Academics

Innovation Space

Innovation, entrepreneurial thinking, STEAM and design thinking are alive and thriving at Country School. 

The Amicus Foundation Innovation Space is located in the Grace House. The space, which serves students from Beginners through grade 9, is designed to promote openness, shared experiences, collaboration and rapid development from ideas to physical creations. Our students design, experiment, build and invent as they engage deeply in science, mathematics, engineering and self-expression. Students have a wealth of resources at hand in the space including iPad Pro’s with Apple pencils, several 3D printers and laser cutters, microcontrollers, fabrication technology, video production, as well as an assortment of recycled materials to spark their imaginations. Using their laptops or iPads, students run a variety of programs and Apps, which allow for 3D design, digital animation to object-based computer programming.
"Creativity, collaboration and risk-taking are at the heart of the Innovation Space. We always design first, build, test and rebuild. It’s about precision and flexibility, design and function, and breaking down complex challenges into solvable parts." - Bruce Lemoine, Academic Technology Teacher

Key Skills Learned













Computer Programming:

1. Self-reliance and problem-solving through research
2. Logic including procedural thinking and boolean logic
3. Attention to detail
4. Procedural Memory

Robotics:

1. Understanding how systems work; systems thinking
2. Active learning; taking the initiative
3. Prototyping and persistance
4. Creative use of materials

3D Computer Modeling:

1. Seeing from muliple perspectives
2. Re-seeing everyday objects from new perspectives
3. Procedural memory and predictive ideation

Tech/Innovation Space News

  • Making a Maker: Art, Math, Science, Innovation and Imagination Required

    Maker culture and curriculum are thriving at Country School this fall. Students in Grades 1 through 9 are diving into increasingly more complex and authentically challenging lessons with enthusiasm, all while practicing skills of collaboration, creativity and higher-order thinking.
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  • Birds Come to Life in Middle School

    There are birds in the science wing of the Middle School. To be more specific, there are 3D models and drawings of finches, hawks, bluebirds and flickers. They do come to life, however, as passersby hold an iPad in front of each one.  A student-made video launches describing the bird through visuals and voice narration, thereby creating an Augmented Reality experience.
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  • Country School "Buddies" Up During Hour of Maker

    Country School students participated in its first Hour of Maker. For the past two years, there was a similar event, Hour of Code, which focused on computer programming. However, this year the school decided to do a hands-on Maker project. Working with their buddies, every student built their own Car-Bot. View a video and photos of our students participating in this activity.
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  • Country School “Cougar Bots” Earn Success at Robotics Competition

    New Canaan Country School’s Middle School Robotics Team participated in the eighth annual ROBOnanza!, a competition for Westchester and Fairfield County independent schools held in Greenwich, May 13. The “Cougar Bots,” (robots built completely out of LEGOs® and programmed by the fifth and sixth graders), contended against robots from other schools in three levels of challenges. 
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  • Country School Explores the World of Augmented Reality

    Sixth through eighth grade students at New Canaan Country School have created interactive Augmented Reality projects which are now on exhibit in the Middle and Upper School buildings. 
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  • Country School Eighth Grader Wins Regional Robotics Competition, Creates Coyote Sighting App

    New Canaan Country School eighth grader Arjun Dayal won top honors at two Westchester First Lego League (FLL) Competitions. As part of the competition, he also created a coyote sighting app that will benefit his local community.
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  • Country School Teachers Lead Technology Innovation Workshop

    Fifty educators from around the state gathered at New Canaan Country School for a technology innovation workshop, “Technology Innovation in the Lower School Classroom,” on Jan. 19. Country School teachers presented creative ways that they are using technology in the Kindergarten-Grade 5 classroom at the workshop sponsored by Connecticut Association of Independent Schools (CAIS). 
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  • NCCS Participates in Hour of Code

    All 630 New Canaan Country School students participated in the Hour of Code on Dec. 6.  Working in buddy pairs, older students taught younger ones the basics of coding. View photos & video.
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  • Maker Movement Thrives at Country School

    Seventh graders at New Canaan Country School are building mini-machines with a personal twist in a newly developed Maker Class.  Based on their interests and imaginations, they have created inventions such as jumping dolphins, dancing disco scenes and automated catapults. 
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Programs & Tools Used in the Innovation Space

Kodable
Grasshopper Java Coding
Scratch
JaveScript Blocks
BlockCAD
Tinkercad
Fusion 360
Makerbot
Hummingbird Robotics
Finch Robots
Makey Makey
Micro:bit
litteBits
Bristlebots/Artbots and more …

Videos of Student Projects

    • Hummingbird Robotics - A Claw

    • The Dragon

    • The Mixing Bowl

New Canaan Country School

635 Frogtown Road, New Canaan, CT 06840
Phone: (203) 972-0771
New Canaan Country School admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin and are afforded all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, age, sex, sexual orientation, national origin or ancestry, or disability in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, financial aid policies or any other school-administered programs.