The Mozart Elementary School in Roslindale is a small two-story brick building serving 175 students in grades K0-6. A giant poster welcomes visitors, declaring: LOVE IS THE MOST DURABLE POWER IN THE WORLD.
In Sue Burns‘ K1 classroom, students are counting the days of the month during their morning meeting. Next door, art teacher Stephanie Allen helps K0/K1 children make paper collages inspired by images of quilts made by the women of Gee’s Bend, Alabama.
I watch first graders create a dance with music teacher Louis Frank, students in Rachelle Milord‘s second grade class greet one another in different languages, and grade 3 students design and test vehicles in science with Christine Morales. Fourth graders in Kim Haynes‘ class work with “Power Polygons” while Johnathan Scott‘s fifth graders are analyzing text to learn how Jackie Robinson broke barriers and what contributed to his success in leading social change.
Alice Elbakian‘s sixth grade class had watched CNN 10 — a short daily video explaining global news — and are following an “RJ Discussion” protocol to share what stood out for them and why. If time allowed, they would then share ideas about how to contribute to a better world based on one of the stories presented. Although students do not sit in a circle, they pass a plush rabbit talking piece around the room to take turns speaking.
The Mozart is committed to developing their newly adopted full inclusion program. When I ask students what they’ve learned from being in inclusive classrooms, a sixth grader tells me, “Inclusion helps us see things from different perspectives,” while a third grader says: “We’ve learned that we have to work together and sometimes we need help from our friends.” Third grade teacher Edwin Cebrian shares this vision: “We believe that by choosing to include everyone, cultivating relationships, and advocating for social justice in our community, we will all grow and transform the world together.”
We were doing art with Ms. Allen. We were making a collage with paper [and felt] squares. We’ve learned how to use a paintbrush and that our favorite colors, blue and red, make purple!
~ James Deal & Nayelis Martinez, K1
We are using “Power Polygons” to make new shapes. We’ve learned about mirror symmetry and how to use a protractor to measure how many degrees are in an angle.
~ Sveva Robinson & Jullianna Senat, Grade 4
We’re doing division problems with Ms. Elbakian by turning them into multiplication problems using a “keep, flip, and switch” process. In sixth grade we’ve learned different strategies for solving division problems. We’ve also learned how tofind the surface area and volume of 3-dimensional solids.
~ John Bojaxhi, Adriel Leger & Audrey Abreu, Grade 6
We’re reading a book called Promises to Keep about Jackie Robinson. We’re looking for evidence of the barriers he had to break and what (or who) helped him to succeed. This is in our ELA/History class with Mr. Scott. We’ve also learned that the Boston Tea Party was a protest against British taxes on tea in colonial times.
~ AJ Bell & Ivie Imasuen, Grade 5
We were in Music class with Mr. Lou and making up a dance to the song “Put Your Phone Down”. Every week we learn about a different artist like composers, singers, and musicians. We are also learning different kinds of music games, movement and dances.
~ Music Teacher Louis Frank’s Grade 1 students
This was at morning meeting with Ms. Burns. Rayden was our friend of the day and he got to look out the window to see what the weather was. In the morning we practice counting numbers and in music we sing the ABCs. We’re also learning letter sounds and all about animals like deer, skunks and zebu!
~ Students in Sue Burns’ K0/K1 class
In this picture we are building a trolley in Science class with Ms. Morales. We’re trying to make it travel to the edge of the table with two or more passengers (blocks) in 4-6 seconds. We’re learning about how things move and using weights to pull the trolley. We’ve also learned about weather and that clouds are made of water evaporated from the sea.
~ Anayah, Amber Williams & Arabella Arce, Grade 3