Monday Morning Memo

Monday Morning Memo

April 29, 2013

What a busy, exciting week we had last week!  Grandparents’ and Special Friends’ Day brought in hundreds of visitors who were so eagerly greeted and enjoyed by their grandchild or special person.  Thanks to Katie Gregg for orchestrating this event.  The Art Fair brought in more people to enjoy the talented work of our young artists and the amazing amount of work done by our art teachers, Shirley Laird and Cheryl Crumpecker, to set up the displays and show the work of their prodigies.  The Preschool Music Demonstration and then the Toddler Music Demonstration not only showcased the musical program offered our youngest students but also gave their parents and guests a workout!  Thanks to Missy Haskamp and the classroom teachers for making these happen for us.

Sixth graders, Colin M., Julia K., and Gage K., participated in the state MCTM (Missouri Council of Teachers of Mathematics) contest Saturday at the University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg.  The students were among 700 4th-8th graders from across the state participating.  They represented our school well and we appreciate their talents and contributions on behalf of our school.  Thanks, too, to Mrs. McMullen who was there with them.

This week the third graders perform in their showcase on Thursday, May 2^nd at 7:00 in the south wing MPR.  Third graders are eager to share their musical talents with their parents and friends.  Come enjoy this program, directed by Mrs. Everly.

If you will have a preschool or pre-kindergarten child at St. Paul’s in 2013-2014 and are planning to register for A-Team, 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 for A-Team by Tuesday, April 30—tomorrow. More information about A-Team 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, please contact Linda van Thullenar, lvan@speds.org.

Middle School Book Fair on Wednesday, May 1 in the third floor commons: The theme of "Get Hooked on a Good Book" continues this spring with the middle school book fair.  Students in the 5th-8th grades will have the opportunity to purchase books, as well as order required summer reading for incoming freshmen at the high schools of choice for our students.   Charge slip approval forms are being sent home.

The first payment for next year’s tuition for those on the monthly payment plan is this Wednesday, May 1.  As a reminder:  all tuitions are binding after that date, regardless of your chosen payment plan.  And we look forward to working with each of you next year!

Last Week to Order School Supplies!  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.

Deadline ahead for the Chris Cakes Challenge!  Friday, May 3^rd is the final day to make a pledge to the 2012-2013 St. Paul’s Annual Fund.  We have already surpassed last year’s current families’ participation rate, but we are still far from our goal of 100% participation.  Any grade level that reaches 100% participation will be invited to an all-you-can-eat pancake buffet presented by Chris Cakes KC.  If you haven’t experienced their high flying pancake flipping, it is well worth the minimum family donation of $25 to see the spectacle and enjoy the buffet.  You can find the family participation percentages in the lower school hallway display case as well as the Annual Fund bulletin board in the main hall.

8th Grade: 47%          

7th Grade: 63%

6th Grade: 62%

5th Grade: 68%

4th Grade: 55%

3rd Grade: 51%

2nd Grade: 56%

1st Grade: 73%

Kindergarten: 53%

Pre-Kindergarten: 54%

Pre-School: 50%

Toddler: 58%

Book Swap for 1^st – 4^th graders on May 10: Get ready to clean out those book shelves!  Students in the 1st-4th grades will have the option of participating in a book swap for new summer reading material.  Boxes for book donations will be in classrooms beginning Monday, May 5th and will be available until the book swap on Friday, May 10th.  For every book donated, a "new" book may be chosen.  Maximum of 5 books.  Please note: The purpose of the swap is for summer reading material.  Books must be at least at the 1st -2nd grade reading level. Board books and non-reading material will not be accepted. 

Due to changes in our demographics and demand, we have altered our Toddler program next year to better meet the needs and requests of parents.  In an effort to keep all of our parents informed, we wanted to outline the toddler class options for next fall.  As we have in the past few years, we will continue our popular 5 full day toddler class (M-F 8:00-3:30pm).  In addition, we will now offer both a 3 half-day class (MWF 8:00-11:45am), AND a 2 half-day class (TTh 8:00-11:45am).  This change actually allows us to enroll more students while having fewer students in the classrooms on any given day, thus giving us one of the lowest student-to-teacher ratios in the city for children of this age.  Because we can now enroll additional students, we have opened limited new spots in our toddler program.  Please let friends and neighbors know about these spots, as they will fill quickly.  Thank you for always being amazing Ambassadors for St. Paul’s.

President’s Volunteer Service Award:  Thus far, ten St. Paul’s students have offered  50+ hours of community service and will receive an award next fall. Email confirmations are being sent to those ten families.  If you do not receive an e-mail and believe your student has earned at least 50 hours, please e-mail the chaplain.  It is not too late to enroll your student and  turn in hours that will apply towards this year’s School of Service.  Enrollment forms are available on our SPEDS website.  Remember, all acts of volunteer service apply, beginning June of 2012 through May of 2013.  For example, students who are participating in fundraising events in honor of our Haiti project need to keep track of those hours and turn them in.  If you have questions, please e-mail the chaplain: pbauer@speds.org

Below are the chapter and national results for the FLES and Grand Concours.  100,000 French students participated in the contest in February and March.  There are no chapter results for the FLES as we are the only school in Kansas City that participated.  For the 7^th and 8^th graders our chapter includes Sion, Pembroke, Barstow, St. Teresa’s, and Thomas Jefferson Independent.  Félicitations à tous les élèves.  Madame et Mademoiselle are very proud of all the students!

FLES- National Ranking                               

7th –    Merdedith N, Emily L, Colin McC, Julia H

8th -     Gage K, Jack M

9th -     Ella A, Alex A, Margaret G, Julia K                          

10th -   Caroline P, Elsa P                             

Grand Concours – 7^th Grade                                      

Chapter Ranking                                                                                 National Ranking

            1                      Carol Ann G                                                               3

            3                      Jensen P                                                                      5         

            4                      Daisy B, Natalie K, Layne S                                      6

            5                      Caroline S                                                                   7                                 

6                      Ella L

            8                      Zach T

           10                    Caroline R                                                        

Grand Concours – 8th Grade

Chapter Ranking                                                                                 National Ranking

            1                      Katia H                                                                        4                                 

2                      Taylor L                                                                      5                     

            3                      Lilly H                                                                         6

            6                      Taylor N                                                                      9

            7                      Megan L                                                                    10

8                      Philip B                                                    

            9                      Lilly L

            10                    Josh L

Alumni that placed nationally are:  Lucy S and Emma R - Pembroke

                                                         Sophia P and Gillian C – St. Teresa’s  

Congratulations to eighth graders awarded scholarships to St. Teresa’s Academy:  Claire McC, the Alumnae Scholarship; Caroline McD, the Presidential Scholarship; and Serena J and Cora M for the Windmoor Scholarships.  If others have received scholarships, please let us know so we can let the community share in your good fortune!

  

MONDAY MORNING MEMO

It was another amazing week at St. Paul’s, with Grandparents and Special Friends visiting on Wednesday; a highly successful and well-attended Art Fair on the same day; World Culture Night on Thursday night to nourish our minds and bodies; and delightful toddler and preschool music demonstrations on Thursday and Friday!  Thank you so much to all the people who made these events happen – and it took a village for each of them – and to all of you for attending and making it worth the work!

Faculty and staff enjoyed a productive afternoon on Friday, working on curriculum, technology initiatives, and special projects.

Thank you to all of our current families for the smooth re-enrollment process this spring.  This is a reminder that the cancellation policy states that you must withdrawal by May 1, 2012 in order to forfeit only the deposit.  After May 1, you become responsible for 50% of the full year tuition.  After June 15, 2012, families are responsible for 100% of the tuition regardless of whether the student attends.  Please contact Miriam Zavagnin immediately if you plan to withdraw.  Needless to say, we sincerely hope to see all of you return next year!

It's the LAST week 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:  4/16/12 - 5/4/12. 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. The order form and school supply lists are available on the St. Paul's website.   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 15.  New This Year – Do you have trouble finding the required art supplies?  You now have the option of ordering just the art supplies at a cost of $10.00 on the order form. Please don’t wait – place your order today, if you want to take advantage of this opportunity!

Anna Louise S will be the Head of School for the Day on Tuesday, May 1, and that’s this Tuesday!  She has declared this day to be “Crazy Day” in terms of clothing.  You are invited to celebrate your individuality, mix your color combinations, and express your style creatively.  Or you can just come as your “normal” self.  Please stay within the dress code in terms of no flip flops or Crocs and nothing too short or revealing.  (That’s the temporarily deposed Head of School talking here!)  Please watch for her at carpool and visiting classrooms and running the school.

Our third grade students will be performing for their parents in their spring showcase this Thursday, May 3rd, at 7:00 p.m. in the north wing multipurpose room.  We hope you’ll join them as they sing and dance and celebrate the music in their lives.

Ed “Scrappy” Dobbins, husband of our former Admissions Director, teacher, and friend, Mary, passed away on Friday morning.  Mary had asked that I not share through this memo his struggles during the last few weeks, as the family members were having a hard time dealing with all they had to face.  But she has given me permission to let you know of his passing and of the funeral which will be this Thursday, May 3rd, at St. Andrews Episcopal Church at 4:00 p.m., with a reception following at the church.

Mrs. Goutierre, one of our second grade teachers, gave birth to her second child yesterday – a lovely little girl they have named Vienna Elizabeth.  She is 19“ long, weighs 6 lbs., 10 oz., and she and Mom are doing very well!  Kate Hamlin, a certified teacher and the associate in that grade, will take over the lead teaching responsibilities and Karen McDonald, a former teacher with us and a current teacher in our extended day program, will be the associate in that grade for the remainder of the year.  Congratulations to the Goutierres!

The West Garden was renovated last week by our third graders and parent volunteers.  The Garden will be blessed on Wednesday, May 2nd at an 8:45 AM Chapel for Toddler, PreS, PreK, 2nd and 3rd graders in the garden.  Seating is limited (and primarily on the ground!) and the students will take most of the space.  However, parents are welcome, if they don’t mind standing.  The Chapel will have a normal service with singing and a lesson.  It will end about 9:05 AM.

The 5th grade Spanish Mercado will be this Friday,  May 4th from 2 - 3 p.m. in N MPR.   Fifth graders will be representing their selected country in native costume, speaking about the country and selling a homemade craft typical of that country to visitors.  Parents are encouraged to attend to hear our fifth graders demonstrate their skill in speaking Spanish.

Let Your Imagination Soar: Read! The Middle School Book Fair for grades 5-8 is this Wednesday, May 2nd, in the Middle School Commons.  Freshman required reading will be available for the 8th graders, as well as many other interesting titles for all to enjoy. Signed charge slips or cash are required to make a purchase.

Soar into Summer: Read!  The book fair committee is sponsoring a book swap for grades 1-4 on Tuesday, May 8th. Beginning Friday, May 4th, each child may bring up to five books that he/she has read to swap for “new” books. This is a great opportunity to stock up on some new summer reading.

A special thanks to those early childhood parents who attended the Love and Logic Webinars last week.  We were pleased by the favorable turnout and plan to offer additional Love and Logic parenting classes during the last two weeks of June. More information regarding dates and times will be available within the next two weeks.

The results have been sent to us about the excellent performance of our students on the National FLES exam.  All the 6th graders taking French this year participated in the contest in February and nine students had their scores submitted for national recognition.  13,000 students in first to sixth grade participated in the contest this year.  The results they achieved are:  7th place - Ella L, Caroline S, and Zach T;  8th - Catherine E, Natalie K, Connor T; 9th - Carol-Ann G: 10th - Jensen P, Layne S; and Honorable Mention - Anna Louise S.  Félicitations à tous!

Stay up to date on the latest happenings with our school calendar. Bookmark the calendar page on our website and check back often to see what is going on at St. Paul's.