Big announcement! Gillispie was voted "Best Preschool" in the La Jolla Light Newspaper's reader's choice poll and placed second in the Best Private School category! Thank you so much for your support! We are very proud of our learning village and of everyone who is a part of it....
Last week, Cypress Room held its annual Thanksgiving feast in the gym. Students made hand-printed placemats and table decorations for the event. The meal was potluck style, with each family bringing in a dish specially requested by their child to share. During the event, families wrote down things they are thankful for on cut-out feathers that were attached to a shared turkey display. Everyone had a wonderful time eating together, laughing, sharing stories, and enjoying each other's company...
At last week’s assembly, representatives from Friends and Families Community Connection educated the elementary students about the organization and what to expect at the upcoming Fight for Hunger event. The goal? If successful, 50,000 meals would materialize. How? Bags would be filled to contain 6 meals each, and with 36 bags placed in each box, volunteers would need to pack 232 boxes. “Whoa!” noted the students.“That’s a lot of math.” And in just over two hours, 51,840 meals were...
Last weekend, I took my daughters to the LA Times Festival of Books, which is held every April on the campus of the University of Southern California. During the Q&A portion of a talk by award-winning author Kate DiCamillo, my elder daughter asked, “What did you like to read as a kid?” DiCamillo answered, “If it was a book, I liked it.” I asked DiCamillo what advice she had for kids who want to grow up...
On Wednesday, January 24, the sixth graders of Gillispie School visited the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles, California with the intent to further our knowledge on the Holocaust and other issues of injustice. Our class has been avidly studying the Holocaust as well as civil rights, reading books such as Miracle’s Boys, The Watsons Go to Birmingham 1963, and The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. This field trip offered us the opportunity to see directly how...
Recently, we had our first elementary assemblies and the focus was on Gillispie Values. During both large-group, then small-group discussions, students provided excellent definitions and examples of how integrity, compassion, attitude, respect, and effort can look on the playground, at the lunch table, in the classroom, and even off campus. Particularly impressive was the newly-minted kindergarteners’ understanding of the Gillispie Values. Some thoughts shared (in the words of the children): Integrity • When you don’t complete an assignment, don’t...