all souls school...williamsburg northside school in williams-burg, brooklyn. admission is open to...

all soUls scHoolparents association newsletter sprinG 2015

BY MARJORIE GOLDSMITH, ED. D., DIRECTOR, ALL SOULS SCHOOL

There are many ways to define “commu-nity” and, even in practical terms, the concept can often be vague. In looking atAll Souls School, it’s clear there are actuallymany communities: classroom communities,the whole school community, the parentcommunity, the teacher and staff community.Those who participate in the Parent Discus-sion Groups or are active with the ParentsAssociation create other communities.

The idea of community, being connectedwith others, responsible to and caringabout others is important in all the classes.

Recently the children in 4Apm moved to2A while the roof and their classroom

were being fixed. One child’s caregiverasked him which room he liked better.He responded that he liked them thesame and what counted was that he hadthe same teachers.

I was in 2B last week observing as fourchildren were preparing a honeydewmelon for the class for snack. Cooking-and food- related activities present opportunities for a small group of childrento be responsible for feeding the wholeclass. One boy was delighted that, “thecooks get to serve snacks!”

In 3B, one child accidentally spilled a basket of crayons on the floor and, with-

out being asked, several children helpedpick them up.

Once a month, the school comes togetherwith Bill Gordh (a.k.a. Banjo Bill) to singand share his wonderful stories. It’s anopportunity for children and teachers toreconnect and for brothers and sistersin different classes to sit together. It’s atime when the concept of the “wholeschool community” becomes concretefor children.

In seeking a name for a new class pet or choosing activities, teachers often introduce the idea of voting to theirclass using blocks or other materials to symbolize each child’s vote.

Each class has a job chart delineatingeach child’s responsibility in their class-room. One could be a block stacker orshelver, napkin passer, sweeper, or classsunshine. The class sunshine is responsi-ble for checking in with kids who mighthave a bump or hurt feelings.

In every class, every day, all the childrenparticipate in cleaning up their roomworking independently or in pairs inways that benefit the greater community.

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Dictionary.com defines community as “a social, religious, occupational, or other group sharing common characteristics or interests and perceived or perceiving itself as distinct in some respect from the larger society within which it exists.”

COMMUNITY

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all soUls onlineplease visit the all souls

school website and the pa link to check the school calendar, viewmany more photos, and download an array of articles, forms, andother documents.

www.allsoulsschoolnyc.org

Many thanks to the parents, teachers and staff who contributed to this issue of the all souls newsletter.

newsletter teaM

Rose Tange, Chair & DesignerVanessa Franklin, Chair & EditorHarald Stavenas, Chair & Editor Melody Douros, Photography ChairPhotographers: Alex Lourenco, Azhara Mestler, Harry Zernike

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As part of the Strategic Planning process thatwe are going through this year, a few parentswhose children attended All Souls duringthe past three years attended a retreatalong with current parents, teachers and staff.It was incredibly powerful to hear currentparents and parents of former studentstalk about the goals, mission, and vision ofAll Souls School. I thought I knew whatteachers and administrators would say, butI didn’t know what parents would say — andit was all very exciting. We were in agree-ment about what are the school’s strengthsand what are some things that we shouldbe thinking about strengthening for the

future. The connec-tion that current andformer parents feelfor each other and forthe school is somethingthat is important to usall. Life-long friendships forboth children and parents arecreated here.

It’s the people and relationships that makea community and make school a specialplace for children, and their parents. It’s theways we figure out how we can supporteach other as we grow — both children andadults. It’s what makes All Souls School aspecial place.


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PARENTS EXPERIENCE REGGIO EMILIA FIRSTHAND A JOURNEY TO ITALY, WITHOUT LEAVING NEW YORK

In late February, the All Souls School ParentsAssociation organized a trip to the oppositebank of the East River, allowing some 20 par-ents, teachers and administrators to visit “TheWonder of Learning” exhibit currently on displayin Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The exhibit providedAll Souls parents with a unique opportunity toexperience firsthand the Reggio Emilia Approach to early childhood education.

Reggio Emilia is a small town in northern Italy.Newsweek magazine has labeled the earlychildhood schools in Reggio Emilia as the “bestin the world.” Central to the Reggio approachis the view that children are competent, in thattheir ideas and questions are worthy of beingused as a basis for curriculum design. As is thecase at All Souls, Reggio schools in Reggio

Emilia are meant to be sites of inspired inter-actions and relationships where each child isrespected and valued as part of a community.

Reggio, along with the Project Approach andBank Street’s developmental-interaction approach, is one of the three educationalphilosophies on display each day at All Souls.

More than half the staff at All Souls has beento Italy to visit the Reggio schools of ReggioEmilia and has participated in workshops thatare inspired by the approach.

Reflecting on the Reggio philosophy and its influence on All Souls, the school’s director, Dr.Marjorie Goldsmith, said, “We see children ascompetent and able, as they do in ReggioEmilia. We find their questions and ideas worthyof exploration, leading to an understanding ofhow one learns, as both the Project Approachand Reggio suggest.

“We think that children work with materials togain a sense of mastery before being ready tomove onto new challenges, as the developmen-tal-interaction approach and Reggio both sug-

gest. The Reggio approachincorporates ‘provocations’to inspire exploration ofideas and materials. Whennew materials are intro-duced; children are invitedto ‘mess around’ to discoverproperties of the materialsrather than being told by ateacher. Children learnthrough their direct experi-ences with materials andfrom their observations andinteractions with peers.”

During the tour of the “TheWonder of Learning” ex-hibit, parents quickly noted

many similarities between the exhibit and thatof the materials and structures found in AllSouls classrooms. The use of light projectors,for example, enable the children to see themany ways in which light travels, impacts objects it shines upon, changes colors, dimsand brightens, casts shadows and providesseemingly limitless opportunities to interact,investigate and learn.

Also joining parents in touring the exhibit wereAll Souls’ Director of Admissions, Susan Malone,and teachers Elizabeth Gibbons, Lisa Lumerand Emily Rau. Everyone enjoyed continuing todiscuss the insightful trip during lunch at a localrestaurant.

The Wonder of Learning exhibit was devel-oped following the Newsweek article, and ithas traveled to 31 countries, including 40 citiesin the United States. This is the first time it hasbeen back to New York in more than 20 years.The 7,000 square-foot exhibition is a visualrepresentation of the Reggio approach, allowingteachers, parents and other visitors a chanceto expand their understanding of children’sthinking and their approach to collaborationand relationship-based learning.

The Wonder of Learning exhibit is composedof six sections and a variety of media, includingthree-dimensional objects, videos, booklets,audio recordings, and children’s work. High-lights include:

Dialogues with Material: A display of children’sartwork created from a variety of artistic, natural,and recycled materials, with an emphasis onthe processes that unfold during creative acts;

the enchantment of writing: Examples ofways in which children experiment with writingfor the first time, and how they make it theirown; and

a ray of light: Explorations of how ReggioEmilia centers encourage children to encounterlight and other natural phenomena.

The exhibit runs through May 15th at theWilliamsburg Northside School in Williams-burg, Brooklyn. Admission is open to the publicon Saturdays and Sundays from 12pm-6pm andis free of charge. More information can befound at www.newyorkcitywol.org.

“Learning and teaching should not stand on opposite banks and just watch the river flow by; instead, they shouldembark together on a journey down the water.”

– Loris Malaguzzi, founder of Reggio Emilia Approach


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where are you from?I’m a New Yorker. In fact, I grew up in theneighborhood. I went to nursery school atThe Town School when it was in a littlebrownstone on East 76th Street. My parentsalso grew up on the Upper East Side.

How long have you been teaching at allsouls? what brought you to all souls?I have been at All Souls since 1979. I can’t dothe math on how many years that is any-more! (That’s 36 years!!)

what brought you to all souls?I went to college in Boston and taughtthere for three years. I decided I wanted achange and came back to New York. In thedays before the internet, finding a job wasa bit different. I brought my resume to theoffices of many nursery schools. I said Iwould be willing to substitute because I waslooking for a job mid-year. Many schoolscontacted me, including All Souls.

what do you enjoy most about being ateacher at all souls?I think for me the best thing about All Soulsis the community, that is, the teachers thatI have taught with for so many years. Manyof us have been at All Souls for a long time.We have a lot of years on us! Children arechildren anywhere and you will always lovethem. It’s the people that you work withthough that makes a huge difference.

what’s one thing no one at all soulsknows about you? When I was in the 11th grade and going toschool in the city, I went to a dance thatwas held in Friendship Hall. Little did Iknow that I would be teaching at All Soulsso many years later. I call it foreshadowing.

what are some of your interests outsideof school? I love to read and play Mahjong. I also lovegoing to museums.

what do you like to do in the summer?I adore New York in the summer. I love eat-ing at outdoor restaurants. We spend a fewweekends with friends who have summerhouses.

what do you think are the essential elements to building a strong classroomcommunity?I think that the same elements that build astrong community among adults, also builda strong community with children — sharedexperiences. For children, they share theexperience of being in school together. Ittranslates to the staff in developmentdays. For example, many years ago wewent to Lake Tiorati at Harriman StatePark. It was a nature bonding retreat. Wehad never done anything as a staff before.Those shared experiences build commu-nity and so too for the children.

school starts well before the children arrive at all souls in september. How doyou help them prepare for their arrival? We started school visits last year. JohnPerlich (4B am/pm) had done school visitsbefore and said they worked well. A couple

of days before school started, three or fourchildren would come to school for about 15minutes at a time just to look at the classroom.Nothing was out for the children to playwith but they could see that there was ablock area, an art area, etc. We showed thechildren where their cubbies would bewhen they returned. Then, when the childrencame back to school, they had a strong visualof their classroom. We used to do homevisits but some teachers felt that it madeparents feel anxious. The school is theground where everybody is going to meetso we decided to change the home visitsto school visits. It is different but I think theschool visits were very successful so wewill continue to have them.

Another school-home connection that westarted this year was the family books. Wegot the idea from another school and wefound that the books were really helpful.The books produced conversation betweenthe children and enabled them to share alittle about themselves with one another. Iknow it was hard on the parents to createthe books but it proved nice in creatingthat school-home connection.

audrey Matson, 4a Group teacherFacUlty spotliGHt


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Most of the 2-3 year olds who arrive atyour classroom door have never been in aschool environment before. what kinds ofthings do you do to help children becomeengaged and feel like they belong?Initially we introduce materials that are familiar. For instance, some of the books.Most people have “Good Night Moon” intheir home. When the children come toschool and see a familiar book they feelcomfortable. That’s their connection be-tween school and home. Also, for instance,the puzzles that we have on the shelvesare easier than many are used to doing athome. The children play with the puzzlesand find they can master the task. Thisgives them confidence. The children feellike they are going to be safe at school andthey are going to be able to do OK.

Friendship can help children feel secureand confident. How do you help childrenlearn to build positive relationships withone another?The nice aspect of the 2 1/2 to 3 year oldset is that they like everybody. For example,if a child is sitting at a table next to anotherchild, their table mate is his or her friend.Friendships deepen over the years but, atthis age, the teachers are helping to givethe children the words they need to helpcreate friendships.

what strategies do you use to encouragechildren to work together?In the beginning we do a lot of mural work.It helps to build the team — everyone isworking on one thing together. Working to-gether takes a lot of practice. It takes chil-dren a lot of time to internalize all of therules and routines. Most of the time, whenthe children come into the classroom, theirgrown-up side comes out. They stay in control and hold a lot in while they are atschool. It can be exhausting for them.

you have been at all souls for a longtime! How has your approach to teachingchanged over time? The world has changed but children haven’treally changed. They may be a little moresophisticated and savvy because of tech-

nology, but the stages of developmenthaven’t changed. Because of that, teachingis not really that different. My experiencesas a teacher have made me more confidentthough. When I was in my 20s, I was a little

afraid of the parents. Now that’s not thecase and they look to me for some guidance.The nice thing about teaching is that thereis always a challenge. That challenge keepsyou on your toes and fresh!

“…at tHis aGe, tHe teacHers are HelpinGto Give tHe cHilDren tHe worDs tHey neeD to Help create FrienDsHips.”



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ALL TOGETHER NOWwhat a long winter it has been! the firstpeaks of spring flowers, the scaffolding–free courtyard and newly painted hallwayembody a fresh start. Despite the long coldspell, classroom changes, a closed roof andconstruction in and around our building, it isremarkable and wonderful that the children,parents, teachers, and staff at all soulsschool emerged with optimism as bright asthe first signs of the new season! as a testament to how strong our community is,everyone came together with ideas, volun-teered their time, and stuck together to makethe feeling of the long winter remain afar.

At All Souls, our community is our strength.This is a school for children, but also for families.And despite the fact that children stay herefor only two to three short years, the spiritof the school remains constant, it is a flamethat is continuously passed on. I believe thatthe Parent Association’s most important roleis to facilitate this spirit by making all membersof its community feel welcome. We aim tooffer opportunities such that each family, regardless of schedule, feels able to enjoyand contribute to one or many of the activi-ties we organize. Happily, the result has beennearly 100% participation by All Souls familiesthis year! A huge thank you to all who havegiven time. Your contributions are truly valued— we have such a diversity of talent acrossthe parent body, which resulted in somepretty spectacular events over the pastmonths. To recap:

In November, Tim Carey, Ventzislav Ivanov,Austin Gelbard and Andrew Park hosted theAll Souls Pancake breakfast and made morepancakes than I could ever dream of withtheir team of volunteers. Children sang anddanced and enjoyed a breakfast that camestraight from the grill!

In December, Jennifer Marwill and JessicaMurphy hosted a terrific Winter Bazaar.There was a delicious baked goods table,amazing class baskets that were raffled off,All Souls calendars, and gift items availablefor sale. Teachers received many new mate-rials to help them implement Reggio Emiliainspired activities into their curricula. Therewas a very warm feeling in the Ware Roomover the course of the bazaar, and manyhappy bellies. Thank you to everyone who

baked, shopped, volunteered and donatedto this event.

The “Imagine 1965” Benefit kicked off AllSouls’ 50th Birthday celebration. Chapeau toour fabulous chairs, West Hyler, Sima Iofina,and Lisa Sklar Gelbard. The event at Guas-tavino’s brought back both 60’s glam and fun!The entertainment and food were spectacular,and the great time had by all can be seen inthese benefit photos. I couldn’t imagine abetter way to support All Souls!

It took a team to make the event happen. Iwould also like to extend a huge thank youto our merchandise chairs Betsy Cohen andCharissa Huang for doing an amazing jobputting together a selection of auction itemsthat greatly surpassed anyone’s hopes andexpectations. Thank you also to all of thechairs without whose dedication none of thiswould have happened: Technology ChairRobert Bourne, Graphics and Design ChairRose Tange, Advertising Chair Dr. SophieChheang, Decorating Chairs Austin Gelbard,Alexis Leven, and Akriti Sandhu, DisplayChair Andrea Voorhis, Database Chair JohnO’Dowd, Catalog Chairs Maria Bonta de laPezuela and Arianna Tettamanzi, Check-InChairs Justine Lee and Rakesh Arora, Check-Out Chair Yul Chung Kaseman, andPhotography Chair Melody Douros and pho-tographers Alexandra Lourenco, AzharaMestler, and Harry Zernike. Thanks also toHarry Zernike and Chun-Wei Yi who were really instrumental in making the All SoulsStory film that was shown at the benefit.

Thank you as well to all the volunteers whocontributed their time and talents to thisevent. Thank you also to the class parents fororganizing their class bids and to contribu-tors to the class dinners.

Last, but certainly not least, thank you toeveryone in the All Souls community who donated, attended, underwrote, bid, andsupported All Souls School. It is truly remark-able to see what a community of people canaccomplish together.

In March, we had our annual Book Fair atBooks of Wonder on West 18th Street. Thankyou to Co-Chairs Kalindi Patel Kumar andRick Torres for organizing such a wonderfulevent for All Souls families. Over a bagel

breakfast, author/illustrator Steve Light readfrom his new book “Have You Seen MyDragon?” to the giggling delight of our children.I'm happy to report the All Souls Library wasthe recipient of 100 new books! Thank youto everyone who attended, donated books,and volunteered.

Looking at the greater community withinwhich All Souls School resides, I want to saythank you to our Community OutreachChairs Naomi Altschul and Hessa Al-Thanifor continuing to organize such wonderfulevents and drives. In October, they raisedover $400 for City Harvest’s Truck or Treat.In November, they organized a Coat Drive, inDecember, they collected and wrapped 96holiday gifts for Inwood House. In January,they organized a toiletry drive, in Februarythey sponsored a knit-a-square project tobenefit HIV/AIDS orphans in South Africaand in March, they collected more books andsupplies for the African Dream Academy,which has recently been able to re-open.Thank you for all of your creativity and theopportunities you create for helping ourcommunity continue to build a culture ofoutreach.

Thank you as well to our Nutritional SnackChairs Sugie Bruttomesso and Renee Goodwinfor implementing daily healthy snack for ourchildren. Our children now get a daily doseof colorful vegetables and fruits in additionto wholesome crackers (some of which aremade from lentils!). Teachers and childrenalike are thrilled.

The PA was excited to be able to welcomeback Dr. Tovah Klein, Director of the BarnardCenter for Toddler Development, and authorof the highly praised book “How ToddlersThrive,” at the PA Meeting on April 9. Thankyou to all who attended.

Thank you to Newsletter Co-Chairs VanessaFranklin, Harald Stavenas and Rose Tange forcreating and editing this newsletter. I trulyappreciate what a feat of coordination andhard work it is. And to Melody Douros andher photography stars for the beautiful photos.

That’s all for now! Happy Spring! It looks likethe sun is here to stay — shining brightly onour All Souls School community.

BY MARIE PODDA-HEUBACH, PARENTS ASSOCIATION PRESIDENT


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ANNUAL BENEFIT

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annUal Book Fairthe annual Book Fair was held on March 7th at Booksof wonder on west 18th street. author/illustratorsteve light read from his new book “Have you seenMy Dragon?” children took part in helping find a littleboy’s lost dragon, traveling through new york andlearning to count iconic city images ranging from hotdogs to water towers. there also were crafts and snacksfor the whole family to enjoy. the all souls librarywas the recipient of many new donated books. thankyou to everyone who attended, donated books, donated to the library Fund and volunteered. and abig thanks to the Book Fair co-chairs, kalindi pateland rick torres, for organizing this wonderful eventfor all souls families.


Best Friends for Frances By Russell Hoban“Frances doesn’t think her little sister, Gloria,can be her friend. But when Frances’sfriend Albert has a no-girls baseball game,Frances shows him a thing or two aboutfriendship—and a thing or two about whatgirls can do. Along the way, Frances discoversthat sisters can indeed be friends… maybeeven best friends.”

Best Best Friends By Margaret Chodos-Irvine“Clare and Mary do everything together.After all, they’re best best friends. But onMary’s birthday, she gets a party, a shinycrown, and lots of attention — and Claregets jealous. The best best friends get intoa big, big fight. Only after Clare comes upwith a way to make peace do the girls realize that between true friends, love triumphs over jealousy every time (evenwhen it comes to crowns and cupcakes).”

can i play too? By Mo Willems“In Can I Play Too?Gerald and Piggie meeta new snake friend who wants to join in agame of catch. But don’t you need arms to catch?”

could we Be Friends? poems for pals By Bobbi Katz“A collection of poems describing differentkinds of friendships including those withother children, siblings, pets, grandparents,and neighbors.”

llama llama and the Bully Goat By Anna Dewdney“Llama Llama is learning lots of new thingsat school and making many friends. Butwhen Gilroy Goat starts teasing him andsome of their classmates, Llama Llama isn’tsure what to do. And then he rememberswhat his teacher told him — walk away andtell someone. It works! But then LlamaLlama feels badly. Can he and Gilroy try tobe friends again?”

My new Friend is so Fun! By Mo Willems“Piggie has found a new friend! But is Gerald ready to share?”

the new Girl… and Me By Jacqui Robbins“On her first day of school, who will be herfriend? Raise your hand if it’s you. You’ll meetsomeone — and something — surprising.”

patrick and ted By Geoffrey Hayes“Best friends, Patrick and Ted, find their relationship strained when Ted goes awayfor the summer and Patrick finds other activities and friends to occupy his time.”

toot and puddle: the new Friend By Holly Hobbie“Opal’s new friend Daphne seems to bethe best at everything she does, but Tootand Puddle see another side of her.”

where are you Going? to see My Friend! a story of Friends in two languages By Eric Carle and Kazuo Iwamura“Legendary author/illustrator Eric Carlepairs with Kazuo Iwamura to create a picture book full of rhyme and repetition,in a question and response format that willdelight young readers.”

sUGGesteD reaDinG For cHilDren’s Books on FrienDsHip

Mari’s Book selectionsBY MARI SCHERMEYER, RESOURCE COORDINATOR

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QUOTABLE KIDS

What is your favoritething about school?

“Playing with sand.” — Kavya, 4A PM

“Playing with Mobilos.” — Gordon, 4B PM

“Playing with playdough and the sand/water table.” — Halle, 4B PM

“Playing with blocks.” — Jeremiah, 3A PM

“Opening doors.” — Landon, 4B PM

“Reading books about bunnies.” — Darya, 3A PM

“Playing with blocks.” — Cooper, 3A PM

“Painting.” — Amelia, 4A PM

“Painting.” — Isla, 4A PM

“Playing with blocks.” — Jamie, 4A PM

“Playtime & painting ducks.” — Gracie, 3A PM

“Playing with sand.” — Vihan, 4A PM


all souls school...williamsburg northside school in williams-burg, brooklyn. admission is open to...

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