LS Meeting and Estimation Jar
Every Tuesday, our Lower School comes together for a morning meeting filled with birthday celebrations and community announcements. But the real crowd-pleaser? The estimation jar! Each week, our TK–2 and 3–5 classes are presented with a unique jar packed with miscellaneous items. Students love submitting their best guesses, and the lucky winners get to take the whole jar home.
Talented Tornados
Every year, all Lower School students receive a Talented Tornado Award. Celebrating a core value that the student uniquely upholds, this individual recognition is presented to the community with heartfelt, supportive words from their teachers.
Core Value Awards
Each quarter, Middle School teachers recognize one student in each grade for living our core values of respect, integrity, compassion, resilience, responsibility, and joy. Awards are presented during our All School Assemblies.
End-of-Year-Trips
Every May, our 4th-8th graders venture out on end-of-year trips to celebrate their year of learning together.
4th graders go to the beach to immerse themselves in the history and ecology of the North Carolina coast. Educational experiences include the NC Maritime Museum, the NC Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shore, Fort Macon, and seeing the wild horses on Shackleford Banks.
5th graders experience our “Great Fifth Grade Adventure” (GFGA). In the fall, students are given a budget and mile radius restrictions; they then pick their own destinations and plan a class trip. They present their trips to the class, and students vote on which trip to take. The GFGA is the capstone Lower School experience at TDS.
6th graders venture to the mountains to participate in bonding and team building activities. Students step out of their comfort zone with activities such as rock climbing and whitewater rafting, learn skills such as fire-building, and enjoy time together playing games and participating in group challenges.
7th graders partner with UNC Wilmington and MarineQuest for hands-on experiences with marine and environmental science. From taking water samples while kayaking through a marsh, to participating in dissection and gel electrophoresis labs, to interacting with marine animals big and small, this trip is an interactive capstone experience for their Life Science curriculum.
8th graders travel to Washington, D.C. to see the places, artifacts, and institutions that they have studied that year in American History. Highlights include a nighttime monuments tour, tours of the Capitol, the Supreme Court, and the Library of Congress, and visits to Smithsonian museums.
8th Grade Projects
In the fall, 8th graders conduct research, submit a thesis draft, complete an annotated bibliography, and write a persuasive research paper on a topic of their choosing. Finally, they present their argument before the entire Middle School.
Students also complete a service project related to their topic. Their service can be direct (such as a trash cleanup), indirect (a fundraiser or donation drive), advocacy-based (writing letters to city officials), or research-based (working to raise awareness about an issue).
Twister Trot
The TDS Twister Trot, a 5K run or 1 mile fun run through the American Village neighborhood in the fall, is a race to honor all families who have been, or currently are being, affected by cancer. We invite all of our racers to honor a friend or family member impacted by this terrible disease at our race.