St. Paul's E-Learning

Our campus was closed for the fourth quarter of the 2019-2020 school year, but St. Paul's students continued learning through our online E-Campus. We are so proud of the creativity and resilience our students and teachers displayed daily at home and through our online platforms. View some of our e-learning highlights below. Click here to learn more about the school's response to COVID-19, and read community updates as we plan and prepare for a return to school in the fall.

E-Learning Highlights

A St. Paul's student leads an online yoga class for the 5th grade virtual city project.
5th Grade Commerce Capital City

To close out their Commerce Capital unit, 5th grade students presented activities from their virtual city for their peers and families this past week. They compiled plenty of content including yoga classes from the Health & Wellness Center, raffles from the bank, Sports Stop shop trivia, a cooking presentation, and much more. A huge round of applause to 5th grade students and teachers for creating such a dynamic and fun virtual city! 

3rd grade students gather for Zoom classroom coding presentation.
3rd Grade Coding Presentation

Third grade learned about coding and computer programming during the fourth quarter of the school year. During this time, a few parent guest speakers visited some class Zoom sessions to introduce students to coding fundamentals. Speakers talked about the soft skills needed in their jobs (like perseverance, problem-solving, and collaboration) and discussed vocabulary like pixels, hyperlinks, and coding characters. Many thanks to Ms. Van Dieren, founder of The Strawberry Swing, and Mr. Duren for stopping by 3rd grade!

Pictures of a caterpillar life cycle, what a flower needs, and a growing bean plant
Preschool Gardening Unit

Our preschool students followed the metamorphosis of caterpillars to butterflies. Mrs. Bruns documented several caterpillars and their journey with daily videos, and the last of the butterflies was released in May 2020. This was the culmination of preschool garden unit where students study living things and how they grow. Pictured here are a few classroom activities that helped students learn about growing plants, changing caterpillars, life cycles, and more. What a great way to celebrate springtime! 

A collection of colorful onomatopoeia illustrations.
Onomatopoeia in 4th Grade

As part of a grammar review, 4th Grade students were challenged to find creative ways to illustrate onomatopoeias. 

A 5th grade student interviews for a job over Zoom with St. Paul's staff members.
5th Grade - Zoom Interviews

As part of their Commerce Capital unit, 5th grade students practiced their job interview skills over Zoom as they prepared to work together to build a functional city!  Before interviewing for jobs in their community, students created resumes listing their qualifications (e.g. babysitting, chores, school projects). St. Paul’s teachers and staff asked students some classic interview questions such as, “How do you handle conflict when working?” and “What are some of your greatest strengths and areas of growth?” Here are just a few of the thoughtful responses from students throughout the interview process: few student quotes: 

“When managing conflict, I try to hear both sides of the story to make sure I fully understand what’s happening.” 

“Sometimes when I think I’m right, I end up dismissing other people’s opinions. That’s something I would want to work on." 

“During a conflict, I try to walk away for a little bit so I can come back ready to compromise.” 

A student dresses up as John Adams to recreate a famous piece of artwork at home.
Recreating Art at Home

Art teacher, Ms. Lynn, challenged 4th grade students with a fun art project to work on at home. Using Google Arts & Culture, students researched famous pieces of art found in museums around the world. Students then recreated the pieces in their own homes and shared their versions with classmates. Pictured here is one of the standouts from Thomas; he recreated a portrait of John Adams Sr. from 1826. Click here to see more student examples on our Facebook page

1st grade students look at baked goods from a local bakery over a virtual meeting.
Virtual Field Trip

Our 1st graders attended their first virtual field trip hosted by the owner of Banksia, a local restaurant and bakery that specializes in Australian treats! Mr. Joseph, the restaurant owner, was supposed to bring his tasty treats to St. Paul’s for students to try, but this virtual setting was still a great way to wrap up the Australia unit while appreciating the baked goodies. 

A Kindergarten student sits near a window in her home and uses a digital tool to draw what she sees outside.
E-Learning with SeeSaw

Kindergarten student, Sloan, uses an online tool, SeeSaw, to draw a digital picture of what she sees outside her window. This is just one of many resources that families can use to foster creativity while learning at home.

"I’m writing to tell you how impressed I am with the eLearning experiences that were shared today. It is evident our teachers were so prepared. I’m also so thankful we had the foresight to put in place a tool such as SeeSaw this school year. That app is allowing our children to see and hear from their teachers and have some sense of normalcy.”

- St. Paul's parent

A Pre-K student works on an activity while watching a daily video recorded by her classroom teacher. 
PreK E-Learning

A Pre-K student works on an activity while watching a daily video recorded by her classroom teacher. 

“I just wanted to drop you a quick note to tell you how impressed I am with the way school went yesterday.  It was apparent that the staff was prepared (and had been preparing).  Everything was clear, organized and easy to execute.  My kids jumped in because it felt familiar to them and they were able to work fairly independently, more than I would have anticipated.”

- St. Paul's parent

A student builds a bird house after going on a nature walk with her family.
Nature Activity

A student builds a bird house after going on a nature walk with her family. Activities like this encourage outside time while building on this classroom's nature unit.

“I wanted to send out a quick thank you for all of the hard work you all have put into the e-learning for our kids. I had some anxiety about how yesterday would go and thanks to all of you, it was a smooth transition. I wanted you to know how many of us appreciate all the work that you have put into this, as well as what you continue to do.”

- St. Paul's parent

Two first graders enjoy St. Paul's All School virtual chapel over video chat during the school closure.
All School Virtual Chapel

The St. Paul's community continues to come together for virtual All School chapel featuring songs, inspiring stories, and prayer. Here are a few 1st graders who are enjoying chapel together over video chat! 

4th Grade States Fair

St. Paul's 4th graders completed their culminating project, The 50 States Fair, which covered their yearlong study of Missouri History, US regions, and individual state presentations. New this year, each student made a website to share their research and recorded speeches to share fun facts and info with their classmates and families. Check out their collective website gallery here, and view some dynamic speeches below.

4th grade student, Emealia, shares fun facts about Nevada for her 50 States Fair speech.

Benjamin shares his special connection to South Dakota in his State Fair speech.

Cece shares interesting Texas history and gives some tourism tips for families.

6th Grade Water Unit Video

Who doesn't love a good Bill Nye parody? Check out the tribute video 6th grader Alice created to explain how she used data models during a recent water unit in science class. Check out Alice's precipitation data model she discusses in her video!

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Parent Feedback

Many thanks to our supportive network of St. Paul's families who have worked diligently to help us implement high-quality, adaptive, and innovative educational experiences for students at home.

"I'd also like to take the opportunity to commend everyone on how well they have handled this momentous curveball and how connected St. Paul's continues to be, in spite of not being on campus." 

- Current Parent of a Preschool Student

"I just want to let you know that the St. Paul's team is killing it. I’ve heard from friends in different schooling situations and suffice it to say that other schools don’t have this figured out yet.  Enjoying the chapel lessons that are focused on mindfulness/growth mindset/gratitude as well.  That’s what we need right now."

- Current Parent of a 2nd Grade & 5th Grade Student

"You have handled this all with so much professionalism and grace. I appreciate the investment into education for the parents. I have good intentions of doing this but it tends to fall to the back burner so having something scheduled is amazing! This has been a trying experience for everyone but I believe we are better for it in many ways." 

- Current Parent of a Preschool Student

 

Message from Mr. Myler

"We have tremendous faith in our St. Paul's community.  Our team is embracing this opportunity, and our faculty and students  are rising to the occasion.  St. Paul’s exists to develop confident learners, ethical leaders, and compassionate engaged citizens.  This unprecedented trial provides us with the opportunity to grow in our humanity, and we are calling on our community to focus on optimism, a growth mindset, resiliency, and love for our neighbors."

- Andrew Myler, St. Paul's Head of School