Monday Morning Memo

I am SO proud of our students, our teachers, and our parents! What an incredible week we had last week:

- Thanks to great preparation by the Watt family and by the teachers, the 50^th picture went off without a hitch. We had an excellent practice on Monday, and a flawless experience with the picture on Tuesday, in spite of a chill in the air. It was amazing to see more than 515 people from age 3 on up work so well together.

- The sixth graders performed a lively international show on Thursday night with great enthusiasm and joy, under the direction of Mrs. Fatu. We were all thoroughly entertained – in several languages, in song, and in dance.

- On Friday we had a Eucharist service for our third through eighth graders which, once again, was handled so well by our students. They were respectful, thoroughly engaged and so well behaved. Our younger children enjoyed a visit from the Easter bunny in a service led by Chaplain Bauer-Nolan as they explored the sacred and secular sides of Easter.

- On Saturday our Science Olympiad team competed admirably in Columbia at the State level of competition. [See more news about this below.] Their hard work to get to this event and the diligence with which they approached each aspect of the competition was a source of pride for all of us.

- And on Saturday night, we enjoyed the party of the year with delightful camaraderie among the adults of our community at the “Game On” auction. While the bottom line financially is still being tallied, the event was a HUGE success because of the warm feelings, good food and drink, and festive atmosphere created by Amy Holewinski, Sarah Telford, and their many amazing volunteers. Many thanks also to the eighth graders and their parents for returning to help with clean-up on Sunday and to ALL the parents who came to support this great event!

It was an outstanding week that celebrated the very best of St. Paul’s – our work, worship and play together in the name of and for the benefit of our children! Thank you, All, for making it such a memorable, successful week!

St. Paul’s Episcopal Science Olympiad team received 6^th place ranking out of the 32 teams at State this year! Jesse Hall at the University of MO was packed with both middle school and high school teams as the medals, ribbons, and MU scholarships were presented on stage and freebies from the university were hurled into the mass of students. Very exciting! Most of the storms passing through were avoided but two outside events, Bottle Rockets and Storm the Castle were cancelled. The students were very stoic about this disappointment. Congratulations to team members Tucker, Samantha, Kit, Veronica, Chris, George, Ellison, Sophie, Max, Philip, Elyse, Meghan, Lilly, Claire, Lily and Drake. Team members placing in their events were: Ellison and Sophie awarded 5^th in Compute This; Sophie, Ellison and Veronica awarded 5^th in Experimental Design; Samantha and Max awarded 5^th place in Road Scholar; Meghan and Elyse awarded 2^nd place in Water Quality; and Sophie and Ellison awarded 3^rd place in Write It/Do It.

Mr. Stewart and Ms. Twyman enjoyed traveling with this wonderful group of scholars very much and the team members, Mr. Stewart and Ms. Twyman want to acknowledge the love and support of the parents who traveled with the team and made the trip possible, safe and lots of fun: Mrs. Haistings, Mrs. Rooney, Dr. Chinnock, Mrs. Prochnow and Mr. McCann. The team is also grateful to the team parents this year, Mrs. & Mrs. Woolley and Mrs. Jeanine Haistings.

It's time to order school supplies for next year! You may pre-purchase a school supply pack for next fall. The packets are ordered through Innisbrook School Supplies and are priced at the school’s cost. This opportunity is offered as a convenience for St. Paul’s families. Parents are free to choose the supply pack or shop on their own. Order dates: 4/16/12 - 5/4/12. There are two ways to place your order:

1) Order online at www.ordermypack.com, select “Buy School Supplies”, and enter our school number: 120688. Pay with a credit card at checkout. A convenience charge of $1.50 per pack will be added to all online orders.

2) Complete and return an order form to the school front desk. Charges will be billed to your school account in August.

The order form and school supply lists are available on the St. Paul's website.. If you are unable to print what you need, please contact Linda van Thullenar and she will send them to you. All supply packets will be delivered directly to school and distributed to students at Open House on Wednesday, August 15.

Attention ECC Parents and Guardians! We are offering two free sessions of a newly released Love and Logic Webinar specifically for parents and guardians of young children. You are invited to attend one or both of the offered sessions. Topics to be addressed include: Taming tantrums and meltdowns, ending morning madness, easing separation anxiety, calming bedtime battles, wiping out potty training problems, and dealing with misbehavior in public.

We will include a brief discussion following each Webinar. Two of our St. Paul’s teachers, Mrs. Williams and Mrs. Rempel, who have been trained as Love and Logic facilitators will be available as well to help answer any specific questions.

Love and Logic Session I

When: Monday, April 23^rd

Time: 2:00 – 3:30 PM

Location: North Wing MPR

AND

Love and Logic Session II

When: Thursday, April 26^th

Time 4:00 – 5:30 PM

Location: North Wing MPR

Please RSVP to Linda van Thullenar by email at lvan@speds.org no later than Friday, April 20^th, to let her know which sessions you will be attending. We hope you will take advantage of this opportunity.

PLEASE JOIN US:

What: ECC/LOWER SCHOOL TRANSITION NIGHT OPEN HOUSE

(Parent/Guardian Only Event for current Toddler – 4^th grade students)

Date: Thursday April 19th

Time: 6:00 – 7:00 PM

The ECC and Lower School Division teachers and staff invite you to visit the grade level your child will be entering in the next school year. This is a casual and informal opportunity for you to meet the teachers, walk through the classrooms and see examples of current student work and projects. We hope you will take advantage of this opportunity to learn more about what’s to come in the next school year.

Three candidates for our part-time Diversity Coordinator will be coming to visit for half a day this week, as they have made it through the first round interviews. We look forward to getting to know each better, and having others in the community get to know them, in order to determine the best fit for our school.

TGIF Fun in Extended Day: This Friday, April 20, the extended day staff will host a Fiber Craft Fun Day! We will work on small knitting, beadwork and latch hook projects. No need to pre-register - just come join us when the bell rings. See you then!

Calling all bakers: We are having our second annual Cyber bake sale. This one will benefit Harveyville, Kansas as they start to recover from the tornado that destroyed half of their town. If you would like to donate a baked item (and we hope you will!), please e-mail Pam at pbauer@speds.org. Be specific about what you are offering. The items will need to be turned in by Tuesday, April 24. Last year we had a wonderful variety of cinnamon rolls, cookies, cakes and pies. We welcome everything. In next Monday's MMM, we will provide a link to the list of baked items. You may then e-mail me your choice: first come, first served. Items will be distributed to your child's class no later than Wednesday.

Service Club: We will be meeting after school on Tuesday, April 24 to support the cyber bake-salel, distributing items and writing thank you notes. Please e-mail Chaplain Nolan if you plan on attending: pbauer@speds.org. Remember, Service Club requires a parent's participation for those students who are in fifth grade or younger.

Auction Lost and Found: Did you leave the auction without your umbrella? If so, check at the ECC reception desk. You can check with Sarah Telford about anything else you might have lost.

Stay up to date on the latest happenings with our school calendar. Bookmark the calendar page on our website and check back often to see what is going on at St. Paul's.

MONDAY MORNING MEMO

Today is our practice for the all-school picture to be taken tomorrow morning. Does your child have a white shirt here at school? Please be sure to send one tomorrow, if you have not done so already. Thanks!

We are so grateful to Jill and Joe Watt who have made this all-school picture possible! They have organized it, drawn the numbers on the field, arranged for the helicopter and photographer – in other words, they’re doing it all! Thank you, thank you, thank you for starting our 50th in such an exciting way. By the way, Jill is very capably leading ALL of the 50th Anniversary plans, too!

Thank you to all who attended conferences last week and to the teachers for all their preparation for those meetings! We value this time with you and appreciate the time that you share with us.

Middle School Transition Night and the Sixth Grade Program are this Thurs., Apr 12, at 6:00 and 7:00, respectively. Transition night is meant for all parents of next year’s MS students since students change a lot in their three years in this division. However, it is especially helpful for parents of fifth grade students who have not yet experienced middle school. The objective is to share the developmental and academic changes one can expect to see at this time. We hope you’ll join us!

Sixth grade parents who would like to attend both Transition Night and the program are asked to leave their children in the ECC Commons where an adult will supervise them until 6:30, when Mrs. Fatu will be organizing them for the program.

The sixth graders will dazzle their parents and friends with an international show, led by Mrs. Fatu at 7:00 in the north wing MPR.

The Kindergarten Mothers’ Lunch will be this Fri., Apr. 13th at 12:15. Parents will gather in the ECC Commons and then go to the classroom of their child. It will be a little over an hour of classroom visit, lunch, and an activity with your child. If you cannot come, we urge you to send a special friend to enjoy this time with your child or let us know and one of the administrators will happily be a surrogate for this time!

The game clock is running! Only five days until the Game On Auction! -- Send in your reservation cards, or make your reservations online – it’s easy! We need to have an accurate count to the caterer early this week, so please help us out and make your reservations as soon as possible. Tickets are $75 per person, and include cocktails and the Silent Auction, followed by a team dinner and the Live Auction. Remember, if you have been invited to sit with friends at a reserved table, you will still need to purchase tickets to the auction. Click here to make your reservation online: https://stpeds.ejoinme.org/?tabid=337897

If you did not get a chance to pick up your auction catalog at conferences last week, please check your oldest child’s backpack – they will be bringing it home today. Check out the great Live and Silent Auction items, and the sign-up parties! You can sign up NOW for class, teacher or premium sign-up parties - click here to register online: https://stpeds.ejoinme.org/?tabid=336041

The Game Plan -- At 6:00, the Silent Auction begins in the Multipurpose Room, where we’ll tailgate and bid on lots of great items. Promptly at 8:00, all Silent Auction tables will close (except Super Silent and Buy It Now) and guests will head to the gym, where there will be plenty of grade-level seating available. Maps located on the way into the gym will direct you to those tables. You won’t want to miss the Live Auction, or the kick-off entertainment and half-time games, including the slideshow, the heads or tails game where you can win $500 and much, much more. Super Silent and Buy It Now bid sheets will move to the west wall of the gym, and will close when the Live Auction ends.

Check out the Super Silent, Class Art and Live Auction items at www.stpaulsauction.com.

Parking -- Parking for the auction will be available in the St. Paul’s lot, on the surrounding streets and in the Community Blood Center lot. Security guards will be on-hand.

Slam Dunk for St. Paul’s -- Please support this year’s Fund-a-Need project: exciting improvements to the playing field that will allow for more outdoor play and exercise for our children! Through Fund-a-Need, you can contribute directly to this project that will enhance our kids’ physical development and well-being. The project will be completed in three phases, depending on the amount of funds raised:

· Phase 1 – One-tenth mile asphalt walking/jogging track ($18,000)

· Phase 2 – Basketball half-court, including four square lines ($12,000)

· Phase 3 – Four-seat swing set ($8,000 to $12,000)

These improvements will provide more options at recess and PE classes for boys and girls of all ages, will offer alternative play space for crowded playgrounds, will allow for a place for siblings to play during games and practices, and will allow for future expansion.

With your help, we can hit our goal! Click here to donate to Fund-a-Need online: https://stpeds.ejoinme.org/?tabid=336071

Place Your Bet – Buy Your Raffle Tickets Now! You can’t win one of four great items if you don’t place your bet! Raffle tickets are $25 each, or five for $100, and can be purchased online here: https://stpeds.ejoinme.org/?tabid=336042 or at either front desk.

The weekend of Mar. 29-Apr. 1, twelve students and Mrs. Reynolds attended a Spanish immersion program at El Lago de Bosque near Bemidji, MN. The students participated in many activities, all conducted in Spanish, ate authentic Spanish cuisine at every meal, and engaged in conversation with the counselors, many of whom were native speakers. Although the seventh graders were the youngest students present, they still received three Super-Español awards for speaking only Spanish for half a day. Drake R. also received an award from one of the counselors for making great effort to speak the target language with both counselors and other campers. Attendees were: Lauren Mc., Rachael S., Abria A., Haley B., Ashley B., Monty L., Cora M., Caroline Mc., A’Starr M., Drake R., Danny T., and Sydney W.

Calling all buddy families for the 2012-13 school year: Buddy Family Orientation will be held on Wednesday, April 18th at 8:30 am in the North MPR. Please let Miriam Zavagnin know if you are unable to attend.

Join us for “Friday the 13th Fun” in extended day! Creepy snacks will be enjoyed and games like Mafia, Clue, and Doctor vs. Virus will be played. No need to sign up - just come join us at carpool time, and your day will be a little luckier.

Stay up to date on the latest happenings with our school calendar. Bookmark the calendar page on our website and check back often to see what is going on at St. Paul's.