Monday Morning Memo

Reminder:  NO LUNCH SERVED ON FRIDAY!  This Friday, we will have the last event in our 50th anniversary – a Pillars of St. Paul’s luncheon to thank former rectors, heads, trustees, and teachers for the school they have established and maintained in this first fifty years.  For the occasion, we are taking the lunchroom and teachers and students will be dining in their classrooms or having a picnic outside, but ALL need to bring a lunch.

Jenny Wyllie, our first grade associate but a fully certified teacher with years of experience at second grade, will be our new second grade teacher next year.  We had a number of fine candidates for the position but Jenny’s experience and proven competence won her the position.

Grandparents’ and Special Friends’ Day for students in kindergarten, 4th and 8th grades is this Wednesday, Apr. 30.  We have so much support from our wonderful grandparents that it is not possible for us to invite all of them from each of the grades, so we include these grades each year with the hope that all grandparents will be able to celebrate with us three times during their children’s tenure here.  Grandparents have received an invitation with the details about times and the schedule but, if you have questions, please contact Katie Gregg at 816-268-6541 or the main number at 816-931-8614.

The Art Fair is also this Wednesday,  Apr. 30 from 3:30 – 7:30 in our gym.  Each student from kindergarten through 8th grade has at least four pieces of his/her art work on display – a gallery display provided for us by our art teachers:  Ms. Laird and Mrs. Crumpecker.

I am sorry to report that Ms. Laird will be unable to attend the Art Fair, as her father passed away on Saturday.  Our thoughts and prayers are with her and her family.

From the Admissions Office:  As a reminder to our returning families, your 2014-15 enrollment agreements are binding as of May 1, 2014. Should you decide, for any reason, to withdraw your student(s) from St. Paul’s after April 30, 2014 (which we sincerely hope will not be the case!), you will still be responsible for payment of the full year’s tuition and fees.  If you have any questions about this, please contact Jill McGee in the Admissions Office:  816-268-6542 .

Don't forget to cast your vote for next year's Parents' Guild board of officers. The Parents’ Guild could not do all of the wonderful work it does without YOU!  Please submit your vote by following this link:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/9BSMRXQ
You have until May 7, 2014 to complete your vote. Thank you for being an active part of our community!

Max M. will be Head of School for the Day on Wednesday, May 7 and has declared the dress to be that with an American Day theme!  So start planning your red, white and blue, patriotic attire for next Wednesday and also prepare for a new eighth grade leader for the day.

We will be sponsoring a blood drive on Friday, May 16 from 12:00 noon to 4:30 p.m. in our gym.
Community Blood Center needs to collect 580 units of blood daily to meet the needs of area hospital patients. As there is no substitute for blood, they rely on volunteer donors like you, to supply life-saving blood and blood components to 70 hospitals in Kansas and Missouri. As a special reward for St. Paul’s Blood Donors:  Register for our Blood Drive and receive a “Buy One, Get One Free” coupon for Schlitterbahn Water Park.  If you have any questions about donating blood, please contact the Community Blood Center at 1-888-647-4040 or visit  https://www.esavealifenow.org/index.cfm?group=op&hlc=stpauls&hostlookupcode=stpauls
 If you have any questions about the blood drive, contact Jill McGee, our site coordinator at jmcgee@speds.org.

The middle school book fair will be Wednesday, May 7.  Fifth through eighth grade will attend.  Charge slips will be sent home Monday, May 5, for students wishing to charge books to their St. Paul's account.

The book swap will be Friday, May 9.   This is an opportunity for students in first through fourth grade to bring in books they have finished and exchange them for new reading material.  Please start looking for reading material appropriate for grades 1-4 that you want give to the swap. You must donate a book in order to participate.   You may get up to five books if you donate at least five books.

Reminder - 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:  Tuesday, April 15 – Friday, May 2.  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.  There is no longer a convenience charge for this service!
2)  Complete and return an order form to the school front desk.  Charges will be billed to your school account in August.  Click here to view lists and order supplies:  http://www.speds.org/Page/School-Supplies   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 13th.

Tuesday, May 6th , 6:30 pm – Technology and Your Child: Parents of 4th-8th grade students are invited to join us for the second installment of this conversation with Drs. Kevin and Natasha Burgert. Last month they spoke to parents of younger students, and the presentation was very well received. Don’t miss this important conversation on parenting and technology. The doctors will discuss how to successfully navigate a child's growing independence on the Internet, and will offer foundational boundaries and expectations for a child's early tech devices. From these essential starting blocks, they will discuss tips for avoiding unintentional negative and risky online exposures, teaching first steps in online communications. Finally, they will briefly discuss active monitoring for online safety, and consequences to a child's intentional misuse.

Monday Morning Memo

There will be a large funeral this Friday for former parent, Bob Keatley, at 4:30 p.m.  In order to allow for the large number of people expected and to prevent those attending from being hampered by our carpool dismissal, we will be dismissing early this Friday – at 3:00 p.m. 

Stanford Achievement Tests will be administered on Monday through Thursday mornings this week to 3^rd – 7^th grade students.  Please do not come into the classrooms during testing time.  If you need to leave a message for your child, please leave it at the receptionist’s desk.  We hope all students who are feeling well enough to be at school will be here on time and ready to take the tests.

Southern Teachers Agency will be here today and tomorrow to conduct focus groups to determine the qualities the school seeks in its next Head of School.  We hope you have either signed up for a focus group or will complete the survey to assist in creating the profile for the next Head. 

Speaking of which, a number of you have begun to bid me farewell and I wanted to remind you that this is premature, as I will be here through the next school year – retiring at the end of June, 2014.  I know that it doesn’t seem possible that this much work would be happening now for that retirement date, but this is standard operating procedure for independent school Head searches.  Nothing has slowed down for me and I doubt that it will in the next 15 months!

Eighth graders will be hosting us for World Culture Night this Thursday from 4:30 – 6:30.  The students select a country with which to become more familiar, create a website with their information, dress in costumes of the country, and serve food represented of that part of the world.  It is a celebration for the whole family to enjoy!

If you will have a toddler, preschool, or pre-kindergarten child at St. Paul’s in 2013-2014 and are planning to register for either A-Team or Lunch Bunch, please don’t forget that registration for the 2013-2014 school year is online! Note that, as was the case this year, A-Team drop-ins are not available—you must pre-register your child by April 30. More information about both programs and the online form can be found here: http://www.speds.org/current-parents-and-students/inside-st-pauls/student-forms/. If you have questions about either program, please contact Linda van Thullenar, lvan@speds.org.

Middle school parents and students are reminded that this is mid-point in the quarter and a review of  student grades would be appropriate.  There are still several good weeks ahead during which students can make good progress, so let’s help the students stay on task.

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.  Kindergarten – 8^th grade art supplies are included in the packets or you may order them separately using the order form in option 2.  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:  Monday, April 15 – Friday, May 3.  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.  Click here to view lists and order supplies: http://www.speds.org/current-parents-and-students/inside-st-pauls/school-supplies/  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 14^th.

Service Club Dates:  Calling all St. Paul’s students and parents.  We have two service opportunities for the remainder of the 2012-13 school  year.  This is a great opportunity to have fun, connect with others and participate in meaningful community service.

   Tuesday, April 23:  We will go to the St. Paul’s Food Pantry and work to re-package items.  Let’s gather at the church after school. Snacks will be provided and then we’ll get to work.  Students in ECC and Lower School are asked to have a parent. (Parents may chaperone their child plus a friend or two.)  Middle School students may come alone.  Please RSVP at pbauer@speds.org

    Tuesday, May 14:  3:30-5:00 TBA. But please save the date!

Lynnette Rempel has let us know that she will be taking a Sabbatical from St. Paul’s in order to devote more time to her family.  While St. Paul’s does not have a Sabbatical per se, this is our way of saying that we don’t want to say “good-bye” to Lynnette and she does not want to say “good-bye” to us.  The plan is that, in the near future, she will be able to return to bring her gifts and talents to our school but, right now, she needs to take a break. 

One of our graduates, Aaron B., is the star of the current production at The Coterie, “Bud, not Buddy”.  The production runs from April 9 – May 19 and this experienced actor, who is still in high school!, is making quite a name for himself as an actor/comedian.  We’re very proud of this talented young man!

We will be honoring Celeste Haas at Friday’s All School Chapel. Celeste is with the Childrens’ Spot and has worked with our students in Speech Therapy at St. Paul’s for 25 years. It has been a wonderful collaboration and we look forward to working together for many more years.