Our Stories

Sukkah Design Challenge 2015 Video

September 24, 2015 by Alexandra Taylor (Faculty and Staff)

JPDS-NC students are engaging in Design Thinking! Since the start of the school year, students in grades 2-6 have researched problems, generated questions, collaborated with one another, brainstormed solutions, solved challenges and overcome setbacks as they sought innovative and practical solutions to real-world problems associated with building a sukkah. This iterative learning process invites students […]


News from the Design Lab: Our Sukkah Design Challenge

September 24, 2015 by Elana Cohen (Faculty and Staff)

At the heart of our Design Lab is the strategy of Design Thinking. Design Thinking is an approach to learning that includes contemplating real-world problems, conducting research, participating in reflective thinking and analysis, conceiving original ideas, conducting experiments, and sometimes building things! To introduce the North Campus students to the newly designated Design Lab and […]


An Exploration of Outer Space

May 21, 2015 by Lisa Davis (Faculty and Staff)

This year, my kindergarten class, Gan Anavim, undertook an in-depth and exciting exploration of outer space and the Solar System in ways that reflected the Reggio Emilia philosophy that inspires our school. The investigation provided opportunities for collaboration between the students and teachers as we co-constructed our knowledge about different aspects of space in a […]


The Sadnah: Creativity and Exploration on the South Campus

May 7, 2015 by Yael Uhr (Faculty and Staff)

Children need the freedom to appreciate the infinite resources of their hands, their eyes and their ears, the resources of forms, materials, sounds and colours. – Loris Malaguzzi On the South Campus, we are privileged to have a dedicated studio space, the Sadnah, which is a place for creative collaboration and inspiration for all the […]


Students Build a Working Arcade out of Recycled Materials

April 29, 2015 by Gabri K (’20) (Students)

The Cardboard Box Challenge is a program that takes science, math, economics and especially Earth Day to a new level. Students had the chance to make arcade games out of an endless amount of recycled materials over four Sundays and during special recess periods once a week for  thirty-minutes. Third grader Zoe Kaiser-Blueth said, “I […]


Students Build an Arcade in our Cardboard Box Challenge

April 23, 2015 by Alexandra Taylor (Faculty and Staff) Ronit Greenstein (Faculty and Staff)

Over the course of four months, students at JPDS-NC worked with passion and resourcefulness to design and build arcade games out of recycled materials as part of the Cardboard Box Challenge. The program seeks to foster creativity, entrepreneurship, and design thinking in children, as they work together with their parents and with one another to […]


Fifth Graders Design Math Games and Host a Math Carnival

April 22, 2015 by Naomi M (’16) (Students)

My fifth grade math class held a Math Carnival. Our class decided at the beginning of the year to find a fun way of expressing what we learned. We split into groups and began to think of creative ways to make math-related games. Each group was assigned a different math unit, and we had to […]


The Great and Challenging Math Carnival of JPDS-NC

April 16, 2015 by Lisa Schopf (Faculty and Staff)

This spring, the fifth grade students in my math class worked to create a math carnival to offer fun challenges in math to their fellow fifth graders. After three months spent planning the project and designing games, the math carnival opened on March 30. It all began when the students suggested preparing a math carnival […]


Second Graders Transform their Classroom into the Human Body for the Art & Science Expo

March 1, 2015 by Class of 2021 (Students)

The Art and Science Expo is a special night at JPDS-NC, when children and parents come to learn in a fun and exciting way! In second grade, we focus on systems within us and around us. One of the systems we learned about is the human body. For the Expo, we decided to transform our […]


Second Graders Visit a Corn Maze, Then Build Their Own Math Maze

October 29, 2014 by Class of 2021 (Students)

The JPDS-NC 2nd grade went on a class field trip to Sharp’s Farm. We went to the farm because we are learning about mazes and the farm had a huge corn maze! While on the farm, we learned about bees, fed animals, and picked pumpkins and popping corn. We also saw a peacock and took […]