— 7th grade history “is all about how we structure stories of time,” says David. But the words written across the white board in the history classroom tell you that history class with David is about a lot more than structures. It’s also about “Care & Appreciation for those who continue to tell necessary stories of the past.” This respect is fundamental to David’s approach, as is a sense of urgency: he wants students to see that the past not only shapes the present, it can also provide answers and help us navigate the choices we’re…

Panorama Spotlight This Panorama course, “Winter: Wellness & Wilderness” was an investigation into the science, communication, group decision-making and logistics essential to safe winter recreation. Panoramas are multi-week, immersive and interdisciplinary courses that investigate a range of topics through hands-on labs, seminars, creative projects, travel, and critical work. Each Panorama focuses on a central theme and core goal to inspire students to discover something new about themselves and about the world. True expeditionary learning, Panoramas take students into new territory intellectually, geographically and interpersonally. Dispatches from the Field: December 8, 2022 The huge snowstorm that hit…

by KNA (Karen Natorp Anderson), upper school history teacher. A successful Socratic seminar is a thing of beauty – students sitting in a circle engaged in dialogue. There is so much going on in that moment: individuals asking discussion-worthy questions, a thread of ideas being carried and clarified by multiple people, participants calling attention to specific details to ponder and themes to examine, and a group of individuals working together to deepen their understanding. It is not a debate. It is not about winning points. A good discussion requires students to arrive prepared, stay engaged, and…

Last week we got a burst of spring during Electives, with sunshine, blue skies, and a lot of activity all around campus. Baseball bats cracked on the upper field, Madonna’s “Like a Prayer” blasted around the Gaga pit, and wood shavings floated to the ground in the back field as student’s carved spoons and talked. Some students learned line dancing choreography, while another group watched tense scenes from the movie Apollo 13. Another group propagated plants, and another danced off some energy before diving into Spanish bingo while still another group learned how to tie life-saving knots.…

On Tuesday we gathered in the Community Hall to recognize the importance of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s work and legacy. We invited upper school teacher Jeanne Stevens and students to share their recent experiences in the deep south visiting national historic monuments and museums that honor Dr. King, Coretta Scott King, and significant moments in civil rights history. Upper school students created a slideshow from their recent trip to Georgia and Alabama as part of their Panorama course that focused on social justice movements in the US. “They recently got back from their trip,” said…

Last week 8th graders invited us to glimpse the future and tour their invented cities designed entirely for the health of their inhabitants and the earth. Having imagined possibilities, designed blueprints, and built prototypes, students created presentations to showcase the scientific features of their invented future cities. Teachers and students from other grades toured the expo to learn about the problems and solutions on display.  Throughout this interdisciplinary unit, students answer a series of questions that integrate biology, urban design, and physics. The first question asks students, “what would our cities look like if human health…

Upper School Spanish Trivia Podcast: To celebrate Hispanic/Latino/Latinx Heritage Month, Hyla students in Spanish (levels 3 and 4) created a trivia podcast in a sound studio at BARN, thanks to BARN teachers Frank Charlton and Bob Ross. While learning the technical side of podcast creation, students used their language skills in a meaningful context as they created something to share with all of you. Test your comprehension skills and knowledge of the Spanish-speaking world! Click here for the trivia podcast. Answers below. Spanish teacher Tom Neal uses hands-on activities that inject a sense of urgency into…

9th Grade Biology By Erik Saksa, teacher Biological Communities After starting the year with the framework of food chains/webs to understand the structure of biological communities, our Biology students zoomed in to investigate the interspecific interactions between individual species that comprise those communities. Students explored exploitative relationships (predation, herbivory, and parasitism) and positive interactions (mutualism and commensalism) with endless examples found in nature. Our first unit ended with case studies examining the role Ecosystem Engineers (beavers) and Keystone Species (sea otters) play in maintaining balance in their respective ecosystems.  Hands-on Labs Through a series of hands-on…

Bainbridge Island, WA, July 29, 2022 – On Friday, July 29th, Hyla School finalized purchase of the Ericksen Avenue Office Park, an exciting step in the school’s expansion into grades 9-12 that provides local families with a new and progressive educational option for high school. Nearly 30 years after Hyla opened, and two years after a full renovation of its middle school campus, Hyla’s upper school program will move into the newly renovated 355 building on Ericksen Avenue this August. Hyla will continue to lease the other three buildings on the property with plans to renovate…

A CLOSE-UP LOOK. Each semester in our upper school program, we break from our standard academic schedule for Panoramas – multi-week, immersive and interdisciplinary courses that explore and investigate a range of topics through hands-on labs, seminars, creative projects, travel, and critical work. Each Panorama focuses on a central theme and core goal to inspire students to discover something new about themselves and about the world. The Deep Dive Panorama happening in spring 2022 uses a case study methodology to explore the connection between the natural environment and human activity. To compare and contrast threats to…