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Wednesday, March 20, 2013

MPA Weekly Update - 3/14/2013

In This Issue
Dates to Remember
Log your volunteer hours online
Lost & Found
Math Night
Yearbook Photos
Awards Assembly
Group Photo Day
Congratulations
Walk-A-Thon
Spelling Bee
Guest Speaker
FYI: Dates to Remember

March
3/14 - Thursday - Math Night for K-4th grade; Board of Directors Meeting at 6pm
3/18 - Monday - student awards assembly at 2pm; Girl Scout meeting after school
3/19 - Tuesday - Pasta Day
3/20 - Wednesday - Checker Finn speaks at MPA at 5:30pm
3/21 - Ohio Diagnostic Field Test (K-2 Mathematics)
3/25-3/27 IOWA/EXPLORE/PLAN
3/26 - Tuesday - Taco Bowl Day
3/28 - Thursday - Walk-A-Thon
  
April
4/12 - Friday - Lego Olympiad
4/15 - Monday - Girl Scout meeting after school
4/22 - OAA (3-8 Reading)
4/23 - OAA (3-8 Mathematics)
4/24 - OAA (5 & 8 Science)
4/26 - Friday - Spelling Bee
4/27 - Saturday - State Chemistry Challenge
4/29 - Monday - Girl Scout meeting after school
Log your volunteer hours online 

Your time is appreciated! Please log your current volunteer hours online, either on the netbook near the sign-in at school, or at home.  We are not using the paper logs to record your hours anymore - all hours MUST be entered into the computer if you want credit for them!

Any hours you put in the paper log over the summer or earlier this year WILL be entered for you - you just need to enter your CURRENT hours.
Lost and Found 
With the changeable weather, it's hard for parents to keep track of what hats, coats, gloves, and boots go to school and come home each day.  Maybe that's why our Lost and Found area is overflowing!

Please come in and take a look through the piles to see if you can identify any items missing from your child's wardrobe.  All gear in the Lost and Found area at the beginning of Spring Break WILL be donated to charity, so make sure to stop in this month to take a look!
Shop with Scrips Sunday by 7pm 

Vacationing during Spring Break?
BONUS rebates recently posted for Marriott & more.  Plan ahead & purchase SCRIP cards to pay your way.  Choose from HUNDREDS, including:  Panera, Starbucks, Chipotle, Subway & Wendy's to eat along the way.  Bon Voyage!  
Remember to order this Sunday by 7 PM to ensure delivery for next Thursday's folder.  And don't forget that ordering Scrip enters you into the weekly drawing for a bonus gift card, as does using PrestoPay.  Don't miss out on this great way to raise funds for the school without any additional cost to you!
Reading Program           
Keep reading over spring break!

All students should have received a poster to track their progress in the Crushers reading program.  Make sure to keep up with the record-keeping throughout March and over spring break.  Signed charts are due back April 11. Students in grades 2-8 should read 20 minutes for 20 nights. Kindergarten and first should read 20 books.  Questions?  Contact your child's homeroom teacher.
Scripps Spelling Bee Results       
Congratulations to seventh grader, Ian O., who represented  Menlo Park Academy at the Cleveland Plain Dealer Scripp's Spelling Bee on Saturday, March 2nd.
GCCTM Math Competition Results
Congratulations to 8th grade math team, who finished 2nd at GCCTM competition last week.  The team included 
Gannon I., Brian M., and Alex W.  Way to go, guys!
Weekly Update - 3/14/13
Quick Links
Guest Speaker at MPA
Checker Finn
 

On Wednesday, March 20th the president of the Fordham Institute, Checker Finn will be speaking about the "High Fliers" and how our best and brightest need to be better served. The event will be from 5:30-7:00pm. We will also highlight some of Menlo Park's highly talented students. Light refreshements will be served.  Please feel free to invite interested non-MPA families to attend this event. 


 
RSVP appreciated 216-5863746
  
Pi Day and Night a Success! 

PI! PIES!! T-SHIRTS! PRIZES!! MPA's classroom Pi events and K-4 Math Night where a huge success!   During the day students in math classes engaged in pi based activities.  We ended the school day with a pie eating contest.  Congratulations to Frasier H. for "having his pi and eating it too!"
 
Families had fun with interactive math-related puzzles and games for our elementary students at Math night. Math Fishing, Math Cornhole, Fractions Hopscotch, a pi recitation contest (how many digits of pi can you type in 30 seconds?!), Math Baseball, MPA Math Jeopardy!, Flexagons, critical thinking and strategy games, were enjoyed by all while munching on pies! 
 
A huge thanks to the academic enrichment team for creating a successful math night.
We (STILL) need your photos for the yearbook!
Photos due by 8pm Saturday, March 16th   

Do you have any great shots of our students or staff during lunch, recess, electives, or special events like the science fair?  We'd love to see them, and possibly use them to add more fun to this year's yearbook. No guarantees we'll use your photos, but if you've got some good ones, we'd love to check them out!  Please send your photos to pictures@menloparkacademy.com. Thank you!

And don't forget, order forms for yearbooks are due THIS FRIDAY, March 15th!  Click here to get a copy of the order form.  And "shout-out" orders are also due on Friday - you can find that order form here.  Get your checks in to the office PRONTO!
Student Awards Assembly
New date: Monday, 3/18, at 2pm
As you already know, the Gradebook system caused a disruption to our report card data for some grades.  With this in mind, we postponed the second trimester awards assembly to Monday, March 18th to ensure that all students who deserve to be recognized will be.  The assembly will begin at 2:00.  Parents are welcome to attend.  Based upon family feedback, we will have all k-8 in the same assembly so that siblings may honor one another's accomplishments.  We are streamlining the event so that this can be done in a reasonable amount of time.  We look forward to recognizing the achievements of all of our spectacular students!
Spring Concert
Friday, May 3
Mark your calendar for the Spring Concert.  We have lots of talented people helping us plan and prepare for this event.  More information coming soon!  
Lost and Found
 
Last Chance Pick Up
  Lost and found items have been placed outside the cafeteria.  If you are attending the Awards Assembly on Monday, stop and take a look.  This is last call for the trimester two collection.  Any items left at the end of the week will be donated to charity.
Walk-A-Thon Songwriting Contest
Win dress-down passes, plus fame and glory!
Create a short song describing what is special about Menlo for ALL to sing during our walkathon.  Set it to a common tune like "Row Your Boat".  Build instruments out of recycled materials to compliment your tune.  WIN - Dress Down Passes (all participants receive one pass, winning song writers receive ten). Sign Up in the Main Office by Friday, March 22 - clickhere for a list of the contest rules and guidelines.
Boy's Basketball Update
Go Wizards!
Last Saturday, both MPA Boys hoops teams had that winning feeling! In the JV Game, 4t grader Alex G. had a season high 13 points and 5th grader Jacob L. had 4 points and 7 rebounds and 5th grader Talon B. played stellar defense grabbing a season high 9 rebounds and the JV Wiazrds beat the Lakewood Nuggets 21-5. The boys led 8-5 at the half and held the Nuggets to zero points in the second half. In the Varsity game, 7th grader Zack P. scored 16 points and grabbed for 14 rebounds and fellow 8th graders Brian M (7 points / 7 rebounds) and Nick H. (4 points / 4 rebounds) made key plays in the last two minutes and the Varisty Wizards beat the Lakewood Knicks 29-23. Both teams played really well and were supported by family and the MPA community at the game. The boys are playing great and exciting basketball so far this spring. 
Congratulations!
MPA students place well in a variety of contests

Congratulations to all of the students who participated in last week's "You Be The Chemist" Challenge.  It really seemed that the children enjoyed themselves and the scores were quite close every round.  MPA's winner is Aidan I., runner-up John H. and alternate Gannon I..  The boys will move on to the state competition on Saturday, April 20th at the Imagination Station in Toledo.

Also, last week we continued our tradition of excellence at CONSEF with every MPA student earning a medal - no measly honorable mentions for these kids! Patrick O. and Nell S. got Bronze medals. Asia G, Kenny M and Miles Mason got Silvers and Carolyn H, Dylan Z, Gil H, Hector C, Isabel V, Jacob Daugherty, Kaela R, Lexi S, Logan C, Manus M, Marika O, Olivia M. and Sam P. got Gold medals. Sparsh B. and Delilah S. got Best of Category - the top awards!  Overall we came in second out of 44 schools! 
 
In other news, Nick H. got a silver medal at the BEST Medicine Science and Engineering Fair in Akron.  And Kenny M. (7th grade) came in second in the Biology category at the Northeast Ohio Science and Engineering Fair last week! His project was entitled, "What Food Does a Madagascar Hissing Cockroach Like the Best". This fair has some very stiff competition, so second place is quite an honor.  
 
Congratulations to all of our budding scientists and engineers - we're so proud of you all!
Wanted: Walk-A-Thon volunteers  
Thursday, March 28th

Did you know that March is National Nutrition Month?  In honor of healthy habits, MPA will once again participate in a fundraiser that will directly involve students and get them some extra exercise!  This event will allow our children to take pride in personally supporting their school while participating in a great, healthy, and fun activity.

Upon completion of the 4th Annual Walk-a-Thon, the entire school will take part in an assembly with a Cleveland Clinic Pediatric Dietitian discussing healthy eating and lifestyle. Additionally, students will find out how many laps they completed as a whole, how many miles that is equal to, as well as how much money they raised through their direct efforts!

Volunteer to help with the Walk-A-Thon:
Dawn Doran, Walk-a-thon Event Chair, and Melissa Adell, Development Coordinator, need your help calculating pledges, watching the course on the day of the event, and making this a great experience for our students. Sign up here to help with the Walk-A-Thon:
 http://menloparkacademy.bringit.bz/public/3e388d

For additional information on the event and a pledge sheet for your student, please click here. Please contact Melissa Adell (Melissa.Adell@menloparkacademy.com(216) 539-0422) with any questions. Thanks for your support!
Listen for the buzz ...  All-School Spelling Bee will be Friday, 4/26
Haul out those dictionaries - qualifying rounds for the spring spelling bee will be held in classes next week, with winners for each classroom being eligible to participate in the school-wide spelling bee.  Students who qualify for the school-wide bee will receive word study lists on Thursday, March 21st, and their parents will receive e-mails at that time with more information about the event.
 
Then on Friday, April 26th, the spelling bee begins at 8:45am in the Multi-Purpose Room.  Parents, friends, and family members are welcome to come cheer on the competitors.  Bring your cameras - there's nothing cuter than our pint-size spellers nailing words that are longer than they are!
Information can be submitted via email to: communications@menloparkacademy.com for review and inclusion in the weekly update. Submissions are subject to Director approval.
 

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