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!

-- 

Menlo Park Academy

14440 Triskett Road

Cleveland, OH  44111

440-925-6365

MPA Newsletter 4/4/2012

There will be no official Thursday Folder going home this week - yay for not having to keep track of it over break!  There will be no e-newsletter going out next week, so enjoy this one for all it's worth - it's got to last you for two weeks :) Also, the school Lost and Found items will be donated to charity over break, so this is your last chance to come claim any hats, gloves, sweaters, boots, lunch boxes, or whatever else might be missing from your child's closet.  Come and get 'em by Thursday evening, or they're gone for good!

Student Information

An important message from Mrs. Wilson:  Parents, please be aware that there will be three overnight field trips occurring in short succession.  Unless MPA receives all the permission forms, medication forms, and necessary medications on the assigned dates, your child may not be able to attend the trip.  The important (iron-clad, last resort, we're seriously not making exceptions) due dates to remember are:

• Mohican trip forms and medications are due by Friday, April 20th. To find the forms, go to www.mohicanoutdoorschool.org,  mouse over "Outdoor Education" and click on "resources/forms". If you have any questions, email Mrs. Eby at janeth.eby@menloparkacademy.com.
• Washington, D.C. trip forms and medications are due Tuesday, April 24th.  Contactlynn.wilson@menloparkacademy.com if you need copies of the forms.
• Zoo overnight trip forms and medications are due Thursday, April 26th.  Contactlynn.wilson@menloparkacademy.com if you need copies of the forms.

The Wizards are now 2-0 after their recent 29-10 victory over the Clippers, our largest margin of victory so far this school year. All 11 boys played great defense in the game. Ojas Nardkarni had 10 points and Hunter Caraballo had seven, and eight different Wizard players scored in the game. The team enjoyed a victory lunch of wings and pizza at Geppettos thanks to Coach Willie and Sunnyside Audi. Check the calendar at the end of this message to see when you can come watch the UNDEFEATED Wizards play this spring!

Traffic alert ... Kindergarten screening will be taking place in the hall at St. Mel's Church on MONDAY, APRIL 16th and on TUESDAY, APRIL 17TH.  Incoming Kindergarten students and their parents will be arriving throughout the day, and they may not be familiar with the traffic patterns in the parking lot, so please use caution when driving in and around the school. Thanks - and welcome to the school, mini-munchkins!

 

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 event is FREE and is not a fundraiser!  Instead, it 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”.  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!  Check out the attached flyer for more information on this fun event, and go to http://mpaspringartsfair2012.pleasebringit.com/public/VWy7PuFh1Zc to register your child to participate.  To sign up to volunteer, visit

http://mpaartsfair2012.pleasebringit.com/public/b86e20ESxVo.

Thanks go out to the Pallotta family, who will be loaning the school a car-top carrier to use on the Middle School trip to Washington, D.C.  Thanks!

The STEM Enrichment Committee thanks the many MPA parents who have given feedback about K-4 Math Night either to Committee members directly or through the feedback survey. If you haven't already given feedback and would like to do so, please take a few minutes to complete the survey so the Committee can make K-4 Math Night even better next year: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/YXB9XHB. Thank you!

Bee there! The MPA school-wide Spelling Bee will take place in the gym on Friday, April 27, 2012 at 8:45 a.m. Congratulations to the following students who won their respective classroom spelling bees and who will be participating in the school-wide Spelling Bee:

• Kindergarten: Eitan Elan, Kennedy Koski, Ananya Madhavaram, Nicholas Romano, Meesha Tanna, Rahul Sanghvi, David Vidovich, Summer Hudak, Wyatt Mahoney, and Firat Begen
• Grade 1: Kaylee Geilty,  Will Gonzalez, Lewis Fetting, Gagan Vaidyanathan, Alexandra Youshak, Duncan Bryk, Alexia Wenzel, and Elizabeth Woods
• Grade 2: Emily Atkins, Claire Coleman, Brendan Kiskorna, Eliza Wegner, Carson Bauer, Noor Ahmed, Sathya Sunduram, and Dominic Mayhew (Alternates: Johnathan Carman, Megan O'Donnell)
• Grade 3: Lexi Soltesz, Hana, Connor Gallaugher, Ella Kazazic, John Evtimov, Katey Fritz, Shay Tanna, and Anna Rose
• Grade 4: Michelle Zhang, Hunter Caraballo, Milana Mudra, Rhiannon Bryk, Billy Baker, Jonah Fechner, Janna James, and Aidan Ingraham.  Joe Henson was also a finalist, but he will be out of town the day of the school Spelling Bee.  (Alternates: Sam Peacock, Matthew Harrington, Carolyn Homolka, and Natalie Costello)
• Grade 5: Sparsh Balabadrapatruni, Clement Liu, Hector Cummings, and Sam Ammari (Alternate: Patrick O'Malley)
• Grade 6: Owen Crowley, Owen Kranz, Ian O'Donnell, and Julia Moreno
• Grade 7: Stefani Hayne, Marshall Monnette, Zack Peacock, and Brennan McQuinn
• Grade 8: Fox Milenski, Aidan Harrington, and John Antolik

Congratulations and good luck to these students! The participating students will be bringing home their spelling bee study lists and other information on Thursday. The lists will also be provided to the participating students and their parents electronically.  Families are welcome to attend the Spelling Bee on the 27th. Questions about the Spelling Bee can be directed to Latha at LMS54321@gmail.com.

In early May 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 Thursday, or the week after Spring Break.  Also, if you would like to volunteer to help please email Janelle at jldoc29@yahoo.com. There will be more details after Spring Break regarding this wonderful event. Thanks very much for your support!

Monday, May 7th, will be the day for candid and group photos for the yearbook.  If your child participates in a club, team, or other MPA organization, check with the group leader for information on when and where the photo will be done.  This information will be available in a few weeks.

Speaking of yearbooks, we'll be sending out information and order forms for the 2011-2012 MPA yearbook soon.  Please be aware that they will be produced and distributed to the families early in the next school year.

Development Information

A big "Thank You!" goes out to all the families who participated in the Walk-A-Thon fundraising.  If you forgot to send in your donation in time, we will still be accepting donations tomorrow.  I'm sitting here watching Mrs. Reno process a huge stack of donation forms, checks, dollar bills, and even piles of quarters.  We don't have a final total yet, but the level of participation was great.  For those who qualified to receive a t-shirt, we'll be distributing those after Spring Break.  Thanks to everyone who contributed time or money for tomorrow's event.  Let's all keep our fingers crossed that the weather holds and the kids get to walk outside tomorrow afternoon!

Are you smarter than an MPA newsletter editor?  Quiz Night is coming up - and I'm sending out a personal challenge to all the other MPA parents ... meet me on Saturday, April 28th, at Brennan's (13000 Triskett Road) with your group of eight adults, and we'll all go head-to-head in a trivia challenge.  Tickets are $40 per person and include hot and cold appetizers, non-alcoholic beverages, dessert, and one door prize ticket.  There will be cash prizes for members of the winning team.  And don't worry if you don't have enough people for a team - the event organizers will be happy to help form a team for you. I think there's still room for a couple people on my team ;) The registration form and PayPal link to register for Quiz night is now available on our web site at this link:  https://sites.google.com/site/menloparkacademy/parent-central/quiz-night  Registrations are due April 18th (not on the 16th as previously advertised - that's an inservice day).  I'll see you there!

Make sure you've got your calendars marked with Sunday, June 3rd set aside for attending the Lake Erie Crushersgame 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.  Tickets will be available after Spring Break for $9 each, with a portion of the price going to the school.  The more tickets we sell, the larger cut the school receives, so get out there and find lots of people to join us at the game!  Everyone who attends (including MPA students) will need a ticket to enter the stadium.  

Volunteer Information

We're hoping to decrease the volume of waste produced by the school by increasing our efforts to recycle, but we need a few green, earth-friendly people to help out.  We're looking for:

• Someone to negotiate with our waste disposal company to include recycling in our trash pickup.
• Someone to help us measure the impact our increased recycling will have.  This will probably involve weighing the amount of trash we discard in one day before the recycling begins, and again after we are well into the recycling program.

If you can help out with either of these tasks, please contact Lorraine.Bouchard@MenloParkAcademy.com for more information.  Thanks!

We're also hoping to find someone who's good with wiring and all matters electrical.  The microphone that's used to help keep order in the cafeteria during lunch and school-wide events is somewhat temperamental.  We have tested the microphone and it works fine, but there's something going on between the jacks in the cafeteria walls and the speaker system.  If anyone has the ability to track down where the fault/short/wacky connection/alien invasion is happening, we'd greatly appreciate it.  Contact Lorraine.Bouchard@MenloParkAcademy.com if you can help out with this.  Thank you! 

Save the date:  Friday, May 25th, will be our Volunteer Appreciation event.  Keep your eyes open for more details in the coming weeks!

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 either this spring or in the fall. If you would be willing to give a short (5-10 minute) talk about your STEM-related career on a weeknight from 6-8 pm, please contact Grant Henson at granthens@gmail.com.

Calendar Highlights:

• April 5 (Thursday) - Walk-a-Thon; New Board member elections will be held at the regular Board meeting
• April 6-16 - No school for students - spring break and inservice days
• April 20 (Friday) - Lego Olympiad at LCCC; 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 23-27 - 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
• 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  

If you've got something you'd like to share with the school - a need for volunteers for your school event, an exciting achievement your child has made outside of school, or anything else you think MPA parents should know about - send the information to Gretchen Woods at avonhokie@yahoo.com.  The submission deadline for the weekly newsletter is each Wednesday at noon.

MPA Newsletter 3/28/2012

We'd like to send some special recognition to the families of students in Mrs. Timko's Kindergarten class- they have the distinct honor of being the only class to have no absences or tardy students for six days in a row!  We all know how hard it is to keep everyone healthy and on-time this time of year, so we know what an achievement this actually is.  Way to go!

Student Information

The 1st grade, 5th grade & the 3 middle school Gardening Elective students who missed hot dog day last week won't miss out.  We will be serving their hot dogs on Thursday, March 29th.  Bon Appetit!

The school held a state-mandated tornado drill this morning.  The students behaved well, moving to the safer locations within the school quickly and quietly.  I was there to see the drill, and I've never seen that many K-2nd graders be so quiet in my life!  There will be more tornado drills in the future, so don't be surprised to hear about them from your students in the coming months.

Has your child made use of any of our Emergency Replacement Lunches?  Please remember that these lunches are for kids who forgot to bring a lunch - not for kids whose parents just don't feel like packing a lunch that day.  The school does not make any profit on the sale of the lunches, and currently we have to use funds from other school areas to make up the almost $150 we are missing because parents haven't paid for the lunches their children have used.  Please contact Lynn.Wilson@MenloParkAcademy.com if you need to pay the school for replacement lunches - she'll be happy to help you figure out how much you owe.  Thanks for your help with this!

Our art teacher Mrs. Padrutt is in need of the following supplies: styrofoam egg cartons, newspaper, and small (6-8 ounce) plastic yogurt containers.  If you can send these items in between now and the end of April, she'd greatly appreciate it.

MPA is having a snack sale during lunch periods to benefit the students who will be traveling to Washington, D.C. later this spring.  Prices range from $0.25 to $2 for chips, granola bars and candy.  Keep in mind that the last snack sale sold out quickly, so students should bring in money soon if they'd like to participate.

 

Congratulations to the team of Ojas Nadkarni and Brian Mingus, who took third place this past weekend at the BEST Medicine science fair in Akron with their project using a hydraulic pump to help people in wheelchairs. The third place in this fair is much more impressive than at CONSEF because at the BEST Medicine fair, they give out only one first, one second and one third place. No one else won anything (no honorable mentions, etc.) so the boys were in fact the third best in their category. At the other science fairs, there were several winners at each of the various levels.  Plus, the boys won a cash prize for this competition!  Congratulations, guys!

Here we go Wizards, here we go!  The MPA boys' spring basketball team won their first game of the year this past weekend.  Awesome game, boys - let's keep up that undefeated record!

Congratulations to sixth grader Marshall Monnette, who took the ACT in February.  His composite score was 28, which places him in the 90th percentile.  He also scored a 34 on the Science section, which places him in the 99th percentile.  This is the same test given to high school juniors and seniors, so placing that high is quite an accomplishment.  Way to go, Marshall!  

Dr. Bouchard asked me to share a couple clarifications on the school's policy on the use of electronic devices (game systems, iAnything, phones, etc.):

• Use of electronic devices in classrooms (including during indoor recess) is only allowed with specific permission from the teacher.
• Electronic devices may NOT be used during outside recess.
• Telephones may only be used at the end of the day, not during school hours.
• The school will not be held responsible for any damage or loss that occurs to electronic devices that are brought to school.

We hope this clears up any questions you have about the policy.  If not, feel free to contact Lorraine.Bouchard@MenloParkAcademy.com directly for more 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.   Like last year, this event is FREE and is not a fundraiser!  Instead, it is a celebration and show case 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”.  Students can perform individually or in a group.  In the next few weeks, your children will be receiving more information about the event and a sign-up sheet will be available soon.  Please have your child begin to think about how they would like to participate in this exciting event!  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!  Check out the attached flyer for more information on this fun event.

Thanks go out to the Hamilton family, who has agreed to loan the school a cartop carrier.  We're hoping someone can loan the school one more cartop luggage carrier to use for the Middle School trip to Washington, D.C.  We'd need to use them from April 30-May 4.  If you have a set the school can use, please contact Lynn.Wilson@MenloParkAcademy.com and let her know.  Thanks!

Monday, May 7th, will be the day for candid and group photos for the yearbook.  If your child participates in a club, team, or other MPA organization, check with the group leader for information on when and where the photo will be done.  This information will be available in a few weeks.

Development Information

Mmmm, Mmmm, Good:  Thanks to the combined efforts of our parents collecting and submitting Campbell's points, our current balance is 21,787 points.  Campbell's points do not expire and we can roll them over from year to year, so 21,000 points is a great start towards some of the items in the Campbell's points catalog.  Thanks for your diligence in sending these in - keep up the good work!

Ahem:  Have you paid what you pledged to the MPA Annual Fund?  Checks made payable to MPA (with Annual Fund in the note section) can be sent to Tanya Reno via Thursday folders or any other school communications.  Please make sure that it's obvious who the check is from so we can properly credit your family for the donation.  And it's not too late to pledge if you haven't already - every dollar (and family participating!) counts!  Thanks for your support!

Hut, 2, 3, 4: Thursday, April 5th, will be our annual MPA Walk-A-Thon.  Please remember that unlike last year, all Walk-A-Thon donations must be collected before the event and are due Wednesday, April 4th. Students who raise $50 or more will receive a special edition MPA t-shirt.  Check out the attached documents for more information on the event and a copy of the pledge sheet (just in case you filled up the one that went home last week).  So grab those sneakers (and checkbooks) and let's get walking!  If you are interested in volunteering for this event, please contact Kay O'Donnell at ckodonnell207@roadrunner.com to sign up.

Are you smarter than an MPA student?  Quiz Night is coming up - time to start getting together your team of eight adults to tackle our trivia challenges.  The event is Saturday, April 28th, at Brennan's (13000 Triskett Road).  Tickets are $40 per person and include hot and cold appetizers, non-alcoholic beverages, dessert, and one door prize ticket.  There will be cash prizes for members of the winning team.  And don't worry if you don't have enough people for a team - we'll be happy to help form a team for you. 

Volunteer Information

Walk this way:  We're looking for volunteers to help with the Walk-A-Thon on Thursday, April 5th.  We'll need folks to help corral the kids (we're walking outside, weather permitting), do recordkeeping, and so on.  Contact Kay O'Donnell at ckodonnell207@roadrunner.com if you'd like to help out.

Binding contract: We're looking for some volunteers to help assemble and bind the books our students have prepared for the Young Author's program.  We'll be working on this the entire week of April 30th, so if you're available to come in to school and help with it any time during that week, please contact heather.syracuse@hotmail.com.  We'll need someone to head up the project, as well as at least two volunteers per day during that week.  And if anyone has an extra binding machine we can borrow for the week, we'd be happy for the extra equipment.  

Calendar Highlights:

• April 5 (Thursday) - Walk-a-Thon; New Board member elections will be held at the regular Board meeting
• April 6-16 - No school for students - spring break and inservice days
• April 20 (Friday) - Lego Olympiad at LCCC
• April 22 (Sunday) - Arts Fair and Ice Cream Social, 2-3:30 pm at MPA
• April 23-27 - OAA standardized testing
• April 26 (Thursday) - Seventh and Eighth Grade field trip to see Romeo and Juliet
• April 27 (Friday) - School-wide Spelling Bee
• April 28 (Saturday) - Quiz Night; Invention Convention
• April 30-May 4 - Eighth Grade field trip to Washington D.C.; Sixth and Seventh Grade field trip to Mohican
• 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) - 6:30 - 8:30 Middle School Dance
• May 21 - 25 - Student Council Sponsored Spirit 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

If you've got something you'd like to share with the school - a need for volunteers for your school event, an exciting achievement your child has made outside of school, or anything else you think MPA parents should know about - send the information to Gretchen Woods at avonhokie@yahoo.com.  The submission deadline for the weekly newsletter is each Wednesday at noon.

MPA Newsletter 3/22/2012

Student Information

Trick out the kids' ride!  We're hoping someone can loan the school one or more sets of cartop luggage carriers to use for the Middle School trip to Washington, D.C.  We'd need to use them from April 30-May 4.  If you have a set the school can use, please contact Lynn.Wilson@MenloParkAcademy.com and let her know.  Thanks!

Doggone it, we missed hot lunch because of a field trip!  Not to worry ... the 1st grade, 5th grade & the 3 middle school Gardening Elective students who missed hot dog day today won't miss out.  We will be serving their hot dogs on Thursday, March 29th.  Bon Appetit!

 

Tryouts for the spring basketball league will finish this Friday 4:30-6pm at the Kamm's Corner YMCA.  Boys in grades 4-6 can come tryout to be on the team - there are still two spots available.  The spring team's first game will be Saturday, March 24th at 2:15 at the Lakewood YMCA.  The only cost for parents will be a team t-shirt (which is waived if your son was on the team this winter and can reuse his shirt).  Contact Coach Littlejohn at mpahoops@yahoo.com to let him know your child will be attending the tryout on Friday, or call him at 216-287-8786.

Mrs. Wilson wants you to clean your drawers ... and your closets.  There is a bin in front of the school office to use for donations of clean, good-condition school dress code clothes.  A parent has volunteered to sort and store these over the summer to make them available for families to use next year.  Since the weather has warmed up, it might be a good time to sort through those shirts and pants to see what's too short on your child (but would still look presentable on a smaller child) and get it out of your closets and drawers.

UFO alert!  The hallway outside of the school office is once again filling up with UFOs - Unclaimed Found Objects.  The weather has been so warm that many jackets, sweaters, and other cold-weather gear has been shed all over school property and left unclaimed.  Please ask your child to check through the items for anything you may be missing from your child's wardrobe.  And to the Brownie Scout who is missing her sash, complete with pins and badges - Mrs. Wilson is holding it for you at her desk.  Please come and claim it soon!

It's music to our ears: Congratulations to the MPA violinists and pianists who participated in the National Federation of Music Clubs Junior Festival on Saturday, March 17. There were around 400 student musicians jamming the hallways of Cleveland State University.  The MPA violin "team" played beautifully and was awarded Unanimous Superiors (the highest possible marks) and Excellents! Other students performing on piano won gold trophies, as well as one student who was awarded "Unanimous Superiors" on both piano and violin on the same day.  Mrs. Billey says: "I am so proud of their courage to compete and their dedication to preparation, which resulted in a great performance that day.  I thought you would enjoy knowing about these honored students!"

Science rules! Congratulations also go out to the students who participated in NEOSEF, a science/engineering fair that Mrs. Eby describes as "a step above CONSEF - over 600 participants, 425 of whom were 7th and 8th graders."  Nick Hiti and Sydney Hofstetter took third place and Quintin Kovach got an honorable mention.  Way to go!

Excellence in action: And finally, congratulations go to first grader Liza Woods, who recently received the MENSA Excellence in Reading award for completing their suggested reading list for K-3rd grade.  Liza is the first student in Ohio to win this honor, which makes it even more special.  Awesome job, Liza!

Development Information

Best before: Have you checked the expiration date on the Box Tops you're saving?  Many expire on March 31st!  Yes, EXPIRE!!  Send them in by Mon 3/27 so the Box Tops coordinator can get them ready and sent in before the expiration date.  Thank you!

Ahem:  Have you paid what you pledged to the MPA Annual Fund?  Checks made payable to MPA (with Annual Fund in the note section) can be sent to Tanya Reno via Thursday folders or any other school communications.  Please make sure that it's obvious who the check is from so we can properly credit your family for the donation.  Thanks for your support!

Left, right, left, right: Thursday, April 5th, will be our annual MPA Walk-A-Thon.  Please remember that unlike last year, all Walk-A-Thon donations must be collected before the event and are due Wednesday, April 4th. Students who raise more than $50 will receive a special edition MPA t-shirt.  So grab those sneakers (and checkbooks) and let's get walking!  If you are interested in volunteering for this event, please contact Kay O'Donnell at ckodonnell207@roadrunner.com to sign up.

Are you smarter than an MPA 5th grader?  Quiz Night is coming up - time to start getting together your team of eight adults to tackle our trivia challenges.  The event is Saturday, April 28th, at Brennan's (13000 Triskett Road).  Tickets are $40 per person and include hot and cold appetizers, non-alcoholic beverages, dessert, and one door prize ticket.  Check out the attached flier for more information and a sign-up sheet. And don't worry if you don't have enough people for a team - we'll be happy to help form a team for you. 

Volunteer Information

What a Pi of a night!  A big THANK YOU to the MPA community from the STEM Enrichment Committee for an awesome turn out at K-4 Math Night! The gym was packed and buzzed with activity! This was truly a demonstration of our MPA community all coming together to put on a fun, educational, and great event! Special thanks go out to all the volunteers who made all the yummy pies for the event and to the following parent/family volunteers (in alphabetical order) who helped to make Math Night happen:  Sara Atkins, Leah Barmasse, Julia Bowler, Sheila Buchanan, Mandy Czech, Ryan Czech, Rachel Didytch, Pat Harrington, Grant Henson (our fearless leader!!), Jennifer Henson, Natalie Hudak, Margie Kaufman, Heather Keirn-Swanson, Laura Koski, Renee Krohn, Cathie Leimbach, Stephanie Melnyk, Mary Romano, Brianna Ryan, Bridget Ryan, Jamie Ryan, and Latha Srinivasan. And thank you to the following Middle School student volunteers who did a great job helping out at the event: Natasha Didytch, JD James,Shannon Leimbach, Ojas Nadkarni, and Kaela Ryan. THANK YOU TO ALL!  We'd also like to recognize the following organizations for supporting MPA and Math Night: Math Monkey of Cleveland for donating their time, activities, and knowledge; Environmental Water Solutions for donating all of those awesome Math Night T-shirts; Mirabel Promotions, Ltd. for printing those T-shirts and donating the set-up fee; and Comfort Foods for donating the mini-pie door prizes! Thank you for supporting MPA!  Finally, the STEM Enrichment Committee would like to hear from YOU! Please take a few minutes to complete this survey so the Committee can make K-4 Math Night even better next year: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/YXB9XHB. Thank you for your feedback!

Walk this way:  We're looking for volunteers to help with the Walk-A-Thon on Thursday, April 5th.  We'll need folks to help corral the kids (we're walking outside, weather permitting), do recordkeeping, and so on.  Contact Kay O'Donnell at ckodonnell207@roadrunner.com if you'd like to help out.

Binding contract: We're looking for some volunteers to help assemble and bind the books our students have prepared for the Young Author's program.  We'll be working on this the entire week of April 30th, so if you're available to come in to school and help with it any time during that week, please contact heather.syracuse@hotmail.com.  And if anyone has an extra binding machine we can borrow for the week, we'd be happy for the extra equipment.  

Calendar Highlights:

• March 21-23 (Wednesday-Friday) - Fifth Grade field trip to Camp Fitch
• March 24 (Saturday) - Power of the Pen regional competition in Sandusky
• April 5 (Thursday) - Walk-a-Thon; New Board member elections will be held at the regular Board meeting
• April 6-16 - No school for students - spring break and inservice days
• April 20 (Friday) - Lego Olympiad at LCCC
• April 23-27 - OAA standardized testing
• April 26 (Thursday) - Seventh and Eighth Grade field trip to see Romeo and Juliet
• April 27 (Friday) - School-wide Spelling Bee
• April 28 (Saturday) - Quiz Night; Invention Convention
• April 30-May 4 - Eighth Grade field trip to Washington D.C.; Sixth and Seventh Grade field trip to Mohican
• 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) - 6:30 - 8:30 Middle School Dance
• May 21 - 25 - Student Council Sponsored Spirit Week
• June 1 (Friday) - Field Day at Lakewood Park
• June 3 (Sunday) - Crushers baseball game
• August 26 (Sunday) - Back to School picnic at Lakewood Park

If you've got something you'd like to share with the school - a need for volunteers for your school event, an exciting achievement your child has made outside of school, or anything else you think MPA parents should know about - send the information to Gretchen Woods at avonhokie@yahoo.com.  The submission deadline for the weekly newsletter is each Wednesday at noon.