Maple St. Magnet School will host info night in February

Maple Street Magnet School (Courtesy photo)

ROCHESTER - The Maple Street Magnet School will host an information night in February for families interested in learning more about or applying to the school.

The Maple Street Magnet School is a project-based learning community with a focus on community and sustainability. The school uses project-based learning, a dynamic approach to teaching in which students explore real-world problems and challenges and then use critical thinking and creativity to seek solutions.

The school is also focused heavily on family and school partnerships, in which regular, two-way communication between families and school staff creates meaningful participation in student learning.

"We use hands-on learning and close partnerships with families and community partners to engage students in exploration of real-world issues, problem-solving, and critical thinking in a collaborative framework," said Dr. Erin Mahoney, Maple Street school principal. "I'd like to invite any students and families to explore the school, meet our staff, and learn about our programming."

Students and educators at the Maple Street Magnet School bring hands-on learning to life using outdoor learning spaces to learn about the community they live in and to explore how the work they do can impact their local and regional environments. The School and Parent-Teacher Association are working together to expand outdoor learning spaces.

Recently, students created food systems, designed hydroponics, and engineered devices that harness the power of wind by working with materials provided by Karen Deighan of the University of New Hampshire Extension. Students in grades 2 to 5 also met virtually with mentors from the UNH Extension as they worked on hands-on projects.

The school is in the beginning stages of a possible collaboration with an urban forester from the New Hampshire Division of Forest and Lands to develop a plan for dealing with Ash Borer Beetles -- an invasive species -- that have taken over several trees on school property.

The school also encourages students to be creative and to make choices by offering Boundless Exploration time, in which students select a topic of interest and get to learn more about the selected topics on Friday afternoons.

The school includes full-day Kindergarten from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., and a 200-day school year -- 20 days more than other schools -- to help students retain more of what they learn and to give teachers more time to provide enriching activities.

French language classes are offered to all grades, as are gym, art, music, and library.

An information night for new families will be held on Wednesday, Feb. 9, from 6 to 7 p.m., in-person at the school, which is located at 27 Maple St.

Application packets for prospective families can be picked up from Superintendent Kyle Repucci's office starting next Monday. The deadline to return applications packets to the superintendent's office for the Maple Street Magnet School lottery is March 11, with the lottery scheduled for March 17.

"Rochester Public Schools seek to provide students and families with a variety of educational opportunities and pathways to fit the needs of individuals," said Repucci. "The Maple Street Magnet School is a great example of how hands-on learning can be used to engage students and teach critical thinking skills while covering all the usual basics in our curriculum as well. I hope all who are interested will stop by and learn more."