Press

“What happens when some of the brightest minds in the country sit down with elementary school students to problem solve? Sometimes, they learn something. At least, that’s the goal of Northwestern University’s new partnership with Chicago-based Bennett Day School, which Northwestern’s School of Education and Social Policy (SESP) posted an article about last week.”

“Parents shouldn’t expect school to be like it was when they were students. “What we’ve learned about the young brain in the past 20 years is amazing and has flipped the experience,” says Meg Fitzgerald, early childhood director at Bennett Day School in Chicago. “Good teaching is about learning processes, not just fact-based learning. And we know that real-world experiences are more beneficial than worksheets, because what’s personal to kids is what gets ingrained.”

“Bennett Day School founder and CEO Cameron Smith describes the school as the kind that families knew they wanted but it did not exist. “School is meant to be a community where students and teachers construct learning together,” Smith said.”

“There’s a school out there for every family,” Smith says. He notes, however, that “it is hard for a school to be all things to all people.” He recommends that families make a list of their own top five priorities and use that to guide their search. Finding a school that does those five things exceptionally well will be a better fit than a school that tries to do everything.

“Bennett Day School is growing very quickly, adding a grade a year through eighth grade. They’re currently in Fulton Market, but they’re converting a giant, beautiful old building on Grand Avenue into an awesome high-tech school.”

“It’s difficult to know exactly what the future will look like,” says Kate Cicchelli, principal at Bennett Day School in Chicago’s West Loop. “Tomorrow’s leaders will need to be nimble, adaptive and strong collaborators.”

“In the spirit of Malaguzzi and Progressive Education, Chicago educator Kate Cicchelli and visionary Cameron Smith co-founded the Bennett Day School, an independent, Reggio inspired, K-8th grade school…”

“Bennett Day School, which opens late this month in Chicago’s West Loop, plans to offer the self-guided Reggio Emilia learning approach to students in early childhood through middle school…”

“Smith plans to open the flagship campus by the fall of 2016. Like the Grand location, it will use the Reggio Emilia approach to learning. In addition, the building will have a full-size gym, multiple TinkerLabs, and over 10,000-square-feet of green space…”

“Development in the West Loop can’t stop and won’t stop. Add to it a large new day school campus that will call the historic Chicago Commons building its new home…”