The Jackson-Reed High School graduation in June will be the school’s 90th commencement. That’s a lot of years, and a lot of history – not all confined to Jackson-Reed classrooms. The March issue of the Jackson-Reed student newspaper, The Beacon, covers the February 27th anti-ICE protest that drew high schoolers from across the region to […]
School updates: Sheridan’s new addition; UDC’s new signs; Latest journalism from Jackson-Reed
Sheridan School celebrated the completion of its new two-story addition with an October 5th ribbon-cutting ceremony, and has since been showing it off with tours and open houses. Sheridan added an entry vestibule on the ground floor… And meeting and classroom spaces above. The addition took years of planning and months of construction. “Construction rarely […]
Murch Kids Report: When the teachers were kids
by Danil Smolar and Megan O’Keefe Murch Blue and Gold staff It’s hard to imagine your teacher as a kid in elementary school. So when Daniel Marcus showed us a photo of himself as a 6th-grader in a Melbourne, Australia, classroom, it looked old, as if it came from another world. Mr. Marcus, who now […]
Murch Kids Report: The line between bad behavior and bullying
by Edward Williams and Ella DuFresne Murch Blue and Gold staff A student remembers the day when a group of kids “started to make fun of me…After that, I was so sad that I … cried,” the student said. Was that bullying? Is it bullying to tease a student about a test score? Or insult […]
Murch Kids Report: First book for kids co-written by computer
by Phylicia Lee Murch Blue and Gold staff We live in a time when computers are starting to think like people and do things to affect our lives. This technology is called artificial intelligence (AI) – and Alice and Sparkle is the first children’s book written and illustrated with the help of AI. I was […]
Murch Kids Report: Book banning boom – but not in DC
Forest Hills Connection is taking a break this week, with the help of talented fourth and fifth grade student reporters from Murch Elementary. With permission, we’re republishing some of the work from the tenth anniversary edition of the Blue and Gold, the student newspaper established in 2013. by Thomas McCormack Murch Blue and Gold staff […]
Murch Elementary’s “Blue and Gold” marks a decade in the school newspaper biz
We’ve made no secret of our admiration for the reporters and editors at the Jackson-Reed High School Beacon, for shining a light on issues and perspectives that grownups don’t often hear about, if at all. We also tip our hat to the young reporters of the Murch Blue and Gold. The fourth and fifth graders […]
Murch “Blue and Gold” EXCLUSIVE: Teachers share their embarrassing grade school moments
Forgive us for the tabloid headline. But we thought you should know that the new edition of Murch Elementary’s student newspaper is hot off the presses. And we think it’s a good read. Under the guidance of retired journalist Aaron Epstein and the mantra, “We Shall Not Bore the Reader,” intrepid young Blue and Gold […]
School updates: Signs of change at Jackson-Reed High include changing the signs
School’s out! So let’s read about school. And specifically, about the former Wilson High School. In their reporting for The Beacon, Jackson-Reed High School’s excellent student journalists have been covering issues such as their school’s name change, which happened during the 2021-22 school year. The most recent update on that change was about the old […]
Murch and Wilson student reporters have been hard at work for the past year, and we get to read the results
The Murch and Wilson students who work on their school newspapers have left us with some great summer reading material. You can read the final 2020-2021 print edition of The (Wilson) Beacon here. And read The (Murch) Blue and Gold here. They’ve had quite a year. And before they started their hard-earned summer break, they […]