Week of May 25, 2015

The Adventures of Flat Dragon!

Is everyone excited about summer? Our St. Michael's Dragon is! Dragon is excited to go on adventures with our students, faculty and families!

For those that may be familiar with Flat Stanley, the last week of school our students will be bringing home Flat Dragon, a paper cut-out of our mascot. (Flat Dragon will also be posted on the St M website.)

We would like your family to take Flat Dragon with you on your escapades this summer-- whether that be on vacation, camping in your yard, swimming at the pool, or curling up with a good book. Then, snap a photo of you or a family member with Flat Dragon and send it to our Communications Office at aamore@stmschool.net and we will track on social media all of Flat Dragon's summer fun and how many places Flat Dragon visited!

Show us your Dragon Pride and help Flat Dragon have the best summer ever!

 Important Announcements:

Looking Ahead to Next Year: 

In the coming week, we will be posting summer assignments and reading lists to our website, as well as school supply lists and Back to School forms. Will will put links to all of these in next newsletter. 

Please mark your calendars for the following orientation dates for the 2015-2016 school year:

Back to School Orientation Info

Wednesday, Aug. 19	Kindergarten Parent Meeting, 7 p.m., Kindergarten Rooms
Thursday, Aug. 20	Lower School "Meet Your Teacher Day" 8:30 a.m. – Kindergarten 9:30 a.m. – New Students 10 a.m. – Last Name A-F 10:30 a.m. – Last Name G-M 11 a.m. -  Last Name N-Z *Students are welcome to drop off supplies
Monday, Aug. 24	Lower School First Day of School Classes begin at 8:20 a.m. Doors open at 8:05 a.m. 11 a.m. – Kindergarten Dismissal Noon – Grades 1-5 Dismissal   Middle School Orientation: Singleton Campus 9:15 a.m. – 6th Grade 10:45 a.m. – 7th and 8th Grade Locker set-up to follow
Tuesday, Aug. 25	Middle School First Full Day: Doors open at 7:45 a.m., Class begins at 8 a.m., dismiss at 2:50 p.m. Lower School – Full Day;  Dismiss at 3 p.m.

• Tuesday, Sept.1, Lower School Back to School Night,  6:30 p.m.
  
• Wednesday, Sept. 9, Middle School Back to School Night, 6:30 p.m.
  

Introducing Two New Teachers to our Middle School 
Please join us in welcoming Ben Hayward and Tim Winkler to our Middle School faculty!

Ben Hayward: Middle School Math Teacher

Ben Hayward joins us from Potomac Falls High School in Sterling, VA where he taught geometry, algebra functions, data analysis, and algebra II, and served as the school’s head gymnastics coach. Mr. Hayward is a graduate of The Heights School and the U.S. Military Academy where he studied environmental engineering, as well as Arabic and French. At West Point, he earned a NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship and NCAA All-America scholar-athlete recognition. He captained the Army gymnastics team and was an All-American on the pommel horse. Prior to pursing a teaching career, Mr. Hayward served as an US Army officer and aviator stationed in Alaska, Korea, and Iraq. He flew over 200 combat hours as a helicopter pilot during Operation Iraqi Freedom. In addition to teaching math, Mr. Hayward is excited to help with our new mountain biking program. 

Tim Winkler: Middle School Science Teacher

For the past eight years, Tim Winkler has been beloved teacher at Bailey Bridge Middle School in Midlothian, teaching eighth grade physical science and chairing the science department. Mr. Winkler holds a B.S. in biology from the University of Minnesota. Mr. Winkler is an early adopter of technology, using an array of technologies in his teaching including Google Apps, the same platform deployed in our Middle school. A believer in lifelong learning, Mr. Winkler has continued his graduate studies at the University of Virginia, as well as in project based learning and STEM education at Longwood University and the Math Science Innovation Center, respectively. In addition to his duties in the science department, Mr. Winkler is excited to help with our LEGO robotics program. 

Library Helper Needed

If anyone has an extra 30 minutes to an hour, Mrs. Wise needs help this week during school hours organizing the shelves in the Bon Air Library.  No previous library experience is necessary.   Please email Mrs. Wise (cwise@stmschool.net)  if and when you would like to help.  Thanks!

Got Library Books? 

With the end of school in sight, this is a friendly reminder that we need families to help their children look for library books that need to be returned.  All books should be turned back in by Monday, June 1.   Also, families are welcome to contact the librarians by email if they want to know whether or not their child has any books out.

A reminder too that children can access our digital eBook collection this summer through St. Michael's. Every child has been assigned a username. Your passcode is: dragons. Please contact Mrs.Wise or Ms. Price if you have misplaced the username information.

From our SMPA President:

Thank you all all of our wonderful volunteers that made this year such a success! Without your time and caring, the SMPA would not operate. Committee Chairs, please stop by the SMPA for a small token of our appreciation for all you have done this year. 

For those of you who missed our annual spring meeting last week, the SMPA will be making a gift to the School in the amount of $76,650. Moreover, we hope the events and opportunities provided by the SMPA helped to further the wonderful sense of community that makes St M such a wonderful place. 

Have a wonderful summer!  -Caroline Jennings

The St. Michael's Church Extended Day Program will be offering care for all St M School early dismissals the week of June 1st (closing at 6 p.m.) and full day care (8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.) the week of June 8th - 12th.  

Missing Anything?

Our Lost and Found has grown quite large. A quick look at the pile revealed numerous fleeces, North Face jackets and winter coats, Ugg snow boots, lacrosse sticks and sports equipment, and more. PLEASE stop in and see if any of it is yours. 

We will donate all Lost and Found at the end of School year.

Joining Hands to Celebrate a Legacy 

Visit stmschool.net/legacy to view examples of the 47 acts of kindness completed in honor of Mr. Hubbard. 

Remember to share any Acts of Kindness that you experience by: emailing it to kindness@stmschool.net, tweeting it to #kindSTM  or posting it on Facebook and sharing it to our page.

Let's Be Friends! 

Current and past issues of "This Week at St. Michael's" are now archived on our website under "News and Events," as well as under "Community."