Take A Tour
Let Us Show You Around
Welcome to our school! You can explore our classrooms and hear from all of our incredible teachers using the link below or scroll room, by room, through the halls to learn more about BNS.
Morning Outside
Step through the front doors at Blacksburg New School and the first things you'll notice are smiling faces. In fact, you don't even have to walk through the door. Someone in the parking lot will probably greet you with a welcoming "hello."
Students arrive between 8:30 and 9:00 am and head right into their classroom so they have time to get settled in, connect with their teacher, and be ready for a 9 am school start time.
Welcome to Red Room
There are color-coded classrooms for every grade at Blacksburg New School, Kindergarten through 8th grade. Let's look around the classrooms. The first room you come to is Red Room.
Red Room is a fun place with a reading loft, cubbies, and other familiar areas that new Kindergarten students may have experienced during preschool. Students engage in collaborative playful projects, enjoy a rest and reading time (just a little rest, no napping), and start developing all types of reading and math skills. Red Roomers enjoy a wide variety of classes and playtimes as they transition to full-day learning.
T.J. Stone is the Red Room teacher. Visit the Red Room page for info on the BNS Kindergarten curriculum.
Next Up, Orange Room
If you continue down the hall, after the computer lab and resource room is the Orange Room.
First Grade is in the Orange Room. The Orange Room loft is not just a cozy, quiet place to read. Throughout the year, the loft is transformed into an Appalachian limestone cave, a tropical rainforest, and zones in the ocean as the students become immersed in their social studies and science themes. Orange Roomers use "Reading Detective Clues" shown on a bulletin board to help them decode unfamiliar words on their way to becoming fluent readers. Each Orange Roomer has an opportunity to be a Star-of-the-Week and Resident Expert. As Resident Expert, students have an opportunity to teach the class a scientific or social studies topic of his or her choosing.
Linda Pospichal is the Orange Room teacher. Visit the Orange Room page for info on the BNS First Grade curriculum.
Welcome to Yellow Room
The Yellow Room is home to BNS second graders. It is during this year that students transition to becoming more independent readers and writers. They add entries to their journals regularly and begin writing letters and stories.
Meet Sarah Coleman and visit the Yellow Room page for info on the BNS Second Grade curriculum.
Welcome to Green Room
As you continue down the hall, you'll pass many colorful bulletin boards, filled with the students' most recent projects. At the end of the main hallway, you'll find the Green Room.
Green Room is Third Grade at BNS and is a major academic milestone for students. In Third Grade students begin using planners to keep their projects and homework assignments organized. During the third grade year, reading to learn is emphasized and Green Roomers experience their first literature circles. Students are exposed to new writing types and structures as they compose expository and narrative pieces. Chemistry experiments, projects in all areas, and civilization studies have been among the favorite themes of past years. The year begins with a signed student contract--a pledge that students will do their best work and uphold the school values and community during the school year.
Carla Liversedge is the Green Room teacher. Visit the Green Room page for info on the BNS Third Grade curriculum.
Across the Hall is Turquoise
Crossing to the other side of the hall, you can peek into the Turquoise Room.
In the Turquoise Room, Fourth Graders take learning into their hands in a big way. They complete projects in science and social studies to probe further into their monthly themes. They lead their own novel study groups, and they practice communicating respectfully and articulately with their classmates and teachers about their experiences and the curriculum. In math we read a novel, Journey to the Other Side, which approaches multi-step problem solving through songs, puzzles, and suspenseful adventures. Students also explore the American Revolution through crafts, persuasive writing, debates, and short plays. Turquoise Roomers bring history to life!
Myra Leland is the Turquoise Room teacher. Visit the Turquoise Room page for info on the BNS Fourth Grade curriculum.
Blue Room
The last room in the elementary school wing is the Blue Room.
Blue Room is Fifth Grade at BNS. Students engage in many hands-on projects to reflect what they know across the curriculum. They enjoy creative writing and participate in a Living History Museum where they take on the persona of a historical figure and play that role during History Night. Blue Roomers go on their first overnight field trip!
Bina Bentley is the Fifth Grade teacher. Visit the Blue Room page for info on the BNS Fifth Grade curriculum.
Welcome to Middle School
The Purple Room encompasses sixth grade through eighth grade. Middle school students at BNS have their own building complete with comfortable classrooms they rotate through within a day, and a common area with open lockers. It's a great environment for adolescents who are learning organization and academic skills for high school. The subjects in the Purple Room are engaging and academically rigorous within a classroom environment that encourages conversation, investigation, and perseverance.
Purple Room students enjoy socializing in a laid-back, kind, and supportive environment. They may choose to spend time indoors playing board games and socializing, or outdoors, often engaging in multi-grade-level games of capture-the-flag. These students also go regular field trips to supplement their studies and participate in community service. They also participate in math, science, and history competitions.
In the science lab, you may find Molly Lucier, our lead Purple Room teacher, engaged in an exciting experiment with the middle school students.
Further down the hall you'll find the English room, where Jared Bond's class may be typing up stories on laptops. The students also enjoy the couches in this room, where they gather to read Shakespeare in class, or gather to socialize at lunch time. Ann Heaslip focuses on Civics, Government, and History - rotating these curricula annually.
The three full-time middle school teachers are joined by Seema Dalal & Julia Hall who teach math based on student needs, and Julia who also teaches computer classes. Middle School students also take classes in Spanish, art, and physical education...and have an array of elective choices each trimester.
Visit the Purple Room page to learn more about the BNS Middle School curriculum.
Spanish
While in the Middle School wing, you might see a Spanish class going on.
Spanish instruction at BNS focuses on communication skills. It is taught in all grade levels. Students are exposed to the language and culture. In the early grades, the focus is on vocabulary, pronunciation, and comprehension skills. Starting in the Green Room (Third Grade), there is more emphasis on production, while the focus remains in communication skills. In the Purple Room (Middle school), the students are exposed to the Virginia standards of learning for High School level Spanish I and II.
Patricia Perez leads the Spanish Language program, supported by Erika Gonzalez.
Music Program
Heading back into the main building, we hear that music class is now in session. Patricia Perez leads the Music program for the elementary students at BNS, which ends each year with a school-wide music performance. Each class performs a musical number and shares the love he has for music.
At BNS students learn to read music and to appreciate a different styles of music from a variety of cultures and traditions. Students' appreciation of music lasts a lifetime thanks to the BNS Music program.
Computer Lab
Continuing back down the hall, we might find Julia Hall teaching Computer Lab. Students work on improving their typing speed, as well as other computer skills.
BNS also offers after-school robotics classes, which our students have come to love! Learn more about our technology curricula here.
Art Program
Our tour then takes us to the Art Room at the end of the hall, where students are taught the life-long values of art and creativity by Patti Rowland. Students learn to draw, paint, and sculpt using a wide variety of media and techniques. They are taught about design, composition, and how to generate ideas that matter. The Art Room is an exceptional space for budding artists to create their own masterpieces that resemble the works of influential artists. Check out our Art page for more.
Physical Education
Our Physical Education & Health program gives children a positive and non-competitive exercise experience. Our children develop a healthy respect for exercise while acquiring lifelong skills for taking care of their physical selves. Age-appropriate skill development in a safe and enjoyable environment is emphasized. Rachel Pattison is our fearless PE teacher for elementary and middle school.
She is also the keeper of the school's all important Capture the Flag Rules, which is a favorite recess activity for all grades.