The grade 6 art students have the honor and pleasure to create history as they start their decorating work on 20 handmade wooden birds for the 50th anniversary of St. John’s. The beautiful birds are the creation of well-known local artist Yves Bosquet, who lives on champ de Roussart, right next to the school. The students went to Mr. Bosquet’s atelier yesterday to pick up the birds and have now started their work on the design of the decoration! This beautiful work of art will consist of a total of 50 birds, one for each of the first 50 years … Continue reading Grade 6 art class helps create history

As the class of 2014 is preparing for IB, AP and other final exams, many of them know already where they will be continuing their studies next year. While the regular and Ivy League decisions will be communicated in March, early decisions have offered great opportunities for many students from the class of 2014 already. Here is a selection of the universities students have received offers from: US UK Auburn University Aberystwyth University Bard College University of Bath Belmont University University of Bristol Berry College University of Cambridge College of Charleston Cardiff University College of Wooster Durham University Florida Atlantic … Continue reading Class of 2014 receives offers from great universities

The children in Pre-K have had fun working on Graphism with the new inquiry ‘Shadow and Light’.  One of the classes has been adapted is now known as our ‘Lab’, where lots of investigations with light have been taking place.  The children are working with curves, using their body, the environment, tracing, drawing, painting and also using the equipment in our Lab. They have been discovering how to make a shadow while using all the light sources available: natural and artificial. Some of the children’s questions – Can a shadow have a colour?  Are there shadows at night? Pre-K is … Continue reading “Shadow and Light” in Pre-Kindergarten

St. John’s recently compared the ISA scores of 30 St. John’s students who progressed through the school from grade 5 to grade 8. We took their grade 5 International Schools Assessment (ISA) scores in the four categories: Reading, Writing A (Narrative) and B (Exposition/Argument) and Math. A student’s score in the ISA tests will normally increase from 5th to 8th grade. The increase for the average student taking these tests worldwide was calculated and provided a benchmark against which this group of students could be compared. What we found is that the group of St. John’s students exceeded the predicted score in … Continue reading St. John’s students exceed expected academic progress

In Passion Project work, grade 7 students have had some true “learning for life” experiences, where resilience and perseverance were tested. They did not learn for the test, but rather for life. Discovery has mattered more than the outcome: experiential learning teaches students not only about their own chosen subject matter, but about themselves and their own approaches to learning. They designed and planned their own projects, then worked independently towards their goals.  Of course they had input from teachers, from parents and the experts all around them. One project involved designing and costing a half-pipe skating ramp: here we … Continue reading Learning for Life!

What a soaring experience! This week, students of the grade 8 art class visited Belgian sculptor Yves Bosquet in his studio, where he is working on a flock of 50 wooden birds for the 50th anniversary of St. John’s. These birds are anatomically correct and each bird portrays a unique specie. Yves carves wood into appropriate shapes, adds extra strips of wood and constructs the aerodynamic birds by using glue and clamps. By demonstrating and explaining his method of working, our students saw a true expert at work. Students came away with the understanding that creating this kind of art … Continue reading Birds of a feather…

Borislav (Bobby) Varadinov, High School ceramics and graphic design teacher at St. John’s, is currently exhibiting in one of the most historic and well-known churches in The Netherlands. “This past weekend I had the extreme honor to arrange and open my exhibition in Domkerk of Utrecht (The Netherlands),” says Bobby. “After two years of arrangements and many hours spent in painting and thinking over the concept, this exhibition is finally a fact. I spent the past few days in communication with hundreds of visitors, local authorities, journalists and art admirers, who came to see the exhibition and to share the … Continue reading St. John’s art teacher exhibits in historic Dutch church

Who was Clovis I and to what extent did he care about being popular? How did WW2 impact the life of my grandparents? How do stealth planes work and why was the recent U.S.- South Korean exercise so controversial? Why did Arsenal have a sudden dip in performance during the trophy drought from 2006 onward? How and why did Coco Chanel become such a famous fashion designer? What is Project Skylon and will it be a success? What elements mainly led to the allies winning the first battle of Maren? How did Filippo Brunelleschi become such a famous architect during … Continue reading Presenting… Today’s Independent Research!

The fourth grade has been working on a fantastic play for a while now. The 4th grade has split up into 3 groups: Cast, Music and Instruments, and Production. Our play is called “Character Matters” and will be presented on January 23rd at 4:00 in the PAC. Our story is about a council of fairy tale folk solving problems all together with their friends. This is an intriguing story for all ages and we would love for everybody to come to support our show. By Dylan Engels and Simon Rollet de Fougerolles, 4th grade students Continue reading Fourth grade presents: “Character Matters” on January 23

On Friday March 28, St. John’s will host the third edition of its TEDx event, this year entitled “The Sustainable Future”. The event, organized in partnership with the European Commissioner for Energy and Accenture, features an impressive list of speakers from across the sustainable energy spectrum: corporate, academic, regulatory and entrepreneurial leaders will talk about the current state and future outlook. The event will be live streamed globally. Simultaneously, there will be workshops for 14-16 year old students from schools around Europe. They will be selected based on ideas submitted for a future sustainable energy product that will impact the … Continue reading St. John’s hosts TEDx event on sustainable energy

Please note the event dates for St. John’s 50th anniversary: Continue reading Save the dates for St. John’s 50th anniversary events