Gardner Pilot Academy is located in “Lower Allston” – an area of the city bounded by the MassPike and a bend in the Charles River. The school serves close to 400 students in grades K1-8, where Erica Herman has been the principal for almost twenty years! A big poster with “WELCOME” hand-written in many languages greets visitors.
With the support of a Director of Extended Services and a grant-funded coordinator hired by the YMCA, the Gardner engages a plethora of community organizations to enrich the school’s academic and social offerings. A few examples: On Friday mornings every student has art enrichment classes taught by artists from Art Resource Collaborative for Kids, Young Audiences of Massachusetts, and other groups. Harvard University’s “Ed Portal” programs provide classes in mindfulness, storytelling, and more – both during and after the school day.
Every inch of space in this old brick building is utilized. At a couple of cafeteria tables in the school’s basement, Jen Scioli‘s third graders are making ramen with purple noodles under the direction of Ann Mendoza. Around the corner from the cooking class, science specialist Irja Jarvis teaches a class of primary students. In another part of the basement, K2 children walk heel-to-toe around the room as P.E. teacher Donnell Stoute demonstrates how to keep their balance on wooden blocks.
Upstairs, Robert McFletcher, Director of the Boston Children’s Choir, is teaching a song with the refrain: “Be the change… you want to see in the world…” Grade 4 students bring their personal narratives to Lauren Fontaine for her approval, while Marian Barrios is helping her second grade students review – and appreciate – one another’s writing, as each piece is projected and read aloud.
In Angelica Reza‘s Humanities class, sixth grade students are reading The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind and learning about figurative language. Eighth graders in Lesley Onuoha‘s Humanities class are doing independent reading, while in history with Maria Navarro they are beginning a unit on ancient Egypt. Many students in the upper grades use computers as they work on developing math and language skills.
A “Consonant Sound Wall” stretches across an entire side of Tracy Coutts‘ K2 class, with photos of children’s mouths forming the sounds of the English language instead of a list of words. Children sit in a circle while she explains the math stations available, where they will practice measuring with cubes and popsicle sticks.
A group of K2 teachers tells me that having two family liaisons, one a parent who speaks both Spanish and Portuguese, helps the Gardner develop close relationships. They also appreciate that their pilot status allows them to be compensated for weekly and monthly professional development meetings which have created strong, supportive grade level teams. Sixth grade inclusion paraprofessional, Raylyn Cheek, says the Gardner gives students opportunities to “voice their opinions, feelings and ideas about everything from school culture to classroom and community activities.”
Amika Kemmler-Ernst, Ed.D.
amika45@gmail.com
We are in Ms. Ann’s cooking class and getting ready to eat the chicken and ramen we made. It had mushrooms, onions, bok choy, and purple noodles in it! We learned that you always have to wash your hands and keep things clean. We also learned how to cut stuff with a knife. Some of our favorite foods were smoothies, Vietnamese spring rolls, and quesadillas.
~ Ms. Scioli’s Third Grade Class
This is in math class and I’m asking Ms. Skeadas for help because I was a little confused about the assignment. Right now we’re studying geometry and learning how to find the slope of a line.
~ Madison Johnson, Grade 8
I’m getting a high five after showing Mx. Fontaine my writing work. My favorite subject is math, where we’re learning how to do long division.
~ Laim DeLaCruz, Grade 4
We are using pattern blocks to match pictures on the paper. We are learning about shapes like triangles and squares. We are also learning our letters. I learned that sharks live in cold water.
~ Matthew Del Gado, K2 (with Jaylah Marins)
I am doing a math station with cubes and Ms. Coutts is helping me. We are measuring cubes. I like working at stations and on the computer.
~ Allison Gavarrete, K2
Ms. Castillo is helping me write about soccer, my favorite game. We are learning to write good sentences with more interesting words. Today we learned about Pedro Martinez, a baseball player from the Dominican Republic.
~ Iker Santos, Grade
We are reading The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind in our Humanities class. It is a memoir by William Kamkwamba, who built a windmill to bring electricity to his village in Malawi. In this class we’re learning how to write more efficiently and to use figurative language like similes and metaphors to make our writing more interesting.
~ Andrew Arias & Jax Fallon, Grade 6
We are balancing on blocks in gym class, keeping our feet close together. Mr. D is showing us how. We learned that holding your hands to each side out helps you balance.
~ Ms. Egan’s K2 Class