Marching to the rhythm of lively voices and active minds

During the week of April 16, the intermediate grades (3rd - 5th) and Middle School will take part in the standardized test called the Stanford Achievement Test.  Over four mornings, students will demonstrate their knowledge and skills in their grade level in a series of tests.  Since research has determined that a time constraint does not allow full demonstration of a student’s abilities and understanding, the SAT tests are untimed.  Students will not have the added pressure of completing their test within a time frame.  If more time is needed than is anticipated, a student will be allowed to continue the test at a later date and time.  All classes will begin the same tests on the same days, with the exception of Fifth Grade, which will participate in their Exchange City event one day.    Fifth grade students will finish their tests on the last day of the week. 

We believe students’ healthy outlook is of key importance. To be prepared well, the students should maintain normal sleep patterns and activity, and eat healthy foods before and during the week, so they are at their best on these school days.  While the tests are a form of assessment, no retakes are allowed, and we hope to avoid making up tests the following  week due to absenteeism during testing week. Please reschedule a routine doctor and dental appointment for your child during the mornings April 16 – 20, if one is planned. 


The results of the SAT 10 become another snapshot of our students' learning progress and achievement.  Results of this test come to the school in June.  They do not influence or impact grades given for daily, homework, project, or for units of study during the balance of the fourth quarter.  SAT 10 scores and information about the scores will be sent to parents in late June.  You can request information and interpretation about the test scores from Nora Pink after receiving the Parent Report in June. Teachers will review the results and information from the scores in each sub-section in August when they return.   


State Fair is approaching quickly for the Fourth Graders, Friday March 23. We look forward to hearing our fourth grade students’ presentations about their regions.  I have been following the progress and their accomplishments in studying the regions, and the states and making their books, postcards, advertisements, speeches and more.  The costumes will add to the festive look of the commons, too.  The fourth graders seem to be excited!  Following on the heels of the State Fair is the trip to Jefferson City next Wednesday and the Fourth Grade Music Showcase on Thursday night.

The International Festival was attended by Toddlers through Second Grade, teachers, division heads and parents on Wednesday.  The program of dancing, singing, and storytelling was uplifting and entertaining for all.  Each grade offered songs and a dance, wore costumes representative of their country, the continent, or indigenous people   The festival’s reputation as a valued tradition lives on! 

Second Grade boys in the Dragon Dance

At the end of the month, 1^st – 5^th Graders will be headed to Rockhurst University for the annual Literature Fest arranged by Reading Reptile and Rockhurst University.  There they will listen to authors who will share how to write and get a book published as well as choose a theme and plot that meets the interests of students.  We are very appreciative of Mr. N, who arranges the experience for all grade levels that attend through 6^th grade. 

The week of April 2 - 5, there will only be two days of school because Parent Teacher Conferences are scheduled on Wednesday and Thursday, the 4^th and 5th.  You might have received your appointment confirmation for your child’s conference by now from his/her teacher.  Friday, April 6 is Good Friday, which is a holy day without students in school. 

 Rain Forest 2012 was the best it has ever been!  Created by Third Grade students and teachers, tours and activities were held over two weeks.  As another important unit of study for life science, Third Graders demonstrated an immense knowledge base about animals, ecosystem, and geography/topography.  To be given a complete tour by a Third Grader was impressive.   

We're back in full swing!

We are back in full swing in the Lower School division. We are enjoying the good weather which allows us to be outside.  The study of the presidents has begun in fifth grade.  The rainforest is being studied in third grade.  Snow is the intergrated curriculum theme in second grade and our first graders have begun their study of the many facets that established the USA, from people to events that took place in establishing our United States.  Fourth grade is electrified as they study the properties of lightning and electromagnetic currents.  Projects are being planned by the students as they progress through their lessons in each themed unit.  iPads and laptops are in the hands of the students often.   We are busy learning while having fun. Kindergarteners are coming to the first floor Chapel three times a week: Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday.  Its wonderful having next year's first graders join us in Chapel.  It is a very special tradition! 

Last fall, Sheila Abio and I attended a parent workshop at a local elementary school to preview Ms. Tricia Madsen's presentation for parents on bullying trends, behaviors, and prevention strategies.  Trish's meeting was filled with anecdotal as well as researched facts.  Mrs. Abio and I walked away inspired to bring Trish to St. Paul's for our students and parents' benefit!
So began our process of interviewing, planning and getting financial backing from the Parents' Guild. Now St. Paul's students and parents can look forward to Ms. Madsen's workshops for they will be held soon right here at school!

Bully Prevention Workshops for students and parents will be held January 24 – 26^th.

Students in first – eighth grades will meet with Tricia Madsen, a community educator specializing in the area of bullying prevention and relational aggression on Tuesday or Wednesday, January 24 or 25^th for an hour-long workshop.  Tricia has spoken about bullying to more than 80,000 students, parents and teachers, and is passionate about designing innovative strategies and programs that lessen the many obstacles youth face. Tricia is a dynamic speaker who has a wealth of strategies to counter the intentional actions of bullying. She will share with us the nature and prevention of relational aggression, manipulation, bias and cyber bullying.  Trish’s presentation is fast paced and full of factual information she has gathered through research and while working with students in both public and private schools, including St. Paul’s last year.    She is the author of the STEP Up program for middle school girls and speaks nationally on the topic of relational aggression.

·         Ms. Madden will also offer a Parent Workshop on Thursday, January 26 at 7 pm in the North MPR.  Please RSVP to lvan@speds.org  by 9 AM  on Thursday, January 26 ,  for the parent workshop.  Questions can be directed to Gingie Watt, Lower School Division Head, gwatt@speds.org .

If you have any questions or wish to make a comment, please call or email.
Happy New Year!

Here are some photos of our wonderful students enjoying themselves with friends!  We have had a two joyful weeks of events, project based activities, and  fun!
MERRY CHIRSTMAS!
HAPPY HOLIDAYS! 
Mrs. Watt

'Tis the Season to be Jolly

There is humming in the air as the events leading to the Christmas holiday continue.  Like busy bees, children are warming up their voices, and offering their gifts from the heart.  By donating items for the shoe boxes and hanging family photos with wishes for peace and love throughout the season, the children are celebrating the season of giving.

Advent Gifts from the Heart  Our students are volunteering to  share their gifts at the conclusion of Chapels and in tribute to Mr. Held.  Mr. Held’s tributes from fifth grade students will take place on Monday, December 12 at a specially arranged time with him. 

Our division’s community service project, A Shoebox Christmas, will be completed before we break for the holidays.  Shoe boxes will be filled with toiletry items donated by our first – fifth grade students & faculty and delivered to the St. Paul’s Pantry after gift wrapping the boxes. 

The Chief’s Red Friday Assembly was a new event this year.  St. Paul’s was chosen to be the Chief’s Red Friday School for their game this week!  The representatives from the Chiefs  encouraged good sportsmanship, healthy lifestyle and team spirit on Tuesday, Dec. 6^th.  Think Pep Rally and you will have a great vision of what the Chief’s players and team reps brought to our school. 

Third, Fourth and Fifth Graders, under the direction of Richard Held, will present their Christmas Musical at 7 PM on the Thursday the 8th in the Sanctuary of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church.   The students are off to rehearsal again to day to polish their sparkle for tomorrow night.   Students should arrive by 6:30 PM wearing church-appropriate attire emphasizing reds, greens, metallic, black and white.  Khaki slacks are acceptable.  Heels must be limited to one inch high in the interest of safety. 

First and Second Graders, under the direction of Melissa Haskamp, will present their Christmas Program on Thursday, December 15 at 9 AM in the North MPR.  We look forward to their darling attire, fresh bright faces and sweet voices.  Along with All

School Chapel Eucharist and Spirit Day on December 16, the 3^rd – 5^th graders will be going to Line Creek Community Center to skate in the morning and completing the service project in the afternoon as a part of their celebration.  First Graders will share their talents with each other and second graders will have a festive morning with activities. 

Here are some pictures of events that have taken place in the last two weeks:

 The Glitter Box helped students recognize where germs and dirt hide. 

Washing hands thoroughly is one good habit to keep healthy during this cold and flu season.

Laptops are being used regularly.

 The division Christmas Tree looks festive with Family photos and candy canes. 

New dispenser for white and chocolate milk makes milk a popular drink!

Ingathering Continues this Week

Please remember you are invited to join us in Chapel this Tuesday as the Lower School has its first of many First – Fifth Grade Chapels.  We will have a lesson by Father Stan and a number of fifth graders will be in leadership roles, including reciting the prayers of the people and the scripture.  Our Chapel will be in the Sanctuary and we have plenty of room for you to join us!  Ingathering continues as we focus now on fresh produce for the Thanksgiving meals our St. Paul’s Church Pantry will provide for the needy.  Grade level blogs list the suggested produce to donate, should you be inclined. 

FOOD DRIVE RESULTS....DRUM ROLL...Grand Totals for the Food Drive:
We broke our all-time record from last year of over 21,000 items. This year we went to 27, 362. WOW!
Final Totals:
3rd Place was the Kindergarten classes with 6,514
2nd Place was the 8^th Gr Mrs. Glass with 6,692
1st Place was FATE/WALLER WITH 9,180!
1^st - 5th grade division, Mrs. Barber’s class took second place with 4,080
Highest collection in the Middle School following Mrs. Glass was Mrs. McMullen followed by Mrs. Reynolds

The generosity that was pouring in for the last two weeks was overwhelming.  I wish you a very happy Thanksgiving.  May the joys of the season bless you and your family.

You may have already marked your calendars for the special programs and events in late November – December until the Christmas break, but I list them here as one more source of reminder.

Monday, November 28             No school for students- Professional In-Service Day for Faculty and Staff

Thursday, December 8                  7 PM Third – Fifth Grade Christmas Program

Thursday, December 15                9 AM     First – Second Grade Christmas Program

Friday, December 16                      9 – 11:30              Third – Fifth Grade Ice Skating at Line Creek Skate

A focus in conversations and work among faculty in the Lower School division of First – Fifth Grade are discussions around implementation of differentiation.  In a series of division meetings, faculty has shared many forms of differentiating instruction and learning activities being used in their classrooms.  It is agreed that getting to know each student’s learning personality and acumen, as well as establishing solid procedures and a productive learning community is crucial to a successful implementation of differentiated learning activities. 

Along with differentiated instruction and learning, we are participating in identifying minimum math proficiencies to be mastered by the end of each grade level.  Implementing the use of technology is also a focus.  iPads and laptops, SMARTBoards and SMART networking are being used by our students, especially in Third – Fifth. 

St. Paul's faculty continues to provide excellence in creative and academic endeavors for all our students.  We are proud of our efforts in planning, providing, monitoring and communicating our students' success!  Here are some highlights from the last few weeks:

First Graders have been performers as well as been an audience in the month of November to expand their repertoire of experiences and reinforce learning facts in science and reading. Bear Planet, a musical tradition at St. Paul’s, was performed by First Grade Sloth bears, Polar, Brown, Sun, Koala, Grizzlies and more last week.  First Graders, thanks to the Parent’s Guild Cultural Arts funding, traveled to a theater to see If You Give a Moose a Muffin, the childhood story they heard in kindergarten and again in first grade as independent readers.   

Second Grade takes the lead as readers and music directors in Lower School ECC and 1st-2nd Grade Chapels.  Second graders have studied insects during the month of October and early November.  Their creative sculptures of insects using modeling clay were displayed in the first floor commons.  ERcently they were concentrating on Thanksgiving blessings and gratitude.  See their Second Grade blog for more details of their learning activities over teh past few weeks.

Third Grade enjoyed their traditional Oregon Trail Day with bartering items, a new activity added by Mrs. Barber.  Thanks to our parents, this day was enjoyed by all.  It allowed the students to experience some of the clothing, tasks, crafts and foods of those who traveled across country in a covered wagon. Mrs. Barber’s class decorated a bulletin board with our American flag, the stars of which listed names of veterans her class researched through their families ancestry.  One of the stars listed my son who is a Blackhawk company commander stationed in El Paso, TX at this time.     

Fourth Graders concluded their second Book Club study at the end of last week.  Having had the pleasure of being a facilitator for a group, I believe we had another successful round of discussions.  Fourth grade is journaling about the book throughout the week and being quizzed on their comprehension of the story line, characters, and plot.  Science Club had students designing fictitious animals after the fourth graders Animal Expert powerpoints were presented to parents.  Fourth grade science included habitats, food chain, life cycle, ecology, geology, and conservation!  The were well prepared for their field trip to Earthworks at the beginning on November!

In addition to their studies progressing in class, fifth graders role model for our third and fourth graders in Chapels.  Mimi W. played a musical piece for All School Chapel on Friday the 18^th as Ethan L. had in late October.  Olivia S. sang for us all in Chapel in September. We are fortunate to have students who enjoy developing their talents in music and who are willing to add beautifully to the music we enjoy.  Fifth grade displayed their science projects during Parent Teacher Conferences in late October. It is already time for mid-quarter grades to be shared with students and parents. 

More will be shared in the upcoming weeks.  Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Coming around the turn in First Quarter

With Pet Blessing behind us and Buddy Run this week, all indications are that we are on a fast track to completing the first quarter of the school year.  Can you believe it?  Parent conference days are around the bend on Thursday and Friday Oct. 27 & 28.  I know you have received information about care for your children should you need it on those two days, but as a reminder, Child Care is available for the time you are in conference with the teacher(s) free of charge.  For entire day care, contact Christina Lenon, Enrichment Director of St. Paul's at clenon@speds.org.

As we near the end of the first quarter, it’s a good idea to reflect on what has transpired during that time.  The teachers do this routinely through curriculum mapping and weekly planning.  One of the important things about the first quarter being more than half over is that the classroom has established the positive learning, building on knowledge and skills, and preparing for thematic units, so necessary to advance in our learning.  Certainly each classroom has become a place in which structure and routines, along with refreshing our knowledge through review during the first weeks of school, have transitioned to classrooms humming with the activities around new and deeper learning. Coupled with the enrichment opportunities, like the Math and Science Clubs which meet in the morning, enrichment lessons after school, as well as homework to extend the learning, minds are expanding daily!  The days are full of wonderful experiences: buddy activities; community service; book readings and clubs; writing projects; social studies presentations and field trips.  The Lower School is a bee hive of activity!

Although not intended to be, some transitions are uncomfortable. If we liken transitions and change to growing pains, we realize that in order to be stronger and bigger, we all go through change, and not just physical changes.  One transition that is notably different is homework.  The type and amount of homework, as well as the time homework is predicted to take, varies from grade to grade, as does the amount of parent assistance needed.  In response to comments at the LS Brown Bag Lunch offered by Head of School, Liz Barnes, here are some guidelines and answers to: "Whose homework is it?"  and "How much (or little) time should homework take?"
From the Handbook and the guide that is recommended

·         1st - 2nd Grade students: 30 minutes each day plus listening to or reading for pleasure 20 minutes

·         3rd - 5th Grade students: 60 minutes 

While the time it takes to complete project activities and practice at home varies from student to student, these are the guidelines listed in the Parent Handbook on page 8.  If your child is averaging a lot more than the guideline, please give his/her teacher this feedback!  With the mission of academic excellence and enrichment in mind, "Homework is designed to strengthen skills learned in class, encourage sound study habits and allow the student to explore exciting and creative special interests related to a subject.  Homework in intended to be completed by the student and is designed to reflect what the student is capable of doing independently.    Homework assignments are not intended to cause stress or anxiety in students (or parents).  Concerns about homework assignments, or the amount of time your child spends on homework, should be taken to the appropriate teacher.”

Each year brings the opportunity to develop self knowledge, work with different people to understand teamwork and collaboration, listen to, assimilate and express ideas. For some, growing is more painful than for others, but ultimately, with the planning, guidance and support teachers provide, we are helping the students stretch to reach their potentials.

Your comments are welcome.

Lower School

Third graders plan a Get Well Soon message for classmate Vaughn Reardon
Throughout the week our third grade class has been preparing a box of goodies and a wave of caring for Vaughn Reardon, a classmate having surgery next week.  The students collaborated with Mrs. Beilharz, a developing skill practiced in many subjects and one at which they are becoming proficient! In this case, the subject was planning the types of goodies and cards that went into the box which was sent yesterday, with the expectation that it will reach Vaughn before his surgery.  There were generous and numerous contributions from families and classmates.  Thank you so much! This morning, the Third Grade's Wave of Get Well Soon was videoed in our commons along with individual's good wishes and "I miss yous".  Caring and sharing was very evident in the hearts and voices of our third graders this week. Look for our Wave of Get Well Soon video on the website or linked to the Third Grade blog.

Spending time in classrooms is impressive for a number of reasons.   The structure of the learning activities gives evidence of well planned lessons that take into consideration a myriad of suitable objectives, not the least of which is working responsibly and cooperatively. Highlights of the first four weeks include getting to know one another through writing and dialog, learning routines that set the stage for cooperative and productivity in classrooms.  First and second grade students have been evaluated for reading levels; they are almost experts now in guided and  independent learning in centers.  Second grade students are in the midst of studying marine mammals and have created architecutres of favorite venues from recycling materials. As third graders wrap up a science unit on sound, fifth graders are experimenting with electromagnetism.  Its fun to sit with third and fourth graders who are expanding their use of addition, subtraction, comparing numbers, and developing the concept of estimation.    Fourth and fifth graders are writing everyday with emphasis on personal narratives and developing style and voice.  Fourth and fifth graders are also concentrating on comprehension strategies to understand literature and non-fiction text more personally and deeply.  The first field trip of the year by the fifth graders focused on teamwork, communication, cooperation, life and work skills needed in a positive learning environment.

Every classroom is humming with activity, thinking, and making connections between the two.  The Lower School is a busy happy place! 
You may have seen these events on other grade level blogs, but with the intent of communicating often and various ways, the dates and descriptions are listed here, too!
Important Upcoming Events

Friday September 30^th – 12:00 PM dismissal for all students. Please note that the entire school, including ECC will be dismissed at 12:00 PM on Friday September 30^th. Extended Day child care services are available so please contact Christina Lennon directly if you will need child care on this day. Please be patient during carpool on this day, it will take twice as long to get all the children loaded safely, all teachers will be on carpool duty.

Christina Lennon can be reached at: 816.268.6536

Thursday October 6^th – ECC (T – K) Parent Brown Bag Lunch at 11:30 AM. This event will be held in the Garden Room located on the first floor of the church, just next to the Parish Hall. ECC parents are encouraged to bring a lunch and join Ms. Barnes and Mrs. Abio to see how things are going for your little ones at St. Paul’s. This time provides parents with an opportunity to hear directly from the head of school and to ask questions specific to the ECC division.

Friday October 7^th – 8:30 AM Pet Blessing. The Pet Blessing will take place on the upper field and this event also serves as our all school chapel on this day. All students participate in this event. Toddler, Preschool and Prekindergarten students are allowed to bring a favorite stuffed animal. Kindergarten – second grade students are allowed to bring an actual pet, with their parents assistance of course. Everyone is welcome to bring a photo of their pets. All pets will be blessed by Chaplain Nolan on this special day!

Friday, October 14th - Buddy Run 
Two sessions will be held for the Buddy Run.  The first will include the younger students being supported by their older buddies while running with them.  The second session will be for the older buddies to be cheered on by the younger students.  Everyone runs with their buddies, from a little lap on the upper field to a large lap for the older students.  For more information on how to support the Buddy Fun Run (fundraiser) go to the website. 

Thursday October 27^th – No School  because Parent/Teacher Conferences are being held– Extended Day child care is available, contact Christina Lennon to register.

Child care during your conferences will be available also through Extended Day on both days.

Friday October 28^th - – No School  because of Parent/Teacher Conferences –
Extended Day child care is available, contact Christina Lennon to register.