"Fourth- and Fifth-graders are exploring food industry inventions like fast food, packaged and preserved food, and diseases related to food. On Wednesdays after school, the children are running Café Nueve and selling snacks to students, parents, faculty, and staff. They are learning to work cooperatively, to count money and make change, and to run a public business. They are also paying for their participation in a program at Olympic Park Institute."

Reba Utevsky, a Giddens Teacher

Enrichment

On staff are specialists in music, Spanish, and outdoor education. Classroom instruction includes elements of music appreciation, theory, and composition. A weekly all-school sing celebrates song and community. K-5 students attend tri-weekly Spanish classes. Art is integrated into classroom projects and students are introduced to art history and different media, such as ceramics, acrylics, photography, collage, and digital imagery. Frequent nature walks for preschool students and outdoor exploration for primary grades add outdoor education to their classroom experiences. The school year is launched with two- to four- coastal camping trips for students in grades 1-5. Preschool students take dance classes and primary students participate in physical education classes and walk to nearby Medgar Evers Pool for weekly swimming lessons.

Community service, including working with St. Mary's Food Bank across the street from the school, designing a playground for a neighborhood park (the nearby Pratt Park), and cooking and serving dinner for the homeless, provides hands-on experience in identifying problems and solutions, and helping those in need.