our common home

Reviewed and Written by 4th Graders My Friend Earth by Patricia MacLachlan. This book is about how the Earth provides so many things that help us, plants, and all the animals. The Earth brings us water and food that we need. The book helps us understand that if we don’t take care of the Earth, then we might not have what we need! (ZT – 4H) Save the Ocean by Bethany Stahl This book shows you what would happen if too many plastic bags were put in the ocean. It also shows that turtles and other animals can mistake plastic bags for food. When they eat the plastic bags they can get hurt.(MMS-4W) What if Everybody Did That? by Ellen Javernick This book shows you what would happen if everyone did something they were not supposed to do. It shows […]

As you drive or walk around our beautiful 35 acre campus, you might ask yourself, “why does Stone Ridge have so many landscaped swells in the ground?”  If so, this article is for you!   The landscaped swells in the ground are stormwater retention ponds.  In Montgomery County, Maryland, when you construct any new building or add a parking lot you are removing permeable surface, where water can soak into the soil. So the law says that you must install stormwater retention ponds to compensate.  The size of the stormwater retention pond is calculated based on the size of the roof structure or parking lot, so that they can hold all of the extra rainwater that falls on these surfaces and runs off. The cost of designing, constructing and maintaining stormwater retention ponds must be calculated into any new construction project […]

While enjoying all the festivities of Halloween, Middle School students sponsored a school wide fundraising event to support Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF, adding some deeper meaning to their Halloweening.  UNICEF, the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund, initiated its first Trick-or-Treat event in 1950 to help children left vulnerable after World War II.  Popularity of the program continued to grow, and was fueled by TV appearances in 1959 on Lassie, when the beloved collie carried an orange collection box, and in 1969 when an entire episode of Bewtiched  highlighted the cause.  In the 1990’s, famous poet and writer, Maya Angelou, served as the organization‘s Ambassador. Funds collected in 2002 were dedicated to the eradication of polio. More recently, in 2015, the 65th anniversary of Trick-or Treat for UNICEF was celebrated by teaming up with Charlie Brown, Snoopy and the rest of […]