The MPH Snapshot

The Manlius Pebble Hill Community Conversation Series

Lower School Students Transition to Virtual Learning –

Support and Encouragement for Parents

Date : Monday, May 4, 2020

Time: 4:00 – 5 :00 p.m. EDT

Guest Speaker:

Amy Terpening Abdo

Head of Lower School, Manlius Pebble Hill School

For our second MPH Conversation we are welcoming our very own head of Lower School, Amy Terpening Abdo. Amy will be sharing resources and tips to help families and children navigate the strange new world of distance learning in a pandemic. Because there is no singular “typical” family experience and each child is working with a range of needs and available supports, Amy’s objective will be to provide a framework of reasonable and flexible expectations to best meet a child’s needs -- academically, physically, socially, and emotionally. After her presentation, Head of School Dave McCusker will facilitate a Q & A session.

Amy is a parent and has been a member of the MPH community for 10 years, beginning as a Grade 5 teacher. After seven years in the classroom, she moved into an assistant division head role in the Lower School, where she remained for three years before assuming her current position. Prior to joining us at MPH, she was a teacher in New York City at two independent schools, Marymount and The Dalton School. She is the parent of a Grade 3 student at MPH.

Win-Win: Banner Benefits!

Research shows that expressing gratitude is a great way to boost moods and strengthen immune systems -- for both the givers and receivers of thanks. Over Spring Break, some of our students decorated individual letters that combined to create this colorful banner displayed in front of the school to thank everyone who is helping, on the front lines as well as behind the scenes. A second banner is under way! If you or your family would like to volunteer to decorate a letter to thank our amazing teachers, please email EPerryman@mphschool.org . Your small act of gratitude, when combined with others', has the potential to spread mood-boosting benefits and promote resilience in our community.

Happy Ruler Day!

Team 8 decided to change things up this week by doing a full-grade advisory with Mr. Zlomek, Mr. Mangram, and Mrs. Reeve's tutorials. All the students met, talked about how things are going, and, courtesy of Lance Ogden, dubbed Wednesday "Ruler Day." Through casual conversation it appeared that most teachers and students happened to have rulers within reaching distance and all decided to showcase them...because they rule!

Also in Grade 8, students are in the process of planning an activity that would allow them to reach out to their friends at the Nottingham nursing home/ independent living facility. They are brainstorming ideas and hope to get a project off the ground in the coming weeks. Stay tuned!

4/5 Bridge Combine Science and Art

Ms. Concepcion and Ms. Thomann joined forces to create a new assignment for the 4/5 Bridge students, totally planned during this time of distance learning. Students used recycled materials or other household materials to create their own galaxy and planet based on their research of different galaxies and our solar system. Check out the photo gallery on the left!

Keeping Clubs Strong While

Distance Learning

MPH faculty are bringing clubs back into the lives of our students! Here are a couple new initiatives that have recently started.

Extra Credit Club: Created by Mrs. Bentley Hoke for her Grade 8 students. Interested students are joining their English teacher in reading To Kill a Mockingbird and meeting on Friday afternoons in a separate G oogle Class to discuss the book and its author, Harper Lee, and to learn about race relations and culture in the South during the Great Depression.

Cooking Club: Open to all Middle School students, Ms. Strickland and Mrs. Civello taught students how to make cereal blobs, a.k.a. peanut butter chews with some variation.

His expression says it all! Pre-K students couldn't be happier about their letters!

Pre-K Receives Mail!

As the distance-learning time continued, Grade 3 teacher Ms. Palmer began to think about all of the typical activities that would take place during the day at MPH. "One of the first things I thought about was our Pre-K lunch buddies. I couldn't stop thinking about how they were doing and that we should check in with them." That's how the idea of Pre-K pen pals was formed! During their Zoom meetings they discussed how to write and format a friendly letter, as well as how to address an envelope. Third Graders took it from there! Each student wrote to two or three Pre-K students, writing thoughtful notes and drawing beautiful pictures to help give a little joy to our youngest community members. What a great idea!

Alumni Connect with MPH Faculty

Our Alumni Office continues to actively engage and interact with our alumni from around the globe. This week, we connected with alumni in the Washington, D.C. area. The virtual session was hosted by Alumni Relations Associate Erica Toyama, who was joined by Director of Development Kelly Rose and Head of School Dave McCusker. Featured speakers were math teacher Donna Meehan and history teacher Ted Curtis, who shared their experiences and thoughts on moving from traditional classroom teaching to teaching in a distance-learning format. Joining the conversation were MPH alumni Matthew Freedman ’87, Bryce Church ’16, Jordan Dunaway ’16, and Cady Ridall ’16, as well as Manlius School alumnus Erick Sweet ’66HQ. Many other MPH faculty members also joined in the session and added their thoughts on teaching remotely.

What Are YOU Doing at Home?

Grade 4 student Nathaniel has been creating some wood- working projects! He made a homemade peg board, which is hung in his garage. He and his sister climb it using wooden dowels placed in each drilled-out hole. He also made the bird house on the left!

What has your family been up to? Share your stories and photos with us here!

More from the Bridge!

A note from Ms. Concepcion...

It has been great to see how everyone is "making it work." One thing I have found is that while it feels like distance learning is closing many doors on our usual way of teaching, it has also opened up things as well.

For example, we are learning about volume right now in Grade 5. In our distance-learning classroom, students can do our final project in MineCraft as well as the more "traditional methods" I likely would have utilized in the physical classroom. It also allows the students to be more confident in choosing their preferred method and not getting bogged down by social pressure if a friend chose something different. I am looking forward to sharing their final projects with you!

Painting with a Twist!

Based on student request, the whole Pre-K class connected via Zoom for a class activity. They chose from painting or coloring rainbows, giraffes, solar systems, or minerals in rocks. Each student was photographed displaying their work at the end of the activity.

This Week's Wildflowers with Audrey Yeager

The rain and wind kept Ms. Yeager inside this week, but no worries! Sunshine is in the forecast, so we are sure to have a review next week! In the meantime, Join Ms. Yeager on her wildflower journey using this handy checklist!

And share your stories and photos with us here!

This Week's Distance-Learning Candids!

Live painting and coloring in Pre-K.

Ms. Thomann drops by the Grade 3 morning meeting.

Even though there was a loss of power, Spanish III students made the best of their situation and were connected with their cell phones. "Sí Se Puede!" (Yes we can!)