On Monday, students in grades 3-8 will be taking the El down to Daley Plaza to participate in the citywide celebration of United Nations Peace Day. This is a tradition we have participated in since 2018. Students make their own peace signs, travel to the El, and participate in the call for peace, a ceremony…
[A guest post written by the parent of a graduate from Chicago Friends School’s class of 2023.] It’s hard to believe that it’s been over nine years since Chicago Friends School entered our lives. Our then pre-K student wanted a small class size where he would have freedom to play and explore. We wanted a…
As I write this, the dust is just settling on two Supreme Court decisions that will affect education in America and the promise it provides. The first decision denies student loan forgiveness, and the second denies affirmative action. Their accumulative effect will be to preserve power and privilege in the hands of wealthier, whiter people,…
When I was planning spirit week with the middle schoolers, I divided them up into pairs and told each pair to brainstorm about a theme, constumes and activities for spirit week. Half of the teams proposed potluck for the activity on their day! Before Covid-19, potlucks were a more regular occurrence in our school community.…
Peacemaking, for young children, does not start with large societal or nation-level conflicts. It often starts with simple things, like an argument about what the rules of a game should be, being hurt by a chance comment, or deciding who gets to use the pink fairy first. Luckily, serious transgressions like bullying involving young children…
During a social-emotional learning lesson on revenge recently, I asked students to think about a time when they felt very upset and wanted to get back at someone. I asked them to think about what feelings they had in the situation. I called on one student who said that it felt like “Big Bob.” It…