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Q: How do mummies hide? A: They wear masking tape!
(A little Halloween humor...)
Autumn is in full swing at St. Michael's! Our third grade hall was filled with mummies this week (not to mention A LOT of masking tape!). It was all part of an engineering and math project that tied back to previous learnings on Egypt and mummification. Our students were challenged to break into small groups and create the tallest mummy using only newspaper, masking tape and toilet paper. Lots of math calculations, comparison graphing, writing and basic structural engineering principals (not to mention teamwork) were incorporated into the day's lesson as well! Mrs. Broga's sixth graders have been giving "demonstration" speeches of late in their weekly Speech class. From demonstrations on "how make an app", to "how to do a magic trick" and "how to carve a pumpkin," our Middle Schoolers are working hard on honing their public speaking and presentation skills.
Some scary and spooky sights were seen coming out of the Middle School on Friday night, from witches and vampires, to the Grinch and the Mad Hatter. Hope our older students had fun at the first Middle School dance of the year! (Checkout our Facebook page for more photos of the above events!)
Q: What is a Mummy's favorite type of music? A: Wrap!
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| We are delighted to have been voted Richmond's Favorite Private School AND Favorite Annual School Festival (for Magic Dragon Day) in this week's Style Weekly Family Favorites issue! Thank you! It is an exciting time to be at St. Michael's!
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| It's Conference Time! For the Lower School, you should have received an email from your child's teacher asking you to sign up for a meeting time via Sign-Up Genius. For the Middle School, parents will meet with one of your children's teachers. The chosen teacher will have gathered input from all relevant teachers so you have a collective view on student progress. You should have received a conference sign-up email from the assigned teacher that will be conducting the conference. For both LS and MS, parents will receive student report cards at the conference.
Have You Received the Annual Fund Mailing? If you haven't received yours, please contact Mary King Coleman. Thanks so much for your support of St. Michael's!
Lower School Author Event Change: Jennifer Holland, the author who was supposed to come on Monday, sadly is sick and had to cancel. (She is actually cancelling her whole tour and not just St. Michael’s.) However, she is rescheduling for an as yet to be determined date in January. For any LS families who ordered books, your orders will be sent home with your children this week. We will ask them to bring the books to School in January for Jennifer Holland to sign when she is here. Thanks for your assistance.
Fostering a Safe School Community: Beginning in November, the School asks all visitors, including parents, to please sign-in at the office and wear a visitor sticker while on campus. If you are interested in more details, here is more information. Thank you for your assistance.
School Pictures Re-Take: If you would like your child to have school pictures retaken, please contact Tracy Ward by Oct 31.
Sign Up to Support St M When You Shop! From Kroger and Martins, to Amazon and Target, you can support St M with every purchase you make. With the holiday shopping season almost upon us, now is the the time to sign up. Here is more info.
Nutritional Challenge: Coming in November, the Lower School students will be competing in the November Fruit Challenge. Students will have the opportunity to earn a sticky note for eating a serving of fruits or vegetables with their lunch or snack. Students will then write their name on the notes and bring them to the gym. At the end of the competition on December 1st, the grade with the most sticky notes will be awarded an extra PE period in the gym and a fruit party! Details to follow in next week’s newsletter.
- Drop-off: Thank you for not dropping your Lower School children off before 7:55 a.m (our earliest drop off time). It’s important that the children aren’t here too early as the school cannot ensure sufficient supervision.
- Lost and Found: As the weather turns colder, please remember to label your child's jacket with his/her name. We tend to collect numerous jackets because students come in cold and leave hot and consequently leave behind their brand new, nameless jackets and coats.
- Dress Code: Please remember that writing and large logos on shirts are not permitted per the dress code. Thanks for your help.
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| A BIG Thank You from the SMPA
The SMPA would like to thank our committee chairs who have been busy lately: - Carol Pfeiffer and Bo Ewell for organizing the Tennis Social
- Chris Kardian and Ned Flemming for Lower School grounds clean up
- Tracy Ward, Fran McLeod and Melanie Campbell for their work with school pictures
- Caroline Keys and Sandy Myers for their efforts with Spiritwear
- Alison Reining for providing snacks and drinks for the "Meetings with Michael"
Thank you to all of the volunteers who have supported these activities! You are the SMPA!
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| An Exciting Week in St M Sports
On 10/17, our Cross Country Girls’ team won the FIRST PLACE title and the Boys’ had a 3rd-place win in the 4-kilometer race at the MileStat Invitational. High-fives to you all!
Thanks to everyone who came out to support our Field Hockey players at our Field Hockey Fan Fest! We received a lot of compliments from the opposing team about the energy and spirit at the games. And congrats to our Field Hockey team for two GREAT WINS against the Panthers! DRAGON PRIDE!
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| Birthday Books!
Thank you, thank you to all of the wonderful children and families who donated Birthday Books at this week's Lower School assembly. Over 60 new books joined our library shelves, and these books are eager to have children read and enjoy them!
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| Admissions Open House Accolades
Thank you to all of the amazing adult and student volunteers who helped with the Kindergarten Open Houses this week! We are so very appreciative of all that you did to make the events such a success! If you know any preschool families, please tell them there is still time to take a tour or to submit an admissions application. Thank you for all of your support!
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Middle School Musings: Lots of exciting and interesting things have taken place in the past two weeks at the Middle School. Here is a quick glimpse:
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Middle School Math Fair: The Greater Richmond Council of Teachers of Mathematics sponsors a Middle School Math Fair each year at the University of Richmond. Four students from St. Michael's were invited to attend. Sessions offered included rocketry, the construction of water slides, towers and bridges, designing crash protection for eggs, creating tessellations and solving puzzles with Chocolate Fix.
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Prejudice Awareness Summit: Mrs. Flemming and Mrs. Broga took a group of our students to the Prejudice Awareness Summit -- a one day program at VCU that was designed to bring together over 200 metro Richmond 7th and 8th graders. Held in Richmond since 2001, participants gained knowledge in conflict resolution, prejudice and stereotype reduction, multicultural communications, leadership and advocacy. The program curriculum took participants through a process of awareness-to-action. Students learned to recognize prejudice and intolerance, and to respect others.
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Visit from James Preller, Author of Bystander (the summer reading book): Mr. Preller's main message was that each of us has a thumbprint that is uniquely ours and that is what helps make for great stories. He also read from two of his books; stated the importance of doing something and standing up ("upstanders" versus "bystanders"); and encouraged students to be themselves. He was humorous, captivating and engaging.
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| Chapel on "Community": Last Friday afternoon, students concluded the marking period with a collective reflection on the concept of community. They worked together to develop definitions, characteristics, examples and non-examples of community. It was a nice way to wrap up the first quarter of our year. Ask your student about it!
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Let's Be Friends!
We are receiving lots of wonderful feedback from families on our communications and social media updates. Thank you!
Get connected to keep abreast of St M news, events, calendar changes and information.
Current and past issues of "This Week at St. Michael's" are now archived on our website under "News and Events."
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Gentlemen: See you at Dad's Night Out on Tuesday, 10/28, from 6:30-8:30 p.m at the Singleton Campus!
NO CLASSES, Friday, 10/31.
Lower School: - Chapel, Tuesday, 10/28 8:30 a.m.
- Third Grade Field Trip to Jamestown, Tuesday, 10/28. (Please remember a bag lunch. Students must be at school no later than 7:45 a.m.)
- Championship Chess: Wednesday, 10/28, 2:40 to 3:40 p.m.
- Boys (grades 5-8) Lacrosse Clinic (last one of season): Tuesday, 10/28, 5:30-6:45 p.m.
- Kindergarten Halloween Costume Parade, Thursday, 10/30, 8:30-9:30 a.m. (Pls bring change of clothes for your child for after the parade.)
- Fall Festivals in Grades 1-5, Thursday, 10/30. As times vary by grade, please consult your class calendar. (No costumes please.)
- SMBA basketball signups for Grades 4-6 due to Mr. Kern by 11/4.
Middle School: - Day of the Dead Celebration,Thursday, 10/30, 1-2:45 p.m.
Sports:
- Boys (grades 5-8) Lacrosse Clinic (last one of season) : Tuesday, 10/28, 5:30-6:45 p.m.
- Field Hockey Practice, Monday,10/27, 3-4:30 p.m.
- Field Hockey Home Game: Tuesday, 10/28, vs. Panthers, 4 p.m.** TENTATIVE
- Field Hockey Team: No Wednesday Practice on 10/29
- Field Hockey Home Game (Last game of season): vs. Orchard House, Thursday, 10/30, 4 p.m.
- Girls Basketball Tryouts (6-8th grades), Wednesday, 10/29, 4:30-6:00 p.m.
- SMBA Basketball signup forms for Grades 4-6th due to Mr. Kern by 11/4.
- WISHING EVERYONE A FUN AND SAFE HALLOWEEN on Friday, 10/31! What's your favorite candy?
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