Category Archives: Uncategorized

Biodigestion in Action

Over the course of the last several weeks, Island School students spent time kayaking, experienced a hurricane, explored the majority of the island, and additionally, were able to gain intimate knowledge of many of the systems that make the campus run. Most notably, aquaponics, aquaculture, permaculture, and biodigestion were featured as Human Ecology modules during the kayak rotation. During the students’ time learning about biodigestion, they were asked to take a look at the ways Island School falls short of its goals of self sustainability and try to find some solutions. In doing so, students’ learned about the systems that support human life on campus, where waste comes from, how humans get energy, and how we can improve as a community. The focus of their work was mainly turning waste to energy, which led to some hands on work with the biodigestion system. Students learned about the anaerobic process, how biodigestion mimics natural systems, how renewable energy is generated by microbes, and eventually how to put that energy to use. After dinner circle on Wednesday, students ventured to the biodigester to check out some of the applications of biogas. They observed running the gas through a conventional burner system and explored possibilities for how this campus system could develop into the future. [slideshow]

Student Update November 1, 2012

For the first time today, since the hurricane, everybody will be back on campus. It is the last day of academic rotations, as K4 will return from their down island trip and K4 will return from their kayak. Finally, even through hurricane Sandy, we made it through our kayak and academic rotations. Today is also Island School Halloween. Usually, we would have set up a haunted house around campus for the Deep Creek Middle School kids, but because of the hurricane school was closed for a period of time and we had to move it to this Saturday. I am even more excited about having it later because that means that we will be able to do it with all of campus instead of doing it with just our academic rotation. The theme this year is supposed to be similar to the Walking Dead, a HBO TV series, which means the entire student body will be dressed as zombies and chase the middle school-ers around for the night. Needless to say we are all excited.

Morning exercise today was big surprise. Today was scheduled to be a run-swim, but turned about to have a Halloween twist. [slideshow] We were given flag belts at the start and told “wear these so that we can see you in the water.” As I swam across the first cut, I could see a few bodies lying on the ground just in front of the tree line, but had no idea what was going on. Continue reading

Westport, CT Admissions Reception Postponed!

Due to the lasting effects of Hurricane Sandy, The Island School reception in Westport, CT has also been postponed. We want to make sure that everyone in the area remains safe and recovers power in the aftermath of the storm before we host our reception. We will be in touch soon with a new date and appreciate the support! For more information about The Island School, please visit our website: http://www.islandschool.org/.

NYC Admissions Reception Postponed!

Due to the severe weather hitting the northeast this week, The Island School Reception in New York City on 10/30/12 has been POSTPONED. While we are sorry to have to cancel this event we realize it is most important for everyone to stay safe during the storm. We will announce a new date soon for the reception and are looking forward to seeing old friends and meeting prospective students and families then! For more information about The Island School, please visit our website: http://www.islandschool.org/.
Stay safe!
-The Island School

Weathering the Storm

The worst of the Hurricane Sunday passed between dinner time Thursday morning and very early Friday morning, but you would not have known it by the beaming faces of students in the dorms Thursday night. With several dedicated faculty spending the nights in the dorms with them, boys were enjoying a movie on a large screen, and at one point, the girls were bonding with a bit of a dance party in their dorm. Since Friday, the wind has been blowing strong and the sun is back out. The vegetation on campus took a beating, and I’m sure you’ll hear that our finish line for our famous run-swims (the flagpole) came down, but campus weathered the storm well. After an hour of cleaning from all the students and staff on Friday, trees were resurrected, boards were removed from windows, and the Bahamian flag again flew high in the center of campus.

Kayak trips are back out, staying on the leeward side of the island, half the students are back in classes, and the seas at High Rock are bigger than they’ve been in recent memory. http://youtu.be/IZXRe8YmMqg
Now that Sandy has moved on from the Cape, we hope everyone in the Northeast weathers the storm safely as well.

Another Successful Admissions Reception & Day on the Road!

Sadly, our week-long New England road trip is nearing its end. We have been having a blast linking up with our alumni and establishing connections at our sending schools. Today, we met with students and guidance counselors at both Yarmouth High School and Freeport High School. Afterwards, we had a two-part lunch with alumni enrolled in Bowdoin College: Molly Rose (SU’10), Henry McNamara (F’06), Emma Beecher (SP’11), and Julia Rew (F’10).

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We were fortunate enough to get some down time to explore Continue reading