Helios School

A few Heliosians have found themselves together atop a snowy mountain, learning probability from esteemed mathematician Po-Shen Loh! All are participants in the weeklong Math in the Mountains summer camp: Josh as a faculty member, alum Kaden as a TA, and 2 current students as campers. We love connecting even when school isn’t in session, especially in nature, and for these folks, over math!

Week 1 of Helios summer camps is in the books! Some students explored trails and beaches about the Bay Area, while others explored their creativity in our iLab, measuring and constructing their very own cutting boards and jigsaw puzzles - so fun!

Faculty PD week just wrapped, but it’s the Helios alum who are closing down the campus this week! It was amazing to see so many previous students connect and reconnect over playing rules in the Gaga pit, tossing the frisbee on the field, munching on food cooked in our outdoor kitchen, and collecting kale bunches to distribute from our garden bounty! Bonus: A handful of alum camped together earlier this week - we love to see Helios traditions alive and well beyond their years here!!

Congratulations to our newly minted Helios alum! We sang, we cried, and we celebrated - these 15 bright young souls graduated from their proverbial nest today to attend 11 different schools, but will always be able to call Helios home. Class of 2024, we are so proud of you!

Helios Olympics was today! Students participated in races and challenges, and celebrated community spirit and camaraderie with delicious Kona Ice - thank you to our student council for putting on a fantastic day of fun!

Welcome to Helios last-week-of-school activities! Today the entire school benefited from an SEL popup festival - an event co-created by 6Seconds and UNICEF. It was full of fun, interactive stations led by our middle-schoolers, and culminated in the unveiling of a Community Quilt! Earlier this week, some of our students cultivated intergenerational relationships with neighboring senior home residents, a joy for all!

Co-curricular celebrations of learning at Helios left us blown away! From incredible novice crocheting, to intricate art and iLab creations, to spectacular musical performances (Crazy Train 🤘🏼), to twisted math circle extensions, to funny fresh takes on classic plays - our students never cease to impress with the breadth of their talent and creativity!

Stop by the Sunnyvale Farmer’s Market this morning where Helios 5th/6th graders are helping to spread awareness about conservation efforts across the nation. They can tell you why it’s important, what happens if we don’t protect our natural resources, and how these causes can help. Learn valuable information, and grab some fresh fruit after!

Our 7th/8th grade Herons exhibited their knowledge of Revolution: what it means, how it happens, and what comes out of it. Science innovations and design challenges engaged attendees, including a limited-resource game of Operation!

Earlier this week, Herons came full circle fostering the camping spirit with the Hummingbirds who had their first overnight - right here on campus! Bigs helped the littles cook s’mores, and led heartwarming campfire songs. We love celebrating these connections!

Step into our Helios museums! Lower school students celebrated their learning by showcasing incredible narratives and artifacts: 3rd/4th graders demonstrated Cultures in Bloom throughout the world and scientific history, while 1st/2nd graders discovered how we - humans and animals - are All Family with rich origins, histories, and futures!

Helios students are encouraged to explore their passions - whether it’s extending math studies into 3D, sharing an award-winning First Lego League team project with the community, or presenting your Passion Project research on the evolution of language or poisonous plants of North America - Heliosian interests run broad and deep!

Spring camping season at Helios is coming to a close! 7th/8th graders rafted the American River, 5th/6th graders scaled rocks in the Joshua Tree desert, and 1st-4th graders hiked redwoods and enjoyed the beach in Watsonville. The emphasis, as always, is on team-building, independence, and fun! All campers returned having reinforced the motto: No one is done until everyone is done!

As part of their All in the Family expedition, Falcons and Hawks (1st/2nd) hosted a bake and craft sale today in an effort to raise money to purchase Sweet Cases - duffle bags that they will decorate as a class and will be filled with fun and functional items to help ease children's transition to foster care. To say that the event was an success is an understatement!

Springtime's first Celebration of Learning: Helios kindergarteners proudly shared their knowledge about water sources, cycles, properties, and more this afternoon. The bright and beautiful day matched their contagious energy as the small experts guided their families through experiments, demonstrations, and their published work. Well done Hummingbirds!

Earlier this month, a group of 24 intrepid Heliosians launched the very first Middle School Backpacking trip. They braved the cold and hiked 2 miles (uphill!) to their campground, keeping warm by singing classic Helios camping songs and roasting marshmallows on JetBoil stoves. Despite the elements, connections were strengthened, fun was had, and a tradition was born - well done, backpackers!

This past weekend, over 50 Heliosians (from toddler to parent!) gathered over two shifts to help assemble nutrition-dense foodpacks for distribution to those in need, both domestically and globally. We so thankful for this annual opportunity to partner with Feed My Starving Children in Silicon Valley - thank you volunteers!

Helios celebrated our 3rd Annual International Night yesterday! There were 13 country booths plus the UN, and over 300 community members came together for an evening of learning, games, food, and performances under this year's theme of Culture and Traditions. We're so grateful for our vibrant community!

Today’s member spotlight: Helios School!

Helios School is an independent K-8 school for gifted children. Their four-acre campus becomes a welcoming home for those in their tight-knit community, and students receive an array of interesting learning opportunities to further nurture their gifts.

Learn more at www.heliosschool.org

It's solar eclipse day at Helios! Students and teachers enjoyed observing the phenomenon through many mediums - glasses, index card pinholes, patterned paper, with a partner, camera obscuras, and even a double eclipse projection - so much fun! ☀️🌙

It's National Poetry Month! In today's community meeting, our Helios librarian engaged our cross grade-band "color groups" in a fun collaborative poetry game called Exquisite Co**se. Students and staff enjoyed constructing fun and silly poems to share with the community; they will be displayed in the library all month!

We recently celebrated Friends Day at Helios, where we invited the very special people in our students' lives to peek into a Friday morning. They appreciated work in classrooms, witnessed our all-school community meeting, partook in fun math circles, and even enjoyed recess time! Thank you for spending time with us Friends!

Last Friday our Helios Class of 2024 joined Director of HS Counseling, Mike Orlando, for a celebratory lunch at Pizza My Heart to recognize a job well done in setting high school transition goals and to appreciate their parents and teachers for all their support. We're looking forward to seeing where these amazing soon-to-be-alumni end up next fall!

Spring is springing at Helios! The garden is busy: flowers are blooming, Herons (7th/8th) are cooking in our outdoor kitchen, Hummingbirds (K) are designing their own garden flowers and creatures, and Ravens (3rd/4th) are creating their own unique plant families. Welcome to the warmer weather!

Last week, as part of their studies in Revolution, Herons (7th/8th) selected and portrayed Enlightenment thinkers, enthusiastically participating in a salon - a gathering of intellectuals for the purposes of sharing ideas. This week they expand further on their studies while in Boston, exploring the very chambers and grounds where revolutions took place!

Calling all Helios Alum and Friends: Save the date for our annual reunion - please note the date has been moved earlier in the summer to June!

Students and staff were treated to the February African History talk from our resident historian, Melissa (7th/8th grade teacher). This year's focus was Great Zimbabwe, the city with no corners and a medieval African trading empire. Folks happily spent lunchtime observing artifacts, marveling at architecture, and learning about the Shona people who built this incredible stone city!

It's been a love-filled week here at Helios! Yesterday students distributed fond messages to their classmates and staff, while parents enjoyed each others' company and a coffee/pastry bar! Last week our student council hosted a wildly successful and fun-filled Valentine's Dance for the middle school - the photobooth was a huge hit! Happy hearts season from Helios 💕

This morning's all-school assembly brought many of our community members together sharing information, song, and dance about Lunar New Year. We learned about Chinese, Vietnamese, and Korean traditions, and received red envelopes symbolizing happiness and prosperity 🧧 We're so grateful for our vibrant community, and wish all who celebrate a very Happy Lunar New Year!

Recess at Helios is always a fun time to watch the various ways our students open-play. It could be engaging in cross-grade band gagaball, planting bamboo in the Wilderness Village, supporting a Hummingbird at the playground, making thoughtful moves in chess, relaxing with a book in the library, or calling football plays along the parking space "yard" lines - there's something for everyone!

This past weekend, members of the Helios community gathered to help prepare our garden for the spring. Thank you to all our students, parents and staff who pulled weeds, pushed heavy loads, and ensured careful irrigation for the bounty to come - we're excited for the upcoming season!