Red & Blue Review 3/2/23

RED & BLUE REVIEW

IMPORTANT DATES

Scholastic Book Fair

MARCH 6-10

Project R12

Dress Down Day

MARCH 9

Grandparents Day 11:30 a.m. Dismissal

MARCH 10

End of 3rd Qtr

MARCH 10

Spring Break

MARCH 13-17

Check the school calendar for all sporting events

Head of School Review

BY DR ANDY GRAHAM

As we get closer to spring break, I want to take a moment to update you on some of the exciting things happening at our school

First, thanks to all of you who have returned your student contracts to us. We are so happy that your child is enjoying our school, and we are so proud of the academic progress the students have made this year. We are excited about our new internet network. This network is state of the art and should provide for our school needs for years to come

Head of School Review

It is much faster (over twice as fast), more stable, and has a much stronger content filter to keep our students safe. We feel this upgrade, along with our one-to-one computer program, and our Promethean technology will make us one of the most technologically advanced schools in the area.

We have purchased and installed several more Promethean Boards this week. This installation completes our Lower School needs, and we have also installed new boards in our Middle School and Upper School math and science rooms. We will continue this installation as funds become available until all of the rooms are equipped with this technology

The Lower School playground is receiving new turf. This will give the students a cleaner, more comfortable, and safer playing surface. The Lower School students cannot wait to try it out.

We have worked on the landscaping at our Sportsplex. We have removed the dead hedges around the baseball backstop and will begin replanting this spring. We have also worked on improving a couple of drainage issues next to the softball field. Our baseball sound system is being replaced, and the new system should provide clearer and more powerful sound for our games. We are also looking into some opportunities to upgrade the sound at the softball stadium.

We could not have made these significant upgrades to our school without all of you and your financial support of our school. The annual fund gives us the opportunity to make advancements like these to improve our school and facilities. We are thankful for the many blessings that have been bestowed upon us this year. Thank you for your continued support, and we are grateful that you send us these wonderful young people each day.

Upper School Review

BY STEPHANIE WEHRER

The Middle School Math Club is back in action again! The goal for this new club is to promote a positive Math mindset and culture in our school. The club has met several times to make a plan for the year while also sharing some fun activities as a group with ratios(scoop of popcorn to m&m’s; cup of hot chocolate to marshmallows) Last Friday this group visited a 4-year-old class and did a hands-on activity! I think our 4K friends enjoyed it, and I KNOW our middle schoolers did. Stay tuned, because I think I heard my Math Club friends are going to visit a 1st grade classroom tomorrow, and I cannot wait to hear and see all about it.

Congratulations to all of our upper school students who participated in the Fine Arts Talent Show last weekend! I say it often, but it truly is amazing how much talent is circulating within our student body with such a relatively small population represented. These students never cease to amaze me, and what talent and confidence Ms. Lalania is able to discover and pull out from these students is such a blessing to watch Great job, students!

Upper School Review

CONTINUED

Today was our 5th grade Shadow Day, where students in 5th grade visited with and shadowed 6th grade students for the morning. Last year was our first year to do this on campus, and it was such a fun way to show our upcoming middle schoolers what it will be like. It can also help ease some of the nerves of making the jump from elementary to middle school. I think it was a little more special this year, because our 6th grade leaders were on the other side of this shadow day last year and knew what their buddies were feeling. Everyone had a great time, and I don’t think the 5th or 6th grade students wanted it to end when the time came to say our goodbyes! Thank you to all of our middle school teachers for helping make this a welcoming and successful activity for our students, and to our 5th grade teachers for sharing your kiddos with us for a few hours. We look forward to greeting these students as middle schoolers very soon!

Also, chapel felt really special today, because with our 5th grade friends there it was a packed house! The message Ty, the Youth Pastor from 901 Church, shared was so welltimed about growing in our faith. Hallie and Emma did a wonderful job of leading the worship music as well. I hope our 5th grade friends really enjoyed their time in upper school chapel today!

Lower School Review

BY SUSAN CRANFORD

We have some amazing talent in our school! Many of our Kindergarten through 5th grade elementary students showcased their talent at our annual TRA Talent Show last Saturday Thank you to Mrs. Samantha Pence and Mrs. Lalania Vaughn for coordinating our talent show!

Our Chapel music this week was led by our PreK - 4 students. They LOVED being on stage and performing Second grade loves to showcase a “secret scientist” each week. One student performs a science experiment for the entire class each Friday. They all get so excited to do this! . We love that our students are well rounded, and we work hard to teach them to not be afraid to present or perform in front of an audience. Being comfortable with presenting in front of others is such an important skill to acquire and will be a huge benefit to our students as they progress through school.

Thank you to those that were in attendance at our PTO meeting last Thursday afternoon. We look forward to working with our amazing PTO for a strong finish to this year and making great plans for next year.

IMPORTANT NOTE REGARDING GRANDPARENT'S DAY

DUE TO LIMITED SPACE AND WANTING THIS TO BE A SPECIAL DAY FOR OUR GRANDPARENTS AND STUDENTS, WE ASK THAT GRANDPARENTS ONLY ATTEND. THERE WILL BE A PREVIEW OF OUR PROGRAMS FOR PARENTS ON THURSDAY, MARCH 9, AT THE SAME TIMES LISTED ABOVE.

Lower School Review

CONTINUED

Third graders wrote a paragraph titled “What I Would Do With a Thing One and Thing Two”. This is part of our Read Across America Week, which coincides with Dr Seuss’ birthday Our whole building has had such fun this week! It was a fun week filled with many dress up days, Dr. Seuss books, green eggs and ham and much more!

Second grade wrote a paragraph telling why they consider themselves blessed I loved reading the many reasons our boys and girls are thankful for their many blessings.

Our PreK-4 students visited our Kindergarten rooms to celebrate the letter “K”. They read books together, practiced reading CVC words, sang songs, danced, listened to Bible verses and toured the classroom. They are working hard to get prepared for the big move to Kindergarten! We love seeing our students work together and have fun learning!

Mrs. Joan’s fifth graders learned about simple machines and had so much fun building and testing out various simple machines!

AS YOU CAN SEE, WE ARE SUPER BUSY AND HAVE SO MUCH FUN LEARNING EACH DAY. WE ARE LOOKING FORWARD TO GRANDPARENTS’ DAY NEXT FRIDAY AND TO OUR SPRING BREAK THE FOLLOWING WEEK!