Rye Country Day School

Choir
The Rye Country Day School Upper School Choir maintains a partnership with the Highbridge Voices Chamber Choir.  Highbridge Voices provides an intensive music after-school program for over 100 children in the Bronx.  Over the course of several months and rehearsing in both choirs’ respective spaces, RCDS and Highbridge join their musical forces to present a combined concert. In addition to great artistic merit, the project serves as an opportunity for children and communities of diverse backgrounds to come together to learn about each other and from each other in song.

Saturday Enrichment and Tutorial (SET)
In response to a community need for accessible academic enrichment programs, Rye Country Day has established theSaturday Enrichment and Tutorial program (SET).  Designed to provide extra English speaking and reading training to Port Chester students in grades 1-4, the program is run almost exclusively by RCDS Upper School students.  In order to facilitate the program, Upper School students are trained by RCDS faculty in literacy instruction and classroom management.  These student-mentors then assume the responsibility of nearly all the rolls necessary to operate the program. They become the lead and support teachers, the librarian and the computer support just to name a few.  Once trained, the students run a weekly session for nearly 90 Port Chester students giving them the opportunity to improve their reading, writing and oral skills in English.

SCOPE (Student Centered Outreach, Partnership and Enrichment)
Developed by RCDS students to address the increasing education achievement gap, SCOPE is an after-school enrichment program for 4th and 5th grade students from the JFK Magnet and Park Avenue schools in Port Chester. Meeting twice a week, classes are taught by RCDS Upper School students and are divided into 3 parts: homework help, electives and recreation. The program aims to support the academic goals of the partner schools, foster a sense of community, and build confidence in all of its participants.

Partners in Art
Partners in Art is a collaborative effort to facilitate an art exchange between students from RCDS and students from Haiti.  With the assistance from Haiti Lumiere de Demain (HLD), an organization dedicated to improving education in Haiti, students from both schools are asked to complete a photographic art project consisting of taking both self-portraits and photographs of their favorite food in various stages of production.  In order to facilitate this program, digital cameras were donated from RCDS and sent to Haiti so the students there could easily photograph and share their pictures. After the art projects are shared between the schools, the students Skype with one another allowing them to not only see their own work on the walls of a school far away, but also to see the real faces behind the pictures.