North Branch School holds discussion on fostering hope

The school will host “Fostering Resilience and Hope in our Children Today,” Feb. 11, at 7:30 p.m., at the Champlain Valley Unitarian Universalist Church in Middlebury.

North Branch School students and alumnae created a wooden sculpture honoring former student Makalu Bagnulo, who passed away from brain cancer earlier this year.

This year’s production, titled “Big City Dreams,” will be staged Friday and Saturday, April 11 and 12, at the Ripton Community House right there in the village. Both shows begin at 7:30 p.m. Run time (hold on to your hats…. and bring your knitting) is 3 h … (read more)

Local student artwork is blooming around Addison County this week. Check out works by Mount Abe juniors and seniors at the downtown Bristol gallery, Art on Main, beginning May 17 with an opening reception from 3:30-5 p.m. Then check out student and profes … (read more)

Students at the North Branch School, the independent middle school in Ripton, have scripted an epic play set on the high seas. “Lost and Found on the High Seas” is a sprawling production that will be staged for the public on April 12 and 13 in the Ripton … (read more)

The students of the North Branch School, an independent school for grades 7-9 in Ripton, will present this year’s epic theatrical production, “All’s Fair In Love and Business,” on Friday and Saturday, April 14-15, at 7:30 in the Ripton Community House.  

All fall, every week, the 26 students in the Ripton school have been venturing outside with their science journals, drawing what they find in the woods, in the rivers, among the ferns and tree stumps, on the forest floor, or in the leaf-litter.

The reading, at Tourterelle Restaurant in New Haven, is scheduled for Sunday, Nov. 21, 4:30-6 p.m., and is open to the public.

The North Branch School director has condensed a collection of real stories that occurred inside and outside the classroom over a span of 10-12 years into a new book titled, “Hearts of the Mountain: Adolescents, a Teacher, and a Living School.”

The Middlebury Union High School boys’ and girls’ teams finished second and third, respectively, in Division II at the Vermont high school cross country championships in Thetford on Saturday, while North Branch School ninth-grader Estella Laird claimed th … (read more)

“I don’t know of any school that celebrates the start of the year by burning something the students spent a month creating and building,” said Tal Birdsey, head teacher and co-founder of the school.

North Branch School 9th-grader Estella Laird once again posted the best local finish, coming in second in the girls’ race behind winner Ava Thurston of Harwood.

The Middlebury Union High School cross-country teams breezed to wins, and North Branch ninth-grader Estella Laird claimed a 99-second win in the girls’ race.

RANDOLPH — Middlebury Union High School runners posted several top-20 results at Saturday’s Randolph Invitational, while North Branch School 9th-grader Estella Laird’s third-place finish in the girls’ race was the best result for a local athlete.Tigers El … (read more)

After a full year of studying religion, the students at the North Branch School experienced a rare and special gift in the person of George Jaeger, 95, of Middlebury.Jaeger, a retired Foreign Service Officer and former Diplomat in Residence at Middlebury … (read more)