This semester, ballet dancing is being offered as a new elective in the middle school arts elective block. Taught by Simi Hoze, students in this class are learning the fundamentals of classical ballet: using the barre, dancing in the center, and moving their bodies. “I wanted to offer this class to our middle school students because dance offers a way for students to use their bodies to express their feelings, ideas, and movements,” says Ms. Hoze...

For the past two months in writer’s workshop, kindergarteners have been writing stories about the real world. Now that their stories are complete, students spent time yesterday morning putting their books together, either as stapled booklets or as taped-together scrolls. “The kindergarteners are making it matter by doing the real work that real writers, authors, and illustrators do,” says teacher Emma Larson...

To assess their understanding of the math material, fifth graders participated last week in a scavenger hunt that took them all over the Brandeis campus—from Ms. Rinn’s office to the bluetop. The students were asked to decipher a code (seen here) that would reveal a quote. To do so, students needed to “unlock keypads by applying strategies they’ve learned to find a number’s prime factors, find hidden words in dictionaries using their knowledge of place value, and calculate the lowest common multiples and greatest common factors...

On Friday, September 29, Brandeis students joined together to spearhead two events to raise money for hurricane relief efforts. Students and families baked and donated dozens upon dozens of baked goods that were sold in a bake sale Friday morning. In total, the bake sale raised over $2,000. The funds will be used to purchase wishlist items of schools in Puerto Rico, Mexico, and Florida...