Welcome to the Spring 2023 issue of Brick by Brick, The Brick Church School’s newsletter for parents and grandparents of alumni, adult graduates, friends of the school, and our current families. It is our pleasure to share a window into the current life of the school, with highlights from our classrooms and special school events, as well as updates about alums, and ways to stay involved in our vibrant community.

Ready for Takeoff, A Study of Airplanes and Airports in the Fours

From an interest in paper plane making, to discussing real airplanes, the class decided to transform the classroom into an airport! The children learned about the parts of an airplane and how airplanes work, they built model planes, met with an air traffic controller, designed an airport, decided upon airport jobs, and constructed numerous life-size aspects of their airport including a ticketing counter and baggage drop, a security scanner, a control tower, gate area, and an airplane! The study concluded with the opening of The 4 North Airport for their families and all those in the school community to visit. Passengers arrived at the ticket counter, received their tickets and passports, and then made their way through security where they and their bags got scanned! They boarded their flights all over the world and got their passports stamped in customs upon arrival. Later that week, the class took a field trip to the Intrepid Museum for a self-guided tour that involved seeing and exploring a variety of aircraft, as well as the opportunity to see how Intrepid served as an airport on the sea.

Wooden Block Construction Site in the Threes

Upon a discussion of construction workers as important community helpers, the students in 2 West, using all of their classroom’s wooden blocks, set out to work on their own construction projects! The carpet was rolled up, and the tables and chairs moved to make space for the whole class to build with wooden blocks at the same time. The morning class left their construction site up for the afternoon class to admire and feel inspired by, and then the children in the afternoon left their construction site up for the children in the morning to do the same! Each class had the chance to do a “museum walk” of the other class’s work! Blocks are an ideal material for young children. Often children engaged in block building show an increased attention span as they work out various play themes, experiment with an array of block structures, and see their plans through. There are many benefits to block building in preschool, as well as, in primary school. These benefits include providing a space for problem-solving, expressive and receptive language, mathematics, science concepts, social-emotional growth, motor skills, imagination and self-expression, and building resilience.

The Story of Movement Class

Adventures jumping across Snake River, rocketing up to outer space, diving under the sea, rolling down Rainbow River, and saving hula hoops that stray into Candy Land are regular happenings in Movement class. As children grow into their bodies, Movement class helps build a healthy relationship with the physicality that can benefit them for the rest of their lives. Elements of gymnastics, dance, martial arts, and yoga build gross and fine motor skills and engage students in various ways. Hitting balloons and shooting them through hoops, throwing and catching bean bags, completing obstacle courses, showing off leaps and bounds, and silly walking across the room also engage balance, bilateral coordination, backward movement, and crossing the midline in a super fun way. You may even find classes balancing on one leg like a flock of pink or green flamingos! Movement class benefits other aspects of education as well. Games and activities promote imagination, working together, and spontaneity. Children learn how to follow directions, sequences, and multi-step instructions. Listening ears are being fine-tuned in games like “1, 2, 3, Go!” Eager to expel some energy by class time, movement is a safe and fun release that improves focus for the rest of the school day!

Summer Steps at the Brick Church School

Since 2012, Summer Steps has provided a 5-week summer program for children who will be entering or applying to independent school kindergarten in the fall. Summer Steps prepares children for optimal participation and success in kindergarten by facilitating their cognitive, social, emotional and physical development. Family income is the sole factor in determining whether a child is eligible to apply to Summer Steps. Children from all racial, ethnic, and religious backgrounds and family configurations are encouraged to apply if they meet the income requirements (family taxable income is no more

than $80,000 annually, or family is paying less than 10% of the ongoing school tuition or less than 20% of the early childhood school tuition).

Summer Steps partners with 28 ongoing schools who support its mission and see the positive impact participation has for their incoming students. High school students at the partner schools have the opportunity to intern at the program, which benefits the intern as well as the children attending Summer Steps. Many Brick alums have gone on to serve as high school interns before heading off to college.

We are pleased to share this video, created in honor of the program’s 10th anniversary last year. 

SUMMER STEPS IS LAUNCHING ITS OWN NEWSLETTER THIS SPRING!

To sign up to receive the Summer Steps Newsletter, please email aschack@brickchurch.org. To get involved as a volunteer or supporter, please email lspinelli@brickchurch.org.