This is the complete prologue to the “Seamless Curriculum K-12” document presented to the Board of Education, and incoming families as the core mission/values of NEST+m

NEST+m Mission / Vision / Educational Philosophy

The current globalization of the world is profoundly changing the way we think and live. The twenty-first century will bring ever-increasing acceleration of change. The ability for young people to thrive in tomorrow's society will emerge not from a set of skills alone but also from the ability to acquire knowledge, reflect, and react.   Challenging questions lie at the heart of NEST+m

• Does this school prepare your child for success in this rapidly changing world?

• Does this school stimulate your child's natural curiosity, challenge them to focus their questions, and help them to find and weigh different answers?

• Will your child be able to communicate his thoughts and ideas in a variety of ways?

• Does this school hold your child to the highest academic, social, and personal standards?

At NEST+m students will be guided through uncharted territory and will share in creating new conditions for learning. Learning at NEST+m will be an on-going process built around the successful construction of knowledge, wherein a success breeds confidence and confidence breeds success. In this process students will make a true commitment to discover and nurture the genius in themselves.

High expectations and appropriate standards for learning and achieving will be essential elements of our seamless K-12 approach. We will ground students firmly in science, technology and math. Our curriculum will be interdisciplinary, interactive, and project-oriented; it will stimulate intellectual inquiry and support students as they face challenges. Students will have weekly conferences with faculty advisors to discuss grades and work habits as well as school and social issues. Peer leadership will be an essential component of the advisory.   Upper school students will serve as peer leaders to middle school students and entering ninth graders. Both the curriculum and the advisory system will help students become self-reliant, independent learners and true leaders of society. Through enrichment activities with collaborating institutions, mentoring, field trips, and guest speakers, students will gain insight to various professions. These experiences will not only motivate students to look for colleges and universities that offer appropriate preparation but also lead them to make connections with the larger world.

THE NEST RATIONALE

Throughout their years at NEST+m, students will be developing their own intellectual, aesthetic, and personal styles. Technological competence will be an integral aspect of this development as our students, experienced in a full array of technological tools, will be able to use them comfortably and effectively.   The awareness of the social and ethical implications of the work done in school and out will also be integral to this development. For the upper school, New York City will no longer serve simply as an exciting learning lab: Students will seek out opportunities in the city to provide service to their fellow New Yorkers. Graduates of NEST+m will leave the upper school prepared to meet the challenges of competitive colleges and universities. They will be able to think rigorously, compassionately, and innovatively about the issues confronting them as individuals and as citizens, and they will be able to take leading roles in science, politics, and industry – indeed, in every realm of society.

THE LOWER SCHOOL

In the lower school (K-5) at NEST+m children will begin to internalize the formal process of learning.

• They will construct knowledge through their active participation, investigation, and problem solving.

• Children will encounter experiences that are challenging yet attainable, progressing from a concrete and personal understanding to one more symbolic.

• They will learn to describe, evaluate, and clarify their thinking as they interact with other children and adults.

• Advisory in the Lower School will focus on social competency.

• Children will develop the awareness of individual strengths, needs and interests that instills the perseverance to pursue complex tasks.

• Literature, Social Studies, Science, Mathematics, and the Arts will form the core of their studies.

• The interdisciplinary nature of the curriculum will enable children to acquire knowledge across content areas and will encourage them to participate actively and confidently.

• Children's interests, experiences, and needs will shape curriculum choices that take into account where children are in their development.

• These integrated curriculum studies will be explored in depth and over time, allowing a thorough acquisition of concepts.

• Homework assignments will be meaningful and relevant to the work of the classroom, extending the child's understanding and incorporating basic skills.

THE MIDDLE SCHOOL

The middle school (grades 6-8) will serve as an academic, social, and emotional bridge for students at NEST+m.  

• With guidance from a team of content area specialists and advisors, students will build on strengths developed in the lower school and further refine their skills.

• Rigorous courses in mathematics, science, humanities, and the arts will foster the capacity for abstract reasoning that emerges in early adolescence.

• Expanding skills developed in the lower school, students will be challenged to generate and test hypotheses through interdisciplinary studies and progressively more independent research projects.

• Students will be supported in developing effective organizational strategies and efficient study routines, a particular need at this level and in the upper school.

• The middle school curriculum will emphasize the development of a range of communication skills.

• Consistent with the Lower and Upper Schools, classes will be discussion based rather than teacher-dominated.

• As their ability to see from multiple perspectives grows, students will engage in debate and be expected to substantiate their arguments orally and in writing.

• At this point, students will begin formal study of a second language.

• The problem solving-based science and mathematics curricula will help students to develop tools for effective investigation and symbolic representation of the world.

• Students will gain technological competence as they use a wide array of tools to communicate and collaborate across the curriculum.

• Homework will continue to challenge students to extend classroom experiences and will require increasing self-direction and sophistication.

THE UPPER SCHOOL

The Upper School curriculum will flow seamlessly from the Middle School curriculum.  

• The state-mandated high school Regents courses will be offered, but, as the final phase of a unified K-12 education, they will be taught in a unique way.

• The Regents and other classes that will be offered in math, the natural sciences, the humanities, arts, and foreign languages will continue to emphasize independent thinking and research skills.

• Students will be expected to take on increasing responsibility for formulating more sophisticated and insightful questions for their discussions and for designing and organizing the research necessary for their projects.

• Advanced and college-level courses will be available to students.

• The discussion based teaching of the lower and middle schools will evolve into genuine seminars by the upper school.

• In their seminars, upper school students will present, debate, and refine their ideas.

• The focus on communication skills that began in kindergarten and continued in the lower and middle schools will culminate in the upper school, where clear, thoughtful, and forceful written and oral communication will be required in every class, academic or not.

• While homework will be a means by which students can check their own progress, it will also be an opportunity for them to delve into different, more complex, and lengthier sources.

• The assigned homework will take students into worlds beyond the classroom and their homes.

Throughout their years at NEST+m, students will be developing their own intellectual, aesthetic, and personal styles. Technological competence will be an integral aspect of this development as our students, experienced in a full array of technological tools, will be able to use them comfortably and effectively. The awareness of the social and ethical implications of the work done in school and out will also be integral to this development. For the upper school, New York City will no longer serve simply as an exciting learning lab: students will seek out opportunities in the city to provide service to their fellow New Yorkers. Graduates of NEST+m will leave the upper school prepared to meet the challenges of competitive colleges and universities. They will be able to think rigorously, compassionately, and innovatively about the issues confronting them as individuals and as citizens, and they will be able to take leading roles in science, politics, and industry – indeed, in every realm of society.