By Debra Jacoby, J.D.
Pine Crest Lower School Computer Science/Educational Technology
Why Play and Exploration are Key for Young Students to Learn
Topics: Lower School, Innovation, Design Thinking
Outdoor Learning at Pine Crest School: A Fresh Approach
Outdoor learning is expanding on Pine Crest School’s Boca Raton and Fort Lauderdale campuses allowing students and faculty to enjoy the countless benefits and lasting impact of outdoor education and play.
Topics: Lower School, Innovation, Academics, Science, STEM, 2022, outdoor learning
Transforming Tomorrow: Pine Crest Moves Forward with Strategic Renovation and Construction Projects
In 2019, Pine Crest faculty, staff, and administrators created and finalized the School’s strategic plan to be executed over the course of the following five years under the leadership of President Dr. Dana Markham ’18H.
Topics: Innovation, Student Life, Fine Arts, Middle School, Academics, Robotics, Giving, Pine Crest Fund, Computer Science, STEM, Future Ready, 2022
Learning Human-Centered Design in Pine Crest Middle School
Topics: Innovation, Middle School, Design Thinking, Computer Science, STEM, Social and Emotional Learning, 2021
Joe Kelley: Retiring After 22 Years of Service to Pine Crest School
Longtime educator Joe Kelley has retired after 43 years of teaching, 22 of which he spent at Pine Crest School.
Topics: Innovation, Faculty, Science, STEM, 2020
Jared Browarnik ’12 and Brandon Halim ’14: Opening Roads at TheTake.AI
Topics: Innovation, Upper School, Alumni, 2019
Pine Crest School is Recognized as a 2021 Green School of Excellence
For the ninth consecutive year, Pine Crest School's Boca Raton campus has been recognized by the Green Schools Recognition Program (GSRP) as a Green School of Excellence.
This exciting achievement comes as a result of a collaborative effort of faculty, staff, students, and administrators to develop leadership and provide a nurturing learning community that prepares students to meet the global challenges of the future.
Topics: Innovation, Future Ready
Disrupting Traditional City Scaffolding with Urban Umbrella: Andrés Ulises Cortés ’92
Walk along a New York City sidewalk for long enough and you may discover a delicious slice of pizza, a one-of-a-kind retail flagship store, dozens of high-rise buildings — and miles and miles of scaffolding, also known as sidewalk sheds.
Topics: Innovation, Alumni, 2019, Pine Crest School, Entrepreneurship
Why Pine Crest School Students Create Digital Portfolios
Topics: Innovation, Student Life, Admission, Pre-kindergarten, Middle School, Academics, Giving, Pine Crest Fund, Computer Science, Social and Emotional Learning
Top Tools for Techy Tots: Computer Science & Robotics in the Pre-Primary Classroom
Today’s pre-primary aged students are presented with a variety of different tech tools, many of which we use at Pine Crest School.
Topics: Lower School, Innovation, Faculty, Pre-kindergarten, Innovation Institute, 2019, Robotics, Pine Crest School, Computer Science
Middle School at Pine Crest is home to new virtual reality (VR) equipment, which Pine Crest Computer Science and Technology faculty are using to teach students how to create their own virtual experiences and to influence others’ perspective.
“More content is being released and is increasingly available and accessible, and VR and augmented reality (AR) devices are becoming more effective,” said Mr. Sean Tibor, Pine Crest Computer Science and Technology Specialist. “By the time our Middle School students go to college, they will need to know how to use this equipment and feel comfortable using it.”
The terms “VR” and “AR” are often used interchangeably, but they are not the same.
“The difference is that AR takes information around you and fuses the world you are in with additional data or information — think Pokemon Go,” said Mr. Tibor. “VR is about immersion and perspective. It overlays virtual items or instances on top of the real world. The benefit of VR technology is that it can change our perspective from a few different axes: distance, time, scale, and the forthcoming, human perspective."
Delving into these axes, Mr. Tibor shared how using VR technology is not limited to one course or subject.
Topics: Innovation, Panther Pulse, Faculty, Middle School, Design Thinking, Innovation Institute, 2019, Academics
Building Teamwork and Imaginative Thinking through Competitive Robotics
Pine Crest formed the School’s first-ever Lower and Middle School FIRSTⓇ LEGO LeagueⓇ (FLL) competitive teams four years ago, and since then, the Panthers have formed eight teams who have made their mark on the South Florida region.
Topics: Lower School, Innovation, Student Life, Middle School, Innovation Institute, 2019, Academics, Robotics
Topics: Innovation, Student Life, Admission, Middle School, Design Thinking, Innovation Institute, 2019
Five Tips To Building Resilience in Young Coders
Topics: Lower School, Innovation, Faculty, Innovation Institute
Innovation Curriculum in Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten at Pine Crest School
At Pine Crest School innovation is part of the curriculum from day one. Pre-kindergarten and Kindergarten students visit the Zimmerman Family iLab, or the Mintz Family iLab each month, and have computer science class twice a week.
Students are exposed to basic algorithmic thinking and logical reasoning through elementary coding classes. Students use applications on iPads, like Dash and Dot, Ozobot, Bee-Bot, and Codeable to learn to sequence and debug code. Students see their code come to life in the small robots that complement the applications they use.
Digital portfolios are also part of their computer science and technology curriculum. Students upload samples of their assignments, or “artifacts,” to reflect on what they have learned. These portfolios will follow them throughout their academic careers at Pine Crest.
During their time in the iLabs, students are exposed to organic gardening and engineering challenges. They are exposed to the design thinking process showing students how to research, ideate, experiment, and reflect as to problem-solve and think creatively.
Students are given design challenges exposing them to the engineering process and teaching them to manipulate materials and construction techniques appropriate for their age level. Additionally, students use Squishy Circuits to learn the basics of electricity and circuitry.
This innovative curriculum is designed for students to take risks and fail forward.
Topics: 2018, Innovation, Admission, Pre-kindergarten, Design Thinking
Building Success by Merging Art and Innovation
Building fun, customizable, affordable bicycles has been a way for Avery Pack, founder of Republic Bike and Pine Crest Class of 1996 alumnus, to encourage people to get moving.
Topics: Innovation, Alumni, Fine Arts
Harnessing Collaboration and Innovation to Improve Athletic Performance
Pine Crest School alumnus Daniel Fine ‘13 is laser-focused on revolutionizing athletic performance. It was during a summer internship experience while he was studying at the University of Tampa that Daniel came up with an idea.
Topics: Innovation, Upper School, Athletics, Alumni, Design Thinking
Developing a Design Thinking Mindset in Middle School
Design thinking is a methodology for creative, complex problem solving. A design thinker questions and explores possibilities with a clear goal in mind: creating a solution, service, or product that benefits the end user. This technique is often described as human-centered because it is rooted in empathy and aimed at understanding a person or group of people.
Topics: 2018, Innovation, Panther Pulse, Middle School, Design Thinking
Why We Teach Computer Science in Pre-Kindergarten at Pine Crest School
When you think of a pre-kindergarten curriculum, subjects that may come to mind are reading, writing, and math. However, in 2015 as part of the 2014-19 Strategic Plan, Pine Crest School launched a new computer science program that started with our pre-kindergarteners on both our Boca Raton and Fort Lauderdale campuses.
Topics: Lower School, Innovation, Student Life, Admission