Berkwood Hedge Traditions
Throughout our school's long and rich history, traditions have been a cornerstone to how we foster connection, build community, and share cultures. Community traditions range from special seasonal events and rites of passage, to weekly gatherings and common language that holds special meaning for students and families alike.
Year-Round Traditions
Community Meeting
We gather once a week on each campus for Community Meeting. These morning assemblies are a special time for students, parents, and staff to come together to learn, support each other, and celebrate successes. Community Meeting is where everyone can enjoy class presentations, student performances, and learn about rich cultural experiences and traditions from parents and special guests. Student presenters practice public speaking in a safe environment full of people who love them and hold space for them, and children in the audience have the opportunity to practice listening and supporting their peers.
"Honoring" is a long tradition at Berkwood Hedge School and an important part of Community Meeting. Children (and grown-ups) have the chance to publicly acknowledge someone who has helped them, been a good friend, or who they feel grateful to have in their life. It offers opportunities for community members to feel and express gratitude to others and to share their appreciation. Singing together as a community is also an important part of our gatherings, and each Community Meeting closes with a song.
Sign-Ups
Three times a year, Lower School students can participate in a "sign-up" of their choosing. These specialized classes are a fun way to engage new interests, and are led by teachers, parents/guardians, friends of the school, and even peers! Past Sign-Up classes have included: Yarnwork (knitting and spool knitting), Cooking Around the World, Claymation, Yoga, Paper Airplanes, Board Games, Sew-A-Softie, Meditation and Movement, Rock Climbing, Beading, and Making Mini-Books. The entire Lower School participates, and children are in mixed-grade-level groups, providing an opportunity to work with students of different ages and of varying skill levels. Sign-Ups are a way for adults and children to share special interests and have fun together!
Fall & Winter Traditions
Grandparents & Special Friends Day
A day for students to share their school life with grandparents and special friends, showing them their classrooms, sharing their schoolwork, and touring them around campus.
Festival of Lights
Families come together to share a variety of wintertime traditions at this beloved evening event sponsored by the Berkwood Hedge Diversity Committee. Chanukah, Christmas, Diwali, Festival of St. Lucia, Kwanzaa, Los Posadas, Ramadan, and other winter festivals have been celebrated over the years.
Book Swap & Read-A-Thon
We are a community of readers, and these two traditions celebrate our love of books. First comes the Book Swap, where students bring books from home to trade at lunchtime. Each students sets up a little "bookshop", then proceeds to wheel and deal, trading books they have already read for "new" books acquired from their peers. The next day is our yearly Read-A-Thon, a special event when the whole community spends much of the day reading, independently or in small group read-alouds. Students can come to school in pajamas and bring favorite "stuffies" and sleeping bags for this cozy annual tradition.
Annual Teach-In 
Our three-day Annual Teach-In is a school tradition going back decades and an important part of our social justice program. Taking place in February, this school-wide event centers around a specific theme, which we explore as a community through morning guest presentations and mixed-grade workshops throughout the day.
Learn about our 21st Annual Teach-In and its theme, Systems and Cycles.
Spring Traditions
FIRE Class Play
The FIRE Class Play is a highlight of the fifth grade year, and thoroughly enjoyed by the entire community. Throughout the year, fifth grade students learn the basics of acting and performance. In the spring, they put on a full-scale musical production where students participate in all aspects of stagecraft, including set-building and construction, costume design, choreography, and stage management. Adapted musical productions have included Newsies and Annie Jr.
STEM Fair
Every Spring, each student presents their science or engineering project at our STEM Fair event. Young scientists and engineers share their process of inquiry, findings and discoveries, and the hands-on models they used for their experiments.
Spring Art Show
Each spring our community comes together to enjoy a joyous expression of our students' creative energies throughout the year. Our campuses are transformed into huge art galleries, and families are invited to a morning presentation that showcases all the incredible work students have produced as part of the Visual Arts program at Berkwood Hedge School.