The Town School communitty is helping New York City reach its goal of planting 1,000,000 new trees across the five boroughs in 10 years.  Over 602,000 trees have thus far been planted citywide.  This year was Town's fifth year participating in the program. Before April 27th, the Town community had planted over 10,000 trees and shrubs in Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx.  This year's event was held on Saturday, April 27, 2013 in Pelham Bay Park and we planted 2,020 trees and 194 shrubs.

It was exciting to have one of our alums, Jonathan Cedar '95, visit Town and speak at the Upper School Assembly about BioLite, a company he co-founded with Alexander Drummond.  BioLite is a social enterprise that develops and manufactures clean, affordable energy systems for off-grid communities around the world.  The company's first products are clean-burning wood stoves which reduce toxic smoke emissions by 90% while generating electricity to charge cell phones and LED lights.

The National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) is currently holding its Annual Conference in Philadelphia for school leaders and administrators.  The conference offers outstanding general sessions and workshops focused on topics essential for the school community to explore – looking at big-picture concepts for the future and discussing everything from Board development to creativity in curriculum.  

NAIS asked five people, including our own Tony Featherston, to act as official conference bloggers, sharing their own experiences and highlighting topics from conference sessions.  Click here to follow "Tony's Take" blog!

The Town School is co-hosting Innovation:  NYC, in partnership with Lime Design Associates!

A Design Thinking Adventure for N - 12 Educators, August 26 and 27, 2013

Workshop will take place at The Town School

Click image at right for conference flyer
- or email hello@limedesignassociates.com for more info.

Click here to register!

"Break the Chain" aims to raise awareness about the V-Day organization's fastest escalating global campaign to date, ONE BILLION RISING.  This campaign brings attention to the injustices women suffer, and demands an end to violence.

On February 14, 2013, the Dance Club along with one billion people around the world joined in a positive, peaceful and joyous dance celebration of women everywhere.  To learn more please visit www.vday.org.

Charles Duhigg, New York Times investigative reporter, spoke today at Town and gave us eye-opening insight into the habits of individuals, corporations and societies, and demonstrated how a simple habit loop - a cue, a routine, and reward - is the key to transforming behavior.  He said "changing habits isn't necessarily quick or easy.  But it is possible.  And now we know how."  It was a riveting and educational presentation, and an excellent introduction to his book The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do In Life And Business.

A call went out to all Town parents to donate much needed clothing and supplies for the victims of Hurricane Sandy.  The response was overwhelming. Volunteers sorted and bagged all the donations, and Head of School Tony Featherston traveled with Town parent Seth Stern delivering the Hurricane Sandy relief donations to Coney Island and Red Hook, Brooklyn.  Town will continue to collect requested items and deliver them to various neighborhoods in need.

As part of our Community Action program, the 5^th grade volunteered at John Jay Park, weeding, raking, mulching, and planting bulbs.  The 5^th graders is learning about the New York City park system and about all of the work that goes into making a park look beautiful.

The Eighth grade had a fun and educational trip to Washington, D.C. They spent a day on Capitol Hill, where they had a brief (unplanned!) meeting with New York State Senator Chuck Schumer and spoke with his aides about what it is like to work on the Hill. For the second year in a row, New York Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney took time to meet with the 8th grade, answering students' questions and speaking about the importance of getting involved in social and political issues on the local level. Students also enjoyed tours of major monuments and memorials by day (Jefferson, FDR, MLK, Jr., WWII, Korean, Vietnam and Lincoln) and by night (Washington, Iwo Jima, 9/11 Pentagon), as well as visits to the National Archives and the Newseum. They also engaged in a debate over the major issues of this presidential election year, proposing and voting on a mock political platform and reflecting on the purpose of creating such platforms every four years. Students also had time to reflect on their Town School experience during plenty of down time and a special ice cream social.