The Orange Sea Stars love books! 📚
Recently, the children ventured out into the community during their Studio time to visit several local libraries. The children loved riding in the elevator, reading new books (and sharing some of their favorites with the librarians), and sitting in the comfy chairs.
The Sea Stars are now working on thank you cards in the Studio for the wonderful librarians who hosted them!
Children find meaning and joy through play. This foundation guides our approach to fostering curious and confident learners at our Reggio Emilia-inspired cooperative preschool in Harvard Square.
Learn more: newtowneschool.org.
Don’t miss the 2026 Learning Exchange at Newtowne School!
Join us for a day of connection, reflection, and inspiration as we explore what it really means to nurture strengths in children, families, and communities.
🌱 Classroom Open House 🎨 Playful Provocation Studio 🗣 Story Forum 🌟 Select Two Workshops 🥂 Reflective Celebration
Saturday, March 21, 2026 8:30 AM – 3:30 PM
Ticket sales close March 13 — grab yours before it’s too late! 🔗 Link in bio for details.
Light Is a Trickster!
(A Green Dragonflies Perspective)
Light is not just light.
It’s a trickster.
It plays different tricks depending on who it’s with.
When light goes through the colorful blocks, it changes its clothes.
If it goes through red, it turns red. If it goes through blue, it turns blue. If we stack red and blue together, it makes a new color!
We tried it. We tested it.
The blocks don’t stop the light. They let it pass — but they change it first.
Maybe light has colors hiding inside it?
🌟TICKETS ON SALE NOW🌟
Click the link in our bio to read all about Newtowne’s 2026 Learning Exchange and grab your tickets today at the early bird pricing!
🗓️ Saturday, March 21, 2026
⏱️8:30am-3:30pm
📍Newtowne School, Cambridge
Over the past few weeks, the Green Dragonfly class has been working together to create the doors and windows of their dreams. Inspired by identity work and Adré Vicente Gonçalves’ ‘Doors of the World’ project, the children reflected on their designs and how they wanted them presented. Using collage skills developed throughout the year, they cut fine pieces, added detailed pen work, and glued with increasing precision.
Swipe to the end to check out the inspiration versus the final product!
✨ Educators, save the date! ✨
Join us for the 2026 Newtowne Learning Exchange—a conference for early educators, by early educators. This year’s theme, “Strong Enough to Bend: Stories of Power, Resistance, and Care,” invites us to gather, reflect, and learn together through stories, workshops, and classroom open houses.
🗓 Saturday, March 21, 2026
📍 Newtowne School, Cambridge
🎟 Tickets go on sale February 1 (with early bird pricing!)
We can’t wait to welcome fellow educators for a day of connection and inspiration.
Looking for fun ways to get moving during the questionable New England winter?
Join us for our Open House on Sunday, January 11 from 3–5 PM!
Open classrooms, joyful play, and dancing with Rainbowdance® — perfect for toddlers and preschoolers.
All are welcome, no RSVP required!
Rainbowdance® sessions will be offered at 3:15, 4:00, and 4:45 PM (use the link in our bio to register ahead for a specific time or just drop by anytime!)
Proud to partner with @cambmotion for this FREE community event!
At Newtowne, we are continuing to celebrate the sights, textures, and wonders of the fall season. This week, the children of the Purple Fish classroom were invited to engage with a pumpkin in their sensory bin. Different tools created different types of marks, and they found that certain sides of the pumpkin were harder or easier to scoop and cut. The resounding conclusion? “The inside is so wet and slimy!”
Last week at Newtowne, each classroom hosted their own Curriculum Morning! These mornings provided a special opportunity for families to look through their child’s portfolio together, ask thoughtful questions about the curriculum thus far, and connect with classroom teachers over a cup of coffee or tea!
Seeking social connection with other caregivers—or hoping to spark new ideas for engaging play with your toddler? Come be part of a Pink Penguin playgroup at Newtowne School and enjoy both!
Term 1 classes begin in less than two weeks! Children and caregivers gather weekly, with options for 1-day or 2-day playgroups.
Session are led at 8:45 a.m. and 10:30 a.m - choose the schedule that works best for your family!
Learn more and register on our website: https://www.newtowneschool.org/playgroups
#cambridgeplaygroup
Last Call!
Just one day left to grab your ticket for the Newtowne Learning Exchange — registration closes Wednesday evening, and we’d love to have you with us!
We’re getting ready for a day full of curiosity, connection, and possibility — and thrilled to be joined by amazing educators from:
@ellisearlylearning
@westernavechildrenscenter
@projectzerohgse
@cnslex
@touchstoneschool
@towerschoolmarblehead
@radcliffechildcarecenter
@belmontbasec
@spyc_earlyed
@nurturyboston
@cambridgepublicschools
@cambridgepota
@advent_atelier
...and more!
Together, we’ll be sharing ideas, playing with big questions, and reminding each other that joy, wonder, and community still have power — especially now. In a time that pulls us apart, coming together with purpose and play is its own kind of resistance.
Who else is in? We hope to see you there. Register at the link in our bio. 💛
Just 5 days left to register for the Newtowne Learning Exchange — a day to share ideas, build community, and empower one another!
Join us June 14 in Cambridge, MA for hands-on workshops, deep reflection, and connection with early childhood changemakers from across New England.
Through shared sparks, systems, and stories, we’ll exchange ideas that help grow thriving ecosystems—where teachers, children, and families can truly flourish.
Check out the link in our bio to learn more and register!
🌦️ HAPPENING RAIN OR SHINE! 🌦️
Join us Saturday, May 31 for a Newtowne favorite — our Spring Fair & FREE Concert!
10:30 AM – Alastair Moock & Friends
11:30 AM–1:30 PM – Spring Fair fun
Join us for food, music, art, bouncy house, face painting & even a reptile petting zoo!
11 Garden St, Cambridge
Enormous thanks to @masscultural and @cambridgeartscouncil for their support!
#SpringFair #CambridgeMA #FamilyFun #FreeConcert #AlastairMoock #NewtowneSchool
⭐️ Early Bird pricing extended through Monday! ⭐️
As the school year winds down, the Newtowne Learning Exchange Conference offers a chance to celebrate with connection, creativity, and shared wisdom.
With a rich lineup of hands-on workshops, the Exchange invites educators to explore new ideas, reflect on meaningful practices, and exchange inspiration with one another. Through dialogue, story-sharing, and play, each session is shaped by the belief that everyone brings valuable experience to the table.
A perfect way to build connections and plant seeds for the year ahead.
https://www.newtowneschool.org/newtowne-learning-exchange
Group rates and subsidized tickets available!
#NewtowneLearningExchange #LearningTogether #EducatorCommunity #IdeaExchange #EarlyChildhoodEducation #ReflectRechargeReconnect #WorkshopsInAction
Secret’s out! We’re thrilled to announce our Community Fund grant from @cambridge_cf, which is helping us to put on the first-ever Newtowne Learning Exchange — a conference for early educators, by early educators! Save the date for Saturday, June 14th!
Together, we’re making good for our youngest citizens. #MakingGood #CambMA.
Tickets available soon! Learn more about the Learning Exchange through the link in our bio.
After several weeks of experimenting and exploring with clay, the children in Green Dragonfly are now creating unique “characters” or meaningful figures to use throughout our classroom. Their creations range from animals and queens to trucks—each one reflecting their individual interests and imagination; some friends worked together, while others worked in small groups. The teachers are excited to incorporate these figures into small world play, board games, and many other areas of the classroom.
The Blue Otters have started working in small groups on a collective collage book based on the “5 Little Ducks” song. In this song, each of the little ducks goes missing one by one before being found by Mama Duck in the end. For their story, the children wondered: Where do each of these little ducks go? Hint: The first one finds themselves in a place with a pond, big trees, flowers, and an active volcano. The illustrations are influenced by the artwork of Roxbury artist Ekua Holmes (some of you may have seen her exhibit at the MFA a few years ago)!
Last night our community came together for Light Night! During this special nighttime curriculum event, we invite families to visit magically lit-up classrooms and engage in thoughtful provocations, as well as look at new documentation together. This is an especially great time to check out the children’s portfolios, which tell the stories of their learning throughout the year thus far.
The Orange Sea Stars have been digging into mark making this week! The children are working on an ongoing large collaborative piece, as well as individual work. So far their primary mediums have been markers, stabilos and crayons. Many of them are beginning to tell stories about their work and assign meaning to their marks.
