Community Day
Every Friday for 45 minutes, all students gather in the gym to participate in inter-grade activities that provide real-world context for classroom learning.
School Community Activities
GreenMount students practice social-emotional skills, such as active listening and collaboration in multi-age groups, in order to develop a stronger sense of purpose and belonging. During school community activities, students may:
- Establish and review community guidelines
- Select, read, and discuss books with younger or older students
- Learn how to use and maintain the library and other school resources
- Engage in school community service, such as stream clean-ups
Local Community Activities
GreenMount students engage in experiential learning activities facilitated by community experts in order to identify real-world applications of skills and content. During local community activities, students may:
- Build and test engineering projects with the JHU Women’s Engineering Club
- Study the behaviors and habitats of local birds with Birds of Urban Baltimore
- Create art and music with local artists and musicians, such as Super City
- Support biodiversity by planting native trees with Tree Baltimore
Regional Community Activities
GreenMount students explore how groups of people affect and have been affected by American history in order to identify ways they can make a positive impact locally and globally. During regional community activities, students may:
- Read and discuss My First Protest, a children’s book about growing up during the Civil Rights Movement and design their own protest signs
- Watch films about Indigenous Ways of Knowing and discuss the importance of understanding the world from multiple perspectives
- Read and discuss grade-appropriate texts in preparation to observe the Day of Silence, recognizing the importance of respecting, honoring, and supporting everyone in our community
Global Community Activities
GreenMount students explore how and why different cultures practice their traditions in order to develop intercultural competence and an appreciation for diverse perspectives. During global community activities, students may:
- Experience how different cultures honor their ancestors through a celebration of Dia De Los Muertos
- Discover the role of storytelling in preserving cultural traditions through celebrations of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur
- Explore the meaning of cultural symbols through celebrations of Lunar New Year and Diwali
Buddy Program
The Buddy Program is GreenMount students’ first introduction to our school-wide community. Each kindergartner is matched with an eighth grade student who joins them during community day and special activities throughout the year. First through third grade students are paired with fourth through seventh grade students, who serve as supportive guides for activities and authentic audiences for presentations and performances.
In fourth grade, students begin their journey of becoming the older buddy by learning about the responsibilities that come with mentoring younger students from their middle school peers. Finally, in middle school, students serve as role models for their younger buddies and deepen their own learning through teaching and mentoring experiences.
Buddy Program Benefits
Pairing younger and older students provides rich opportunities not only for teaching and learning, but also for cultivating a deep sense of purpose and belonging. Kindergartners are rapt with attention when their eighth grade buddies read from books they’ve written especially for them. Eighth graders glow with pride when their kindergarten buddies walk them down the aisle at graduation. Presenting a project in third grade becomes that much more meaningful when the audience includes your buddy from seventh grade.
Students at all grade levels benefit from making friends throughout the school and learning about the impact they have on their entire school community.