Our Stories

Sixth Graders Apply Design Thinking to Help the National Building Museum

October 14, 2015 by Dalia H (’16) (Students)

The sixth grade class of JPDS-NC had a wonderful experience visiting the National Building Museum. The purpose of our visit was to come up with ideas and designs for using the west lawn. When we observed the space, we noticed a large patch of grass and a pathway in a semi-circle. Then we met in […]


Fourth Graders Celebrate Sukkot at the Embassy of Israel and in the Design Lab

October 7, 2015 by Mira E (’20) (Students) Miriam G (’20) (Students) Shoshana L (’20) (Students) Yael R (’20) (Students)

Fourth grade students at JPDS-NC celebrated the Jewish holiday of Sukkot in special ways this year. During Sukkot, some Jews build a sukkah in their back yard and eat there. A  is a hut or booth with at least 2 ½ walls and schach (plants) on top. A long time ago, when the Jews were […]


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 […]


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 […]


STEM Learning in Action

April 27, 2015 by Ronit Greenstein (Faculty and Staff)

STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) education is growing and thriving at JPDS-NC. On the evening of April 2, four JPDS-NC sixth graders attended the Grand Award Ceremony of DC STEM Fair 2015 at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. Esther Feron, Sami Himmelfarb, Noa Schleifer and Beri Gershwind swept the Junior Division with 1st, […]


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 […]


Teaching STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) at JPDS-NC

April 16, 2015 by Elana Cohen (Faculty and Staff)

The concept of teaching STEM is designing curriculum to include science, technology, and engineering in an applied approach. True STEM education provides opportunities for students to practice designing and implementing real-life science experiences at all ages. What does that look like in an elementary school classroom? It involves diving deeper into a topic and spending more […]