Art Week '23:

Let there be sculpture!

October 16-20

'Every block of stone has a statue inside it and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it'. - Michelangelo

This year for ArtWeek we will be working in 6 small groups with 6 different materials to create 6 Riley sculptures! We are drawing inspiration from local artists such as Jay Sawyer, Jason Hurst, Bo Atkinson, Bernard Langlais, Alexis Iammarino, Pamela Mouton, Eric Darling and Tara Morin. This fully hands on, emergent, cross-programmatic and child focused curriculum will excite and challenge the children and faculty. We would love your help! This is no small project, together we can accomplish something amazing!

Do you love to create and want to spend time with your child? We’d love your help on campus! Monday and Tuesday will focused on research, design, and field trips, Wednesday and Thursday will be focused on building and Friday will be about finishing up. Let Anna know what you’re interested in and we’ll figure out when and how you can help! Yes, these hours count towards your volunteer hours! 

Here is how you can help:

Join us on campus at ANY POINT for as long as you'd like to help in the process!

• Be a sculpture facilitator (work with a facilitator to guide the children in their creation)
• Be a driver to one of our studio tours (Monday and Tuesday afternoon)
• After (school) hours to help build the base structures.
• Donation/sourcing materials!! We need (more specifics to come:
• Wood (Drift, root, commercial)
• Nails
• Rope
• Full(ish) cans of exterior paint
• Cement (cement mixer)
• Scrap Metal (old pitchforks, shovels, rakes, saw-blades etc). 
• Welding set

We'd also like to invite you to join us for the Riley Sculpture Walk on Friday, October 20th at 1:30pm. The children will be presenting their creations and sharing their process/learning with our community - we’ll have snacks!

We would love (and need) your help to make this week of art a success. How are you going to be a part of it? 

Let Anna know your ideas and how you can help - all are welcome! 

Email anna.goodale@rileyschool.org for the zoom link

Time to Pull out Your

Blaze Orange!

Hunting season is here and it's time to make sure our children have some blaze orange to wear while they're in the woods. Outgrown last year's blaze orange gear? Grab some Riley gear in blaze orange to keep them safe!

Ways to Learn More About Your Child's Day at Riley

a note from Becky

We sometimes hear from parents that the children say “nothing” in response to “What did you do at school today?”

We can assure you they did a lot! And when they get home they probably need down time to assimilate and accommodate all they have been doing. Piaget had a lot to say about this and it is of course one of the reasons the role of homework has been minimized.

Do remember that you are very welcome to come spend any portion of the day anywhere on campus. We just ask that you check in and out through the office. We also invite you to set up a brief conference at any time either through your child’s Reflections leader or directly with any member of the faculty. In addition, October 27th is set aside for conferences. We hope to see you.

In the meantime, here are some ways of framing a question that might, just might, get you a more robust response. There are some of the prompts we might use during our Reflections:

• What is the best and worst decision you have made today?
• What was an aha! (a learning) moment you have had recently?
• What is something you are struggling to learn?
• What is something you are proud of that you have done at school lately? 
• What is something kind/ helpful you have done for someone else?
•  What is something someone else has done for you? 
• Share something interesting you have learned/ thought about / done from a class