Growing, Building, and Becoming

spark studio

Building Our Forest From Within

At The Forest School, our foundation is built upon four pillars: Learning to Be, Learning to Live Together, Learning to Do, and Learning to Learn. In Spark, these pillars are becoming the foundation of our little community as we build the walls of belonging, security, kindness, independence, and connection.

This week, we continued building our forest from within—practicing how to give one another grace, show empathy, respect personal space, solve problems together, and understand what it means to be part of a community.

Music Mondays had us wondering: How does music make us feel? Can music help us learn and remember? Could we create a song of our own? What are the possibilities? How do we make it happen?

As we blasted off into the universe, learners imagined what it might feel like to float through space while also discovering their own place in the world. We explored personal space and experimented with measurement—even measuring a learner with several rulers! This sparked questions about inches and centimeters and whether measurements stay the same.

Speaking of measurement, we are beginning to think about time management, too. Learners are becoming more aware of our daily rhythm and love helping write the schedule on the board. We’re still figuring out the days of the week, what comes next, and just how much we can accomplish in a day!

Art has also been in full force, and we cannot wait to share more at our upcoming Exhibition on Wednesday, September 2, from 8:30–9:45 AM. Parents, caregivers, and guests will experience a glimpse into a day in Spark while learners spend time in the Makerspace with our Art Guide, Ms. Amanda.

This is only the beginning of the forest we are growing together.

Have a beautiful and fulfilling weekend!

lower elementary studio

Overview: This week, we took a closer look at the connection between the Work Plan and Badge Plan after noticing that some Heroes were avoiding challenging work during Core Skills. Heroes discovered that the Work Plan includes the same Math and Language milestones from their Badge Plan and can be used as a daily map toward their larger goals.

We also introduced three learning zones:

Comfort Zone: Work I already know how to do.
Learning Zone: Work that stretches me and helps me grow.
Panic Zone: Work that is too hard for me to do successfully right now.

Our challenge to Heroes is to spend more time in their Learning Zone and use the Work Plan and Badge Plan together as a map toward their end goal: advancing to Upper Elementary.

Quest, Story Arts & Civilization: Across the Studio, Heroes moved from learning into application. In Quest, they designed solutions to real light and sound problems; in Story Arts, they built and tested Culture Creators games for Exhibition; and in Civilization, they stepped into Age of Discovery roles to wrestle with questions of power, fairness, risk, and responsibility. Across all three, Heroes practiced explaining their thinking, listening to different perspectives, using feedback, and improving their work.

Check-Ins

Remember to check your Hero’s Check-In Summary Google Doc to see what we’ve been discussing and reflecting on together.

Check-ins take place every Friday. They are required for Heroes at the Reset Level (formerly the Desire Mission) and optional for Heroes at the Nesting, Flying, and Soaring Freedom Levels. Even when a weekly check-in is not required, every Hero will meet with a Guide at least once each Session so we can reflect on progress, goals, challenges, and next steps.

Preparing for Exhibition

As Exhibition approaches, families have an important role to play. Exhibition is a time to take off your parent hat and put on your professional hat. Heroes need real-world, high-quality feedback—not just praise—to help them improve.

We describe feedback as strawberry or spinach. Strawberry feedback is sweet and encouraging, but if everything is “great,” Heroes don’t learn much from it. Spinach feedback is specific, honest, and helps Heroes grow, even when it may be harder to hear.

Come ready to look closely, ask thoughtful questions, celebrate what is truly strong, and name what could still improve. Exhibition isn’t about proving the work is perfect—it’s about giving Heroes an authentic audience that challenges them to reflect, revise, and grow.

Question of the Week

Parents: At Exhibition, what will it look like to be the kind of audience that helps all Heroes grow—and what will you need to do differently than you would as a parent at home?

Heroes: What can you say or do if your parent gives you “strawberry” feedback that feels too sweet instead of “spinach” feedback that helps you grow?

Each Hero who shares their family’s weekend discussion with a Guide will earn 25 bonus points on their Work Plan for the upcoming week! To earn the points, your Hero must share what your family discussed and what they personally took away from the conversation with a Guide before Morning Launch begins.

upper elementary studio

This week, we started preparing for Exhibition! Learners practiced using their Emergency Response Pre-Plans to respond to different fire scenarios at Trilith Live. During Exhibition, parents will be putting them on the spot with these scenarios, so learners have been working hard to make sure they know their plans inside and out.

We also had another visit from the Fayetteville Fire Department! Captain Core brought a fire truck and team, and learners got to ask questions, explore the truck, and learn more about what firefighters actually do during an emergency. Afterward, we continued working on our pre-plans, and Captain Core and Captain Morris gave learners feedback to help them make their plans even stronger.

In Civ, we traveled back to medieval England to learn about the Magna Carta, an important document that helped introduce new ideas about the relationship between rulers and the people they governed. This will set us up for our upcoming work on the Enlightenment and the revolutions that challenged monarchy. Learners put themselves in the shoes of the nobles who opposed King John and designed the laws they thought should limit the king's power. We then compared their ideas with actual articles from the Magna Carta—and many of their ideas were surprisingly close to the real document!

In Story Arts, learners continued developing their Hero Launches. They received feedback, made revisions, and refined their presentations throughout the week. By the end of the week, learners began presenting their launches to the Studio, putting all that preparation into action.

We are excited to see everyone at Exhibition and watch our learners show what they know! Get ready for some surprises!

Studio Needs

We could use donations of:

Cups
Water bottles
Cutlery

middle school studio

It was another full week in Middle School as heroes balanced Core Skills, Studio leadership, future planning, and preparation for our first Exhibition.

This week, heroes completed their YouScience assessments, which will help them learn more about their natural aptitudes, interests, and potential future pathways. They also completed an ELA diagnostic through IXL, giving us another data point to help heroes understand where they are academically and where they may need to grow.

Studio culture continued to evolve as heroes created a third version of their Studio Contract. Council also hosted a Town Hall, giving heroes the opportunity to identify challenges in the Studio, propose solutions, and take greater ownership of the community they are building together.

One of the highlights of the week was Genius Hour with Dr. Tyler. Heroes worked in teams to develop ideas for Nike, then presented and defended their proposals using evidence. They had to think critically, communicate clearly, and respond to questions about their ideas. Two groups rose to the top and earned a Chick-fil-A lunch for their work!

In Quest, we welcomed two experts who shared their experience, offered feedback, and challenged heroes to strengthen their thinking as they finalize their personal finance plans. Heroes are now preparing to publicly defend the decisions they have made about careers, housing, transportation, budgeting, and financial trade-offs during next week’s Exhibition.

We also have an exciting Freedom Level celebration coming up! Heroes who have earned the highest freedom level, Soaring, will have the opportunity to participate in a Lunch Out next week. Families of Soaring heroes should expect an email with additional details and a permission form.

Exhibition Reminder

Our Personal Finance Exhibition is next Wednesday from 4:30–5:45 PM. We look forward to seeing families there as heroes share their work, defend their financial choices, and reflect on what they have learned through this Quest.

Another week of practicing independence, leadership, and ownership in Middle School!

high school studio

This week, our Heroes continued building momentum across their learning experiences. While our overall rhythm remained consistent, Quest is where we saw the biggest movement—our teams are now deep into their second and third app iterations, using real user feedback to make their ideas stronger.

Check-Ins: Reflecting & Resetting

Our one-on-one check-ins with Ms. Brittney continue to give Heroes a dedicated space to pause, reflect, and talk through their progress. These conversations help Heroes identify what’s working, where they may be getting stuck, and what they need to focus on next.

It’s great to see them becoming more comfortable taking ownership of these conversations and their own growth.

ELA: Getting a Baseline

Heroes also completed their IXL ELA Diagnostic this week. The goal was to get a better understanding of where each Hero currently is in their ELA skills and identify areas of strength, as well as areas that need more attention.

This gives us another valuable piece of data to help us better understand each Hero’s academic needs and determine where to focus moving forward.

Running Partners: Goals in Action

Heroes continued putting their SMART and WOOP goals into practice. Rather than simply setting goals, they are learning to think ahead, identify potential obstacles, and create plans for what they’ll do when things don’t go as expected.

Quest: There’s an App for That!

This is where we’ve seen some exciting growth!

Our Heroes have moved beyond simply coming up with an app idea. Teams are now working through their second and third iterations, using feedback from their users to rethink, improve, and strengthen their products.

They’re learning an important real-world lesson: the first version is rarely the best version.

Heroes are testing their apps, listening to what their users actually need, identifying what isn’t working, and making changes based on that feedback. The growth is underway—and it’s exciting to watch their ideas become increasingly thoughtful, useful, and user-centered.

Enjoy your weekend, everyone!

Session 1: Year 8, Week 4 In Review