Recruitment Request

Through lots of hard work by many people, most MPA classrooms are full or have a waiting list for the 2011-12 school year.  However, we still have openings in next year's 7th/8th grade class.

An ad inviting personal tours will appear in the western edition of May's Cleveland's Family Magazine.  If you know any families with an eligible older middle schooler, invite them to come in for a private tour.

Jeff Gibeault, marketing team lead
jeffgibeault@hotmail.com.

The Science Department's New Grow Camp

I am pleased to share with all avid gardeners and lovers of the outdoors an exciting addition to our MPA science facilities. Delivered this afternoon from the Gardener's Supply Company (www.gardeners.com) is a new greenhouse that can accommodate dozens of plants of all sorts.

The timing for this is particularly good as the 4th grade is currently studying plants and the 5th grade is learning about ecosystems. Called the "Grow Camp", this sturdy 4'x8' greenhouse is fully collapsible so that it can be moved and stored if necessary. The base is made of rot-proof polypropylene and the plastic cover can be replaced with netting in the summer to let air circulate freely while keeping out pests.

With this new gardening site we now can conduct growth experiments, learning about the effects of pH, fertilizers, moisture levels, etc. on plant growth while also growing healthy vegetables for lessons on nutrition and planning a healthy menu. All we need now are a few enthusiastic volunteers who would like to help with gardening projects and general maintenance of the garden. If you are interested in helping out or have tools or seeds you can donate or share, please let me know. I hope to get the garden together and filled with soil by the middle of the month so we can have fresh lettuce by the end of the school year!

Happy Spring!

--

Janeth Eby
Science and Health Educator
Menlo Park Academy
14440 Triskett Road
Cleveland, OH 44111
(440) 478-5556 (cell)

Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire. - William Butler Yeats

Kindergarten Update

We are currently hard at work as young authors working on our non-fiction book project.  We have learned how to select a topic of interest and then research important information about the chosen topic and then learned how to document that information through note-taking and drafting.  We have become experts on many conventions of non-fiction print and are readily applying these conventions to our individual book writing.  We are so excited to engage in this process and we can't wait to see the final results!

Both Kindergarten classes enjoyed a terrific field trip to the Botanical Gardens this past Friday.  We spent all day at the Gardens exploring plants (the parts that make up a plant, their various uses, etc.) in various surroundings (such as a Madagascan Spiny Desert and a Costa Rican Cloud Forest).  The children were given the opportunity to record their findings in the various environments-they drew the different leaves, stems, roots, and flowers that they saw in each location.  

The students were also given the chance to make their very own terrariums using plastic bottles!  These terrariums are completely self-contained and do not need any additional water in order to help the plant grow-the different elements create enough evaporation and condensation to allow for optimal growth to take place.  

We ate lunch at the Botanical Gardens and finished our day there with some time in the children's garden!  

A great time was had by all who attended...thank you to our chaperons who took the time out of their busy day to attend our field trip with us! 

As we look ahead to the coming weeks, here is what we have to look forward to:

•  Friday, April 15th:  LEGO Olympiad at LCCC for those students who previously registered
•  Wednesday, April 27th:  Field Trip to the Cleveland Museum of Art!

Mrs. Courtney Timko

 (with photos by G. Woods)

Columbus Children's Theatre Visits Menlo Park Academy

Columbus Children's Theatre is coming to Menlo Park Academy on Tuesday, April 12th! In the morning (9am), they will be performing Magic, Mystery, and Mayhem, a performance based on six original stories created by students in Ohio grades K-6. Later (1pm), they will be performing The Three Little Pigs.

For more information on the group, please visit their website at http://colschildrenstheatre.org/touring/touring.html

They have a great way of describing their very entertaining events!

MPA musicians entertain seniors, warm hearts

Tuesday the musicians from MPA did a beautiful job performing for the audience of seniors at the day care center.  The violin ensemble performed the first set of pieces, the choir performed their pieces and the violin soloists closed the program. The audience received them warmly and the students performed with grace and poise!  

After they performed, each student went into the audience to say a personal greeting to each senior, many students shaking their hands and offering a warm word.  It was such a joy to see them interacting with the seniors and so appreciated.  Thank-you so much for your support and for helping the students practice their music and to get their instruments to school, both for the elective classes, rehearsals and the performances.

There was one senior in the audience that had lost her ability to speak, due to dementia.  Most of the time, she sat still in her chair, staring forward and unresponsive.  When the children performed, she was smiling and tapping her foot gently.  Afterwards, she sat still again, staring and not able to speak.  For one hour today, the children were able to give this lady so much joy, despite the progression of her dementia.  It made me, once again, aware of the importance of music in stimulating memory and emotions.  Music has been used as a powerful tool in therapy with people with Alzheimer's type dementia. Music was today, for our MPA musicians and for the seniors at this facility, a universal, multi-cultural, multi- generational language.

Musically yours,

Ardis Billey

Burrell Observatory Open House at Baldwin-Wallace College Friday April 15 at 7:30pm The Milky Way Galaxy: Our Own Personal Island Universe by Dr. R. Earle Luck

Dr. Luck is Warner Professor of Astronomy at Case Western Reserve University. The Lecture will held in the “Center for Innovation and Growth” (CIG). After the lecture the Burrell Observatory will be open for viewing, weather permitting. This is a free lecture and no reservations are required. The CIG is located the east side of Front Street, north of Bagley at 340 Front St. Parking is available next to and behind CIG and adjacent to the observatory off of Fifth Ave West. Questions? Contact the observatory director at gkader@bw.edu. or the Department of Physics and Astronomy at 440-826-2312.

Stand up for Gifted Children in Ohio!

State Budget Impact on Gifted Education Funding/Hearings Scheduled for April 6 and April 8

Yes, Menlo Park Academy has gifted all day, every day; however, 1) charter school funding may be at risk, and 2) many of our children will rely on public high schools after MPA. We all need to take action and advocate for our children's future!

The executive budget for education has folded district gifted funding into the basic aid formula, essentially wiping out dedicated gifted funding to districts for gifted children. The Ohio House will be hearing testimony on special education, career technical and gifted education on April 6 in Room 116 at 2:30 at the Statehouse. The committee will be hear all public testimony on Friday, April 8 in Room 114.

For more information about how you can testify or to contact your legislators about these cuts, please go to http://www.oagc.com/?q=advocacyalert.