wheelock
for Matthew Wheelock
Beth Ann Day and Ben Rinzler
for Sam Rinzler-Day
Christine and Andrew Merola for Nicholas Merola
Diane Diamond and Richard Solomon
for Alec Dylan Solomon
Diane and Mark Baker for Ben Baker
Rebecca Abrams and Nathan Benn for Augie Benn
Albert and Drusilla Belman for Henry Belman
IS NOW ON
JOIN US AT
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/Brooklyn-NY/Mary-McDowell-Friends-School/140167839359927
GIVING THROUGH UNITED WAY
If your employer has a workplace United Way Campaign, please check to see if a gift
to Mary McDowell Friends School would be eligible through that Campaign.
Thank you.
13
N ove m b e r 2 0 1 0
Sun
Mon
1
Tue
2
ES Family &
Friends
Visiting Day
Wed
Thu
Fri
Sat
3
4
5
6
10
11
12
13
Election Day
NOON DISMISSAL
7
8
9
E L E M E N T A R Y S C H O O L B O O K FA I R : Nov. 9th - 12th
NO SCHOOL
Veterans Day
ES/MS/US
Parent/Teacher
Conferences
MS Parent/
Teacher
Conferences
NO SCHOOL
for MS
17
18
19
20
8th Grade
Meeting about
MMFS Upper
School
Annual Fund
Leadership
Cocktail Party
24
25
26
27
Lightning vs.
Thunder Soccer
Game 4pm
14
15
16
Meeting at
23 Sidney Pl.
Introduction to
New
Neighbors
21
22
23
MS Service
Day
28
29
SCHOOL CLOSED Thanksgiving
30
Author Visit:
Sharon
Robinson
MS = Middle School (Summit Street)
US = Upper School (Summit Stret)
ES = UED + ED + LED (Bergen Street)
UED = Upper Elementary Division
i.e. Penn, Levi, Whittier & Fry Rms.
ED = Elementary Division
i.e. Cuffe, Mott, Obadiah & Fell Rms.
LED = Lower Elementary Division
i.e. Anderson, Krisberg, Longobardi & Fox Rms.
14
D ec e m b e r 2 0 1 0
Sun
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu
Fri
Sat
1
2
3
4
10
11
NO
SCHOOL
for MS & US
5
6
7
8
9
MS Meeting
about Costa
Rica
12
13
14
Girls’ Basketball
Game vs. Gateway, 4pm - away
PA Meeting
Boys’ Basketball
Game vs. C&C,
4pm - home
15
16
17
18
22
23
24
25
US Meeting
about Europe
Trip
19
20
21
Elementary
School
Winter
Performance
W IN T ER BREA K: NO SCHOOL
NOON
DISMISSAL
26
27
28
MS = Middle School (Summit Street)
US = Upper School (Summit Stret)
ES = UED + ED + LED (Bergen Street)
December 22nd, 2010 - January 2nd, 2011
29
30
31
NOTE:
SCHOOL
RESUMES
JAN. 3rd, 2011
UED = Upper Elementary Division
i.e. Penn, Levi, Whittier & Fry Rms.
ED = Elementary Division
i.e. Cuffe, Mott, Obadiah & Fell Rms.
LED = Lower Elementary Division
i.e. Anderson, Krisberg, Longobardi & Fox Rms.
15
Upper
Elementary
Division
Pumpkin
Picking Trip
For more photos of the
pumpkin picking trip
visit the online photo
album on our webpage:
www.marymcdowell.org.
16
Hallowe en
Par a d e
For more photos of the Halloween
parade visit the online photo album on
our webpage: www.marymcdowell.org.
17