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The Rose Carpet
The Elementary School’s Living Room
Be cautioned to pause before you enter the Rose Carpet, the Ele- mentary School’s (ES) Commons.
Your senses will be drawn into a whirl- wind of activity and sound. Energy buzzes as children arrive for a day of learning. Gentle music streams through the area, countering the bois- terous hellos and good mornings of students gathered before the 8:15 rush to their classrooms. The pulse of the Elementary School is alive here.
With five entrances and exits, the ES Commons is a crossroads that invites life and learning. Natural light delightfully flows in. A majestic chestnut and beaming ginkgo green color the background. Balconies rim cathedral-high ceilings, and below lies the unassuming Rose Carpet.
The ES Commons was originally a cafeteria. But today, it has evolved into a multifaceted space, adapting to the scripts of each grade: a Wax Museum one day; a dance hall for ancient Mediterranean cultures another; an
orchestra space for classical morning strings concerts; or a choir venue for young, vibrant voices.
Students come to the Rose Carpet to perform, share and celebrate. Migration stories are retold; budding entrepreneurs sell cookies; a robotics fair highlights innovation; favorite book characters come to life; and the ES’s grand finale, Exhibition Night, raises the tone of the Rose Carpet to red!
Indeed, the Rose Carpet inspires play. Grade 4 students in Ms. Ramsey’s class collectively wrote a poem declaring that if they were in charge there would be “a ball pit in the Rose Carpet area.” Amazingly, this space is also one for quiet and self-control as students practice silent reading, while focusing their discipline and reigning in their giggles.
The ES Commons truly is an extraordinary space. Why we call it by the color of a made-to-endure, pale
rose rug is odd, but surprisingly all asked quite like this name. For new parents to FIS, this is the space where teachers and administrators gather to receive them, where orientation and integration take their first steps. A parent emphasized the importance of the Rose Carpet and called it the backbone, holding the ES together.
Parents and students both agree that the Rose Carpet is “the” meeting point. It is here we meet our children each day. It is here we meet each other; see each other; hear each other. We befriend each other, plan and have fun together, spotting on occasion fancy purses or fantastically outrageous shoes.
In our world of travel, of relocation, and diverse backgrounds, we as a community crave a familiar gathering place. For those in the ES, the Rose Carpet is it.
Deirdre Harriet-Welsh, FIS Parent
8 FIS World October 2015