BIO 20: Don’t forget to click on the attachment to see the Crossroads celebrity highlighted in this week’s BIO 20 page!
Head’s Note
Dear Parents,
Oh, the fun we are having here. The improved weather has allowed us to begin to use our fields again. How happy the children are to run and play on the grass! Rounding the corner in Klee in the past week, I was invited to join two boys who were puzzling over a geometry question. One question from me about the number of degrees in a triangle and the pencils began to fly across the angles. This week, coming around that same corner, I heard a conversation between two fifth graders in Elizabethan English. Rehearsals for A Midsummer Night’s Dream have begun. Thursday arrived cloudy and gray, but you, our parents and students, made it bright and cheery for our faculty. Thank you for making us feel so special through your contributions to and support of our annual Faculty Appreciation Luncheon. We felt the love! And then there was our first All School Coffee House. While I was not able to attend, I heard that it was just terrific. We thank all of you for supporting this event and offer our special thanks to Bruce Freeberg for the inspiration and leadership.
In the “bigger” picture, I hope that you are following us on Facebook. We’ve been posting some very interesting articles and blogs on educational topics. Several of these are written by English teacher Jess Lahey, and many of these are on the topic of Core Knowledge. More and more data is coming to light on the positive
effects of Core Knowledge and you will find some of these postings on our site. Today we were thrilled to have a visit from Robert Pondiscio, Director of Communications for the Core Knowledge Foundation. We are becoming nationally known for our program!
On a less lofty, but still important topic—with the change of season come questions about dress code. Our aim is to create a “non-distracting” learning environment. I have attached the dress code to today’s Backpack for your reference.
Enjoy your week. —Warmly, Jean
Community Service, Virtue, and Psalm for This Month
April Virtue: Self-control is stopping to think about my actions before I enact them. Self-discipline is giving the best of ourselves and saying “no” to our weaknesses. Psalm 37:1-8 and 19:14
School News
Jump Rope and Hoops for Heart continues to be a great success! I would like to thank everyone who helped to make this event run smoothly including the jumpers, volunteers, and donors. It was a fun afternoon. We raised a grand total of $2,214 for the American Heart Association. I would like to congratulate all participants on a job well done!—Mrs. Grenier
From the Health Office: We are reviewing our current wellness policy, which was initially put into place in 2006. It is helpful to gather input from parents on this important issue. If you are interested in joining a committee to review this policy, please email Kathy Barth, school nurse, at kathy.barth@crossroadsacademy.org. Thank you.
News from the Parent Association
What a great evening our Arts Night/Coffeehouse was—the huge turnout really made it into a banner event! Thanks to those who made it all happen—the crafts, the provisions, setting up, cleaning up. We couldn’t have pulled it off without all of you!! And a special thanks to Dr. Freeberg, who worked so hard with all of our kids to make it a very special evening.
Watch this space—we will pick an evening in May to hand out those beautiful flowers around Hanover, performing “random acts of kindness” wherever the mood strikes.
And our next PA “morning out” coffee will be later this month. We will announce the date and time in the next Backpack Express.