We had a lovely chapel service and reception to honor the
faculty members who will be leaving this year. Thanks so much to Pam, the Chapel Leadership
Team, our One Community Chorus led by Tamara Everly, Missy Haskamp and Lynnette
Rempel for the worship service and to our hospitality chairs Pauline Henne, Jennifer Murphy and
Amy Graham for the delightful reception for our retiring faculty. It is always a bittersweet event as we say
“good bye” to those who have been so much a part of us for a total of 63 years!
Our Field Day activities today and tomorrow are going to
hinge on the unpredictable weather.
Every effort will be made to get these fun activities to happen, but,
without favorable weather conditions, we will have to cancel all or part of
what is scheduled. We will hope for the
best. Preschool through prekindergarten
are scheduled for this morning; kindergarten through second grade this
afternoon; third through fifth grade on Tuesday morning; and sixth through
eighth, including our famous faculty/eighth grade softball game for Tuesday
afternoon. The game is scheduled for
2:45, if the weather permits.
We will have what we call the “Recognition Chapel” for
eighth grade students on Wednesday at 8:30 a.m. in the gym. This is where 3rd – 7th
grade students recognize our graduates.
The gym will be full with the students but eighth grade parents are
invited to attend. There will be a
section designated for parents so students will be able to get down and to the
eighth graders without walking over the parents!
Baccalaureate, the special church service to honor our
graduates, will be this Wednesday evening at 7:00 p.m. in the church. All members of the school and church
community are welcome to join us as we give thanks and blessings to our
graduates. A reception, hosted by our
seventh grade families, will follow in the north wing multipurpose room.
Graduation will be on Friday, May 24th, at
1:00 p.m. in the north wing MPR.
Again, all members of the church and school community are welcome to
join us as we honor each graduate with a tribute to his/her time here.
We have hired a fifth grade teacher – Rebecca Laird – to
take Mrs. Jones’ class, since she is moving to the Acting Division Head
position. Rebecca is relatively new
to teaching but comes with stellar recommendations for her skills, maturity,
personal affability. This is what we
also saw in her.
We are re-posting our preschool associate teacher
position in the hope of finding one with Reggio Emilio and emergent
curriculum experience, if possible. We
are also continuing our search for the lead toddler position, for which we have
interviewed two candidates to date.
The search for our Associate Rector/Chaplain position is
being led by Father Stan. A
candidate with chaplaincy experience is coming to Kansas City for a visit and
further interviews in early June.
Girls Soccer
Tournament News: The St. Paul’s girls soccer teams
pulled off a rare double win in the Metropolitan Private School League post
season soccer tournament. The “A” team, coached by Mrs. Gouttierre, won
the “A” division title over Kansas City Christian, 1-0. The “B” team,
coached by Mr. Richman, beat Summit Christian 3-0 to take the “B” division
crown. It’s a rare feat to have one school win both divisions but our
girls pulled it off. Congratulations to all involved!
Students will keep the same carpool number for next year.
Please keep your carpool number cards over the summer, since you will be using
them again in the fall. If you need to request a change or are a new family or
need a new card, please contact Maria Meli at mmeli@speds.org.
One
Last Service Club: Students/families
are welcome to join us for one last service club after school on Tuesday, May
21. Middle School students are welcome to attend without a
parent. Adults need to accompany students through fifth grade. (Again, one
parent may supervise more than one student.) We’ll stay on campus, most
likely continuing work in the pantry. Please let me know if you are
available so that we know whether there are enough volunteers AND we can plan
appropriately. Snacks will be provided. We’ll be done no later than
5:00 pm. To RSVP: pbauer@speds.org
Summer
hours: The school will be open this
summer because of our wonderful, expanded summer program. Administrators will be here from 9:00 – 4:00
on Monday through Thursday of June; most will be gone for the month of July;
and all will return to normal hours on August 1st, when we return
from our breaks. The entire school will
be closed for the week of July 1-5 for maintenance and cleaning.
Another
sign that things are changing: A friend sent me the following statistics from
a New York Times article. I don’t think
it will surprise you, except perhaps in the percentages. “Sales of fiction e-books were up 42% last
year, and non-fiction e-book sales increased by 22%. E-books in the children's
and young adult categories increased by 117%. Print formats were flat or
decreasing while e-books and downloadable audiobooks boomed" (NYT,
4/15/13, p B3). No matter the format you
choose for your children, I hope you’ll keep them reading this summer, in order
to keep minds active, imaginations blooming, and hearts committed. Also be safe, try to slow down to enjoy a
more languid pace, and explore new opportunities! We look forward to the break and then to your
return in August.
