Although very few will become professional singers, each child will benefit from a tangible understanding of teamwork, responsibility and interdependence. Although very few will become professional actors, writers, crew members, directors and dancers, each child will benefit from a personal exploration of talents, desires and values. During my tenure at St. Paul’s, it has remained my goal that our pursuits somehow awaken the unique, creative self within each child, expanding his or her very ability to think and ultimately contributing to his or her ability to navigate this complex and ever-changing world.
I can imagine no weightier charge than the daily education of your children. For this trust, I offer my thanks.
Richard Held
Tuition Aid Season is Here!
Tuition aid processing for the 2012/2013 academic school year is underway. To apply, please visit www.factstuitionaid.com online. You will want to have your 2010 federal income tax return and basic information regarding your household income and expenses handy when you visit the website. Deadline for completion of the process is January 17, 2012. Keep in mind that timely application will receive priority for available funds if you have any questions about the process, please contact Daniel Pennington, Finance Director, at 816-268-6531.
A Reminder at the Busy Time of Year
Liz Barnes
A New York Times article was shared by one of our faculty members, and while I know that you, as a parent body, are the ones who know and do these things, I think a reminder is always good for us. We are so busy running our children around to their various activities, doing our own things, and caring for our parents that simple things like reading to our children can take a back seat. Perhaps a reminder of this special activity and the academic merits it brings to them will give us an excuse to slow down, postpone the laundry, and remember to read to our children. As important are the quiet moments when we can snuggle with them in their beds, listen to reports of their day, and slow their fast-beating hearts with a good story before bedtime.
I can assure you that we, as teachers, are not diminishing our roles. As we all know, the partnership between school and home – a real bonus in our school – helps your children grow in so many ways. Thank you for sharing that role with us!
November 19, 2011
How About Better Parents?
By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
IN recent years, we’ve been treated to reams of op-ed articles about how we need better teachers in our public schools and, if only the teachers’ unions would go away, our kids would score like Singapore’s on the big international tests. There’s no question that a great teacher can make a huge difference in a student’s achievement, and we need to recruit, train and reward more such teachers. But here’s what some new studies are also showing: We need better parents. Parents more focused on their children’s education can also make a huge difference in a student’s achievement.
How do we know? Every three years, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, or O.E.C.D., conducts exams as part of the Program for International Student Assessment, or PISA, which tests 15-year-olds in the world’s leading industrialized nations on their reading comprehension and ability to use what they’ve learned in math and science to solve real problems — the most important skills for succeeding in college and life. America’s 15-year-olds have not been distinguishing themselves in the PISA exams compared with students in Singapore, Finland and Shanghai.
To better understand why some students thrive taking the PISA tests and others do not, Andreas Schleicher, who oversees the exams for the O.E.C.D., was encouraged by the O.E.C.D. countries to look beyond the classrooms. So starting with four countries in 2006, and then adding 14 more in 2009, the PISA team went to the parents of 5,000 students and interviewed them “about how they raised their kids and then compared that with the test results” for each of those years, Schleicher explained to me. Two weeks ago, the PISA team published the three main findings of its study:
“Fifteen-year-old students whose parents often read books with them during their first year of primary school show markedly higher scores in PISA 2009 than students whose parents read with them infrequently or not at all. The performance advantage among students whose parents read to them in their early school years is evident regardless of the family’s socioeconomic background. Parents’ engagement with their 15-year-olds is strongly associated with better performance in PISA.”
Schleicher explained to me that “just asking your child how was their school day and showing genuine interest in the learning that they are doing can have the same impact as hours of private tutoring. It is something every parent can do, no matter what their education level or social background.”
For instance, the PISA study revealed that “students whose parents reported that they had read a book with their child ‘every day or almost every day’ or ‘once or twice a week’ during the first year of primary school have markedly higher scores in PISA 2009 than students whose parents reported that they had read a book with their child ‘never or almost never’ or only ‘once or twice a month.’ On average, the score difference is 25 points, the equivalent of well over half a school year.”
Yes, students from more well-to-do households are more likely to have more involved parents. “However,” the PISA team found, “even when comparing students of similar socioeconomic backgrounds, those students whose parents regularly read books to them when they were in the first year of primary school score 14 points higher, on average, than students whose parents did not.”
The kind of parental involvement matters, as well. “For example,” the PISA study noted, “on average, the score point difference in reading that is associated with parental involvement is largest when parents read a book with their child, when they talk about things they have done during the day, and when they tell stories to their children.” The score point difference is smallest when parental involvement takes the form of simply playing with their children.
These PISA findings were echoed in a recent study by the National School Boards Association’s Center for Public Education, and written up by the center’s director, Patte Barth, in the latest issue of The American School Board Journal.
The study, called “Back to School: How parent involvement affects student achievement,” found something “somewhat surprising,” wrote Barth: “Parent involvement can take many forms, but only a few of them relate to higher student performance. Of those that work, parental actions that support children’s learning at home are most likely to have an impact on academic achievement at school.
“Monitoring homework; making sure children get to school; rewarding their efforts and talking up the idea of going to college. These parent actions are linked to better attendance, grades, test scores, and preparation for college,” Barth wrote. “The study found that getting parents involved with their children’s learning at home is a more powerful driver of achievement than parents attending P.T.A. and school board meetings, volunteering in classrooms, participating in fund-raising, and showing up at back-to-school nights.”
To be sure, there is no substitute for a good teacher. There is nothing more valuable than great classroom instruction. But let’s stop putting the whole burden on teachers. We also need better parents. Better parents can make every teacher more effective.
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/opinion/editorialsandoped/oped/columnists/thomaslfriedman/index.html?inline=nyt-per
St. Paul’s 2011-2012 Annual Fund
The 2011-2012 Annual Fund has nearly reached the half-way point toward our goal of $240,000. We are trailing last year’s total at this time and really need to rally the troops to ensure a successful drive. While we would like to reach our goal in gifts and pledges by the end of the year, you will have until June 30, 2012 to honor the pledge. You can make your pledge and set up a payment schedule on our website. Please take a moment now to do so.
• March 2nd-3rd, 2012: Randy Kurt's Benefit Games. Lace up your shoes and get ready to play in the Second Annual Benefit Games. New! Men's and women's dodgeball tournaments will be held on Friday night, March 2nd. Men's and women's basketball tournaments will follow on Saturday, March 3rd. Draft your team now! Contact Amy Graham or Katie Moreland for details.
• April 14th, 2012: Game On! Auction. Schedule your sideline assistants (babysitters) and mark your calendars for Game On! at school on April 14th.
Stay tuned in December for more details involving the 2012 Auction and pre-game events!
November Lunch News
Monday • Wednesday • Friday
Vegetarian Soups
Chocolate Milk
Italian meats on the Deli Bar
Tuesday• Thursday
Sandwich salads (egg, hummus, tuna etc.)
Pasta Bowl (meatless pasta, rice and sides)
St. Paul’s Lunch Program Proudly Presents…
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| Bessie - OUR NEW MILK MACHINE! |
All milk comes from one farm in Firth, Nebraska. We offer Skim white milk and 1% chocolate milk. Our eggs are free range from a Stanberry, Missouri Amish Farm. We also provide honey made in Iola, Kansas. We are taking big strides towards supporting our local farmers thanks to Good Natured Family Farms.
The Spirit Store is a great place to shop for the holidays!
December Feature: Frames!
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| Special: $10 (Orig. Price: $15) |
NOW ONLINE! You can browse all the spirit items at our new webpage. Then just email our Spirit Store Chair to order.
Did you know? The Spirit Store now offers PERSONALIZED note cards? Give a gift this year that is personal and supports our school. Each boxed set is $18. Orders can be completed quickly. To place orders, ask questions or check on availability email our Spirit Store Chair.
Science Olympiad
Science Olympiad preliminary competitions began on Saturday, November 12th, at Shawnee Mission South High School. Sixteen B division middle schools and 19 C division high schools participated. The large high school was packed with excited and brilliant science students. St. Paul’s was well represented by seventh graders Philip, Meg, Elyse, Clayton, Edward, Lilly H., Meghan, Lilly L., Monty, Claire, Drake, Annie, Danny, Lily W. and Sydney. Starting for the eighth grade was Tucker, Kit, Samantha, Jack, Veronica, Chris, Ethan, Elliot, Sophie, Ellison, Tommy, Max, Kippy, Dominic, Aidan, Gregory and Philip. Medals and ribbons were won in the following events: Anatomy, Awesome Aquifer, Bottle Rocket, Compute This, Experimental Design, Food Science, Forestry, Keep the Heat, Mission Possible, Meteorology, Microbe Mission, Reach for the Stars, and Rocks & Minerals. That covers a multitude of science processes. St. Paul’s received third place in the award ceremony. Congratulations to all of these students who worked all day Saturday and did so well. Our next preliminary competition will be on Saturday, December 3rd at Pembroke Hill.
Fall Sports
6th Grade Volleyball Pizza Party! Daisy, Jensen, Sydney, Caroline S., Caroline R., Amanda, Faith, Nina, Mille, Grace, Natalie, Whitney, Catherine, Emma
These girls made up two teams that were undefeated and league co-champs in the Metropolitan Private School League.
7th/8th Grade Volleyball post-game mob scene: players pictured with their fans are Sophie, Veronica, Kyle, Zoe, Gillian, Rachael, Lily, Annie
St. Paul's Gold Team won the A-division league tournament on October 25th in an exciting, come-from-behind victory.
Soccer: Our soccer teams had a good season with the bright spot being the fifth grade girls team finishing with only two losses. The 5th/6th grade boys’ team and the 7th/8th grade boys’ team faced some pretty stiff competition this season often playing against older and stronger competition. They continued to fight and play hard throughout each match. Good things are ahead for both of those squads. St. Paul’s is very proud of their effort.
Lunch with Sporting KC!
Mrs. Jones' 5th grade class won a lunch with Sporting KC player Jimmy Nielson & assistant coach Kerry Zavagnin for securing the most number of sponsors for the buddy run. Way to go!
King Arthur Feast
On November 11th, the lords and ladies of Camelot feasted in the Grand Hall. The 3rd floor commons came alive as dancing, music, storytelling, wonderful foods and making merry culminated the King Arthur Unit of study. The 6th grade spent over a month studying Medieval Europe in several different classes. The castle walls were decorated with work from many of these classes and added to the festivities. Parents and special guests helped make for a festive occasion.
St. Paul’s American Revolution Wax Museum
On November 15th and 16th, Mr. Stewart’s 7th grade American History class presented the annual St. Paul's American Revolution Wax Museum. As part of the American History curriculum, students researched and creatively portrayed many well known and not so well known historical figures from the American Revolution. Both the students’ parents and their first grade buddies had a wonderful time. Many thanks to students for their hard work on this project. Please visit “Helpful Pages” on Mr. Stewart's blog for a complete listing of the historical figures portrayed this year.
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| 7R Class |
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| 7S Class |
Animal Presentations by the Fourth Grade
Fourth graders recently completed a power point project all about their assigned animals from Earthworks. Students shared these power point presentations to the parents to wrap up their unit all about living organisms and their ecosystems. We had a great time working with the laptops to create a unique report about different kinds of animals and their habitats!
First Grade Bear Planet
Bear Planet, held on November 17th was a culmination of the first grade theme on BEARS! Mr. “Wonderful” Held wrote Bear Planet last year. The first graders made some of the cutest bears, explorers and navigators this side of the globe.
Oregon Trail Day
On November 17 the third grade classes celebrated Oregon Trail Day. The third graders dressed as pioneers and participated in old fashioned activities. Some of the activities third grade students participated in: writing using ink and a feather, sewing a quilt square, making homemade applesauce, making a decorative tin punch design, playing old fashion games and going to school in a “one-room schoolhouse”. With the wonderful help of 3rd grade parents, a delicious lunch was served and a fun time was had by all!
Service Club
At our September Service Club, volunteers assembled to paint rocks for our inner-city pocket park. In October, we brought our work gloves and did some fall clean-up before placing our rocks in the park. After school on Tuesday, December 6, parents and students of K-8th will be invited to meet at the St. Paul’s pantry where we will assist with small projects, details to follow in Liz’s Monday Morning Blog.
Pantry Drive
The final totals are in and they’re nothing short of astounding! We collected a record-breaking 27,362 items. Our consistent “lead dog” class was the first grade Fate/Waller pack. In second place was 8G followed by 6M and the kindergarten. 3Barber was the lead collector in the 3rd-5th grade area. Following our drive on Tuesday, toddlers through 5th grade made a fresh produce offering for the pantry. Thanksgiving serves to remind us of how blessed we are and what an honor it is to have an opportunity to share with others. We are thankful for every student, family, teacher and staff person who helped, and we are especially thankful for the ministry and mission of the St. Paul’s Food Pantry.
Calendar
12/1 M.S. Christmas Program
12/7 Toddler, PS Christmas Program
12/8 3-5 Christmas Program
12/14 PK, K Christmas Program
12/15 1, 2 Christmas Program
12/17-12/31 Christmas Vacation
1/2 No School (Faculty In-Service)
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