Issue #7  |  April 2018


Dear Greene Hill Friends and Families,

Has spring finally sprung?  It is a bit hard to tell from the weather but here are some bright signs at Greene Hill that it is springtime!
  • Earth Day Activities
Thanks to the incredible efforts of PATHS Gardening Committee chair Erin Douglass and parent and landscape designer Meaghan Lynch our side yard has been transformed. With the help of all Greene Hill students, faculty and staff and the PATHS Building Committee the garden was given new soil and replanted with hardy native grasses. This is a wonderful way to green our area, put our new rain barrels to use and say goodbye to the dusty ground. A terrific event to honor Earth Day and for the community to join together in service!



The following adults spent extra time to ensure the success of this ambitious project (please forgive us if we have inadvertently left your name off the list):
All GHS Faculty and Staff
Alexis Langsfeld
Amy Tate
Angelica Vasquez and the volunteers from HavasMedia
Anne Thieke Button
Ari Fliakos
Caroline Piela
David Lynch
Gina Magid
Hannah Flicker
Josephine Schiele
Lorri Hakansson
Marc Auerbach
Matthew Weisner
Patti Coffey
Reshma Patel
For the first time GHS hosted an e-waste program to securely dispose of broken computers, printers and other electronics. These were mindfully collected and processed by Upcycle.
Spring has arrived when the eggs and 
incubators arrive in the 5s classroom.

  • High School Fair
Greene Hill hosted an independent high school admissions fair in collaboration with other Brooklyn Prek-8th grade schools.  Approximately 35 schools and the Parents League set up admissions information tables and more than 70 families attended to learn about school programs. Workshops on High School Essay Writing, Financial Aid and Boarding Schools rounded out the event. Our 7th graders, (the only students with notebooks), came well prepared to talk with school representatives. Thank you to faculty and staff Hadas, Laurie, Nils and Sharif and 8th grade helpers for facilitating all that went into making this fair.


  • All School Musical
Everyone at GHS is busy getting ready for our 8th annual all-school musical - conceived entirely by our creative GHS students with the support of their amazing teachers.  "Earth Stories: The Four Realms," opens this week.
  • Overnight Trips
8 year olds and up are getting ready for their overnight trips.  Each trip is different but they all offer community building opportunities and time outside in nature.  Our 8s and 9s visit Frost Valley in the Catskills and the 10s plan their own adventures at the Blue Mountain Reservation in Peekskill, NY.  In the Middle School 6th and 7th grades will be headed to the Princeton-Blairstown Center and our 8th graders embark on the school's second international trip--this year to Costa Rica!
  • Elders Share the Arts 
Celestina, a volunteer with Elders Share the Arts, visited GHS 8s, 9s and 10s this month.  Celestina shared stories about her experience growing up in segregated Tidewater, Virginia. She spoke movingly about what happened when she traveled by herself on a public bus to a piano lesson at the age of ten, and sat in the front of the bus. After sharing her story, Celestina asked students to share their own experiences making a difficult choice.


 

Wishing you well this spring!

Diana Schlesinger
Head of School

 
Upcoming Events

April 28     8th Graders depart for Costa Rica

May 9-11  Bookfair to benefit the GHS library

May 11     Grandparents and Special Friends Day

May 22     Reception for Incoming Families

May 31      Gender Inclusivity Workshop for Parents
               Ackerman Institute For The Family

News and Notes

News and Notes will be a new column in Progressions starting May 2018.

News and Notes will highlight events and milestones marked by our GHS community of parents, grandparents, teachers, staff and alumni. 

Run a marathon? Welcome a new member into your family? Publish a book or an article?  Let us know. We'd love to celebrate with you.  Send us your news HERE.

*News and Notes will post contingent on space.*
The Fund for Greene Hill

The Fund for Greene Hill supports everything we do at school and makes possible all of the things you just read about in this newsletter.

Thank you to GHS families, grandparents, special friends, and Board members who have raised $92,000 for the Fund.

There's still time to contribute this year and help us meet our goal of $125,000 and 100% family participation.

Click HERE to contribute to the Fund today.