The Gordon School

Thanks to Abby Buttacavoli of NBC 10 WJAR for coming to campus today to learn more about how Gordon prepares students to talk about complex issues.

She watched a third grade class debate cats vs. dogs, asked seventh graders about how the adults in their lives talk about tough topics, and got perspectives from a parent and from seventh grade humanities teacher Ms. Paull.

The piece is slated to air next week.

Ms. Paull’s six election season talking points for parents and caregivers are at www.gordonschool.org/sixtips

Making choices, making change in Gordon’s younger grades at https://ow.ly/VHrW50TncI9

An evening of democracy, dissent and decision making for parents and caregivers at www.gordonschool.org/harris

As parents, caregivers and educators returned to school in September with a historic and complicated presidential election ahead, Gordon seventh grade humanities teacher Tamar Paull generated six tips on how to talk to young people about the election.

Read them now at

Be real, get personal and take action Six tips for talking to children about the election

It was primary day in Rhode Island today, and in Gordon’s classrooms, students were learning math, they were learning literacy, they were learning compromise and cooperation, and they were learning how to change the world.

Read more at https://ow.ly/msJV50TkxfY

Dr. Thomas López will be leaving Gordon at the end of the year.

Yesterday was her last first day at Gordon.

In the afternoon assembly, she talked about this milestone, and about her memories of her first first day at Gordon when she arrived in 2018.

Today, a student who had just entered Middle School, and who had been in Young Kindergarten in 2018, presented her with this poem:

This is the beginning of the end
the start of the new
and I wish for all and wish for u
to cherish the memory
for all I knew

One last first day photo. Day two tomorrow!

Happy first day of school!

Families, please share your photos with Mr. Griffin at 401 480-9933 to have them posted on Gordon’s social media.

Happy first day to these members of the Class of 2024, starting at Moses Brown this morning. Thanks to Ms. Massey for the photo.

This is going to be an unforgettable year and it all started today.

A look at the first day, and a link to hundreds of photos, at https://ow.ly/40Je50TfSvr

It is with great sadness that we share that Ben Russell, devoted parent of two Gordon students and loving husband of Andrea Russell '97, passed away suddenly Saturday, August 31st.

Ben's obituary is linked below. Information about ways to honor his memory can be found there.

Funeral services for Ben will take place this Friday, September 6th at 10:00am at Shalom Memorial Chapel, 1100 New London Avenue, Cranston RI.

Shiva will be held Saturday, September 7th from 7:30-9:30pm at 105 Fry Brook Drive, East Greenwich, RI.

One family's loss is a loss to our entire community, and the Gordon family is grateful to have a role in supporting the Russells, and everyone that Ben's life touched, during this difficult time.

http://www.shalommemorialchapel.com/?p=7239 -

School starts next week but Gordon’s gardens are a year-round project. Today some Middle Schoolers harvested tomatoes, peppers, and cleaned and trimmed the garlic that had been drying.

They delivered it all to the cooks and started mulching under the new outdoor classroom in the garden.

See you all next week!

Middle School spent part of this afternoon’s meeting exploring the gardens with Green Dean Cush Gillen, admiring the results of the work students did last year and brainstorming interdisciplinary connections they can make in the year ahead with this glorious outdoor science laboratory.

Dear Lower School students,

You will be working hard this year on reading and writing.

In today’s Lower School faculty meeting, Ms. Ham led all your teachers through a literacy lesson of their own, using several Lower School techniques to introduce the roomful of adult learners to some basics of Korean.

They recited the alphabet, assembled some syllables, and decoded some words.

They had some success, they laughed at themselves, and they got a glimpse of how hard Gordon’s young readers and writers work in class every day.

Throughout the lesson, she reminded them that reading is a civil right, an essential ingredient in any successful community.

You’re going to have a great year.

See you soon,

Your teachers

Great turnout for the first night of this week’s Middle School soccer clinic - the biggest crowd Mr. Ray can remember. There’s still room for more, though, and the clinic runs all week long. Learn more and sign up at www.gordonschool.org/soccer clinic

Summer at Gordon took a road trip this week, for the final week of summer 2024 camps. All this week, Gordon has run of the 125+ acres at Mother of Hope Camp in Chepachet, RI, with a lake and beach, hiking trails, playground, a low ropes course, an archery field, sports fields, outdoor pavilions, a basketball court and more.

Later today, back on campus, Mr. Ray will be kicking off a just-for-fun weeklong soccer clinic for Middle Schoolers to reconnect on Engle Field.

There’s also the Wednesday math meetups for Middle School that have been happening all month.

All of this is heading to one big date: the first day of school, Wednesday the 4th. Open Campus and orientation is Tuesday the 2nd.

Families can get all the details they need on all these August activities, and much more, at www.gordonschool.org/families

“Honesty and integrity, in both word and deed, should be practiced every day. Thoughtful and informed citizens need to respect the work of scientists and historians, and to use their methods to question and construct an understanding of the world. A free press is essential to the open exchange of ideas. All of us must take on the hard work of discerning fact from opinion. Meanness is not welcome in our classrooms, neither is teasing nor disrespect. Compassion and courage are to be admired. Our community’s strength is in its diversity. Every voice should be heard, every citizen's needs matter, and, in a healthy democracy, every vote should be counted.”

In her back-to-school letter to families, faculty and staff, Head of School Dr. Thomas López reflects on our chance to define ourselves this year.

Read it now at https://ow.ly/49WU50SYSe4