BIO 20: Don’t forget to click on the attachments to see the Crossroads celebrities highlighted in this week’s BIO 20 pages!

Head’s Note

Dear Parents,

What I hear from many of you is that your child cannot wait to come to school each day. Where does this come from? What sets the stage for this motivation to learn and engage? I believe that this “magic” is the result of our extraordinary mission supported by our exceptional teachers.

Motivation is like a ball rolling downhill. Once it gets going, it picks up speed. If one starts ahead, one stays ahead. This, in a nutshell, is the theory of Dr. James Heckman, Professor of Economics, University of Chicago. His research has led him to conclude that skills beget skills. This tracks with what we know about brain

development in children. The more “exercise” a child gets in a specific part of the brain, the more efficient the brain becomes. This is true for the complementary social, emotional, and cognitive skills students practice daily in all classes. Strengthening one area primes another area for growth, just as the Core Knowledge and Core Virtues Programs complement one another and support the growth of our students. As skills are practiced, new skills become easier to acquire. At Crossroads we call this “stickiness” or “Velcro.” This leads to student investment and to increased motivation. I see evidence of this in every classroom, every day. I believe that this is why our students can’t wait to come to school.

All the best, —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
Snack Friday: Thank you to the first grade parents for the delicious Panera lunch.

After-School Program: The May registration is now open. Please remember to pack your child a peanut-nut free snack if they are staying in the After-School Program. A snack time is built in to the program and students are often hungry after their regular school day. Teachers are now planning end of year trips. Please make sure that you do not sign your child up for the After-School Program on days that your child’s class will not be returning to school after a field trip, as we will not be able to reimburse you or extend a credit. Should you have questions, please refer to our website on our policy regarding requests to switch dates or to issue refunds. Thank you. — Pat Frankenfield

Parent Association News
Plant Sale: The 2012 Crossroads Parent Association Plant Sale begins Friday, May 11th and runs until Friday, May 25th. Cedar Circle Farm has generously agreed to collaborate with the Crossroads Parent Association again this year to bring you beautiful plants and flowers for all of your spring planting needs. Each Crossroads family will be emailed a coupon prior to the sale. Print out the coupon, present it before your purchase, and Cedar Circle Farm will donate 25 percent of the profits from the sale of qualified plants to the Crossroads Parents Association. It’s that easy! The sale includes all annuals, perennials, hanging baskets, and veggie bedding plants … all organically grown. You must have your coupon for the Crossroads PA to receive the donation. These funds are used to enhance the lives of our children at Crossroads with projects like playground improvements, family arts nights, outdoor classroom space, and so much more. Any questions please contact Suzy Psomas at suzypsomas@gmail.com or 603.643.4379.

We are having a great time at our new PA outings, so I wanted to be sure to announce the next one. Monday, April 30, 8:30 am at Market Table will be our next coffee. I hope to see you there!

There will also be a very short PA meeting on Tuesday, May 1st after drop-off, in the Lora Robins Library in Bancroft. We’ll be planning for end-of-year activities and regrouping for next year.

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,

While schools are always in process, there are distinct moments when I feel as though we have arrived. Sometimes this happens in a big way. It happens when I am at a whole school assembly, and we are in our spacious, well-lit campus center. I look up and see our entire student body, and I think to myself, “We’ve arrived; we are a mature school now.” I had the same feeling when we received our accreditation from the National Association of Independent Schools, and I feel this way each time our ERB testing is returned to us with glowing results. These are big, unforgettable moments in the life of a head of school, and from these I derive joy and satisfaction. Each one of these moments is the result of the efforts of our Board, parents, teachers, administrators, staff, and students to keep the focus on character and content.

Sometimes these moments are “small.” They involve the actions of just a few members of our community. Nonetheless, they result in that same, powerful feeling. Sometimes this involves one of our graduates. Newly engaged Chris Dwight, a Crossroads alumnus, is now working in a KIPP school. Ben Hancock, another alumnus, is serving as a soldier in Afghanistan. Often though, our youngest students are inspired to take our mission beyond the walls of the school, and isn’t this the whole point? Last week first graders, Gianluca

News from the Health Office

We are reviewing our current wellness policy that 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.

We have an early tick season this year. To prevent Lyme’s Disease while enjoying the outdoors, consider the following tips from the CDC (Centers for Disease Control):

• Avoid wooded and bushy areas with high grass and leaf litter.
• Walk in the center of trails.
• Repel ticks with DEET or permethrin. Use repellents that contain 20 percent or more DEET (N, N-diethyl-m-toluamide) on the exposed skin for protection that lasts up to several hours. Always follow product instructions. Parents should apply this product to their children, avoiding hands, eyes, and mouth.
• Use products that contain permethrin on clothing. Treat clothing and gear, such as boots, pants, socks and tents. It remains protective through several washings. Pre-treated clothing is available and remains protective for up to seventy washings.
• Find other repellents registered by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) at http://cfpub.epa.gov/oppref/insect/

  For information on ticks and Lyme’s Disease, please visit the following CDC websites:

  http://www.cdc.gov/lyme/ http://www.cdc.gov/lyme/faq/index.html

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.

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,

Come one, come all to the Family Arts and Coffee House Night! The students have been very busy practicing their “numbers.” Dinner and dessert will be available from 5:30 until 6:00 pm. After dinner, we’ll enjoy the entertainment provided by our families. We also hope to have some art or craft activities in the art room. Please plan to attend with your child so we’ll have plenty of “grown-up” eyes on the children. Please RSVP to Darlene with the number of family members who plan to attend (so we can order pizza!), and call Terry Samwick to let her know if you’ll be able to help us with this new event.

I had good news and bad news this weekend. The good news is that our three daughters (residing in Philadelphia, Chicago, and Boston) have conspired to come together at our house in Massachusetts for a

BIO 20: Don’t forget to click on the attachment to see the Crossroads celebrity highlighted in this week’s BIO 20 page!

News from the Admissions Office

The Admissions Office is abuzz with a record setting number of parents calling and coming in for interviews. It is heartwarming to see the excitement from new parents as they come to understand our unique mission and approach to education. Please continue sharing your stories with your neighbors and friends. You make my job easier and a lot of fun! — Thanks, Betsy

Head’s Note

Cross-grade activities —we see them everywhere in the school. Today it is a kindergartener shooting hoops with the long-legged Middle School boys during arrival. Last week it was watching the third graders make “smoothies” for students and teachers across all grade levels.

Cross-grade activities support our mission. While encouraging the acquisition of knowledge and skills, they also support our character education program. Our younger students have someone to look up to, someone to emulate when they have interactions with older students. Our older students learn that when one offers service, one often receives more than one gives. In the words of one of our Middle School girls, “I like this activity because it helped me to bond with the younger kids who I never would have talked to or met otherwise. It taught me that people can be very nice and appreciate it when you do nice things for them.” In the words of another student, “It feels really good.”

Habits of the heart are critical to our sense of community, feelings of well-being, and knowledge that we can make a difference through our actions. And, equally as important, as one Middle School girl remarked, “It’s really fun!” — Cheers, Jean

Community Service, Virtue, and Psalm for This Month
March Virtue: Honesty is truthfulness: loving the truth, telling the truth, and living truthfully in word and deed. Psalm 15

School News
Lady’s Slipper Program: The science department needs about 200 4-ounce baby food jars to use as containers to grow our lady’s slippers for the school’s Lady’s Slipper Program. If you know anyone who buys baby food in the common baby food glass jars, we would appreciate as many as you can get…preferably clean. —Thanks so much, Peter Faletra

After-School Program – The April registration is now open. Please remember to pack your child a peanut-nut free snack if they are staying in the After-School Program. A snack time is built in to the program and students are often hungry after their regular school day. Also, should you have questions, please refer to our website on our policy regarding requests to switch dates or to issue refunds. Thank you. – Pat Frankenfield

News from the Parent Association
Coffee House and Family Arts Night: Please join us for our Crossroads community Coffee House and Family Arts Night next Friday, March 30th from 5:30-8:00 pm in Bancroft. This promises to be a fun, lively evening with something for ALL the family! There will be musical and theatrical performances by classes, families (hopefully!), and groups of students of all ages, as well as family themed crafts. Pizza and drinks will be provided courtesy of the PA, so there is no need to bring anything other than yourselves! We look forward to seeing you next Friday. Please note that the deadline for acts has been extended to THIS FRIDAY, March 23rd. We’d love to see some family bands or perhaps an ensemble or two from some Middle Schoolers. Show us what you’ve got! If you have an idea for an act that you’d like to share with the school, please let Dr. Freeberg know by this Friday.

Also, we at the PA are looking forward to our next night out! Please join us this Thursday, March 22, from 7:00-9:00 pm in the lounge at the Canoe Club. We hope to see lots of you there!

BIO 20: Don’t forget to click on the attachment to see the Crossroads celebrity highlighted in this week’s BIO 20 page!

News from the Admissions Office

The Admissions Office is abuzz with a record setting number of parents calling and coming in for interviews. It is heartwarming to see the excitement from new parents as they come to understand our unique mission and approach to education. Please continue sharing your stories with your neighbors and friends. You make my job easier and a lot of fun! — Thanks, Betsy

Head’s Note

Dear Parents,

Spring is in the air. The small children are creating large mud pies and the big children are hitting their growth spurts. Very short hair is suddenly in style in preparation for baseball season, knees are appearing, and there are some very sleepy heads in the morning. Knowing that there is so much “growth” in the spring (and some itchiness as well), we ramp up our activities to keep everyone engaged.

Last weekend Mrs. Gorman and our Math Counts team traveled to Plymouth State to join in this annual competition. Our students thoroughly enjoyed participating and loved seeing just how far one could “go” in math. Dr. Faletra and our Middle School Science Club students knocked the socks off of over 100 members of the New Hampshire Orchid Society with their presentation on our restoration project. Mrs. Lahey and just one student will be going to taking rhetoric to the next level in the upcoming weeks. During March, teachers are also writing report cards and preparing for conferences with parents. The new climbing elements in the gym continue to get a real workout, and Mrs. Grenier is also preparing for our annual Jump Rope and Hoops for Heart afternoon. A very entertaining assembly for grades 3-5 is shaping up for this Friday. To wrap up the month, we’ll be hosting our first ever all school Family Arts and Coffee House Night on March 30th. I hope you’ll join us! — Cheers, Jean

Community Service, Virtue, and Psalm for This Month
March Virtue: Honesty is truthfulness: loving the truth, telling the truth, and living truthfully in word and deed. Psalm 15

School News
Snack Friday: Thank you to the second grade parents for the delicious snacks!

Hats off…to the following Crossroads graduates and former students who made the second quarter Hanover High School honor roll — High honors: Rachel Finlayson, Brendan Barth, Bethany Denton, Christian Mueller, Laura Ray, Aline Rollenhagen, Matthew Finlayson, Ethan Gorman, and Sophia Higgerson. Honors: Christian Avery, Frances Kazal, Miriam Whittington, William DeLucia, Ian Smith, Austin Taylor, Nathalie Ferneau, Tomas La Porta, Sophie Kelly, Alex Paquette, and Christopher Powell.

Hats off…to Meade Avery, who made the 2012 New Hampshire Girls’ U15 Select hockey team. She will skate with girls from CT, RI, NH, and ME in the New England Yankee Conference Hockey Festival the weekend
of March 23-25.

Hats off…to Miriam Viazmenski, who has been cast in Opera North’s upcoming production of The King and I.

News from the Parent Association

We at the PA love our new monthly socializing! If you’re not yet on the bandwagon, climb aboard — we’re alternating PA Nights Out with PA Morning Coffees so that we can capture both the larks and the owls among us. Our next event will be a night out on Thursday, March 22nd, from 7:00-9:00 pm at the Canoe Club. We hope to see you there!

BIO 20: Don’t forget to click on the attachment to see the Crossroads celebrity highlighted in this week’s BIO 20 page!

News from the Admissions Office

You’ve seen us on Facebook, followed us on Twitter, watched us on YouTube, and now you can listen to us here and on the following Upper Valley Radio stations: KIXX 100.5, WGXL 92.3, WMXR 93.9, and WTXL 1400 AM. Crossroads Academy alumnus (’03) and recent University of Richmond graduate Andrew Keller shares his appreciation for the education he received here at Crossroads.

Head’s Note

Dear Parents,

Time is experienced differently in schools than it is, perhaps, in any other environment. Each day, teachers plan what they will teach (future), review what they previously taught to create “stickiness” for new information (past), and launch daily lessons (present). It is said that teachers make an average of 3,000 decisions in a given day. Many of these decisions involve this special form of “time travel.” Thus, our children progress.

Simultaneously our faculty participates in teams, small groups, and as a whole in the process of moving the school forward. We meet on a weekly basis to discuss parent and student feedback, educational research, what’s new in the news, issues surrounding technology, and societal matters that affect not only what we teach but how we teach it. We also share what we have learned through professional development opportunities afforded us by the school, and undertaken on our own. As a result, instructional techniques improve, new materials are introduced, and novel program enhancements become a part of the fabric of our school. Creative by nature, these changes stimulate more conversation, and the cycle continues.

While we are working on the “micro” level, our Board engages in the same process from the “macro” level. Through thoughtful discussion and research, they seek to support our growth as an educational institution. Their goal is to take the 30,000-foot view to ensure our school’s future.

It’s a wonderful, inclusive process. One teacher remarked to me that it’s a lot like working in an employee owned company; everyone has a stake in the success of this remarkable school. Everyone participates. I thank each employee, each student, each parent, and each Board member for their part in the evolution of our school. — Onward and upward, Jean

Community Service, Virtue, and Psalm for This Month
March Virtue: Honesty is truthfulness: loving the truth, telling the truth, and living truthfully in word and deed. Psalm 15

From the Health Office

There have been some concerns about head lice in the Upper Valley community. Although we do not routinely perform head checks at school, we actively work with families who have head lice to help eliminate the problem at school. It is helpful for parents to check heads on occasion, particularly after camp experiences, travel, or exposure to other children who have had head lice. What to look for: small insects the size of a sesame seed that shy away from light, making them difficult to see. Look for nits (lice eggs) that are tiny, yellowish-white, oval eggs attached at an angle to the side of hair shafts. Nits are most commonly found near the nape of the neck, around the forehead, and behind the ears. Nits close to the scalp usually indicate an active case of head lice. Note any excessive itching of the scalp. If lice are found in your child’s hair, please contact the school immediately. Please call me with any questions or need for treatment options.

School News

Congratulations to Alexandria Coffin for making the 2012 Vermont Girls’ Select hockey team. She will skate with girls from CT, RI, NH, and ME in the New England Yankee Conference Hockey Festival the weekend of March 23-25.

BIO 20: Don’t forget to click on the attachment to see the Crossroads celebrity highlighted in this week’s BIO 20 page!

News from the Admissions Office

The admissions season is off to a great start with many families calling and coming in to visit. We have already accepted thirteen new students including eight in kindergarten, and the season is really just beginning. If you know of just one family with whom you might share a good word about Crossroads or colleagues who might be interested in attending the upcoming Discover the Difference morning, please reach out to them and invite them to give me a call. Wouldn’t it be great to help more children in the Upper Valley experience the wonder and joy of a Crossroads education? Our next Discover the Difference morning is Tuesday, March 6th from 9:00 to 11:00 am.

Congratulations to TJ Beaver and Thaddeus Stern: They were in a state hockey tournament this weekend representing Hanover Hockey Association, and their team will continue on to the national tournament in Virginia.

Congratulations to the Crossroads Math Team: Nine students from the Middle School competed on February 16th at the Thayer School in the Regional Mathcounts competition. This is a national program for middle school students. The nine students are Meade Avery, AJ Barre, Nadia Clement, Ursula Collins-Laine, Meredith Ferneau, Bettina Hammer, Kisa Lopez, Abby Smith, and Johannes Testorf. The team of Bettina, Ursula, Kisa, and Meade finished in second place in the region. Cardigan Mountain was first and Richmond School was third. In the individual competition Nadia Clement was fourth, AJ Barre was eighth, Bettina Hammer was ninth, and Abby Smith was eleventh. Those four individuals were then in the Countdown Round, which is an intense oral one-on-one competition. Nadia finished third in that competition. The four team members will move on to states and we are waiting to hear which of the individuals will be invited to join them. — Alison Gorman

Parent Association News

Welcome back, everyone! We’re hoping to see you at the PA “morning out” coffee on February 29th. We’ll be at the Dirt Cowboy cafe from about 8:30 am on. Join us!

Also a friendly reminder that our next PA meeting will be Tuesday morning, March 6th, at 8:00 am in the Lora Robins Library in Bancroft.

BIO 20: Don’t forget to click on the attachment to see the Crossroads celebrity highlighted in this week’s BIO 20 page!

News from the Admissions Office
We had a very successful first Discover the Difference morning. Nine families attended. The second grade wowed the audience with a performance of the Crossroads South American song and a recitation from Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech. Terry Samwick, Margaret Rightmire, and Jolin Kish were wonderful representatives of the parent/board community. A.J. Barre and Meade Avery were invaluable in answering questions about life as a student at Crossroads. Our next Discover the Difference morning is Tuesday, March 6th from 9:00–11:00 am. If you have the opportunity to invite your friends or neighbors, I would appreciate it. The #1 way we attract new families is through the good stories you share with your friends. Thanks for all your help! —Betsy

Head’s Note

Dear Parents,
It seems fitting that on Valentine’s Day I am writing to you on a matter of the heart. Our touchstone is Strong Minds Kind Hearts. And, as you know, we’ve created a new mission statement. It reads as follows:

Crossroads Academy is an independent, co-educational day school committed to academic excellence and moral integrity. We inspire our students to love learning, act honorably, and contribute actively to intellectual, cultural, and civic life.

Our mission speaks to the critical importance of knowledge and virtue. Virtue is the result of habits, and habits require practice and lots of it. At Crossroads we are keen on thinking about, talking about, and practicing virtue on a daily basis. One of the ways we practice is through community service. We provide opportunities to serve our local, regional, and world communities. You have told us that you support this goal, and you show your commitment by participating with your children in community service opportunities within our school community as well as outside of school. I know that you and your children would like more occasions to engage in hands-on community service during the school day. Through community service, children learn that they can make a difference, and that in doing so, one often gains more than one gives.

To this end, we are instituting a new program at Crossroads. Afternoons previously devoted to faculty workshops will now become community service afternoons. School will be in session all day. Beginning in the fall of 2012, we will be dedicating three afternoons (from 12:30-3:00 pm) each year to community service. Students will engage in projects on campus, take trips to local organizations to offer service or deliver goods, and participate in hands-on projects off campus. Faculty members will lead these annual efforts, and the school will provide all materials and transportation. Over the years, students who experience a K-8 education at Crossroads will have the opportunity participate in up to twenty-seven different projects!

I am so excited about this addition to our program and look forward to being a part of the action. I’ll let you know more as the time draws near. — All the best, Jean

Community Service, Virtue, and Psalm for This Month
February Virtue: Diligence is doing what needs to be done with devotion, dedication, and determination. Perseverance is pushing on despite difficulty and hardship. Psalm 139:1-5, 23-24

School News
Re-enrollment: In preparation for the 2012-2013 school year, our administrative team will be distributing re- enrollment contracts at arrival and dismissal on February 28 and 29. Families who use the bus should check in backpacks for re-enrollment packets!

Parent Association News
We had a lot of fun at PA Night Out last month! Despite dicey, icy weather a few intrepid souls made it out to 6 South Street for the evening and we had a great time hanging out and getting to know one another. We’ll definitely do that again in March, but this month we’ll try something different. For those of us who prefer a morning get-together, we’ll be doing a PA Coffee on February 29th at 8:30 am at the Dirt Cowboy Cafe in Hanover. We hope to see you there!