Muscota New School, PS 314

Español: Eventos y Programas

Go to a list of slide shows and video clips of recent events.

Muscota's events are steeped in tradition—who's tradition? Our very own! Muscota has created fun, meaningful and community building events that teach the children team work, creativity and goal-oriented projects. Here is a list of events Muscota puts on each year:

Mad Hatter's Day: Held either on Halloween or the last Friday in October. The entire school community prepares for this big day for weeks! Hats are created by the children and represent what their classroom is studying or interested in at the moment. On Mad Hatters Day, the children, teachers and administration put on their hats and parade around the block. The school gathers for a pre-party Town Meeting afterwards and then K-1's have snack in their rooms while the older students have it in the cafeteria. There is no Halloween candy allowed and no costumes or masks. All hats must be made by the wearer.

View a slide show of Mad Hatter's Day 2008.
View a slide show of Mad Hatter's Day 2007.

Mad Hatters Ball: The Muscota PA invites the whole community for this evening costume party. Restaurants and families donate delicious food for sale; kids play games for prizes; there are great items for raffle and silent auction; and don't forget the awesome tunes blasting in the gym so that everyone can dance. Can you say, Cha Cha Slide? And the place is crawling with the cutest unicorns, the scariest Darth Vaders, the scurviest pirates, the most graceful princesses...oh wait! Those are the kids! Click here for a slide show of the Mad Hatter's Ball, 2008.

Family Breakfasts: At least once a year families gather in the classrooms to get to know each other and to share favorite breakfast dishes. Children perform songs, dances, and other special things they have learned together.

Candlelight Night: This lovely evening celebrates the Winter Solstice. It is a time to share a meal and a chance for the children to share music or dance that they have been working on. Families bring in a dish and have a pot-luck in the cafeteria. After dinner, everyone spreads out a blanket in the gym and lights a candle (battery operated for safety). Students perform things they have been working on in their classrooms for the families.

All-school Skating trip: At least once a year the whole school takes an excursion to Wollman Rink in Central Park. Older kids help younger kids, and by the time they graduate, the kids can feel confident on ice skates. Families invited.

Pi Day: Muscota's school number is PS 314. In math, 3.14 is also known as the Greek letter pi. This number is the relationship between the distance around a circle (circumference) and the distance across (diameter). We celebrate this special number on March 14 each year, also known as 3/14. Special math related projects are done in classes; whole school activities, such as games that use circles, are held in the gym, and we make and eat all kinds of PIES!

Mini-Mall: Held the Friday before Memorial Day weekend. Classes and programs make objects that come from their studies that year. Stands are set out in front of each classroom and on the 3rd floor gray steps.Children and families visit all the Muscota rooms to buy from each other. The money raised is used by each class in any way the class decides.Sometimes it goes towards a larger trip, buys more Legos, special art supplies, etc.Only goods hand-crafted at Muscota are sold.

View a slide show of the 2007 Mini-Mall.

Field Day: The entire school spends an activity-filled day in Inwood Hill Park in either the 2nd or 3rd week in June. Teachers lead the kids in games, races, and hikes through the Park woods to see caves once used by local Native Americans.

Other PA-sponsored events: See some video highlights from Family Fun Day 2007, a Saturday fair in the play yard open to the whole community.

In 2008 the school held a Chess Tournament, followed by an evening Dance Party. See a slideshow.

Bring Your Parent to Lunch Day: Parents, brothers, and sisters can find out how delicious our cafeteria food is on Bring Your Parent to Lunch Day. Families join Muscota students for lunch and recess, and that includes lining up and cleaning up!

Fieldtrips
First-hand experience plays a crucial role in every child's learning. To increase the opportunity for first-hand learning, Muscota teachers schedule several fieldtrips into their yearly curricula. Some classes take nature walks in nearby Inwood Hill Park as often as every two weeks. Other special trips include visits to jazz and theatrical performances, to the Queens Farm, where children can feed farm animals and even take donkey rides, and to Bear Mountain State Park. For Muscota students, these excursions outside the classroom offer a world of learning experiences.

Fifth Grade Trip
Muscota fifth graders celebrate the culmination of their years and learning at Muscota with an overnight trip at the end of the year. The Photo of a Muscota student's water poem quilt square, made at Clearpool Education Center trip focuses on the natural world, conservation, and ecological and botanical studies, tying together years of study in the classrooms, in Inwood Hill Park, and on fieldtrip such as those to the New York Botanical Gardens. Children raise money to help pay for the trip. Our teachers and the site instructors collaborate on a program of outdoor, hands-on investigation where students learn science from experience. Projects, such as a quilt covered with poems about water, combine learning about the environment with work in literacy and the arts. The trip not only supports academic growth but also promotes teamwork, independence, and physical and emotional growth. Judging by the reactions of Muscota children, the fifth grade trip must be extraordinary.

Winter Work Out
Several classes meet in the gym every Wednesday for calisthenics and non-competitive relay races. kids from 6 to 11 years old are deep breathing, walking, jogging, running, hopping, and have a great time together. See some videos of a Winter Work Out.

Mighty Milers
Several classes run, jog, and walk to compile miles toward running a marathon over the course of the year. This is done in conjunction with discussions about healthy eating.

Salvadori
Teaching artist from the Salvadori Center comes into many of our classrooms once a week to teach a hands-on combination of science, engineering, and math. Using architecture, they engage the students in building projects, from bridges to houses for the Three Little Pigs, and introduce them to concepts such as balance, measurement, tension, compression, suspension, and of course, gravity, on the rare occasion their project topples. An article in the Manhattan Times on March 23, 2010, presents a vivid picture of Salvadori in a Muscota classroom.

Dance with Teaching Artists of The Joyce Theater
This collaboration includes several opportunities for all 2/3 rd grade Muscota students and teachers to participate in workshops, both on-site at Muscota and at the Joyce's professional space in Soho. We learn about the basic elements of dance and choreography and even create our own dances. We then attend performances of professional dance companies like Merce Cunnigham, Savion Glover, Momix, Ballet Hispanico, and many others. In this video Susan, our teaching artist, leads the kids in warm up. 2nd and 3rd grade teacher, Louisa, is the videographer.

The Arts
In addition to our excellent instruction in visual art and drama during the day (see The Arts), Muscota supplements our children's exposure to the arts with after school programs funded by grants, including a workshop about the arts and food funded by Parents As Arts Partners and an after school dance program with Fly By Night Dance Theater.

See some highlights of recent events:
Mad Hatter's Day, fall 2008 slideshow
Mad Hatter's Ball, fall 2008 slideshow
Family Fun Chess Tournament and Dance, spring 2008 slideshow
Winter Work Out, winter 2008 videos
Mad Hatter's Day, fall 2007slideshow
Mini-Mall, spring 2007 slide show
Family Fun Day, spring 2007 video highlights