Summer at St. James provides a unique opportunity for our students to grow and learn in an environment that reminds them that learning can be fun.
And this year was no exception, thanks in part to the gifts of St. James School partner churches
Church of St. Martin-in-the-Fields (Chestnut Hill), St. Andrew’s, Episcopal Church (Glenmoore), The Church of St. Alban (Roxbourough), The Church of St. Asaph (Bala Cynwyd), St. Christopher’s Church (Gladwyne), St. George’s Episcopal Church (Ardmore), St. Mary’s Episcopal Church (Ardmore), St. Paul’s Episcopal Church Exton), Trinity Memorial Church (Philadelphia), Upper Dublin Lutheran Church (Ambler), Washington Memorial Chapel (Valley Forge)
Week 1: New Students Welcomed
The summer was kicked off by welcoming a new class of 5th graders during a three day orientation. The new students learned about “The St. James Way” and the opportunities available to them at their new school. The week’s activities included engineering and science sessions, incorporating newfound knowledge to build boats to transport cargo (pennies) across a body of water.
Week 2: Math, ELA, Science . . . and a Play
Week two of camp welcomed back the rising 6th, 7th and 8th graders along with newly oriented 5th graders. Students brushed up on their math and ELA with mini-lessons provided by dedicated staff members Mr. Brautigam, Ms. Brake, Ms. Labess, Mr. Austin, and Ms. Carroll. The school also welcomed new staff members Mr. Louis and Ms. Mays, who will be co-teaching for the 2017-2018 school year.
Students were grouped by interest into different science activities…then dug in. The 7th and 8th graders tackled app-making while learning how to code. The week culminated with them making their own version of the popular social media app SnapChat. The 6th graders also learned about crime scene investigation techniques such as chromatography, fingerprinting, blood typing, and fiber analysis to catch a diamond thief!
Now into their second full week at a new school, the 5th graders continued to strengthen their problem solving skills while completing challenges like building an anti-cracking egg vessel and catapults. The week ended with a successful performance of Jack and the Beanstalk, which was the culmination of a lot of hard work led by the dedicated acting coaches from Missoula Children’s Theater. Our students shined on the big stage!
Week 3: Time for Adventure
The third week of camp brought on the much-anticipated trip to NorthBay Adventure Camp. Our students zip-lined, tubed, swam, played basketball, and danced. The students also learned about the environmental factors negatively affecting the Chesapeake bay, while relating those factors to things in their own life. It was an enlightening week for our students and one they won’t soon forget!
We closed out our final week of programming with small group tutoring during our Academic Support Week. The small group of students present made a lot of strides with the extra one on one support.
