The Barrie Blog

At Barrie School, we are constantly thinking about how students learn and how we can best facilitate that every day. In this blog, you'll find think pieces by school leaders who are engaging in action research; testimonials from faculty, students, and families about the unique kind of education that Barrie offers; and reflections by alumni who are taking the lessons learned here and applying them to their lives beyond Barrie.

Take a look and see what makes this school a very Barrie place to be.

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Student Agency from a Student Perspective

Sophia and Dahlia

Apr 16 2026

In the fall, two students, Sophia and Dahlia, came up with the idea to have a food drive on campus to collect donations for people in need. They proposed the idea to Hilary Green, Head of Lower School for Elementary, and they all worked together to come up with a plan.

The reason we did this was because it was almost Thanksgiving and families with no home would need food and shelter. Especially families with kids. And we thought that was not fair and they deserve food and shelter too. The drive was held from November 11 to December 18. We received over 400 donations and we thought that it was fun sorting the donations. It took at least three days to sort it all out. It was fun when we got to lay it all into the cars and see them drive away. Some of the names of the boxes were soup, treats, mac and cheese, mac and cheese no 2, and beans. So in the end we achieved our goal. Even after it was all over we kept it open for two extra days!

We felt proud of ourselves. We worked through the process of recruiting for donations, presenting to our classmates and to other classes about the donation. We helped the community and it felt good!

The future of learning is here.