BREADCRUMB

Explorations & Highlights

Antilles School provides many experiences that make learning at Antilles unique, from a kayak fieldtrip to learn more about ecosystems to designing bottle rockets to learn the laws of motion.  Below is a gallery of just some of these amazing experiences.

To learn more about our program offerings, visit the Early Learning Center, Lower School, Middle School, and Upper School pages as well as our pages on Fine Arts, Library, Resource Program, and College Counseling.

Poetry Out Loud

Antilles teacher John Riggle brought the Poetry Out Loud program to Antilles in 2009 and over the past decade, put two VI contestants onto the national stage. At Antilles, the program has also helped hundreds more discover the world of great poetry while offering them a platform for building confidence, public speaking skills, and self-expression. Winners of our in-school competition each February move onto the territorial event – the winner of which moves onto the national stage in Washington, D.C.

Kindergarten Reptile Projects

Researching reptiles and coral reefs gives our kindergarteners time to practice their reading and writing skills, along with the chance to master the dynamics of working in a group and independently. While researching coral reefs, students learn how plants and animals living in a larger ecosystem depend on each other and mirror that structure by working together on creating board games and building a large seascape. Moving onto reptiles, each student then has the chance to learn more about creatures that function more independently in nature. Individually, the students will pick a reptile to research, create a life-sized image of that animal, then present to the class what they have learned.

Toddler Ring Walk

You’ll often bump into our Toddlers on one of their daily walks around campus. Teachers Judy Brady and Bela Pescatore share that this part of their class’ routine gives students the chance to exercise, get to know their surroundings, and connect to the people around them!

VI Ecotours Fieldtrip

As part of annual Earth Day celebrations, fifth graders explore the Cas Cay Wildlife Sanctuary where they learn more about the plant systems - specifically mangroves - that support local marine life. The field trip includes a kayak ride with classmates through narrow waterways teaming with sea and plant life on the way to the sanctuary, along with a beach trip with friends to round out the day.

Earth Day

In honor of Earth Day each year, our fifth grade and Green Team members send each student in the School home with a potted plant. Before the distribution, they spend months harvesting the seedlings - usually sunflowers, lime trees, and Christmas tree palms - along with teaching our Early Learning Center and Lower School clases how to transplant and care for them.

VI History

Each year, Antilles’ third graders take a class in VI history that covers everything from the meaning behind the territorial flag to the significance of annual Transfer Day activities. In commemoration of the 1917 Transfer, students also prepare presentations, including posters and fact sheets and take part in public events hosted by the VI Legislature.

Marine Biology

AP Environmental Science students studying marine ecosystems are able to see firsthand mangroves, tide pools, grass beds and a bit of coral while snorkeling at the Cas Cay Wildlife Sanctuary. The tide pools at Red Point are particularly rife with creatures, from starfish to sea urchins, conch, stingrays, and even a barracuda or two.

Pirate Museum

Pirates, shipwrecks, buried treasure are the stuff adventure novels are made of - and, exactly what our third graders learn more about each year while on a field trip to the VI Pirate Museum. Before their visit, teacher Rebecca Rodriguez shares with the class the history behind one specific wreck - the Atocha, a Spanish galleon that sunk in 1622 while on its way back to Spain from South America – that is on display in the museum.

Spirit Week

Spirit Weeks in the Fall and Spring are hosted by our Upper School Student Council, which organizes a week of themed dress up days, lunchtime activities, and assemblies meant to bring our Middle and Upper Schoolers together while also having fun!

Bottle Rockets

Over the past decade, the "Great Wilson Bottle Rocket Challenge" has become an Antilles tradition - and easily one of the most exciting experiences in Middle School. It's got a little bit of everything. In building the best bottle rockets, our sixth graders get to explore the laws of motion, experiment with features that make them fly higher and faster, and even get creative when putting on the finishing touches. And, they have fun doing it - even when they make mistakes.

Theatre Program
students on stage

Students participate in the theatre arts and acquire specific knowledge and skills associated with script-writing, acting, scenic and design production, and directing, as they polish their abilities to communicate. 

The switch from semester to year-long classes has allowed beginning, intermediate, and advanced groups to become its own ensemble. The addition of an outside workspace that gives students the chance to become more invested in the process. 

Students also have the chance to cross collaborate with Early Learning Center and Lower School classes, through a Readers Theatre program, can participate in Middle and Upper School plays or semester theatre showcases.

Antilles is also home to its own chapter of the International Thespian Society, Troupe #8166.

Sailing

Antilles has a national caliber sailing team and the sailors have used sport to provide access into some of the finest colleges and universities. We have won seven National Championships, were the only high school to qualify for four championship regattas in 2019, and have 10 collegiate all-Americans in our alumni.

Antilles values sailing for the values and skills that are developed through participation: knowledge of mechanics, aerodynamics, environmental weather reading and forecasting, spatial visualization, strategic thinking, and competitive teamwork, as well as and perhaps most importantly, individual confidence building. 

The beauty and excitement of sailing makes this learning fun, meaningful, and memorable. The learning also extends beyond sailing, because sailing teaches the students skills for life. Additionally, the sailing team and its associated travel creates the opportunity to compete on a national level.