The
Search Committee invites all parents to meet the remaining finalist, Gray
Smith, on October 28th. You will be able to meet him informally between 2:25 and
3:15 in the South Multipurpose Room. The session will allow an opportunity for
open discussion with him, and parents should feel free to come and go as their
schedules allow. We are still on target to announce
the next Head of School by late November, though our commitment to
finding the right candidate might alter that date to some degree. After Gray's visit, the
feedback from the advisory groups, along with the information gleaned in the
reference checking and the finalists’ formal interviews with the Search
Committee, will be used by the committee in determining which candidate to
present to the Board of Trustees as the proposed new Head of School.
About those phone calls . . . 2013-2014 Five Week Annual Fund Pledge
Drive. Please see our message in this
video.
A reminder about Halloween costumes: We ask that students not wear costumes that
are gory and frightening for our young students, especially since students will
be going with their buddies to all-school chapel that morning. No weapons, including plastic ones, are
allowed. Costumes should allow students
to play at recess and PE and conduct regular classroom activities and, if that
won’t work with their costumes, they should bring a change of clothes. Please do not send your child in an expensive
costume that, if damaged, would prevent him/her from wearing it at Halloween. We want our active students to be able to
continue to do so without fear of damaging clothes or hurting themselves.
All school chapel will occur on Halloween Day, rather
than on Friday this week. Regular
divisional chapels will take place on Friday.
We had a great turnout for parent-teacher conferences on
Thursday and Friday! Thank you so
much for coming in person to talk with your child’s teacher. The exchange is very helpful to the teachers
and we sincerely hope it meets your needs as a parent, too.
Many
thanks to Ann Fasel, Amanda Durkin and volunteers for the delicious supper
Thursday night and April Bier and Costco for breakfast Friday morning. A delicious dinner of pasta, salad, bread and
dessert were served to the faculty by the following volunteers and we consumed
it with much gusto! Breakfast and the
coffee lady on Friday morning were another very special treat for us. Thank you to:
DINNER:
Jessica Hagg
Noelle Manica
Polly Breitenkamp
Suzanne Raney
Cameron Rostron
Kay Gaffney
Katy Platt
Courtney Fadler
Connie Mendolia
Colette Fry-Williams
Jessica Marien
Shawna Williamson
Kathleen Dorris
Angela Fitle
Mia Madison
Andrea Wilson
Katherine McLiney
BREAKFAST:
April Bier and Costco
Today we welcome back our fourth grade teacher, Mrs.
Cowan, who has been on maternity leave.
Mrs. Cowan joined Mrs. Field for the conferences on Thursday and Friday,
and resumes her duties as teacher today.
We sincerely appreciate Mrs. Field for her collaborative teaching and
skills with our fourth graders during this quarter.
St. Paul's Book Fair is November 4-6. On Monday, November 4 from 3:30-6:00, families
can shop at the book fair. On November 5 and 6, each student will
visit the book fair with his or her class and have the opportunity to shop from
a vast assortment of books supplied by The Reading Reptile. Opportunities
to help are available and much appreciated. Please open the link below to
sign up: www.SignUpGenius.com/go/20F044DAEAD283-book
Professional
Development Days on November 7 and 8.
Please note that there will be no classes for toddler through
kindergarten students on BOTH Thursday and Friday, Nov. 7 and 8. The ECC faculty will be going as a group to
the ISACS Conference in St. Louis for those two days. Students in grades 1 – 8 will have classes
on Thursday, Nov. 7, but they will have no school on Friday, Nov. 8, as these
teachers will be having professional development on Friday. On both days child care is available through
Karen McDonald with prior arrangement at kmcdonald@speds.org.
Due to low numbers for our next Community Learning Event
we have decided to offer a short presentation and book discussion over The Genius in Every Child: Encouraging
Character, Curiosity, and Creativity in Children by Rick Ackerly. Though it is a quick read, we’ve also decided
to postpone this event until Tuesday, February 4th in order to allow
those who wish to read it ample time. We
realize October has been a very busy month and now with the holidays
approaching, schedules will become even more hectic. If you are interested in previewing the book,
you can access several chapters and the introduction and epilogue at http://tinyurl.com/m4356yr. Copies of the book will soon be available for
checkout from Linda Van Thullenar.
Applications are now being accepted for the 2014-15
school year. Siblings and Church Member applicants will receive
priority consideration if their applications are received by Friday, November 8th.
Current students do NOT need to re-apply for the 2014-15 school year.
Re-enrollment agreements will be mailed for our current students in
January. If you have any questions about sibling application, please
contact Jill McGee in the Admissions Office at 816-268-6542 or Jmcgee@speds.org.
St. Paul’s is hosting “Exploring Kindergarten” on
Thursday, November 14th. Teachers, Students,
Administrators and two of our “new” Kindergarten parents will be on hand to
discuss our kindergarten program and how it fits into the “big picture” of a
St. Paul’s (and beyond) education. If you know of families with
Pre-school and/or Pre-K students who have not yet discovered St. Paul’s, please
invite them to contact Jill McGee in the Admissions Office for an invitation to
this event. Current St. Paul’s Pre-K parents are also invited to this
event.
The November 2013 issue
of Arts & Activities features yet another article by our
art teacher, Shirley Laird! Her article on “Seeing the Negative Can be
Positive” features work of our students and showcases our special art
department. Congratulations, Mrs. Laird!
