Fall 2015 Intersession Is A Wrap

Autumn Harvest

The Fall 2015 Intersession officially came to a close this morning at PFFS-Downtown and PFFS-University as Intersession groups met together for the last time to reflect on their experiences, write thank you notes, and prepare their ‘presentations of learning’ for the larger community (see below for schedule of presentations).

Intersession is a powerful part of

Birding and Drawing

Paulo Freire Freedom School. Twice a year at the end of the First and Third Quarters there is this week of special programming where students participate in four days of intense learning with a small group of students around one particular theme/topic. On the fifth day, the groups meet to reflect on their learning and then with the entire community to celebrate together.

Film & Media Production

Our primary rationale for creating learning experiences outside the classroom walls (whether they be Intersessions, Expeditions, or any of the other field experiences away from the building) is two-fold: (1) Research shows that building background knowledge significantly improves students’ performance in their academic classes, and (2) Helping students make connections between what they are learning in the classroom and experiences in the larger world motivates students to want to learn.

Fire!

An added benefit of our Intersession program results from our efforts to assign your young person to groups with students who are not necessarily their best friends. This clique-busting assignment strategy and the intensity

of the week-long Intersession experience itself combine to support the forging of new friendships. Upon completion of Intersession week we have always found the PFFS climate and culture to be significantly changed for the better – becoming a much more unified and cohesive community. Also, placing Intersession in the

Get Yo Game On

Fall and Spring (at the end of the First and Third Quarters) gives the school community a much needed energy boost. Intersession is something both staff and students look forward to twice a year.

Green Tucson

Finally, being able to participate fully in their Intersession becomes a powerful motivator for students to make sure that they are getting their work completed in their core academic classes. Students who do not have all major school work satisfactorily completed prior to Intersession have to miss part of their Intersession to work on completion. For those students who have gotten behind in their academics, the one-on-one instruction time they receive when they are pulled from their Intersession is critically important in helping them to be proficient in the academic core content.

A Picture Is Worth 1000 Words

Lights! Camera! Action!

The photos on this page are from each of the twelve PFFS Intersession groups. There are more photographs posted at each schools’ Intersession webpages (PFFS-Downtown and PFFS-University). We will also be posting a larger volume of photos from each Intersession at both schools’ Facebook Group (PFFS-Downtown FB Group and PFFS-University Facebook Group). The latter are ‘closed’ groups – members only.

There will be ‘Presentations of Learning’ from each Intersession group at both schools. Parents are invited to attend.