Monday Morning Memo

2013-2014 Five-Week Annual Fund Pledge Drive Kicks Off Tomorrow  This is what you can expect:
Ø      Annual Fund Booklet (coming home with your children)
Ø      School Communications (MMM, school-wide emails)
Ø      Annual Fund Team Class Captains Weekly Emails (updates and links will be included)
Ø      Website (http://www.speds.org/support/annual-fund/)
Ø      Videos (to help share the details of our pledge drive)
Ø      Link to Pledge Online (http://www.speds.org/support/annual-fund/)
Coach Simmons explains it all in the this video.  Check it out!

Click here for more information. (http://www.speds.org/support/annual-fund/)
Click here to pledge. (http://www.speds.org/support/annual-fund/)
Click here to make your gift.  (http://www.speds.org/support/annual-fund/)

We look forward to and sincerely appreciate your support!

Important Message from the Search Committee:  We want to thank you for your involvement in this important process for our school!  Please know that we have heard your comments and questions and we are very pleased that our community is excited to learn more about each of the finalists.

We appreciate your input and enthusiasm and we want everyone in our community to learn more firsthand about each finalist.  We hope you enjoyed meeting Lori Preston last week, and sincerely hope that you are able to take the time to meet the remaining finalists during their upcoming visits.

Click here to read about the four finalists. And mark your calendars to meet Andrew Myler on October 15^th, Byron Lawson on October 21^st and Gray Smith on October 28^th. You will be able to meet the finalists informally between 2:25 and 3:15 in the South Multipurpose Room. The sessions will allow an opportunity for open discussion with the finalists, and parents should feel free to come and go as their schedules allow. 

We want to assure you about our dedication to the thoroughness of the search process, as the committee is thick in the middle of checking references and learning as much as possible about our finalists. 

Sincerely, Laurie Robinson and Amy Holewinski

Search Committee Co-Chairs

This Wednesday, October 16^th, will be the Cookies for Cancer sale at lunch for grades 3^rd-8^th.  Cookies will be sold at two for $1.00 with proceeds benefiting the American Cancer Society.  Chartwells and our own lunchroom staff are donating their time and the cookies.  Thanks so much to them!

Spirit Day and Feed-the-Need Friday will be this week on Oct. 18.  Show your St. Paul’s spirit of service by bringing an item to chapel for the St. Paul’s food pantry and your school spirit with your St. Paul’s t-shirt or sweatshirt.

News from the Admissions Office:  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 8^th.  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. 

Box Tops for Education  Please send in all those General Mills box tops you’ve been collecting over the summer.  The first deadline for submission will be November 1.   Last year Student Council on behalf of the school received a check for $540 from General Mills.   Continue to clip and save and send them in.  Containers are at the main reception desks and can be brought in at any time. 

We successfully accomplished our first fire drill for the year on Friday and will be conducting a lockdown drill later this month.  We will practice a tornado drill before the end of the calendar year so that we will be ready for anything!  Our fire drills are held monthly (Oct. – May), unless weather prohibits, with tornado and lockdown drills held twice a year.  If you happen to be helping us or visiting when we have one of these drills, we will ask you to participate, too, so our students will see that all of us take this seriously.

We are experiencing a lot of students leaving early, arriving late, or missing school for other reasons.  It takes away from other students when our teachers have to stop what they are doing to repeat directions to a late arrival, and try to get things ready for someone who is leaving early or absent.  While this must be done when students are sick, we have so many who are missing for other reasons that it is very disruptive.  Our teachers work hard to provide interactive, hands-on learning opportunities for students – more so than worksheets and paperwork – but this kind of absenteeism discourages those efforts.  Please try to make your appointments after school and have your child at school and in class from 8:05 to 3:25.  Thank you for your help on this.

A reminder from the Business Office regarding your student billing statements:

·         Since July 2012, statements have been sent out electronically, via an email from Christina Cutcliffe as a PDF attachment. To ensure that you receive these statements (and avoid them going to your spam folder), please add her email (ccutcliffe@speds.org) to your safe senders list. Statements are emailed to the ‘family’ email address. A student with two households will receive individual statements at each respective email address. Christina is happy to add additional email addresses to the list of those that receive statements—just email her.

·         You will not receive a printed statement. Should you wish to keep a paper statement for your records, simply print out the PDF attachment. Thank you for helping St. Paul’s save trees and postage costs!

·         If your overall account has a zero balance, you will not receive a statement that month. Additionally, if you have more than one child at school and a child’s account has a zero balance, he/she will not appear on your statement, even if overall you have a balance due from your other children.  

·         It is your responsibility to notify the school should your official email address change. You can do this by sending our Registrar, Steve Darnell, an email (sdarnell@speds.org). You are still responsible for paying any charges that accrue to your account in a timely fashion, or interest will be charged at the rate stipulated in your enrollment contract.

Michelle Johnson, our Diversity Coordinator, has created a blog that we hope you’ll follow:  http://spedsdiversitydialogue.blogspot.com/

Do you know of someone who needs a note of support or congratulations? – Andi McCarthy is the lady who tries to be aware of these occasions so she can send a note from our community.  If you hear of anything, please contact her, or Colette Rousey or me and we will get the message to Andi.  Thank you!

Two St. Paul's alumni have been named National Merit Commended students, Arianna L and Sean R.  Congratulations to these fine students and their families.  We’re very proud of them!

MMM 11/12/12

MONDAY MORNING MEMO

November 12, 2012

Attention Pre-Kindergarten Families:  We would like to invite you to come preview Kindergarten on *Tuesday, November 13^th from 8:30-9:30am.  We will meet in the North MPR for a short presentation by Mrs. Abio and then visit the kindergarten classrooms.  *The master school calendar indicated that this event would take place on Nov. 6^th. 

The sixth grade students will participate in the culminating unit of study known as the King Arthur Feast this Friday, Nov. 16 at 12:15 p.m. in the MS Commons.  The Lords and Ladies of the sixth grade will enjoy a knighting ceremony (yes, the ladies, too!) and a feast, and will perform a song and dance for their visitors.  Come enter another era and enjoy!

Many, many thanks to Joanna Posten and Janet Greaves and the wonderful volunteers from whom they garnered support in making our Book Fair such a success!  The gym was a lively center of reading and shopping from its opening on Wednesday through Friday and it appeared that a good time was being had by all!  Thanks, too, to our Librarian, Mr. Nerstheimer, for his hard work, sage advice, and lively reading to each group of students.  We are proud to be a school where reading is still such an enjoyable, shared activity.

Thirty-three seventh and eighth grade students met this weekend at Shawnee Mission South for our first preliminary Science Olympiad tournament. They all worked together as an outstanding team to take second place overall in the tournament. Seventh graders Ben S, Ella L, Jonah W, Jensen P, Daisy B, Layne S, Roy W, Anna Louise S, Oliver C, Max M, Adam K, Natalie K, Catherine H, Caroline S, Zach T, Grace C, John R, Will P, Caroline R, Sydney H, along with the leadership of our eighth graders, Lilly L, Monty L, Claire Mc, Meg B, Ashley B, A’starr M, Elyse C, Meghan L, Cora M, Drake R, Lilly H, Clayton F, Taylor N and Danny T were fun and fabulous to spend the day with. The student’s behavior, willingness to work hard, individual responsibility and determination were all outstanding. Individual winners were: Drake R 6th in Forestry , Drake R and Roy W 5th in Road Scholar, Ashley B and Monty L 3rd in Heredity, Meghan L 1st in Crime Busters, 2nd in Water Quality and 2nd in Dynamic Planet, Monty L 3rd in Meteorology, Connor T 5th in Reach for the Stars, Connor T and Zach T 3rd in Experimental Design, Elyse C 1st in Food Science, Claire Mc 5th in Keep the Heat, Lilly L 3rd Shock Value, Carol Ann G and Caroline R 1st in Sound of Music, A'starr M 4th in Boomilever, Mission Possible medal awarded to Layne S and Sydney H. 

This afternoon in their Science Olympiad Elective and on Thursday morning at 7:15 they will be back to work preparing for the next preliminary tournament on December 8th at Pembroke Hill. Congratulations to all of these students and to the St. Paul’s community for their excellent representation!

Pantry Drive Update:  As of Friday, we have received a stunning total of 6754 items and are looking forward to amazing contributions this week.  Thank you to everyone who has contributed to this effort, including our generous donors, wonderful STUCO workers, our teacher promoters, and our pantry item haulers!  For this week, please remember that double points are given for bulk items every day. The daily featured items are listed below but please know that all non-perishable items are welcome on any of these days. 

St. Paul’s Episcopal Day School’s

Annual Food Drive

To support St. Paul’s Church’s food pantry

When:  November 7-16

Where:  Main entrance/hallway of both buildings

Double points will be given for BULK ITEMS every day except Wednesday, November 7

Wednesday, November 7:  Triple points for bulk items (except           

                                            diapers)

Thursday, November 8:     Double points for peanut butter or

                                            canned fish or meats

Friday, November 9:          Double points for toilet paper

Monday, November 12:     Double points for personal hygiene

                                            items

Tuesday, November 13:      Double points for dry beans, rice,

                                             crackers and Mac and Cheese

Wednesday, November 14:  Laundry detergent (20 points for     

                                              multiple-load bottle or box     

                                              detergent)

Thursday, November 15:    Double points for disposable diapers

                                             sizes 3, 4, 5 and 6 as well as Adult

                                             Depends. (We will count each

                                             Diaper in the package)

Friday, November 16:         To be announced

The pencil donation project for South Sudanese students concluded with TERRIFIC results.  The total number of pencils donated as of Thursday, Nov. 8, was 12,652!  This was a huge step toward second grade student Atem Akuei’s big goal of taking 20,000 pencils to students in South Sudan.  We are so proud of the boys and girls who reached out with their hearts and grateful to the parents who, through their generosity, accomplished so much.  Thank you to everyone for your support of this special project. 

Reminder:  Parents’ Guild Book Club will be held on Thursday, November 15th at 8:15am in the Garden Room.  The book to be discussed is American Dervish by Ayad Akhtar.  Refreshments will be served.  RSVP to Joanne Reardon at reardonjoanne@att.net.

The 2011-12 Annual Report is now available on line at http://www.speds.org/support/annual-report/.   Thanks to everyone for all the support of the various fundraising efforts -- Annual Fund, Buddy Run, Auction, and of course, the Endowment Campaign.  You enhance our program offerings, provide the future for our school through the endowment campaign, engage our parents and students – all while keeping our tuition level well below the national average.  Every effort has been made to ensure that the information presented is accurate and complete.  Please let Jane Pennington, our Director of Development, know if we have erred on any of the information presented in this report.

DID YOU KNOW?  2012-2013 Annual Fund Call Week is now until November 14^th!  We are calling on all parents for 100% participation.  Make your gift today and direct it toward Academic Programs, Financial Aid, Faculty Support or Daily Needs.  Thank you for your support! 

Donate Now (http://www.diamondmindinc.com/spedsog.html)

Pledge Now (http://go.speds.org/pledgenow)

Looking for some good exercise and a good cause to support on Thanksgiving Day?  The  Thanksgiving Day 5K Stroll and Kids Fun Run will be held on the Sprint campus.  The Kids Fun Run will be in honor of Tom Murphy, and proceeds from that run will provide a scholarship at Rockhurst High School.

We have noticed a couple of empty-looking cars driving through our parking lot.  If you need a new St. Paul’s car decal, pick one up at the front desk anytime.  We love seeing the stickers all around Kansas City!

Journey U, one of our sixth graders, has a very important role in “Nuncrackers:  The Nunsense Christmas Musical” at American Heartland Theater!  She appears in an article about the production in the November/December edition of KC Studio.  There are two sets of student actors for the production and Journey appears in the following ones:

Nov. 10^th - Sat. 2pm & 8pm; Nov. 13^th - Tues. 7:30; Nov. 15^th - Thurs. 7:30; Nov. 20^th - Tues. 7:30; Nov. 21^st -  Wed. 7:30; Nov. 24^th - Sat. 4pm & 8 pm; Nov. 27^th - Tues. 7:30; Nov. 28^th - Wed.  1pm & 7:30; Nov. 29^th - Thurs. 7:30; Dec. 4^th - Tues. 7:30pm; Dec. 5^th -  Wed. 1pm & 7:30pm; Dec. 8^th - Sat. 4pm & 8pm; Dec. 11^th - Tues. 7:30pm; Dec. 12^th - Wed. 7:30pm.; Dec. 13^th - Thursday 7:30pm; Dec. 14^th - Friday 8pm; Dec. 18^th - Tues. 7:30pm; Dec. 19^th - Wed. 7:30pm; and Dec. 22nd Sat. 4pm & 8pm.  Congratulations, Journey!

As you are reading this, I will be part of an accrediting team at Notre Dame Preparatory and Marist Academy in Detroit, MI.  Those of you who were here for our visit in 2009 will remember the team of teachers and administrators from other ISACS (Independent Schools Association of the Central States – our accrediting agency) schools visiting our campus to determine if the self-study we wrote over the course of a year accurately reflected our school.  These visits are great opportunities to learn more about how other schools function and, at the same time, to contribute to the work of our accrediting agency.  From this visit, I will go to Baltimore to attend the National Association of Episcopal Schools Biennial Conference through Saturday morning.  I will be checking in periodically but am confident that the people here can handle any needs/concerns you might have in my absence.

Monday Morning Memo Sept. 24, 2012

What a delightful Family Fun Fest we all enjoyed on Friday!  The weather was gorgeous, the activities were fun for the children, the volunteers all made those activities possible, and a good time was had by all.  Thank you so much to Brittany Harris and Katie Moreland for chairing this event, gathering the volunteers, and providing one of the most cherished events for our children.  

It’s time for our first music program of this school year!   Our kindergarten students, under the direction of Mrs. Haskamp, will lead off our musical performances on Wednesday, Sept. 26 at 9:00 a.m. in the north wing multipurpose room.  Come share the joy of these lively performers!

High School Night is this Thursday, September 27 at 6:00 p.m. in the north wing multipurpose room.   This event is for our eighth graders and their parents to learn from representatives of the various high schools about their program.  Not only do Admissions people from the schools come to engage our students, but also graduates of St. Paul’s who are now attending there.

HAVE YOU SIGNED UP FOR THE 3rd ANNUAL BUDDY RUN?  This is the LAST WEEK for sponsor families to get their names on the t-shirt! Sponsorships are offered at three levels and ALL sponsor families will be listed on the back of the t-shirt.  To appear on the back of the t-shirt sponsor families must make their donation by Friday, September 28th!  If you aren't up for being a sponsor, please register your child for the run. Both Sponsorships and Child Registration can be done here:  https://stpeds.ejoinme.org/?tabid=387225.  If you would prefer not to pay online, please print the form at the end of this post and return it to school.  All students will participate in the Buddy Run and all will receive a t-shirt to wear the day of the run!  This event is a FUNdraiser and is the only fundraiser besides the auction that the Parents' Guild sponsors.  All children who are registered or whose family is a sponsor at any level will receive a St. Paul's water bottle and be entered in a raffle to be the Master of Ceremonies the day of the race.  Volunteers are also still needed. This is a fun two hour opportunity with our kids. Sign up today!  http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0F4BA4AE1-buddy.

DID YOU KNOW that St. Paul's receives funding from other non-profit organizations and foundations?  The size of these incremental donations often depends upon the percentage of parent participation in the Annual Fund - that is why we so strongly encourage every family to participate!   Every donation matters, so please participate to your level of inspiration.  Thank you!
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