Headlines _______________________________ Nov. 2, 2012
What a week! I don’t
know about anyone else, but after two days inside,
everyone in my house was ready to get back to school on Wednesday.
Monday’s cancelation for Hurricane Sandy seemed
unprecedented. It was such a calm morning that you had to wonder what all
the fuss was about. But, if you looked into the grey long enough, you
could feel a sense of foreboding in the air. As it turned out, we could
have certainly had a full day of school before the worst of the storm appeared
on Monday and around here, the worst was over by the time Tuesday morning
rolled around. Hindsight is 20/20, however.
Weather is hard to pinpoint and erring on the side of caution is preferable to
the alternative. Just one look at the news and pictures from areas not too far away remind us of how lucky we
are to have escaped most of the storm’s power.
Having Halloween on our first day back from a long break was
a little unnerving. How were we going to pull it off? We didn’t have
the usual time to assemble materials or put up decorations. I thought it
was going to be crazy. It was, but it was a good crazy. As I
arrived at school on Wednesday I was very
happy to see our spirit director, Teacher Lori, had already decorated the walk
and hallways. Parents also worked hard during the storm to make so much
for the classrooms. I saw treats of every kind (the cheese fingers in the
K/1 class were so realistic that I was the only person who dared to bite one)
and many costumed parents serving and helping with activities. Special
thanks go to Carla Myers for making the giant spider centerpiece for our
school’s Monster Mash. Of course, a few days off only served to make
Halloween even more enjoyable for the kids as they displayed a wonderful
assortment of costumes and paraded at high speed through Foxdale. Thank
you to our whole community for making Halloween happen this year. It was
a true community event.
Spanish Program: Our K-4 grade Spanish classes will be taught by Maritza Hoquee Davidson. Maritza is a native of Panama who has lived most of her life in the states and has held many positions including instructor for the PSU Department of Spanish and K-4 Spanish Program coordinator and instructor for Sidwell Friends School. We look forward to having Maritza direct the Spanish program for our younger students.
In the upper grades our current instructor, Aileen Querry
will be joined by Lina Schneider to teach Spanish this year. Aileen
is a dedicated school parent who has served as an assistant teacher and theatre
camp teacher for the school. From years of formal and informal study and
travel, both Aileen and Lina are fluent in Spanish. In addition, Lina has
competed her teacher training program at American University. Please help
me to welcome all of our new teachers.
Announcements
Blood Drive: Friends School will be hosting a
blood drive in conjunction with the American Red Cross next Friday November 9th
from 3:00 to 7:00 p.m.in our
Community Room. You can schedule a time to donate on line at redcrossblood.org
(Sponsor code = FriendsSchool). Please consider making a donation
to this worthy endeavor. After this week’s
storm, the need is especially critical.
SPICES: Tickets are available for the S.P.I.C.E.S. of Life Gala and silent auction to raise money for the school’s Annual Fund. The event is next Sunday November 11th from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at the Atherton Hotel. A suggested donation of $40 to $60 a ticket makes this event an affordable evening of friends, community, music and food. Free childcare will be available for parents attending the event. More information is available on line at www.scfriends.org.
Parent- Teacher
Conferences: Our fall parent-teacher conferences will be held next
Thursday and Friday, November 8 and 9. Conferences are scheduled for 30
minutes and will be held in your child’s classroom. Fall conferences are
especially important and an ideal time for parents and teachers to discuss
goals for the year as well as areas of concern. Please call (814-237-8386) or stop by the
front desk to schedule your conference. Please be on time as conferences
will only last 30 minutes.
Because there will be no school on conference days, we will
have child care available. Child care
hours are from 8:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. each day. If you would like to sign
your child up , please let us know when you sign up for your conference.
Thankful Tuesday: November 20th marks
our annual Thankful Tuesday event. We begin by inviting parents to have
lunch with your students in the classroom and then we all enjoy classroom presentations
in the Community Room beginning at noon. As with most school
celebrations, we end with some singing. Afterwards, parents can choose to
take their students home if they need an early jump on the Thanksgiving
travels.
Snow Days, Delayed Openings, and Early Dismissals: On days when snow, ice or other conditions might make for hazardous travel, parents should check local TV and radio stations for news of school closings or delays. We try to make a determination by 6:30 AM and post information s on WPSU, WJAC-TV, most local radio stations, and on our answering machine (237-8386). Since we ride the same busses, we will usually follow the lead of the State College Area School District. In the case of early dismissal, the school will contact parents with a phone call or email. Parents who drop off their students are responsible for arranging transportation home.
Have a great weekend,
Dan
