The Middle School ChangeMaker Club pitched it’s product idea to an internal Collegiate audience of faculty, staff, students and administrators for feedback. Their work is the culmination of three semesters of design thinking. With their feedback, the students will continue to evolve their product with the the ultimate goal being to create a nonprofit or a business that will use it profits to help others.

Four senior Capstone classes presented projects that are the culmination of their semester-long studies:

Collegiate School 7th Graders have worked with 13 Richmond-area nonprofit organizations as part of Connect Richmond, their grade-level community service project.

Collegiate faculty members Dave Privasky and Ginnie Kurtz led six Upper School students on a hiking trip on the Appalachian Trail in Shenandoah National Park over an April weekend. Their excursion was supported by Outdoor Collegiate, and the group canvassed Hawksbill Gap and Byrd's Nest #3, passing through Skyland, Stony Man Cliffs, and the Pinnacle. They also visited with other hikers and toured the Harry F. Byrd, Sr. Visitor Center. "I definitely plan to offer this (to students) every year and look forward to trying new places each time," said Mr. Privasky.

Christina Mastroianni, Director of Civic Engagement at the Community Foundation for a Greater Richmond, spoke to the 9th-grade class at the conclusion of their year-long Community Engagement program. Christina’s message included what it means to be an engaged citizen, how to find meaningful service opportunities in the Richmond area, and highlighted the fact that volunteers are vital to the success of Richmond area nonprofits.

The inaugural Sarah Portlock Fellman ‘03 Speaker Series launched this morning at an Upper School assembly with five guests discussing The Past, Present and Future of American Journalism.

Today is Earth Day, and some 4th Graders talked with one of our groundskeepers, Robyn Hartley, about her work on our campus, with plants and trees. Mrs. Hartley received a degree in horticulture from Virginia Tech.

Collegiate's Junior Kindergartners and Upper School Biology II students take time to garden in honor of Earth Day while another group of Upper School student volunteers met a group of Lower School students at the Outdoor Classroom to prepare and plant native wildflower seeds as part of an Earth Week pollinator planting project.

Collegiate School 4th Grader Catherine Conner was recently interviewed by NBC12 reporter Terrance Dixon about how she started a Kindness Club. She and other students in the club have collaborated during "working lunch" periods to find ways to spread kindness throughout the Lower School. 

After cleaning out filterras around Collegiate School’s campus, Elizabeth Andrews’ and Marcie Moyer’s Kindergarten classes began to notice trash around the storm drains on the Lower School playground known as Fort Cougar. This observation led the children to collect, sort and label the trash.

Middle School teacher Nathan Goodwyn grew up understanding the value of hard work and a great education. When his Middle School years threw him a curveball, he was grateful to have caring adults help him transition smoothly to the next stage. Listen as he shares how as an English teacher and coach he has gone on to provide a similar level of care to his students.

In October, six Collegiate Middle School students attended The Prejudice Awareness Summit at VCU chaperoned by Carolyn Villanueva and Amasa Monroe. The Summit is designed to increase awareness, knowledge and acceptance of ethnic and cultural differences. The students returned to Collegiate and worked with Ms. Villanueva and Mr. Monroe through the fall and winter semester on a presentation summarizing their learnings that they then presented to the Middle School in assembly.

As the second phase of Envision Richmond, Collegiate School’s Capstone program for 8th Graders, students this week continued their connection with the Richmond-area nonprofit organizations they learned about last fall.

Several Upper School students traveled to Venice, Italy, in mid-March, with trip leaders Anne Rusbuldt and Wesley Hedgepeth. While in Venice, students stayed with host families from our partner school, Liceo Foscarini, and participated in the school’s annual Model UN conference.

As part of the Middle School's annual series of religion assemblies, our 5th-8th Graders learned about Sikhism from sisters Manleen and Sachpreet Kaur. Wearing traditional Sikh dress, they taught students about the basic tenets of Sikhism, with a focus on music. They showed students traditional instruments and performed a sacred piece.

Collegiate Middle School students in the Cougar Entrepreneurship Club visited the Federal Reserve Bank in downtown Richmond to learn more about the history of the Federal Reserve, its central bank functions and its role in the economy and key economic events in U.S. history.

Collegiate School 2nd Graders spent time in class pondering the responsible use of money including needs, wants, spending, saving and sharing in partnership with TowneBank's Making Money Count program.

Hui Zhai, a graduate student in product innovation at Virginia Commonwealth University’s da Vinci Center, visited Collegiate’s campus to research the use of virtual reality in classrooms and clubs overseen by Daniel Bartels and Dan Bell, as well as watch Middle School students use technology in their computer science coursework.

Collegiate 2nd Graders learned about sustainability through their yearlong service learning project with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. They planted grass seeds and will transplant the seedlings when they return to the Brock Environmental Center in Virginia Beach later this month. 

Collegiate School 7th Graders in Laura Zyglocke’s and Jennifer Brost’s science classes met Dr. Rohan Hazra ‘84, via Skype and learned about the work he does for the National Institutes of Health with infants, children and adolescents who are infected with HIV, as well as his work with other infectious diseases.

Collegiate School students in the Global Public Health senior Capstone are exploring the role of social, cultural, economic, environmental and political factors as they relate to access to health care and quality of life.  

Carolyn Villanueva's 6th Grade English classes met up with 6th Grade students from Anna Julia Cooper Episcopal School at the Richmond Children's Museum and shared our poetry out loud. The Poetry Slam experience helped students build confidence, explore their voices and identity, and connect to their community.

Kindergarten Assistant Teacher Aster Kidane learned early in life how to adapt to new people, places and cultures. Those broad and meaningful experiences have shaped who she is as a person and parent, and as a longtime Collegiate School Kindergarten Assistant teacher. In this Podcast, listen in as she shares how her foundation of global-mindedness began with a singular message instilled in her daily: You matter.

Collegiate School’s Burke Hall was abuzz with excitement this morning as 3rd Graders enjoyed the STEAM-related games and activities that 4th Graders created with them in mind.

Collegiate is honored to be the Exclusive Education Partner for @vmfa’s 2019 Family Day Series, which launched today with ChinaFest. Members of the Collegiate community supported the event by volunteering, attending performances and even participating onstage.

A group of Collegiate seniors who are taking the River City Capstone class visited the Richmond Slave Trail this week with faculty members Rhiannon Boyd and Brad Cooke in their ongoing efforts to understand the James River and its impact on the Richmond region.

Since late January, eight Middle School students from St. Denis International School in Loches, France, have experienced life at Collegiate School as part of a partnership that began six years ago.

In the 30-plus years she has been a teacher, the source of Upper School faculty member Susan Fourness-Ewell's joy has been the wonder she sees filling students' eyes when they push themselves to learn something new - a process that also has been her passion. Her path from her native England to teaching science at Collegiate is a journey for which she's grateful. Learn more on Torch Talk, the Collegiate School community podcast

Collegiate JK-4th Graders participated in the Lower School's second Book Gathering this week, which was centered around the theme of sustainability - one of Collegiate's eight Pillars of Responsible Citizenship.

At February's Middle School Entrepreneur Market, Collegiate students sold a variety of handmade products to their fellow classmates. Rita Taylor, a 5th Grader and budding artist, proved to be quite a success, selling eight of her paintings to very satisfied customers.

Collegiate 9th Graders in Upper School math teacher Sally Williams’ advisory joined Upper School science teacher Sandra Marr for a day of ecological service projects.

Over the first weekend in February, 28 members of Collegiate School’s Model UN team headed to Washington, D.C., for the American University Model United Nations Conference (AMERIMUNC). The group participated in an earlier conference at the College of William and Mary in November.

Collegiate School's 12 guest students from China ended their weeklong visit to campus today by participating in design thinking presentations with Collegiate seniors who are enrolled in the International Emerging Leaders - Asia Capstone class.

This week Collegiate School is hosting 12 students from Yangzhou, China as part of the Upper School’s International Emerging Leaders - Asia senior Capstone program.

Our Middle School students are enjoying classes, lunch and after-school activities this week with 8th Graders from our partner school in France - St. Denis International School. The 10 students will spend four weeks with Collegiate host families and immerse themselves in life at the school as well as in American culture. In mid-March, 15 Collegiate 8th Graders will travel to France to live with their St. Denis friends and be fully immersed in French language and culture.

A group of Collegiate students and faculty enjoyed participating in the MLK Jr. Day Symposium at Episcopal High School in Alexandria, Virginia. hosted in partnership with the Virginia Diversity Network. This year's theme was "Building Bridges: Shoulder to Shoulder, Lifting All Our Voices." Several of our students and faculty led presentations.

Collegiate Middle School teacher Kate Cunningham’s 5th Grade girls advisory took a proverbial trip around the world today when a special guest shared her experiences with education, literature and equal rights.