Our students made a small splash along Loring Avenue today with their spirited Halloween Parade. “With the public schools closed, I guess we’re the only ones doing it this Halloween,” says Mr. Danny. “It makes sense. We just can’t refuse–not too many people remember this but it was my mom who started the whole thing.” He is referring, of course, to Ms. Welch, School Founder Patricia Jennings-Welch, who taught first at Horace Mann and Carlton. “I remember in the early 1970’s. I was going to Horace Mann and she would come marching through the whole school with her little kids. My classmates laughed and embarrassed me; but now I look back on it fondly.”
Well it is almost here. That glorious date November 1 when we can all catch our breath, if only for a week before launching headfirst into “holiday season” (what has this been?)
Halloween is a special time for us. Most of these traditions were initiated by Ms. Welch, the school founder and Mr. Danny’s mom. As most of you know, she taught for years in the Salem Public Schools before founding the school. She pioneered the whole Halloween Parade tradition back around 1970, leading her charges through all the classrooms and hallways at Horace Mann singing “Who Will March Along…?” This was years before Salem became the Halloween Capital it is today; later almost every school in the district would follow suit.
The school year so far has been remarkable for an unprecedented explosion of art, even among all the other academics. Ms. Julia said recently that these kids have done more art in this season than any other class has in an entire year. The outpouring of creativity and sheer labor is impressive. And this time around, much of it is visible to the 25,000 vehicles who pass by the school on 1A every day (or in this case, night). It really is wonderful to see the school lit up like never before.
Making the spider’s nest was the highlight of the week. Kids had a blast. Still not completely content with the lighting.. but I don’t want to get caught in the web! Charlotte will have to wait–it will need fixing after all this rain anyway…
More lights, more detail. Plus the spider nest. Charlotte’s Magnum Opus. Gotta see it at night. Great welcome to Salem for those coming into Salem up 1A. Kids are doing a great job.
All lit up.. or getting there… Still a bit more detail to add, tighten up lighting etc but still cool. Kids were dying for a night time pic.
From the painted pumpkins to the sculptures involved to the posters to the aliens driving the car to the lights, the whole school has been intimately involved in every step of the process. It is hard to grasp the awe of watching it come together and seeing all work as one. Breathtaking… and exhausting, of course.
Topsfield Fair was back with a vengeance, Oct 1 –11, and so was the Greenhouse pumpkin exhibit machine. It is difficult to express adequately the level of intensity and creativity that goes into this project and others like it. What amazes me (Mr. Danny) in particular is how Ms. Julia manages to keep it fresh, new and exciting after 20+ years of entering this competition.
It is artistic masterpiece on a whole different level to juggle, weave and fine tune all the variables: making sure students at all levels are engaged and contributing in a meaningful way. This means balancing the complexity of design and implementation so that the middle schoolers are challenged, while keeping sufficiently simpler tasks for the young ones to feel important and included in the final product.
In the end, the magic of modeling, cajoling, guiding and then letting go has to be honed so that students know they have produced excellent work together and by themselves. This last is most important, and lacking in much of American art instruction, where the height of children’s “creativity” and (therefore “art”) is simply being allowed to do what they want—without instruction, guidance, mentoring, etc. The whole thing plays out as if art begins and ends with post modernism, and Picasso never had to complete anatomical studies or sketch out, plan and develop his ideas. Nonsense.
For us, this project, our approach to art, and to education in general can be seen through the same prism. This toggle leads to true lifelong learning, and produces incredible results. It also may be why our kids are still creating their own art to decorate their apartments in med school. Quite poetic.
Even though we had to skip the trip to the fair and the parade due to staffing and covid concerns, we none the less still scrambled, pouring our energy into decorating the school like never before.
Nature Bats Last, but Greenhouse School Bounces Back
The microburst that ripped through Salem Tuesday evening, July 6, was apparently quite selective in its choice of targets. GHS was among those hit.
The wind blew down several sections of the school’s fence and destroyed the canopy where graduation was held only a couple weeks ago. It also blew out several panes in the school’s greenhouse building and warped one of the main top window vent frames, which is difficult to access and fix.
But the most dramatic damage was a large tree which was uprooted and fell crashing into the back yard. School officials say they couldn’t have been luckier in the way it fell, falling away from the building and missing the neighbor’s boat and garage by inches. The Directors’ car, which is usually parked next to the tree, was uncharacteristically absent.
It did, however, manage to pull off the back stairs and rip out the door, which will require extensive repair. But school resumed Wednesday morning without missing a beat. The kids enjoyed playing on the downed tree (safely, of course), painting in the back yard, and the traditional Wednesday cookout, a summer staple at the year round school.
“With all the disruption we’ve had over the past year, we think it is important just to pick up and keep moving. Kids need to feel like things are normal, and so do we!” Says Director Julia Nambalirwa-Lugudde.
It was simply odd how some things were left completely intact. The mail bin, a flimsy plastic bucket Welch usually takes in at the end of the day, was exactly where it had been left. Glass on patio tables was left intact next to the crumpled metal frame of the canopy.
Silver linings and the spirit of Uncle Swilly
In fact, despite the fairly serious damage, there is a bit of a silver lining and a neat story to lighten the mood in the wake of the disaster. “We have hated that tree for years. It’s too close to the building, and we wanted it gone,” says Director Dan Welch, Ms. Julia’s husband. “Given the kind of miraculous way it fell, my wife is convinced it was the Spirit of Uncle Swilly in action.”
Uncle Swilly was the nickname of Will Fontaine, whose niece and nephew Autumn and Travis attend the school. Sadly, Will passed in February at a young age. Before the pandemic, he had been active in helping trim back other trees on the property with other parents. This large tree was next on his hit list. So in a way there is a bittersweet poetry to it.
The school has recovered from flood, fire, burglary and every imaginable misfortune over the years and lands on its feet. Welch’s final take: “We like to look at it like Monty Python’s Black Knight, who gets all his limbs lopped off by King Arthur and just says, “I’ve ‘ad worse.” Parents and friends have offered support in the cleanup.
However, you can see that we made it look a bit too cheery. It really is a serious situation, and on review, the enormous wind/hail deductibles demanded by our insurance policy means there is really not much help there. We are looking into other solutions, reaching out to SBA, and so on.
Mom says, “I have to give compliments to The Green House School, they have always been the biggest supporter of Marcus.. Marcus was enrolled from the age 1 years old to the 8th grade. The Directors always have been there even after he left the school. They were so excited to watch The White Coat Ceremony with the current students, to show the students they can be anything they want to be . Thank you Danny and Julia who are dedicated educators!”
Marcus graced us briefly with his presence before scurrying back to med school. He had to come home, you see, to get a haircut, some home cooked food from his mom, and a skein of yarn from ms. julia. Yes, the knitting club he joined is making blankets for the NICU. Who is this kid, and what did he do with our boy??
This pic of Marcus at right with the sweet little cherub is a couple years old but too adorable. Not related, more like school bookends: Class of ’10 and Class of ’31. At GHS, all our students are siblings 😉
Well, time certainly does fly. We had a fantastic ceremony and cookout Friday, June 25th, kind of breaking new ground in this environment. But the kids would never have forgiven us if we skipped another year. It was a blast, and also brought many former GHS regulars whom we haven’t seen in forever.
We got some great pics–mostly from parents who took them. We actually only managed a few ourselves, but here’s a compilation.
Please join us in our Spring/Summer Appeal Matching Gift Campaign
We have secured a leadership gift match of $6,500, which will be used to match all donations this up to a total of $13,000. This is a fantastic opportunity and will make a big difference in our ability to maintain our programs. We have been on the cutting edge throughout the crisis in making sure students and families are supported and kids keep learning, going above and beyond to facilitate in-person learning to the greatest extent possible. It was a difficult year to say the least; but we are convinced that there is no school in the country doing the work we are doing on such a meager budget. Our little school is absolutely unique.
Please donate today: either via the donate button (above and in sidebar) or by sending a check to the school at 145 Loring Avenue, Salem, MA 01970. We have already raised over $1,500 to date, so we are well on our way. Please share this link in your social media, on FaceBook, Twitter, LinkenIn, Instagram, in email chains or groups and anywhere you might have influence among your contacts. “I gave $5, $50, $500, $5000 (we’re not picky!) and I invite you to do the same. This type of support is as important as donating, and will help us in spreading the word and reaching our goal. Thank you for your support!
In the wake of recent visits and other requirements we have found ourselves having to do an enormous amount of work in a very short period of time. It has been stressful; So much to do leaves little time for news. Mr. Danny’s recent injury has also been a setback. Thanks to Hugue for helping with painting.
At some point soon we intend to have a proper volunteer day and return to normal spring projects, like planting and sprucing up. Stay tuned. Soon we will have the dumpster gone and our basketball court back, and we can concentrate on fixing the pool heater etc.
There are rumors that alums are organizing to replace the backboard and hoop and revamp our little half court. Other alums hmu if you want to join this campaign. In any event we will definitely have some sort of basketball related session this summer, along with chess, art and everything else Greenhouse.
We also may have two CITs (Counselors in Training)—what we used to call our Teen Titans. Very excited, as we haven’t had this in awhile. Please remember our earlier guidance about consistency, camp hopping, timing of other activities etc. One thing this crisis has reinforced for us, and of which we are very proud, is that our commitment to in-person learning pays off in spades. Kids benefit from being with us as long as possible, and it shows.
Next month we will begin our push for our Spring Appeal. We are hoping to have a matching gift campaign again, maybe as successful as last year’s. We are now lining up leadership gifts and will send more details shortly.
Graduation plans are fluid, except for the fact itself. No way we’re going a second year without celebrating. DESE has released guidelines on ceremonies. Timing will have to be flexible since we will have it outside so it will be weather dependent. Unfortunately we probably won’t be able to have the party as food and drink are still off the table (see what we did there?). But as we have grown accustomed to saying, plans may change. Seems to be the only constant.
So, lots of pics of work going on plus many the many events: Easter egg hunt, ms. julia’s bday, our 13th Founder’s Day aka Ms. Welch’s 93rd birthday. GHS life is always busy behind the scenes even when more work distracts us. Stressful, yes, but we just pile it on. Keep on trucking…
April 27, we celebrate the greenhouse school’s 13th founder’s day, also known as Ms Welch’s birthday. We’re sure she is especially enjoying the kids using part of the day for spring cleaning. No one worked harder than Ms Welch. But at the end of the day, there was never a party she didn’t like–or a cake, for that matter!
It is simply amazing to sit back and reflect that March 16th is a year since the great shutdown. A topsy turvy year for sure, and we’re certainly not done with it all yet.
Through it all, we keep trying to keep things as “normal” as we possibly can, which has proved a challenge. We continue to celebrate, and expose the kids as much as we can to everything we usually do.
For International Women’s Day, we learned new songs and old history. And each student went home with a rose for mom. Yes, it is bread we fight for, but we fight for roses too!
St. Patrick’s Day represents the first of the holidays we had to cancel and are now bouncing back and embracing. Not quite there yet, of course… St. Pat’s at GHS has been permanently revised since the addition of the adult component—sadly still missing….for now.
We celebrated on Wednesday, March 17th; practicing songs and preparing our boiled dinner. Ms. Julia was once again keen on our Green Off… no leprechaun-y stuff, but everyone wearing as much green as they could find.
We split our usual celebration and did the Green Eggs and Ham, with Juevos Verdes con Jamon and a salute to Ms. Welch and Theodore Geissel at once.
The kids are invariably finishing up something, from Luganda lessons to painting to a comparative literature discussion on Geissel’s work (aka Dr. Seuss). Bear with us—we’re creating the future here!
We took a bit of a beating in the windstorms, as you may have noticed, and have a few unscheduled repairs. Ms. Julia is a bit fed up with Mr. Danny’s swashbuckling roof antics. It has truly been a difficult year on so many fronts.
