Yesterday, the kindergarteners held their annual dinner party, and first graders welcomed their families to share in a picnic! It’s all about learning about themselves, their families, and their traditions!
5th graders presented the community with a Poetry Salon last week. They have been learning about poetry and memorizing poems in language arts class, and we were lucky enough to hear their recitations last week. Great job, Bobcats!
Last week, Four OWS parents and guardians took the stage at our forum, How Artificial Intelligence is Transforming the World, to share their expertise, their optimism, and their concerns about AI and what it means for our kids. The main takeaway? AI is here to stay, all of us are obliged to lean in and learn, and our fundamental human qualities of curiosity, collaboration, resilience, and critical thinking, are more important than ever.
Today, we hosted our Middle School Science Expo, where our scientists showcased their experiments to the community. First, they explained their findings to our third and fourth graders, before the parents & guardians arrived to ask more questions about what they studied and what they learned! A few highlights included: "Do short form videos negatively impact attention span?," "Do people who play sports have faster reaction times?," and "What kind of liquid grows plants the quickest?" So much science!
The Paulus Library is now officially open! 🎉 After an all-school assembly, 8th graders took their kindergarten buddies for a first reading session in the new space. Happy #nationallibraryweek!
In Mr. Patch's 7th grade math class, students designed and built wooden bridges, then put them to the test. The lighter and sturdier the structure, the more points earned. The crowd even included a special guest: the superintendent overseeing our school construction project stopped by to watch. Cheers filled the hallways as weights were added, and erupted when the bridges finally gave way. This is what learning looks like at Open Window!
After 10 months of anticipation, our Kindergarten and 1st graders opened our brand new sandpit! Roughly 73% larger than the previous sandpit, there’s so much more room to play and discover! Our community came together to make this happen through the Campaign for Excellence and Access. Next week: the library grand opening!
What a stretch for Bobcat students. Our debate team took 1st place overall at the PNW Middle School Debate League’s largest tournament ever, finishing with a 69.2% win rate. Nine second graders competed at FLL Explore, building robotic excavators, sorters, and drones to tackle a real-world archaeology challenge. And our chess players brought home 2nd place at the spring tournament. One of our 8th graders put it well: “Confidence in front of an audience really helps. Being able to expand on things, think on your feet, think quickly — that’s what debate gives you.” That kind of growth shows up everywhere. In the classroom, on the competition floor, and in every conversation in between. GO BOBCATS!
Nine student teams. One big question: What will technology look like 10+ years from now? Our Bobcats brought bold ideas to this year’s Toshiba/NSTA ExploraVision competition, a national science challenge where K–12 students imagine future technology and map the breakthroughs needed to get there. Congratulations to our two Honorable Mention winners, Neurosight and ReGEN Patch, and to every team that took on this challenge.
King5 Meterologist, @leahpezzetti came to Open Window School this week to inspire our students. She spoke to third graders about how she predicts weather patterns, what’s it’s like to work on live TV, and students had an opportunity to tell her what they’ve been learning about the different types of clouds! Leah showcased her new book to our Kindergarten students, “Emily the Meteorologist” which is part of her new series that aims to empower kids to follow their dreams. Thank you Leah!
Boarding Gate 40 has officially landed. Thank you to everyone who came out to celebrate 40 years of Open Window School and invest in what comes next. Your generosity carries this community forward!
