Slate School Lends a Helping Hand

By Julie Mountcastle, Head of School and Chief Innovator

The students at Slate School have big hearts and a genuine willingness to help others. There are many examples of this, but perhaps none as powerful as the work our Kindergarten through Grade 8 students undertook in December 2025.

When Upper School students learned that the government shutdown was impacting people who rely on food stamps, they immediately began thinking about how to help. They soon discovered that local food pantries were bracing for unprecedented demand. While Slate School often holds a yearly Thanksgiving food drive, students were determined to make this year’s effort their strongest yet.

Students in Grades 5/6 launched the drive at our weekly Lower School Harambe gathering, introducing the effort through a creative skit and a catchy jingle that lingered long after the meeting ended. As donations began to arrive, students greeted families at morning drop-off with posters and gentle reminders. Before long, the vestibule outside of Grove filled with bags of food, including two turkeys and a ham donated by a generous family.

With the holidays approaching, students recognized that financial support could also make a meaningful difference. They decided to raise money for the Downtown Evening Soup Kitchen (DESK) and organized a Winter Market on the final day before Winter Break. The entire school — Kindergarten through Grade 8 — was divided into five mixed-age groups. Each group designed and produced a craft to sell, working through every step of the process: budgeting, prototyping, refining designs, assigning roles, and pricing their work with great care.

The results were spectacular, ranging from tabletop games and imaginative pet rocks complete with birth certificates to rolled beeswax candles, decorated tote bags, paper flower arrangements, and bundles of hand-decorated cards. On the day of the market, students set up their tables alongside information about the soup kitchen and welcomed families to shop after a joyful all-school performance and sing-along. By the end of the sale, students had fundraised $826.84 for Downtown Evening Soup Kitchen in New Haven.

At Slate School, we work hard to help our students see that they can make a positive impact in the world right now. Their ideas matter, and they don’t have to wait until they are older to help others. Along the way, students developed a wide range of skills, including estimating, calculating, designing, refining, collaborating, communicating, and reflecting. More importantly, they cared. We couldn’t be prouder of them, and we can’t wait to see what they will do next.