Week of September 28, 2009

When I run into people whom I haven't seen in a while, the question is always, "How's everything going in the Upper School?" There is just no easy answer to that question. It doesn't seem enough to just say, "Fine!" Lately, I've been offering Willy's analogy of getting on a roller coaster ride. Things move fast in the Upper School. Hang on tight, pay attention, and just maybe you'll see SOME of the many activities that are whizzing by. Here is a brief summary of this past week... While they wait to be called onto the stage, two of our advanced actors are going over their lines for The House of Blue Leaves, which will be performed in November.

Our amazing seniors have created a Senior Service class this year. Their goal for this term is to redesign the school store. Some of them are creating a new patio outside, while others are painting the inside from top to bottom. The rest of us are eagerly awaiting the grand opening!

Dave's Math 310 (Alegbra II) students are enjoying their math lesson while Bryce's US History class learns about the first Quakers to arrive in America.

A serious student takes a test in African Civilization and enjoys the beautiful weather at the same time.

We have many important service opportunities in the Upper School. You can see two of our teacher's assistants helping students in math class. When students work as peer tutors, we find that they help themselves as much as they are helping the younger students. In order to assist a student who has questions in math, they must clearly understand the concepts themselves. Another service opportunity allows students to work in Willy's office. Here, you can see one of her TA's is recording the attendance for the day. (We appreciate parents' efforts to get students to school on time!)

GROCERY CERTIFICATES

We have a harder time than other units getting our parents to use Grocery Certificates because most of our parents are not on campus as much as parents of other units. Thankfully, the Grocery Certificate Program is becoming easier and easier to join. For every purchase made by Upper School parents using Grocery Certificates, the Upper School receives 5% of the total purchase! (No additional cost to you.) You can get Certificates for Whole Foods, Weaver Street, Food Lion, and Kroger. You can place a monthly order or request a standing order. Orders/payments are due the last Friday of every month in the specified Lock Boxes in the Center Building. Soon, we hope that orders will be able to be made through the CFS website.

WHAT DO WE DO WITH GROCERY CERTIFICATE MONEY?

It is important to note that any money the Upper School makes from Grocery Certificates goes into a special fund and NOT into our general supplies budget. We have used this money to make purchases for the Upper School that our annual supplies budget won't cover, such as laptops for teachers or new sewing machines for art and sewing classes. If you shop regularly at Whole Foods, Weaver Street, Food Lion, or Kroger, we appreciate your making the extra effort to use Grocery Certificates.

BEAR NIGHT

Our students have planned a Bear Night for this Friday at 8pm. If you are new to the Upper School community, you may be wondering, "What's Bear Night?" Bear is a game that involves running, chasing, screaming, laughing, and darkness. This is a game that is not for the faint of heart, but the kids love it! Staff supervisors will be on hand. More to come about Bear Night...

MARK YOUR CALENDARS

Wednesday, October 7 Picture Day

Thursday, October 8 Back to School Night (7-9pm)

Friday, October 9 Advisee Day

Wednesday, October 14 PSAT (8-12), noon dismissal for Staff Development, Junior Night

Week of September 21, 2009

Sherri and Alison are working on something together. I think they are learning a song. Bob is teaching Chemistry to a happy group, while Gustavo teaches Geometry to an equally engaged class. The large group of freshmen are pointing at Judith who has subbed for Jon Lepofsky during the first 3 weeks of school. We are all grateful to Judith for the time she has dedicated to getting to know all of her students and working so hard to get them off to a great start. At the same time, we look forward to welcoming Jon back to the Upper School.

I couldn't resist including this silly picture of Dylan's advisee group as they raid the prop closet so they can play dress-up.

PSA

An important reminder to all parents about the first PSA meeting Wednesday at 7pm in the US Meeting Hall. This meeting will be a great opportunity for you to meet other parents and to learn about ways that you can be involved in the CFS community. We hope to see many of you there!

LATENESS

Another reminder that school begins at 8:30am. Please help us by getting your child to school on time. If students are late or absent, you will be receiving a call from my assistant, Erin McGovern. We are hoping to cut down on morning late arrivals and to keep track of student illnesses.

FARMWORKER FESTIVAL

As I write this blog, Tim and Susan are in Newton Grove with 7 of our students for the Farmworker Festival. They will be helping Father Tony in many different areas. When I talked to them this morning, they were getting the volleyball court ready for play. They brought with them donated clothing and water bottles. I look forward to sharing photographs and stories after they return.

FALL WEEKEND

Next weekend is our Fall Weekend. We have no school on Monday, September 28th. Enjoy!

PSAT

I am full of reminders today. Students have begun to sign up for the PSAT, which will be given at the Upper School on Wednesday, October 14, from 8-12. Students sign up with Willy. The cost is $15. The PSAT is designed for juniors; freshmen and sophomores are welcome to sign up as well. Freshmen who are taking Math 110 (Alebra I) will probably want to wait until next year, as the math section is designed for Geometry, Algebra II, and beyond.

Have a great week. I hope you are able to enjoy this beautiful fall weather.

Week of September 14, 2009

Students in Susan's Beginning Play Writing class are working on a Dialogue exercise. They had each created a character, and Susan gave them a beginning prompt. From that point, they worked together to develop a dialogue. As you can see, some of the dialogues were humorous while others were more serious.











Ken's Advanced French class has agreed to follow the AP Curriculum. Here are two students working at the board, with Monsieur Ken asking questions en francais. Tres bien!

Members of Frances's Sewing class are making curtains for Bryce's room and new upholstery for one of Jamie's couches before they begin working on their own projects.

Susan and Mariah are co-teaching a class on the Bronte sisters. They will read Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights.


This will be our first full week of classes. During Group Collection today, our Director of Technology, Sharon Guillory, talked with our students about Internet Safety. Sharon talked with them about Facebook and issues of privacy. She encouraged them to think carefully about friending people on Facebook. She cautioned them about never sharing their passwords, except with parents. As always, we encourage parents and students to talk about social networking and their use of Facebook.

PSAT

We will give the PSAT (a practice SAT) in the Upper School on Wednesday, October 14, from 8:00-12:00. Although the PSAT is designed for juniors, freshmen and sophomores are also welcome to take the test, which is good practice for the SAT. Students may register with Willy. The cost is $15, which may be paid in cash or by check made out to CFS. All juniors are encouraged to take the PSAT. (A long day for juniors, as this is the morning before Junior Night)

FARMWORKERS FESTIVAL

Tim and Susan will take a group of students to Newton Grove on Sunday for the Farmworkers Festival. Our students help Father Tony by assisting him throughout the day. They plan to meet at school at 7am. Students will help prepare and serve food, prepare the soccer field for the tournament, prepare and hand out prizes. We may even have a soccer team that enters the tournament, depending on student interest. Students planning to participate have signed up on Willy's counter. All ages are welcome. We are always happy to continue our partnership with Father Tony and his Episcopal Ministry.

PIZZA

This Wednesday, we will begin our pizza lunches. We sell pizza at $1.50/slice. We offer 3 choices: cheese, pepperoni, and sausage. Students do not need to order ahead of time. We make an educated guess at how many pizzas to order and sell them first come, first served. Along with Bagel Tuesdays, Pizza Wednesdays are a popular event!

CLUBS and COMMITTEES

The Environmental Club, Gay-Straight Alliance, and the Clerks Committee have already begun meeting. During this week, applications are available for the Head Teacher, Admissions, and Staff-Student Discipline Committees. Applications must be submitted no later than Friday.

The weather is beautiful...and so are the new pictures of students on our bulletin boards! Have a great week!

Welcome to School Year 2009-2010!! (9.10.09)

Silent settling out at Hyco Lake with the entire Upper School community. Fabulous US teachers, Susan, Frances, and Guillermo who are in the swing of things at our all-school retreat.

The kids had a great time playing silly games and meeting new friends. We enjoyed a hot dog, veggie burger cookout by the seniors. Mother nature graced us with a perfectly beautiful day!

The outstanding class of 2010 planned and ran all of the activities.

Willy Rotella tells her story about coming to America at the age of 10.

I've been a little busy since the start of school. I had hoped to get a blog out sooner and am happy to be doing so today. We have had a great start to the year, with many high points already. In response to our summer reading of A Home on the Field, we offered a staff panel on Immigration to our freshmen, sophomores, and juniors during our first half-day of school. In this photo, you can see Willy talking about immigrating from Holland when she was 10. Also on the panel were Frances from Ireland, Tim from Canada, Julian from Spain, and Annie talked about CFS grad Didier Senga from Rwanda. On Friday, we welcomed author Paul Cuadros who met with the freshman class and then with Jonathan McGovern's Sports & Politics class.

PARENTS: HOW CAN YOU HELP? One main focus for the staff this year is getting students to school and to class ON TIME. Please help us out by getting your child to school in time for homeroom at 8:30. Homeroom is an important time for checking in with your advisor and fellow advisees. We also share morning announcements at that time, which pertain to the life of the Upper School. Once we have them here, we will be responsible for helping students to get to class on time. As you know, we are also dealing with concerns about the H1N1 virus. If your child has a sore throat or a fever, please keep them home. We ask that you keep them home until the fever has broken (on its own) for 24 hours. We have installed hand sanitizer dispensers in each classroom and are reminding students to wash their hands. If a student becomes ill in school, we will keep them isolated until someone can pick them up.

BAGEL TUESDAYS: Approximately 100 of our students have signed up for Bagel Tuesdays! This is wonderful...and students are very happy when Tuesday rolls around. Bagel Tuesdays offer a perfect opportunity for parents to be on campus to help out. As our parent liaisons say, it's lots of fun, you get to see your child (in a way that is not embarrassing to them!) and to meet many Upper School students. If you can help, even if it is just once/month, please contact Becky Kennedy at rsk-jrk@juno.com.

PIZZA WEDNESDAYS WILL START NEXT WEDNESDAY. NO NEED TO ORDER AHEAD. PIZZAS ARE SOLD AT $1.50/slice.

The volleyball and soccer teams both won games this week. Today, we will host a cross country meet. Next week, Amelia and Rob will take their classes to the Nasher for the Picasso exhibit. We feel like we are off to a great start in the Upper School. More to come...