The Grades 5 and 6 Young Singers represented St. Patrick's at the eighteenth annual Independent Schools Treble Choir Festival. Our 84 singers from Grades 5 and 6 joined students from Georgetown Day, Holton-Arms, St. Albans, National Cathedral, Sidwell Friends, Norwood, and Landon schools to create a combined choir of nearly 500 singers. Beautiful music resounded in the National Cathedral as each school shared its own selections. Click "Continue Reading" to hear all about it! 

Students in Grades 3 to 8 had the opportunity to learn from award-winning author and illustrator Jerry Craft last week. Mr. Craft came to St. Patrick's to discuss his newest book, New Kid, which recently won the 2020 Coretta Scott King Author Award and the 2020 Newbery Medal, making it the first graphic novel to receive the medal for the most outstanding contribution to children's literature. With down-to-earth honesty, Mr. Craft described his humble beginnings as an illustrator trying to get his comics published. His story of receiving multiple rejection letters from publishing companies led to his description of starting his own publishing company, Mama's Boyz, Inc. In fact, one of the most exciting parts of Mr. Craft's journey was learning about his determination to succeed as an illustrator and writer.

The Environmental Action Team and the Equity Committee recently partnered to bring D.C. Greens to St. Patrick's, with Executive Director Lauren Biel sharing with parents her ideas and initiatives to promote sustainable food options in our school and community. Following the morning discussion, Lauren and Co-Founder and Education Director Sarah Holway joined art teacher and Design Thinking Specialist & Design Lab Coordinator Elizabeth Markowitz in the Design Lab with Grade 5 students, where the students created models of their own version of a garden. The students learned about food inequities in D.C. and how those inequities affect the health, well-being, and life expectancy of residents. The students planned and designed a garden for St. Patrick's and brainstormed how and why such a garden could help our school, as well as other communities.  

Two teams of MacArthur Campus students, each with four Grade 8 members, competed in the 2020 STEM Challenge: The Galaxy Trek STEM Summit in Middleburg, Virginia. A total of 18 teams of middle school girls, from both independent and public schools in the District, Virginia, and Maryland, participated in the competition at Foxcroft School. The event was centered on an exciting day of collaboration, calculations, deductive reasoning and, above all else, STEM-centric fun. The St. Patrick's team Dazzling Dark Matter placed second in one of the challenges. In addition, the girls had an excellent time, broadened their views of the field, learned a lot, and really bonded as a group.