May 2026 at GAP School!

Yellow Superstars with Emily

May was the last month we spent together as Yellow Superstars. As we wrapped up academics and reflected on our super year, we smiled at past memories, laughed at jokes, and reviewed all in which we learned this year. We can't wait to watch these amazing learners blast off into their futures!

For Community Day, learners had lots to display to our GAP School families. Their narrative writing on the butterfly life cycle was their debut as authors and illustrators. Their mystery scat dioramas were painted and glued in a habitat display they created that correlated to the associated species. A written descriptive sentence about the scat gave families clues to help them guess the species of the feces. Our thinking routine, The Question Pencil, was displayed to showcase our curiosity when we studied jellyfish. When learning about fractions through equal sharing and equal parts, learners sawed their very first GAP School wood cookie to take home! As a class, we used wood cookies as manipulatives as we deepened this skill. Learners also got to take home models of the butterfly life cycle, self made scales from when we were exploring weight in math, Wild Reading alphabet books, and Journey Sticks that told the story of their year.

In our final week together, the Superstars completed their year long book study on The Kingdom of Wrenly book series! This series became beloved in our flock. Learners learned to identify front cover, back cover, title, and title page. They learned that the author is the person who writes the words and that the illustrator is the person who draws the pictures. They got to know and fall in love with the characters within the story. They summarized, identified themes and made predictions. We also did our last hike to Kinsers! Learners celebrated their shared class goal of eating "brookies", our delicious brownie and cookie sweet treat. After reflecting on class expectations every day, learners "grew" a flower each day. After growing 20 flowers, they earned this treat to share up at Kinsers. After eating we explored, played, climbed trees, read stories, and shared smiles. 

This year was fun filled and full of learning. During the last week of school together, at the end of each day learners looked back on memories as we placed photographs in our end of day story book. Looking back at these memories allowed learners to see how much they've grown, remember fun activities, and set the year to rest. What an amazing year it was!

Red Rubies with Virginia and Sapna

As the year closes, we savor each moment together. We are astonished by the growth and learning that the Red Rubies have achieved this school year. They are such thoughtful individuals and getting to know them has been a true pleasure. Our last week brimmed with excitement, rain, and sunshine. We revisited favorite spots like Kinsers, Water Chicken Way, and the Horse Bridge. We also celebrated with a surprise ice cream party at Walnut Creek after earning $50 of play money for community service. The memories we created will remain treasured.

In math, we built a life-size clock from 12 stumps arranged in a circle. Learners stretched their arms to form clock hands, pointing precisely to the numbers as they told time. We acted as customers and cashiers to practice purchasing items and receiving change in a playful, imaginative way. This engaged learners to subtract with money. We also conducted thoughtful one-on-one math interviews to understand their progress this year.

In science, we prepared for our final Community Day! The learners love the “Who Would Win?” book series that match up different animals against each other and share really fun, interesting facts about them. With each learner becoming an expert zoologist for their animal study, we had them represent their animals in three brackets (who would win cutest animal?, who would win in the food chain?, and who would win for coolest adaptation?). They provided reasoning and evidence for why they believed their animal would win. We incorporated money into the voting process to see which animals moved on to the next round by giving each learner a play dollar and giving the champion all the play money as a reward. This also allowed us to compare which dollar amount is larger. Learners also made Pokémon cards for their animals to play with!

Silver Sparrows with Furn and Elijah

In math, we continued building our geometry skills throughout the month of May! Learners gained confidence measuring and identifying angles, using precise mathematical vocabulary to describe and compare the different types. We then moved into exploring polygons, defining and classifying shapes based on their features. Learners practiced noticing patterns between shapes and discussing what makes different polygons unique. As the school year began winding down, we also spent time reviewing and revisiting important concepts from throughout the year. Furn met with each math group to talk about which skills learners felt confident in and which topics they wanted additional practice with before the end of the year. These conversations helped learners reflect on their own growth while also giving them a voice in shaping our review work. After several days of extra practice, collaborative activities, and fun review games, learners completed their IXL diagnostic assessments. We were so excited and proud to see growth across the board! If you would like to see your learner’s updated results, feel free to reach out!

In science, Silver continued diving deeply into our “ologies” projects! Throughout the month, learners worked hard researching, planning, creating, and refining projects based on topics they felt genuinely passionate about. We held regular “status report” check-ins with Furn, where learners reflected on their progress, talked through challenges, and shared next steps for their work. One major focus this month was project planning and independence. Creating project plans helped learners think intentionally about their process while also giving them ownership over their work. This project has really been an opportunity for learners to flex the independence and self-management skills they’ve been building all year long, and they absolutely rose to the challenge. It was incredible watching learners settle into focused work time, problem-solve independently, collaborate naturally with peers, and stay committed to long-term projects. The range of topics was amazing—from tardigrades to planets that may be able to support life, the Silvers brought so much curiosity, creativity, and enthusiasm to their work, and honestly, we learned so much from them throughout this process. It has been such a joy watching learners step into the role of expert and share their passions with confidence and excitement!

We ended both math and science with our beloved, and highly anticipated, Wizard game. Learners ran all over campus solving problems while trying not to get frozen by the Wizard, and then laughed their way through silly challenges to get “unfrozen.” There was definitely some dancing like vegetables involved, so you might want to ask your learner what their “vegetable dance” looked like. It was chaotic in the best way, full of laughter and teamwork. It was a really joyful way to close out the year together.

Emerald Eagles with Lauren

In math this month, the Emerald Eagles have been reviewing their big math concepts from this year. We also continued our work with two-step algebraic equations and the volume of geometric solids. These math problems feel more like puzzles to the learners than problems, and they have really enjoyed working through them!

In ELA this month, we wrapped up our unit on persuasive writing and learning about ethos, pathos, and logos. The emotional appeals were edited in their thesis drafts and we continued to think through ways to make our original thesis statements stronger. Additionally, each learner crafted their pitch to all of the GAP School learners to convince them that their book talk selection is the most appealing! They also went through a series of lessons on public speaking and rehearsals to our flock to dial in on their presentation skills. They noted that it felt completely different practicing at home compared to practicing in our flock, and then different again when presenting to our whole school! They learned so much in this process!

In science, the Emeralds were able to enjoy the presentations of their "-ology" research on Community Day and reflect on all the hard work they’ve completed. We were also able to snuggle with baby chicks for our last few weeks, thanks to Alexandria's and Eloise’s project. They brought such joy to all.

We had many special events that we were able to share within our flock to close out our school year, including climb and zip, kayaking on the Rivanna river, canoeing and picnicking at Walnut Creek, hiking treks, and more! We are so lucky to have had such a wonderful year together here at GAP School! 

SEL with Janelle

As we rounded out the school year in SEL, the Yellow Superstars enjoyed revisiting the Spots of Emotion information we introduced at the beginning of the year as well as go-to coping strategies for when they have big feelings. Having a toolbox for calming feelings of anxiety, anger, and sadness was something that the learners felt set them up for success. Similarly, a reminder that a scribbled up spot sometimes appears when lots of feelings are happening at once as is often the case at the end of a fun school year. We wrapped up with some discussions about flexible thinking and being flexible like a palm tree. The Yellow Superstars are experts in identifying all of their emotions as well and are beginning to use “I feel” statements to advocate for themselves during peer to peer conflict.

The Red Rubies wrapped up the school year with a focus on identifying when their bodies need movement to focus versus when their minds need rest. They are advocating for themselves more and are able to verbalize when they’d benefit from a sit spot, a movement break, or something to give their hands movement, their brains focus, and their bodies calm, like finger knitting, whittling, or needle knitting. During the final weeks of school, many of the Red Rubies identified the need for a new calm space in their learning area and took the initiative to create it.  They problem solved location as well as what items would be most helpful. The Red Rubies navigated a variety of emotions over the course of the last few weeks of school, which is to be expected. Reminders to think like a palm tree or use flexible thinking were helpful strategies that can hopefully be useful over the summer months and the new school year as well. 

The Silver Sparrows navigated the end of the year with additional SEL woven into their time with Furn and Elijah!

The Emerald Eagles wrapped up the year with their final learner led group tasks, which were emotion journals/emotion calendars and a fun filled emotion scavenger hunt. Leadership skills, giving peer feedback, and self reflecting are all skills that the Emerald Eagles will continue to grow in their future endeavors. We made sure to focus on all the highlights of the year as well as all the growth they’ve demonstrated in a reflection of the 2025-2026 school year.