Articles Categorized: Lower School

Celebrating literary freedom: Lower School students engage in Banned Books Week

During Banned Books Week, students in grades 4–5 learned about some of the most challenged, age-appropriate books in the United States. They created posters that defended those books and celebrated their freedom to read! [gallery columns="1" link="file" size="full" ids="86908,86905,86906,86907"]

Dr. Nnedi Okorafor brings stories to life at Waynflete

Students, faculty, and community members were inspired, entertained, and moved by Monday's evening interview with award-winning author Dr. Nnedi Okorafor. Dr. Okorafor spoke of her experience as a daughter of Nigerian immigrants, her process as a writer, her love for...

Lower School students celebrate Día de los Muertos in multidisciplinary study

The Lower School Spanish and visual art programs recently came together to explore the beautiful Mexican tradition of Día de los Muertos, a time to remember and celebrate loved ones who have passed on. During this study, Lower School students...

A night to remember: Waynflete’s first Friday Night Lights game

Congratulations to our girls varsity soccer team on an impressive 9–1 victory over Sacopee Valley at our first Friday Night Lights game! It was an incredible evening for our community as families, alumni, faculty/staff, and other Waynflete community members—more than...

125 years and counting: Waynflete celebrates its anniversary with special Founders’ Day treats

It's Waynflete's birthday! We celebrated our 125th year with a Founders' Day celebration that included cupcakes for all students and employees. Did you know that Waynflete's founders, Agnes Lowell and Caroline Crisfield, sold the school to a newly formed corporation...

K–1 students team up with Upper Schoolers on fractals project

K–1 students recently helped the Linear Algebra and Advanced Topics class complete an activity on fractals. The specific fractal pictured here is called a Sierpinski Carpet and is a repeating, decreasing pattern of empty central squares. The Linear Algebra students...

K–1 space study

Engineering teacher Jon Amory discussed the components of rockets and Artemis, NASA’s current mission to the moon, with K–1 students as part of their space study today. They are gearing up to create their own rockets and robots to explore...

Lower School art students visit the Portland Museum of Art

Art students in grades 4–5 recently went on a field trip to the Portland Museum of Art. Docents expertly guided our students in the "Seeing Through Sketching" tour. Our students received several compliments from museum staff on how well-mannered and...

Stellar performances from Waynflete musicians

Last week at Waynflete was a musical one! We had two lovely recitals on Wednesday that featured students in grades 2–11 who take private lessons with our outstanding Enrichment Music teachers. On Thursday, 70 musicians from five different ensembles (Acoustic...

Students in grades 2–3 engage in a yearlong maritime study

Students in grades 2–3 began the year with the question, "What does it feel like to be near or in the ocean?" This sparked a discussion about social justice standards (justice, identity, diversity, action) as they relate to students' prior...

Identity, diversity, justice, action, and bats: social justice standards in the Lower School

Anti-bias teaching has long been an essential component of Waynflete’s curriculum. Faculty member Kate Ziminsky recalls that when she began her tenure at the school in 2004, organizations like Teaching Tolerance were already hard at work helping teachers address justice...

Students in grades 2–3 create signal flags as part of their martitime study

Our 2–3 art students recently created signal flags using color theory! Each classroom made a full alphabet without use of rulers or measuring devices. Every color includes all primary hues. Once the alphabets were completed, students brainstormed ideas to describe...

The Outliers demo a robot for Lower School students

The Outliers, a community robotics team that is open to Waynflete students, recently hosted a fun demo in Sills gym. Each year The Outliers design, build, and program a 150-pound robot to compete against other teams. The robots are designed...

Students in grades 2–3 are the first to visit our new Lower Playground!

A foggy Maine morning couldn't dampen the spirits of our 2–3 students—the first group to explore our new Lower Playground! We are so grateful to the many generous members of the Waynflete community who helped to make this day possible....

First Pachanga of the school year

We were happy to observe a sea of smiling faces at the first Lower School Pachanga of the year! [gallery columns="2" link="file" size="medium" ids="86202,86201,86200,86199,86198,86197,86196,86195,86194"]

Students need more

If you have concerns about your child finding joy after several years of the COVID-19 pandemic, you aren’t alone. At Waynflete, we want every child to love school and are committed to meeting every child where they are. We are...

Waynflete announces 2022 Drake Award and Klingenstein Alumni Award recipients

Waynflete is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2022 Drake Award and the 2022 Klingenstein Alumni Award. We will celebrate these exceptional members of our community during Reunion Weekend on May 13, 2022. Bonnie Docherty ’90 2022 Klingenstein Alumni...

Waynflete Writers’ Guild publishes all-school edition of Flyer Wire

The latest issue of Flyer Wire is now available, for the first time featuring student artwork and writing from all three divisions! View the latest edition

When is your young child ready to talk about race?

By Laurel Daly, Lower School Librarian  Are young children ready for conversations about race and racism? Research shows that by six months old, babies begin to notice differences in skin color, eye shape, and hair color/texture. By four years of...

5 Tips That Support Math Success

By Vanessa Churchill, Lower School Math Learning Specialist  So much has changed in mathematics, and with these changes come plenty of questions about the  new math.” What defines this new approach to teaching students, how does the learning process take place,...

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