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

Halloween is Wednesday (as I’m sure you know!) and the excitement will be palpable!  Please be sure that children’s costumes are appropriate – ones they can safely wear all day or out of which they can change early in the day, not so expensive that school activities can ruin them and cause disaster, no frightfully scary masks or even plastic weapons – just good, clean, creative fun!

Parent Teacher Conferences are this Thursday and Friday!  I hope you’ve made an appointment to visit with your child’s teacher as there is much to be gained by these face-to-face meetings.  Remember there will be no classes for students on these days but our extended day program will be available for all day care or for drop-ins during conferences. 

Speaking of extended day, we are making a change in the coverage of our Early Room program

based on the increased growth of participation during the morning.  For many years we have offered all early room care in the south MPR.  As our numbers have increased this year, we feel it is in the best interest of all participants to split the groups by age.  Beginning Monday, October 29^th,  we will have the following age groups report to the identified locations:

Toddler/Preschool/PreK/Kindergarten will be reporting to the ECC Commons

First through eighth graders will be remain in the south MPR

This will allow us to offer developmentally appropriate choices to everyone.  It will also allow us to provide the adequate supervision and interactions important for a positive start to the school day.

As a reminder, all Toddler/Preschool/PreK/Kindergarten children must be signed into Early Room by their parent while the first through eighth graders may sign for themselves.

We are confident that this will be a successful adjustment for all and if you have any questions, feel free to contact me directly.  Please remember that this change begins today – Monday, October 29^th.

Admissions season for the 2013-14 school year is in full swing!  Siblings of current St. Paul’s students and St. Paul’s church members receive admissions priority until Friday, December 7^th.  Please submit your applications to the admissions office as soon as possible.

Get Hooked on a Good Book! - Please mark your calendar for family night at the book fair on Wednesday, November 7th from 3:30 - 5:30 pm in the gymnasium.  Come peruse our fabulous selection of books, read a few with your child or set books aside for class visits on Thursday and Friday.  We will celebrate and encourage reading with buddy D.E.A.R. times (drop everything and read) and an all-school reading time during the week, as well as author visits during each divisional chapel on Thursday.  If you would like to help with the book fair, please see the schedule at http://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F0B48A9AA292-book  If you would like to bring treats for class visits during the book fair, please sign up at http://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F0B48A9AA292-book1

All School Pencil Collection Project from October 25^th – November 7^th, 2012 -- Atem Akuei is a current second grade student at St. Paul’s whose father is originally from Sudan, Africa. Since Atem was six years old, he has been collecting pencils and school supplies for the children of South Sudan when he learned that children there do not have any support for their education. In fact, they sit under any big tree and write in the dirt with their fingers. Atem has voluntarily given up a lot of things to make sure he can make a difference in the lives of the Sudanese children.  Last year Atem worked hard to meet his goal of collecting and sending 10,000 pencils.  Atem’s previous school and channel 41 honored him last school year for collecting 12,334 pencils!  This year his goal is 20,000 pencils!    Students in St. Paul’s School and St. Paul’s Church members are invited to donate to this worthy project in the next two weeks.

We invite each St. Paul’s student and family to help Atem reach his goal by bringing in new, unopened boxes or bags of pencils anytime between

Wednesday, October 25^th and Wednesday, November 7^th . Pencils can be placed in the large boxes found on each floor of the Lower School, in the blue tub at the greeting spot in ECC, and in the receptacle organized by MS on the third floor. We thank you for supporting the children of South Sudan and Atem Akuei’s honorable mission!  Atem and his mother will be delivering the pencils to the children of South Sudan in December of this year. To learn more about this heartfelt story, go to:  http://tinyurl.com/atem-news   

Several parents and faculty have reported cars coming through the carpool lines with children unbelted and hanging out windows, a very unsafe practice that makes us all nervous.  Please encourage your children to buckle up as soon as they get in the car and stay buckled until leaving the car.  We would hate to see a child get hurt by not adhering to this expectation.