News

The Tenacre community gathered to celebrate the holidays with its annual December Celebration performances. Students in grades 3-6 sang from the Casey Hatheway Dunne ’11 Stage for afternoon and evening performances today. This Tenacre tradition is always a festive way to observe the holidays and a great way to kick off school vacation!

Children’s author and illustrator Oliver Jeffers gave a presentation last evening at Tenacre. Organized by Wellesley Books, more than 200 people—mainly children—attended the event. Jeffers’s fans were thrilled to listen to his funny and engaging speech. After he spoke, he signed books for all of his fans. It was a great evening!

Kindergartners, first graders, and second graders brought the holiday spirit to Tenacre this morning with their performance of Candles of All Colors. This year, students performed in Tenacre’s new performing arts center. Music teacher Sarah Kornfeld directed the students with new songs added to some of the traditional favorites. Candles of All Colors is a festive way to kick off the holiday season!

Tenacre students participated in an all-school community service project this morning, an annual tradition. Students and faculty drew self-portraits reflecting their identity as part of the Facing Difference Challenge. These portraits will be mailed to the Bezos Family Foundation, which will donate $3 per portrait to support peace-building projects in Nigeria, Sri Lanka, and the South Caucasus region of Eastern Europe. After everyone finished, an all-school photo was taken with students and faculty holding their drawings.

Fifth graders presented Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet this morning, an annual tradition for Grade 5. The study of Shakespeare started over the summer for fifth graders, when they read "Romeo and Juliet" for school. As part of their study of the causes and effects of the American Revolution, students learn about England in the 16th and 17th centuries - Queen Elizabeth, the power of Spain, and the important role the theater played in education, entertainment, and enlightenment during this period.

Measuring and mixing, first and sixth graders worked together to make some delicious pumpkin bread this week. An annual project of the Big Friend/Little Friend program, everyone looks forward to making the pumpkin loaves, which were donated to a local food pantry.

Tenacre held a Veterans Day assembly this morning with three veterans speaking about their service: Sarada Kalpee, a U.S. Army veteran; Charlie Curtis, a U.S. Navy veteran; and Peter Reed, a U.S. Coast Guard veteran and current parent. The assembly started with the Pledge of Allegiance, followed by everyone singing “America the Beautiful.” As the veterans answered numerous questions from students, the Tenacre community was reminded of the incredible role that Veterans play for our country. We salute all Veterans!

The musical group “Echoes from the Himalayas” performed this morning for Tenacre students, bringing a taste of Tibetan music and Indian classical dance to Tenacre. The musician, named Techung, played traditional and contemporary Tibetan music, while the dancer, named Sisa, gracefully showed Indian mythology through dance. A current Tenacre family with Tibetan heritage helped organize the performance.

Tenacre is thrilled to announce the appointment, by unanimous vote, of Will Crissman as the 13th head of Tenacre Country Day School, starting in the 2018-2019 school year. The Board of Trustee’s unanimous vote of support for Will came after a year-long national search process. Will is an exceptional school leader who will bring integrity, passion, and vision to the Head of School role, ensuring that Tenacre continues to thrive for generations to come. For more information and a video interview of Will, click HERE.

Fourth graders presented their class play this morning in the new performing arts center—the first class play to use the Casey Hatheway Dunne ’11 Stage! "Go West!" is a musical celebration of America’s westward expansion. The play was written by John Jacobson and Roger Emerson.

Irish childrens’ author and illustrator P.J. Lynch visited Tenacre this morning and spoke to students in Grades 4-6. Lynch, who was recently announced as Ireland’s laureate for children’s literature, has illustrated numerous books and wrote and illustrated the popular “The Boy Who Fell Off the Mayflower.” During his presentations, Mr. Lynch explained his creative process while providing brief history lessons for Tenacre students.

Last Saturday morning was a great day for Tenacre’s annual Apple Pie Run, a family run/walk that winds through the campus, finishing in the school’s apple orchard. After getting a workout in, students and parents relaxed in the orchard before heading home. Everyone who participated took home an apple pie, courtesy of Hazel’s Bakery in Needham. A fun and delicious way to start the weekend!

Today was GrandFriends’ Day, a favorite tradition at Tenacre. More than 220 GrandFriends attended morning classes—participating in math, library, science, and technology, among other subjects! GrandFriends ended the morning watching musical performances that included every student. We thank all of our GrandFriends for attending, including our “Long-Distance Travel Award” to our GrandFriend who came from Pakistan!

Pre-kindergartners started their annual apple unit this morning with a story from Head of School Chris Elliot about -- what else? -- apples! As they munched on apples during a visit to Tenacre's orchard, Pre-Kers had their first look at the apple trees planted by generations of former Tenacre students. The PK apple unit includes making apple sauce, apple juice, and collaged apples using tissue paper.

Artist Deborah Stanton, whose work is currently exhibited in the Tenacre Art Gallery (TAG), presented an assembly to the Tenacre community this morning. She then worked with kindergartners and fifth graders in art class, focusing on drawing strategies.

Tenacre sixth graders opened their flag football season yesterday with a gritty game against DCD. Despite a strong effort, Tenacre fell, 27-20. All fifth and sixth graders play interscholastic sports at Tenacre as part of the P.E. program. Boys split the fall season between flag football and soccer, and girls split the season between field hockey and soccer. Go Tigers!

Tenacre fourth graders tested their creativity with the always-popular annual pumpkin project. Librarian Esther Frazee directs this project, which students complete at home. Students are asked to take their favorite character from summer reading and transform him or her into a pumpkin! The pumpkins are currently on display in the library.

Second graders spent yesterday morning at the beach, collecting specimens for the science room tide pool and saltwater aquarium. This annual science class field trip provides materials for many class projects and experiments. Students collect sand and empty periwinkle shells, as well as various nonliving objects like driftwood, dried seaweed, shells, feathers, and stones. The beach they visited has abundant tide pools at low tide, which coincided with Tenacre’s visit. The science room’s tide pool is a unique feature of the science curriculum, particularly for second graders, who focus on marine life.

This afternoon in Technology class, fourth graders worked on their Web Warrior projects, an engaging and interactive way to really learn about Tenacre’s Acceptable Use Policy for technology. Using the Pixlr app, students created scenarios in which the Acceptable Use Policy rules were broken. A hero of their creation then swooped in to save the day and teach the correct way to use devices and technology.

We “officially” opened the Christian B. Elliot Community Center this morning with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. Michele Norman, the chair of the Board of Trustees, welcomed the school community, which included students, staff, and parents. Mr. Elliot performed the honors by cutting a large ribbon in front of the doors to the community center. Everyone then gathered on the playground for an ice cream treat.

This morning at assembly, Head of School Chris Elliot talked about Tenacre’s theme for this year: “Respect.” He discussed the many different ways to show respect for yourself and others. He also made a point of explaining the importance of showing respect for other people’s opinions, even if you don’t agree. This theme will be incorporated into classroom lessons and discussions throughout the year. A few weeks from now, the sixth grade class will give an assembly on their interpretation of “Respect.” Stay tuned…!

Welcome back everyone. It was exciting to greet everyone yesterday morning at the new Christian B. Elliot Center – Mr. Elliot even dressed for the occasion! We are happy to see students renewing friendships, making new friends, and filling the hallways once again.

The Class of 2017 has graduated, and the 2016-2017 school year has drawn to a close. The Tenacre community is now enjoying summer vacation. The Tenacre web news will be updated in early September, when school starts. Enjoy the summer!

It has been a busy two days at Tenacre. Last night, sixth graders participated in the Good-Bye Evening celebration, Tenacre’s version of a graduation. Then this morning, the whole school enjoyed the annual sixth grade vs. faculty kickball game. With everyone else cheering on from the sidelines, the game provided much entertainment. Students were also busy this morning looking at their yearbooks and having friends sign them before waving goodbye to the sixth graders in the annual car parade. We hope you have a great summer and look forward to seeing you back in the fall!

Tenacre fifth and sixth graders today presented their annual spring musical, The Music Man JR. This family-friendly show follows fast-talking traveling salesman, Harold Hill, as he cons the people of River City, Iowa, into buying instruments and uniforms for a boys' band he vows to organize. The catch? He doesn't know a trombone from a treble clef. His plans to skip town with the cash are foiled when he falls for Marian, whose belief in Harold’s power just might help him succeed in the end in spite of himself.

Sixth graders started working on their birdhouses, an annual library project created by librarian Esther Frazee. Sixth graders each choose a picture book that is meaningful to them from their time at Tenacre. Then they paint a wooden birdhouse and decorate it with illustrations from their picture book. Frazee uses old picture books that are damaged in some way so as not to waste books. The birdhouses are a charming addition to Rendell Library.

Fifth graders hosted their annual fine arts assembly, in which members of the class perform for the school community. Students performed a variety of acts—singing, dancing, karate, drums, and even basketball!

Today was Orchard Day, Tenacre’s longtime tradition of honoring the sixth grade students. First and sixth graders plant an apple tree in the Tenacre orchard. After that, grades 1-5 honor sixth graders with poems and songs. The tradition finishes with everyone standing around the sixth grade apple tree and singing the Tenacre Song.

Sixth graders worked on their programming skills this morning during Technology class. They are in the midst of a unit to program Lego EV3 robots. They have already built the vehicles and worked this morning to program them to perform specific activities. As with any programming, there were many trials and errors before success.

Kindergartners presented their play this morning, an original production called “Under Construction.” The play details the experiences of a small school school in Wellesley undergoing construction on campus. There was even a guest appearance by some real construction workers!

Pre-kindergartners presented their class play this morning, “Four Nanny Goats Gruff.” In a spin on this classic Norwegian folktale, the nanny goats manage to get past the mean trolls guarding the bridge and make it to the grassy side of the bridge. PKers ended their play with “The Tenacre Song,” a longtime PK tradition.

Sixth graders spent the morning yesterday working the earth at Gaining Ground, an organic farm that grows produce to donate to area meal programs and food pantries. The farm, located in Concord, relies on volunteers to plant and harvest the 150 varieties of produce it grows. Tenacre students got down and dirty, preparing the soil for spring planting. Sixth graders also volunteered their time at Gaining Ground last fall. The visits are part of the Grade 6 service learning curriculum.

Tenacre third graders presented their final Native People projects this morning. The presentation was the final component of a three-month study of three regions of the United States: the Northeast Woodlands, the Plains, and the Southwest. The projects, which were all made by students, ranged from bows and arrows to moccasins to dioramas of different parts of life for the Native People.

Fifth graders presented their artist biography projects this morning to the Tenacre community. For the past few weeks, they have been researching various artists during library. During homeroom, they used the research to write briefs about their artists. In art class, fifth graders learned to draw, paint, or create like their artists, making reproductions of the original works. In technology class, they built websites with informative details about their artists, who include everyone from Claude Monet to Harriet Powers to Josef Albers.

Spring sports have started at Tenacre! Fifth and sixth graders play softball and baseball. The fifth graders defeated Chestnut Hill yesterday, 5-3. This afternoon, sixth grade girls take on Fay, and sixth grader boys play Fessenden. Go Tigers!

First graders performed their class play this morning, a musical called “Lemonade!” In this story, a host of fairy tale characters are having a bad day. Thanks to Mother Goose and her cheerful wisdom, they learn to make the best of life’s ups and downs!

Second graders performed an amusing adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Emperor’s New Clothes” this morning. In the short tale, two weavers promise an emperor a new suit of clothes that they say is invisible to those who are not wise enough to see. Needless to say, the emperor ends up with a very interesting “outfit!”

In honor of National Poetry Month, Tenacre held an “open mic” assembly this morning, in which students and staff were invited to read a poem of their choosing on stage. Interest was so high that Wednesday’s assembly will also feature the open mic format. This morning, a group that included second, third, fourth, and sixth graders – as well as three faculty – read poems. Most of the readers read poems they had written. It takes courage to read one’s own work on stage, and we commend our students and staff who stepped forward!

At assembly this morning, sixth graders introduced the Tenacre community to the Tenacre LEADS program, in which sixth graders assume a variety of leadership roles in their final year at Tenacre. Leadership opportunities start for Tenacre students in Pre-K and culminate in sixth grade. Providing leadership opportunities has always been a Tenacre goal, and Tenacre LEADS formalizes the process. T-shirts with the Tenacre LEADS logo launched the program, and sixth graders modeled their new gear at assembly. Some of the leadership opportunities for sixth graders include leading Student Council, managing the daily lunch announcements, and speaking and giving tours at Admissions events. In addition, sixth graders are expected to be positive role models for the younger students, show strong character by “doing the right thing,” and represent Tenacre well when outside of school grounds.

Children’s author Linda Urban visited Tenacre today and spoke with students in every grade, grabbing students’ interest with her engaging presentations. She stressed the importance of listening to your heart and following your passion, no matter what people say. She used her own fear of rejection—and how she overcame it—as an example.

Urban always loved writing stories when she was in elementary school, but ended up using her writing skills in advertising and marketing in college and beyond. She spent 10 years as the marketing director of a large, independent bookstore in Southern California, before going back to her first love – stories for children. Once she got started, well, the rest is history!

Eight Tenacre fifth graders were honored for essays they wrote for the 2017 Will McDonough Writing Contest. Every member of the fifth grade class at Tenacre submitted an essay to the contest as part of a class writing assignment. Tenacre students took first and second place and received six honorable mentions in the Grade 5 category. The Sports Museum holds this contest every year and honors students from across the state in grades 4-12 for their essay submissions. The winners were chosen by Boston Globe Sports Editor Joe Sullivan. First-place winners were honored in a ceremony at TD Garden, hosted by legendary sportscaster Sean McDonough, son of Will McDonough. The contest honors Will McDonough, a former Boston Globe columnist of 44 years, and the only Globe sportswriter to be nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. He passed away in January 2003 and was best known for his coverage of the Patriots and the National Football League.

Leland Faulkner presented an all-school assembly this morning, eliciting “ooohs” and “aaahs” from everyone in the audience. His “World of Wonder” performance included shadow-theater, story-telling, illusion, and characters from around the world.

Art adorns many of Tenacre’s hallways, adding splashes of color at every turn. Kindergartners have worked recently on their drawing and painting skills. In a recent project, kindergartners observed and drew the lines and shapes of animals. Then they put them into imagined scenes and painted with tempera paint.

Tenacre third graders performed their class play this morning, “A Bad Case of Stripes,” based on David Shannon’s book. In the story, Camilla Cream loves lima beans, but she never eats them. Why? Because other kids at her school don’t like them. And Camilla Cream is very, very worried about what other people think of her. In fact she is so worried that she’s about to break out in… A Bad Case of Stripes

Tenacre’s Glee Club performed two routines this morning for an all-school assembly, singing “In the Arms of an Oak” and dancing to One Direction’s “Drag Me Down.” The group of fifth and sixth graders, who asked if music teacher Emily Yandoh would start a Glee Club, participate in Glee Club as a volunteer activity and rehearse after school or during recess. The performance was a great way to start the day!

Tenacre sixth graders recently completed a social studies unit on inventors. This interactive unit was loosely based on ABC’s hit program, “Shark Tank.” Students worked in pairs to come up with an invention they could pitch to a group of “mentors” (aka fellow students). The mentors provided constructive feedback on everything from the invention itself to presentation skills and props. It was a great lesson in collaboration, public speaking skills, and creativity.

Tenacre’s P.E. program completed its annual Jump for Heart unit today. During the month of February, students from Pre-K through Grade 6 learn about heart health in P.E. They also learn new jump rope skills and review the importance of cardiovascular fitness. Grades Pre-K - 1 have specific lessons on how the heart works, have the opportunity to listen to their hearts with a stethoscope, and learn how blood flows through their circulatory system. Students play many games that reinforce the importance of healthy eating and exercising to keep our hearts healthy.

HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY FROM TENACRE! Students in Pre-K and Kindergarten made valentines for their big friends as part of the Big Friend/Little Friend program. Kindergartners and fifth graders exchanged valentines this morning, and pre-kindergartners and fourth graders will have an exchange tomorrow. Pre-Kers were busy this morning decorating their valentines mailboxes.

Sixth graders channeled their inner “grotesque” in art class, designing clay gargoyles. The basic forms could be slabs, domed slabs, cylinders, pinch pots, double pinch pots--or any combination that would help them create their vision for this project. They researched animal faces to use for features, in combination with what they have learned about human faces. The glazes were more subdued colors to evoke the look of stone.

Third graders hosted an assembly this morning, explaining the history and meaning of Groundhog Day, which is tomorrow, February 2. They took a poll of the audience—with most voting that winter will be six weeks longer--and showed the bar graphs they made of an in-class poll. Third graders also explained that historically, the groundhog has seen his shadow in 102 of the past 119 years that data has been recorded – which is not good news for those who want an early spring!

First and second graders went ice skating this morning as part of the P.E. class. Students go multiple times to the rink at Babson College, where they take a skating lesson and enjoy some time for free skating.

Architect Dario DeMare visited Tenacre today to talk about his work. DiMare, who designed the community center and performing arts space that are currently under construction, engaged students in speaking about the design process. After giving an all-school assembly, DiMare worked with fourth and sixth graders in their art classes.

Tenacre's Board of Trustees finalized the Search Committee for Tenacre's new head of school.

Yesterday, fourth graders visited the John Joseph Moakley United States Courthouse in Boston, where they participated in a Discovering Justice program. Tenacre students toured the courthouse, participated in a mock trial, engaged in a Q&A session with a federal judge, and observed part of a real criminal trial. This eye-opening program was a great learning opportunity.

Sixth graders made their mark on the new construction space last Friday, signing their names on a steel beam above the Casey Hatheway Dunne '11 Stage. Since the sixth grade class will have graduated by the time the construction is finished, this is a nice way for the Class of 2017 to be a part of the new space. The students were very excited to see the construction up close, standing in the space that was their lunch room less than a year ago!

Head of School Chris Elliot kicked off 2017 at Tenacre by reading a story during assembly this morning. "What Do You Do With a Problem?" tells the story of a child who has a problem and can't seem to escape it or make it go away. The child eventually decides to confront the problem head-on and discovers new opportunities within the problem. The moral of the story is to look at your problems and find the possibilities they hold, instead of focusing on the negative.