MPA Newsletter, 4/18/2012

It's time once again to find out who's been reading the newsletter!  Read carefully this week - you never know when the editor is going to decide it's time to hand out rewards to lucky readers!

Student Information:

All Middle School students going to Mohican School in the Out-of-Doors must have their health forms in by this Friday, April 20th. You can download the forms from this site: http://www.mohicanoutdoorschool.org/outdoor-education/resources-forms.html.

Did you know our students in grades 2-5 are participating in the Noetic Math contest this week? Noetic Learning Math Contest is a biannual problem-solving contest for elementary students. The goal of the math contest is to develop young students' problem-solving skills and foster their love and ambition for math.  Each test consists of 20 age-appropriate problem-solving questions. No problems require special math concepts beyond what's learned at school.  Best of luck to all of our budding mathematicians!

Great news!  Our recently-completed financial audit revealed "clean and accurate recordkeeping," leading to an Auditor of State Award for MPA.  Our audit turned up no findings for recovery, material citations, significant deficiencies, or questioned costs.  At a time when other charter and community schools are being questioned about their finances, it's reassuring that the state has found MPA is handling its finances correctly.  Congratulations to the financial volunteers and MPA administrators on this award!

Lego Olympiad Info for Participating Families: Reminder to all Lego Olympiad builders that the big day is almost here!The Olympiad is this Friday, April 20 at Lorain County Community College. Check-in is from 7:30 - 8:50 a.m. and the competition starts promptly at 9:00. Students participating in the competition do not need to report to Menlo that day, but must make sure that they sign in with one of the teachers at LCCC: 

• Students in grades K-1 check in with Mrs. Nagy
• Students in grades 2-3 check in with Ms. Shuder
• Students in grades 4-5 check in with Mrs. Scheuer
• Students in grades 6-8 check in with Mrs. Eby

Parents are responsible for picking up their children after the Awards Ceremony at 1:45. Parents are welcome to attend the ceremony which begins at 12:45. Students need to check out with their assigned teacher upon leaving LCCC and do not need to return to Menlo after the ceremony.  Parents should have received a e-mail on Monday with detailed info regarding the event. If you did not received that e-mial, please contact Maryanne Hiti atmhiti@sbcglobal.net or 216-481-5695. You may also go to http://www.lorainccc.edu/Community+Services/Lego+Olympiad/ for information.

Menlo Park Academy will again be having the ARTS FAIR & ICE CREAM SOCIAL on April 22, 2012 from 2:00-3:30 p.m.   This free event is a celebration and showcase of the many talents of our MPA students.  Like last year, there will be an opportunity to play an instrument, sing, perform a dance or poem, or act out a famous historical character as a “wax figure”.  


In case you're unfamiliar with the "wax figure" performances from last year, here's a description: A student should pick a historical figure. It can be an artist (Van Gogh), a musician (Mozart), an inventor (Thomas Edison), or someone famous (Abraham Lincoln). The student dresses up like the figure, and can have props. The audience drops a coin into a box that the wax figure has next to them. The wax figure "comes alive" and can do something that gives a hint to who he/she is.  The audience is supposed to "guess" who the figure is.  For example, if the student picks Mozart, the student can play a piece by Mozart on an instrument or a tape player. If the student is Van Gogh, he can pretend to paint, show images of his paintings, or describe a moment from their life (like cutting off his ear). For an inventor, the student can choose a less famous invention (for Edison, the telegraph), then gradually add more and more well known ones until the audience guesses. "I invented the light bulb". Or if the student wants to recreate the famous invention, they can make a replica and pretend to show how it works. It is up to the student how elaborate they want to get.



Students can perform individually or in a group.  In addition, many of your children’s beautiful works of art will be on display throughout the building for you to enjoy and there will be a fun craft for the children to make and take home.  At the end of the event, we will celebrate with a yummy ice cream treat!  Go to http://mpaspringartsfair2012.pleasebringit.com/public/VWy7PuFh1Zc to register your child to participate.  To sign up to volunteer:  http://mpaartsfair2012.pleasebringit.com/public/b86e20ESxVo

OAA testing will be held next week.  Here's the schedule of the tests our students will be taking:


Monday, April 23rd - Reading tests for grades 3-8
Tuesday, April 24th - Math tests for grades 3-8
Wednesday, April 25th - Science tests for grades 5 and 8


All OAA testing will take place in the mornings from 8:30-11:15am. We want to give our kids the best chance to show what they know!  Please make sure students get plenty of sleep the night(s) before, eat a good breakfast and arrive at school on time each testing day.  





On May 7th, 8th, and 9th we will be celebrating our wonderful Teachers and Staff during Teacher/Staff Appreciation Week.  With that in mind, we would greatly appreciate a small donation of $2.00 -$3.00 per student to help make this an extra special event for our Teachers and Staff.  Kindly place your donation in a sealed envelope to the attention of Janelle Daugherty, Teacher/Staff Appreciation and return it this week. Also, if you would like to volunteer to help please email Janelle at jldoc29@yahoo.com. Thanks very much for your support!




Congratulations to Ethan Scheuer, who was a semi-finalist in the Ohio Center for the Book "Letters about Literature" contest.  Great job, Ethan!




Congratulations to the Middle School students who were recognized by their teachers for demonstrating March's character trait, kindness.  Those students are: Cody Hofstetter, Lexi Harrison, and Brennan McQuinn.  Congratulations on having been "caught being good!"







Development Information:




Thanks to all the families who participated in the Walkathon fundraiser earlier this month!  The students were able to take advantage of the gorgeous weather by walking outside.  Those 1/4-mile laps around the school property really added up:our students walked more than 688 miles in total, raising more than $8700 for the school.  Way to go!  T-shirts for those students who raised more than $50 during the Walkathon will be arriving next week and will be sent home when they're available.  Thanks again for all of your support during this fun event!




Scrip card orders are due on Friday, April 20th.  This program has raised more than $1200 for the school so far, all without parents having to pay anything more than the face value of the gift cards they've purchased. Find out more about the program on the MPA blog here: http://menloparkacademy.blogspot.com/p/fundraising-events.html




Here's another way you can earn money for our school without paying a penny yourself, have you checked out http://www.goodsearch.com/toolbar/mode/ yet?:

Try the GoodApp Today

Menlo Park Academy Needs Your Help to Win $1,000






Thousands of GoodSearch users just like you have downloaded the new GoodApp to help their cause win $1,000. Have you?




Not only could you help Menlo Park Academy win $1,000, but you can earn donations for them all year long when you search and shop online - for free! Plus, you can get coupon alerts and save when you shop too. It's easy to do and it only takes one minute.




Here are the prizes:


$1,000 to the cause that downloads the most GoodApps


$500 to the three causes that are runners-up


$50 to the first 50 causes that reach 50





This contest began at 12:01am Eastern on April 1 and ends on April 30, 2012 at 11:59pm Eastern.















Make sure you've got your calendars marked with Sunday, June 3rd set aside for attending the Lake Erie Crushers game with the rest of the MPA extended family.  The kids will be singing the national anthem, an MPA student will be throwing the game's first pitch, and there will be plenty of fun and prizes to be had during the game.  

Volunteer Information:

ARE YOU IN A SCIENCE, MATH OR ENGINEERING CAREER? The MPA STEM 

enrichment team is planning a STEM career night for grades 5-8 to take place one evening in May.  If you would be willing to give a short (5-10 minute) talk about your STEM-related career, please contact Grant Henson at 

granthens@gmail.com.









Calendar Highlights:

April 20 (Friday) - Lego Olympiad at LCCC; Scrip gift card orders due; basketball practice 4-6pm
April 21 (Saturday) - Basketball double-header at 2:15 and 3:15 pm at Lakewood YMCA
April 22 (Sunday) - Arts Fair and Ice Cream Social, 2-3:30 pm at MPA
April 23-25 - OAA standardized testing 
April 26 (Thursday) - Seventh and Eighth Grade field trip to see Romeo and Juliet
April 27 (Friday) - School-wide Spelling Bee; basketball practice 4-6pm
April 28 (Saturday) - Quiz Night; Invention Convention; basketball game at 2:15 at Lakewood Gym
April 30-May 4 - Eighth Grade field trip to Washington D.C.; Sixth and Seventh Grade field trip to Mohican
May 4 (Friday) - Basketball practice 4-6pm; Third Grade overnight field trip at the zoo
May 5 (Saturday) - Basketball double header at 1:15 and 3pm at Lakewood Gym
May 7 (Monday) - Candid and group photo day for the yearbook
May 10-11 - Fourth Grade field trip to COSI in Columbus
May 14-17 - Iowa Tests for grades K-4; Explore Tests for grades 5-8
May 17 (Thursday) - 3:30 - 5 pm K-4 Carnival Sponsored by Student Council
May 18 (Friday) - No school; 6:30 - 8:30 Middle School Dance
May 21 - 25 - Student Council Sponsored Spirit Week
May 25 (Friday) - Volunteer Appreciation event
May 28 (Monday) - No school (Memorial Day)
May 29 - June 1 - Eighth Grade Celebration Week
June 1 (Friday) - Field Day at Lakewood Park
June 3 (Sunday) - Crushers baseball game, 5:05pm in Avon
August 26 (Sunday) - Back to School picnic at Lakewood Park  


Were you paying attention?  E-mail the answer to the following question to Gretchen Woods at avonhokie@yahoo.com to be entered in a drawing for a Red Robin gift card: Who is collecting donations for teacher/staff appreciation week?  And for a bonus entry, in a separate e-mail tell me what the deadline (date and time) is for submitting information for NEXT week's newsletter ... hint: it's not spelled out in this message, you'll have to figure it out from a previous newsletter, which are all archived at http://menloparkacademy.blogspot.com/ .  E-mail entries must be received by noon on Wednesday, April 25th, to be entered in the drawing.  Good luck!

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Menlo Park Academy

14440 Triskett Road

Cleveland, OH  44111

440-925-6365