MPA Weekly Update - 3/7/2013

In This Issue Dates to Remember Log your volunteer hours online Math Night Lego Olympiad Invention Convention Time to Invent Yearbook Mohican Meeting Boosters FYI: Dates to Remember March 3/7 - Thursday - Chemistry Competition, 6pm 3/9 - Saturday - Destination Imagination 3/11 - Monday - Second Trimester Awards Assembly    3/12 - Tuesday - Mac N Cheese Day  3/14 - Thursday - Math Night for K-4th grade; Board of Directors Meeting at 6pm 3/18 - Monday - Girl Scout meeting after school 3/19 - Tuesday - Pasta Day 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 Local Science Fair Schedule This is a busy week for science fairs. The Northeast Ohio Science Fair is Tuesday (awards ceremony Thursday) at John Carroll University, CONSEF is on Saturday, March 9th at the IX Center and the BEST Medicine Science and Engineering Fair is the same day at the Inventor's Hall of Fame in Akron. All three are open to the public. For information about a specific fair, you can email Mrs. Eby. Best of luck to all our talented contestants! 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! We need your UMBRELLAS!    If you have some new or gently used umbrellas you can donate to the school, the folks who volunteer during car line would be very grateful (not to mention, DRY).  Just drop them off at the office at your convenience.  Thanks so much for your help! 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! Weekly Update - 3/7/13 Quick Links Menlo Park Academy Website MPA on Facebook Shop with Scrips by 7pm on Sunday Report your volunteer hours School calendar  Classroom Websites (click on Classroom Websites tab) Dress Down Day on Friday, 3/8/13 Congratulations on a successful tornado drill, students!  Report Cards Important Information Dear Parents of MPA, There was an untimely update done to our grading system, Gradebook, last weekend, while MPA teachers were in the midst of finalizing grades. This has created numerous problems as we have worked to prepare report cards.   After fixing several issues, and handing out report cards today, we discovered that there continue to be problems, particularly with grades 5-8.  If something does not look right to you, please check with Nancy Colby before contacting classroom teachers, as this is a computer program error.     phone:  216-586-3746  email:  admissions@menloparkacademy.com    Ms. Colby will go online with you to identify the issue for your child's report card. MPA will fix the issue and send a new report card home that day. We appreciate your flexibility as we identify and correct these problems.    Have your Pi and eat it, too!  K-4 Math night is Thursday, 3/14/2013 at 6:30pm PI! PIES!! T-SHIRTS! PRIZES!! MPA's K-4 Math Night is FINALLY here! Activities will include fun and interactive math-related puzzles and games for our elementary students. Come and enjoy 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, and Clean Up The Money -- all while munching on pies! PRIZES for the winners of Jeopardy!, the pi recitation contest, and Clean Up The Money! T-SHIRTS for the first 100 students to arrive! Don't be irrational and only have a fraction of the fun - get there on time so you can put your name in the Jeopardy drawing, recite pi, have it, and eat it too! Lego Olympiad    Parents, remember that if your child will be staying after school for a Lego Olympiad practice session,please notify the student's homeroom teacher or the office.  The pink attendance forms available in the office are perfect for this!  Also, please be aware that we have added a column to the practice room sign-up sheet so that you can indicate what students will be staying with the adult on the days your team plans to practice.     If your team borrowed any school-owned Legos last year, please make sure they were returned to the school!  We will also be pleased to accept any gently-used Lego sets you may wish to donate to the school.   We look forward to creative building in the next few weeks! Invention Convention Winners! Congratulations to the the following winners of this week's Invention Convention competition: 4th grade: 1st - Valerie L., 2nd - Ella K., 3rd - Andrew K., Honorable Mention - Jack H. 5th/6th grades: 1st - Ryan S., 2nd - Andrew R., 3rd - Krystyna J., Honorable Mention - Rehema K-Z 7th/8th grades: 1st - Nick H., 2nd - Andrew B., 3rd - Fraser H., Honorable Mention - Teresa S.  The first place winners will attend the regional competition at Strongsville high school on May 11th.  Way to go, inventors - and good luck in May! Time-to-Invent Science club for 5th and 6th grade girls Attention parents of 5th and 6th grade girls! Mrs. Eby will be starting a new club for girls who enjoy inventing. Called "Time-to-Invent", it will be held in the science lab after school on Thursdays until 4:15 starting March 14th. The club is $50 for ten sessions and all proceeds go to buying materials and equipment for the science program. It will be filled on a first come, first served basis with a limit of 16 girls. Look for a flyer in this week's Thursday folder. You can email Mrs. Eby for further details or to sign up your 5th or 6th grade daughter. Please contact Caroline Zito (caroline.zito@menloparkacademy.com) if you should need financial assistance to participate in this club. We need your photos for the yearbook!                      This year we're doing our best to finish the yearbook and have it to students by the end of the year ... but that means we have to close out the yearbook in 3 weeks.  We really need more shots of our students or staff during lunch, recess, electives, or special events like the science fair!  Please e-mail photos you'd like to submit to us, and we'll use them to add more depth to our yearbook coverage for the year.  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! Join the Special Events Committee                      New volunteer opportunities await you! The Development Team has evolved in to the Special Events Committee under our new Development Coordinator, Melissa Adell. We have upcoming events that we need you to help us make a success. We can't do it without you. Be our Walk-A-Thon Chairperson! The 2013 Walk-a-thon will take place on March 28th, over the course of several recess periods.   Last year's Walk-A-Thon raised $8,600, and we are seeking a volunteer to help make this event another awesome success. Our Walk-a-thon Chairperson will coordinate the event based on plans that are already in motion. Menlo Park Academy needs your help to make it happen and work with other volunteers to ensure we have a safe and successful event. This position will be flexible, with an estimated commitment of 5 hours/week prior to the event. The week prior to the event, that commitment may increase slightly. Volunteer to help with the Walk-A-Thon: Our esteemed chairperson will need your help calculating pledges, handing out t-shirts, 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 or to commit to serving as the Walk-a-thon Event Chair, please contact Melissa Adell (Melissa.Adell@menloparkacademy.com; (216) 539-0422).  Thanks for your support! Mohican School in the Out-of-Doors Info night on Monday, 3/11/13, for parents of 6th graders Calling all 6th grade parents! There will be an informational meeting on Monday, March 11th at 5:30 in the Science Lab to learn about your child's upcoming trip to Mohican School in the Out-of-Doors. A representative from Mohican will be there with slides and hand-outs to inform you about the trip and answer all your questions. The meeting should last about an hour. Please try to attend as it is your best opportunity to learn about this exciting experience! Medication Reminder It can be hard to remember when you're scraping frost off your car, but allergy season is almost upon us again.  For those of you who have students with seasonal allergies, please remember that any medications which are to be administered at school MUST come in the original container, and MUST be accompanied by a signed doctor's note.  Any questions?  Mrs. Wilson in the school office will be happy to help! Boosters Updates                        Box Tops Keep the box tops coming! The class with the most total box tops at the end of the year will receive a special treat! If you donated 50 or more box tops in December or January, be on the look out for your MPA pencil/s to be delivered in the next few days. Please help us out and make sure that the box tops you send in are not expired and have been trimmed. If your feeling extra helpful, you can also bundle them in sets of 50...it saves us a ton of time! Upcoming Events If you are looking for volunteers hours, the Boosters will be needing alot of help in the near future. Teacher Appreciation week (May 6th- 10th) and Field Day (end of May) are quickly approaching, so keep your eyes and ears open for our call for volunteers to help us pull these 2 events off! Information can be submitted via email to: communications@menloparkacademy.com for review and inclusion in the weekly update. Submissions are subject to Director approval.

MPA Weekly Update - 2/21/2013

In This Issue Dates to Remember Math Interventions Grade Book Invention Convention Dress Code Young Authors' Week FYI: Dates to Remember February 2/21 - Thursday - Boosters Meeting, 6pm 2/22 - Friday - MS Invention Convention workshop after school; Boys' Basketball Tryouts at 4:15pm 2/23 - Saturday - Power of the Pen Regional Competition 2/23 - Saturday - Menlo Park Family Night/Monsters Hockey Game 2/28 - Thursday - End of trimester    March 3/1 - Friday - NO SCHOOL FOR STUDENTS (teacher in-service) 3/6 - Wednesday - Invention Convention 3/7 - Thursday - Chemistry Competition, 6pm 3/9 - Saturday - Destination Imagination 3/11 - Monday - Second Trimester Awards Assembly     3/14 - Math Night for K-4th grade    April 4/12 - Friday - Lego Olympiad 4/26 - Friday - Spelling Bee 4/27 - Saturday - State Chemistry Challenge Congratulations  Seventh grader Ian O. will represent MPA at the Cleveland Plain Dealer (Scripps) Spelling Bee on Saturday, March 2, at Cuyahoga Community College.  Congratulations, Ian, and best of luck to you!  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. Math Interventions  Volunteers needed! After analyzing data and creating math activities, we are ready to begin working with students on Singapore gaps.  If you volunteered to help already - THANK YOU!  Mrs. B-W will be contacting you for availability.  If you haven't volunteered and might have some daytime hours available,  pleasecontact Mrs. B-W to sign up. These 5 minute math refreshers do not take special training.   Canned Food Drive              February 8th - March 4th Girl Scout troop 70029 will be collecting canned goods for a Community Service Project for the Fairview Park Food Bank from 2/8--3/4. Collection boxes will be located on the 1st floor. Thank you for your support! 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! Weekly Update - 2/21/13 Quick Links Menlo Park Academy Website MPA on Facebook Shop with Scrips by 7pm on Sunday Report your volunteer hours School calendar  Classroom Websites (click on Classroom Websites tab) Reminder:  No school for students next Friday, 3/1/2013, due to a teacher inservice day.  Elective assistants wanted!  Come lend a hand during third trimester Elective assistants are needed on Wednesdays for 2nd and 3rd grade from 2:15 to 3:00.  Please contact Mrs. Carrat carr_jeanne@yahoo.com if you are available. Grade Book     Kindergarten through third grade spent some time with our Grade Book support team creating a more workable document.  Begining third trimester, all k-3 teachers will be using Grade Book to keep parents updated on homework and progress on Ohio State Standards.  Look for more information in the next newsletter to better understand the formatting.   Also, please be aware that Grade Book will be undergoing a large upgrade that needs to be installed starting at 6:00 p.m. Friday, February 22nd and should be completed by 3:00 p.m. Sunday, February 24th. During this time Grade Book and Parent Access will not be available.  So if you need to check on any missed assignments or grades, take care of it early this Friday, or you'll have to wait until Monday. PASSWORDS?  If you do not know the user name and password for accessing Gradebook, please contact Nancy Colby 216-586-3746 or nancy.colby@menloparkacademy.com.  You will find attached a parent manual on how to manuever Gradebook for your information. Invention Convention  Wednesday, 3/6/2013 This fun filled day will showcase the amazing inventions from grades K, 1, and 4-8.  The Awards ceremony will be from 4:00-4:30pm that afternoon.  Only students whose parents will be attending the ceremony should stay after school that day.   We could use parent support in a variety of areas to make this event a success.  Can you lend a hand? In the next weeks, parent assistance could be extremely helpful with Kindergarten Rollercoaster construction and first grade egg drop design.  Contact classroom teachers if you would be interested in these engineering endeavors. On Tuesday, 3/5, we need 4-6 volunteers from 3:30-4:30 to set up tables in the gym for the event.  Pleasecontact Chris Whitman if you can help.  On Wednesday, 3/6, we will need help throughout the day. Please contact Chris Whitman if you can help in any of these areas: 8-9am - Need 4-6 volunteers during drop off to help get the IC participants and their projects safely into school and set up. 9-11am  - Need 2-4 volunteers to assist the teachers in allowing all MPA student to come and view the projects (all that is needed is to make sure the projects are not harmed during the walk through), with 1 or 2 hours shifts 11:45-3pm -  Judges still needed (cannot have a child participating in IC)  4:30- 5pm - Need 4-6 volunteers to help clean up the gym after the awards ceremony. Wednesday - March 6, the cafeteria will be used all day for IC because the church hall is unavailable during Lent.  Parent support would be greatly valued during lunch (11:00-1:00) as we will be eating in the rooms that day.  The more support teacher's have, the less fuss eating in the classrooms will be.  Please contact Mrs. B-W if you are able to come in that day. Destination Imagination  Appraisers needed for Saturday, 3/9/2013 MPA is in need of appraisers to judge for Destination Imagination on Saturday, March 9th.  This competition encourages students to work collaboratively to solve a problem.  The problems require that students combine creativity, science, art, music and performance.   It is an all day affair at Chagrin Middle School.  We have five teams of students participating and we are supposed to supply an equal number of appraisers. If anyone is interested and available, please contact Mrs. Belko.  Thanks, and best of luck to our teams! Dress Code Reminder  Make sure your students are "in code" before they leave the house! MPA's staff has noticed a recent increase in dress code non-compliance.  In order to make sure all of our students are clear on what is and is not allowed in the code, we will have a "Do and Don't" student fashion show this Friday to review proper dress code with students.  Beginning next week, February 25, students not in dress code will be sent to the office.  We will have some replacement garments but not in all sizes.  If your student is not dressed to code and can't find suitable replacement garments in the supply, you will need to come and bring appropriate clothing.  Students who are not in dress code will be required to make up any work missed while they are in the office waiting for appropriate clothing.  Please speak to your children and make them aware that we will be strictly enforcing MPA's dress code  (click link to see the whole policy).  Thank you for supporting us in ensuring that all students are treated equitably in regard to following this school policy.    Please know that student council officers are working with the administrative team to bring back a regularly scheduled dress down day.  Hopefully this will allow students the opportunity to exercise their individual fashion choice in a more regulated manner.  Look for more information on this in coming newsletters.   UNIFORM EXCHANGE: please remember that MPA has a "dress code swap box" located in the hallway outside of the school office.  Bring in your gently-used-but-outgrown school clothes to donate, or check the box to see if there are any in a size your child is growing into.  Much easier than trying to find a source for khakis in February! Young Authors' Week  Begins May 13th On Monday, May 13,MPA will be hosting a guest reader series.  If you know someone (athlete, fireman, policeman, etc.) who might be interested in participating, please contact Mrs. B-W.   Parent leads are also needed to work with students to write letters during lunch/recess requesting guest readers, organize a poetry slam as well as an author study fair.  Contact Mrs. B-W if you are available.  Girls' Basketball                      Championship Tournament Schedule Congratulations to the MPA Girls' Basketball Team on their first season!  The season will be capped by a single elimination tournament, with the first game on Tuesday night (2/26) at 7:00 at the Brookpark Recreation Center against the Brookpark Mercury. If they win there, the team will advance to play the North Olmsted Sparks at North Olmsted Middle School on Saturday, March 2nd, at 10:50am. If they win that 2nd game, they will play for the "C" division title on March 9th, time and place to be announced.  Good luck, ladies - and GO WIZARDS! Information can be submitted via email to: communications@menloparkacademy.com for review and inclusion in the weekly update. Submissions are subject to Director approval.

MPA Weekly Update - 2/14/2013

In This Issue Dates to Remember Boys' Basketball Math Night Third Trimester Electives Power of the Pen Event Title FYI: Dates to Remember February 2/15-18 - Friday/Monday - no school for students 2/20 - Wednesday - Boys' Basketball Tryouts at 4:15pm 2/21 - Thursday - Boosters Meeting, 6pm 2/22 - Friday - MS Invention Convention workshop after school; Boys' Basketball Tryouts at 4:15pm 2/23 - Saturday - Power of the Pen Regional Competition 2/23 - Saturday - Menlo Park Family Night/Monsters Hockey Game 2/28 - Thursday - End of trimester    March 3/1 - Friday - NO SCHOOL FOR STUDENTS (teacher in-service) 3/6 - Wednesday - Invention Convention 3/7 - Thursday - Chemistry Competition, 6pm 3/9 - Saturday - Destination Imagination 3/14 - Math Night for K-4th grade    April 4/12 - Friday - Lego Olympiad 4/26 - Friday - Spelling Bee 4/27 - Saturday - State Chemistry Challenge Canned Food Drive              February 8th - March 4th Girl Scout troop 70029 will be collecting canned goods for a Community Service Project for the Fairview Park Food Bank from 2/8--3/4. Collection boxes will be located on the 1st floor. Thank you for your support! 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. When in doubt, keep recovering students home  Parents, please remember that it is in all of our best interests to keep our sick students at home long enough for them to completely recover from their illnesses.  As the policy is described in the MPA Parent/Student Handbook, Students with communicable illnesses like conjunctivitis (pink eye), head lice, or a suspicious rash should not attend school. Students should also stay home if they have vomited or have had a fever above 100 within the last 24 hours. Calling All Photobugs!  If you've captured any shots of our students or staff during lunch, recess, electives, or special events like the science fair, we need your help!  Please e-mail photos you'd like to submit to us, and we'll use them to add more depth to our yearbook coverage for the year.  No guarantees we'll use your photos, but if you've got some good ones, we'd love to check them out! Weekly Update - 2/14/13 Quick Links Menlo Park Academy Website MPA on Facebook Shop with Scrips by 7pm on Sunday Report your volunteer hours School calendar  Classroom Websites (click on Classroom Websites tab) No School For Students  Friday 2/15 and Monday 2/18   Enjoy the long weekend - we'll see you bright and early on Tuesday morning! Grade Book     This week representatives from the teaching staff attended a Gradebook meeting with our provider for this service.  We are excited about these changes that should greatly improve our school home communication. More coming next week on the Grade k-3 format and and access to growth data.    Grades 4-8   Parent Alerts You may now set Gradebook to send you alerts for the following: 1.  Missing Assignments 2.  Low Grades (this can be personalized by content and level of grade to receive the alert) This function will provide parents an additional tool to support students for educational success.  Email alerts will go out on Friday mornings at 5:00 am.  This will allow families to optimize weekends to address assignments that may need completion or adjustment.  Click  here for a document that will guide you through setting up alerts. PASSWORDS?  If you do not know the user name and password for accessing Gradebook, please contact Lynn Wilson.  You will find attached a parent manual on how to manuever Gradebook for your information. Spring Boys' Basketball Tryouts  Continue 2/20 and 2/22 at 4:15pm The tryouts for the Boys Spring Basketball (Grades 4-8) team are being held from 4:15-6:00 on February 20th and 22nd at the Westpark YMCA. New, players must turn in medical paperwork into the school office before attending tryouts.  Teams will be announced on the evening of February 22nd. Any questions, you may contact Coach Willie at mpahoops@yahoo.com. The season for the Varsity Team starts on Saturday Feb 23rd and will play a 10 game season. The first two games on Feb 23rd and March 2nd will be at the Warrensville YMCA at 3:00pm. Then,  every Saturday from March 9th thru April 27th at the Lakewood YMCA on Detroit Road.  The JV season will be 8 games and will start on March 9th in Lakewood.  It will end on April 27th and play every Saturday as well. Times for the Lakewood games for both teams will be released in two weeks.  Invention Convention  Wednesday, 3/6/2013 Students in grades 4-8 who are participating in Invention Convention will be bringing their boards home for the long weekend.  The competition will be held Wednesday, March 6.  The Awards ceremony will be from 4:00-4:30pm that day.  Only students whose parents will be attending the ceremony should stay after school that day. Also, a note from Mrs. Eby: "The science lab is missing many materials due to students who borrowed equipment for their science fair projects. If you child borrowed a thermometer, graduated cylinder, measuring tape, safety goggles or some other piece of equipment, please ask them if they have remembered to return it to the science lab. Thanks!" Recess Assistance for MS Students Students may now use recess time to complete missing assignments  In an effort to better support our students with their missing assignments, we will be be providing teacher assistance during recess time to complete missing work or study for that tough exam. Recess Assistance (RA) sessions will be Monday through Friday and will be used as quiet time for students to work on their assignments, if needed. Any student can be referred for this time by a teacher. When this occures, tudents will be informed of  work they have missing and be provided copies of worksheets if needed.   Students may self refer to Recess Assistance if they feel a need for more study time.   Parents can also refer students to RA using the RA form . Students are expected to stay in RA for the entire block of time to complete quality work.  Recess Assitance teachers will work with students and check student work before they are dismissed to class. It will be noted in a student's planner if he/she attended Recess Assistance so that parents can keep informed.  Please contact Mr. Kennedyjim.kenndedy@menloparkacadmy.com if you have any questions about this new program. Parking during Lent Please respect St. Mel's parking needs   St. Mel will hold a service in the Church on Fridays at noon during the Season of Lent: February 15 and 22nd and March 1,8,15, and 22nd. The signs that are put in place in the parking lot in the morning indicating "parking for church only" will be left in place until the service is over.  Please respect the signs and marked spaces that are "For Church Use Only" at all times - even when you are picking up or dropping off students. Also, the St. Mel Fish Fry will be held on all Fridays during Lent. The Fish Fry is from 4-7pm.  St. Mel Parish requires exclusive use of the parking lot during this time on the following dates:  February 15, 22 and March 1, 8, 15, 22, and 29th.  Please plan to use street parking on these days if you are coming to the school between 4 and 7 to pick up students or attend a meeting. Communication with the School Call early if you need to change transportation for your student Calls to communicate changes in student transportation (i.e. - "Susie is going to be a bus rider today because my car is still in the shop") must be made prior to 2:30pm.   This gives Mrs. Wilson time to contact teachers to make sure that students receive the message about changes to their transportation.  Thank you for your cooperation with this important safety matter.   Shop with Scrips Sunday by 7pm  Vacationing Over Easter 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.   Make sure to  check the Scrip program website to learn about the current offers that earn additional funds for our school.    Quiz Night a Success!                      Congratulations to winning team: "Skips A Generation" Thank you to the 126 Menlo Park Academy family members and friends who came out to the Second Annual Quiz Night Fundraiser this past Saturday night at Brennan's Banquet Center! Our master of ceremonies, Willie Littlejohn and his family dazzled, challenged, and in some cases, stumped our teams with 9 intense rounds of trivia! We learned new facts - for example: it's illegal to burn feathers in Galesburg, IL. Between, the delicious food, exhilarating (friendly!) competition, amazing silent auction and raffle, and social atmosphere, we're already looking forward to the Third Annual Quiz Night! The winning Quiz Night team, Skips A Generation, contained many members of last year's winning team, who happily defended their title.  Congratulations to the Quiz Night 2013 winning team, consisting of: Grant Henson, Jennifer Henson, Molly Leib (Mrs. Leib), David Foxall, Sean O'Neil, Latha Srinivasan, Terri Sandu, Vasile Sandu, and Srikanth Sivashankaran.   Our thanks go out to all the volunteers who helped make this event a success.  We couldn't have done it without all the people soliciting donations for the raffle, organizing the food and location, and (of course) coming up with the trivia questions! Monsters Tickets being sent home next week                     Check your Thursday Folder The Monsters tickets will be distributed via the Thursday folders next week. Be on the lookout for them! The winners of the Broomball Intermission show have been chosen. Congratulations to the following children who were randomly selected; Brendan Akins, Andrew Beck, Hunter Caraballo, Jackson Coleman, Hayden Costa, Lauren Dalton, Nadia Didytch, Aidan Elliot, Natasha Garlauskas, Jordan Howlett, Kate Johnson, Maeve Kelly, Jacob Kodicovic, Kiernan Kovach, Liam Kovach, Jonathan Lin, Vincent Lin, Miles Monnette, Max Tonsing and Alexandra Watters. Winners will receive special instructions as to when & where to meet for the intermission show. The next Boosters meeting will take place on Thursday, February 21st in the school gym at 6:00 pm. If you would like to be a part of conversations regarding upcoming events, please feel free to join us! Information can be submitted via email to: communications@menloparkacademy.com for review and inclusion in the weekly update. Submissions are subject to Director approval.