The Annual Art Show

Artwork conceptualized and crafted by students during the school year were on display in the Annual Art Show, which took over the entire Multi-Purpose Building on the same night as the spring Open House. The expansive walls of the MPB were filled with hundreds of paintings, drawings, prints, and mixed-media works, while the center areas contained ceramic displays and additional groupings of more paintings and drawings. All grades had work in the show, and students in Grades K through 5 had at least two pieces plus a ceramic project on display.

Clairbourn appreciates the hard work of art teacher Hayley Ball and her team of volunteers who helped put on this impressive show. Her installers were middle school students Kristy S., Jessie K., Samantha F., Estella B., Barbra C., Piper K., Madison B., and Roxy P., along with the maintenance staff, and music teacher Mrs. Kiertzner. 

Clairbourn School Provides Private School Education for Preschool, Kindergarten, Elementary School, and Middle School Grades | Serving Families in the Pasadena, California, Area and Surrounding Cities (K-12 Private Schools) | Clairbourn is a 501(c)3 charitable organization. Click here to request information.

Open House Event

Families turned out in large numbers for the Clairbourn Open House event on Tuesday May 21. The purpose was two-fold; to view special projects in the students’ current classrooms and to meet the teachers and preview the projects in the upcoming grade levels. Specialists for music, foreign language, and library were also on hand to show off their learning spaces and to show student activities from the 2018-2019 school year.The middle school was also open, and parents got to see science projects and had a chance to ask questions about curriculum, grading, teacher expectations, and much, much more!

Clairbourn School Provides Private School Education for Preschool, Kindergarten, Elementary School, and Middle School Grades | Serving Families in the Pasadena, California, Area and Surrounding Cities (K-12 Private Schools) | Clairbourn is a 501(c)3 charitable organization. Click here to request information.

Clairbourn’s Willy Wonka Jr. Carnival

Fond family memories were formed at the Willy Wonka Jr. themed Carnival held at Clairbourn School in early May. The weather was perfect for getting drenched in the dunk tank or sampling the super-soaker maze, running the inflatable obstacle course, or winning prizes in the games-of-skill booths that lined the field. Lots of girls and guys found their way to the Beauty Bar booth to spray fun colors in their hair, others enjoyed the Willy Wonka photo booth, and the smallest children took delight in the simple pleasure of rolling down the hill adjacent to the field with their friends.

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“Character Matters” Play: Second-graders Explore Actions and Choices

Four students perform a “Three Little Pigs” skit containing a message of ‘do what is right instead of what is fast and easy’ as part of the “Character Matters” play.

Clairbourn’s second grade is known for ramping-up opportunities for students to express themselves and to learn how to present ideas in a public setting.  In prior years, the second grade poetry unit allowed students to hone their presentation and memorization skills through learning the poems of Jack Prelutsky and other child-friendly authors.

But this year, our new second grade teacher Karen Roberts brought some additional ideas to the table.  The level of creativity of her students inspired her to look for a musical play that her students could perform.  She picked a play called “Character Matters” designed to use fairy tale characters and their famous storylines to reinforce good social and personal actions. Not only would that tie in with Clairbourn’s Code of Ethics, which cover the qualities of Honesty, Respect, Responsibility, Spirituality, and Citizenship, but it would also teach students how to handle a variety of common interpersonal conflicts plus enhance their memorization skills and public-speaking ability.

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Bacteria Studies – The Smell of Science!

This petri dish filled with bacteria swabbed from a student’s phone and from their chair.

Clairbourn seventh-graders experienced a bacteria lab where they studied the microbiota of their daily lives.  Each student swabbed their phone or laptop and then had the option of a swabbing a second item. 

Students inoculated petri dishes with the bacteria collected in and around the classroom, and the growth was aided by an agar growth medium added to the dishes.  Each day, the petri dishes were studied and diagramed. 

On the second day, students noticed a slight scent emanating from the petri dishes.  As bacteria grow and replicate, they release a wide variety of compounds—many of which give off a strong odor—the smell of science! 

Growing bacteria in the petri dishes released odoriferous chemical compounds.
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The Great Outdoors Comes to Life in the Clairbourn Preschool Camping Unit

There is no better teacher than Mother Nature, and preschoolers at Clairbourn are immersed in a comprehensive Camping Unit that puts the lessons and benefits of time spent in nature front-and-center.

Many of Clairbourn’s preschool units come from student-initiated ideas. So, when teacher Lee Rankin’s Junior Pre-Kindergarten class showed an interest in making tents in the classroom, she developed a camping unit to expand on their interests.

Students have a big yellow reading tent in the corner of their classroom. They also have poles and connectors to build smaller pup tents where they can play “camping.”

As a result, the classroom has been transformed into a full campsite complete with a ranger station, pup tents, a big reading tent, and a “campfire” space where students can pretend to cook hot dogs and s’mores.

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Students in the Junior Pre-Kindergarten class are experiencing the wonders of nature, both inside and outside their classroom, with exciting activity stations and outdoor excursions.
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Crafting Student Leaders: Enthusiast Leadership – Part 5 of 5

This week, in the Morning Assembly—the daily meeting where Clairbourn students, staff, and parents gather to hear an inspiring message—the topic was the school’s new mission statement “Creating Scholars and Leaders with Heart.” The student presenters delivered the following message about the importance of student leadership prepared by foreign language and drama teacher Cara Barker. The Insights below are based on the work of DiSC and the work of psychologists David Merrill and Roger Reid, who in their book Personal Styles & Effective Performance identified four social styles: Analyticals, Drivers, Expressives and Amiables. 


Today we look at how the Enthusiast leads. Enthusiasts share their joy in an activity, inspiring others to join them on the journey. They communicate through story-telling and they lead by example, often demonstrating to a group how to complete a task before giving them free rein to experiment on their own.

Enthusiasts persuade and encourage others, relying on optimism and impulse to guide the way, and are often quite popular. Enthusiasts are especially important to groups who lack experience or who seek a sense of identity.

Enthusiast leaders are born motivators of others and help to create group identity.
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Crafting Student Leaders: Conscientious Leadership – Part 4 of 5

This week, in the Morning Assembly—the daily meeting where Clairbourn students, staff, and parents gather to hear an inspiring message—the topic was the school’s new mission statement “Creating Scholars and Leaders with Heart.” The student presenters delivered the following message about the importance of student leadership prepared by foreign language and drama teacher Cara Barker. The Insights below are based on the work of DiSC and the work of psychologists David Merrill and Roger Reid, who in their book Personal Styles & Effective Performance identified four social styles: Analyticals, Drivers, Expressives and Amiables. 


Today we look at how the Conscientious leader behaves. Conscientious leaders diligently plan ahead and check their work each step of the way, guarding against errors that could lead to problems.

Conscientious leaders communicate information on a need-to-know basis, and such information is generally task-centered. Conscientious leaders are especially important to groups entrusted with tasks that are complicated or require attention to detail, where people’s safety or their property—including their money—could be put at risk.

Conscientious leaders can be trusted with details and complex tasks.
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Crafting Student Leaders: Social Leadership – Part 3 of 5

This week, in the Morning Assembly—the daily meeting where Clairbourn students, staff, and parents gather to hear an inspiring message—the topic was the school’s new mission statement “Creating Scholars and Leaders with Heart.” The student presenters delivered the following message about the importance of student leadership prepared by foreign language and drama teacher Cara Barker. The Insights below are based on the work of DiSC and the work of psychologists David Merrill and Roger Reid, who in their book Personal Styles & Effective Performance identified four social styles: Analyticals, Drivers, Expressives and Amiables. 


Today we look at how the Social leader behaves. Social leaders befriend the members of a group and get to know them on a personal level. In showing genuine interest, they put people at ease and place a high priority on wellness and harmony within that group.

Social leaders communicate gently, usually asking more questions than providing answers. Social leaders are highly accommodating and are especially important to groups composed of varying personality types and whose members, without a safe or appropriate space in which to work, would be left either isolated, divided or feeling unappreciated.

Social leadership involves including, accommodating, and listening to others in a group.
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Crafting Student Leaders: Driver Leadership – Part 2 of 5

This week, in the Morning Assembly—the daily meeting where Clairbourn students, staff, and parents gather to hear an inspiring message—the topic was the school’s new mission statement “Creating Scholars and Leaders with Heart.” The student presenters delivered the following message about the importance of student leadership prepared by foreign language and drama teacher Cara Barker. The Insights below are based on the work of DiSC and the work of psychologists David Merrill and Roger Reid, who in their book Personal Styles & Effective Performance identified four social styles: Analyticals, Drivers, Expressives and Amiables. 


Today we look at how the Driver behaves as leader. Drivers tend to dominate a group, telling them what to do, sometimes how to do it, when to do it, and occasionally why they are doing it.

Drivers communicate messages directed at completing a task. Drivers are especially important to groups who are new to a task, lack skills and confidence and who, without strong, directed guidance, would be left disorganized, unmotivated and unproductive.

Student Zachary Z. (right) shows off his Driver leadership skills as P.E. Coach for the Day at Clairbourn.
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