| Upcoming Events | | CALENDAR UPDATE! Please note that Monday, April 5th will stay a Spring Break vacation day. We will not be making up a snow day, so enjoy your last day of Spring Break! See you back on Tuesday! |  |
| Volunteer BITS | | Can't commit a lot of time, but could help out for an hour or two, consider one of the following: - We're looking for volunteers to help stuff Spring Fling invitation envelopes. Contact Jan Hyland if you can help out!
- Are you web savvy? The Communications Office welcomes any volunteers who would be able to help get some photos put up on the school website. Contact Nicole Campbell if you are interested!
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| From the BPC | | TIMELY TOPICS UPDATES!
Just in case you haven't heard the buzz yet -- this week's Timely Topic meeting was both informative and encouraging! Very courageous parents went away with real strategies for encouraging their children and gaining cooperation! Here's one nugget we can share in this small space are the four essential "C's" of success: Connect, Capable, Count, and Courage. Click here to read more. The natural progression of these goals is learning, practicing and then contributing. Contributing, being needed and knowing ones contributions are needed and appreciated leads to social interest and a life with meaning! Next week's Timely Topic meeting, Raising Good Children, will build on the strategies we talked about this week. Please join us -- even if you haven't finished the book!
BPC Book Club
Raising Good Children, by Thomas Lickona “A child is the only known substance from which a responsible adult can be made.” Join us on March 18th in the evening, from 7:30 PM to 9:30 PM, in the Resource Room. Our book this month is Raising Good Children, by Dr. Thomas Lickona. We’ll discuss Lickona’s ideas on how to help your child develop a lifelong sense of honesty, decency, and respect for others. Parents are up against a lot more than they used to be. “Children face a social environment that is actively hostile to many of the values parents would like to teach their children. A study by Cornell University found that American Children were more likely to break a rule or law if they thought their peers would know about it. Researchers confirm what parents fear: kids at every grade level are more dependent on peers than they used to be.” Join us for what will be a rich discussion – even if you haven’t finished the book! Email Kristen Waksberg with any questions. Click here to RSVP!
Family Fun Night Thanks! Thank you to all who made Family Fun Night such a success! To all of the faculty, staff, and parents who helped and to everyone who came and enjoyed themselves-thanks for making it such a great night!!! | |
| Business Office | | Lunch Orders
Just a friendly reminder from the Business Office that lunch balances are due as soon as possible. Starting this month, lunch balances must be paid before orders for next month can be placed. Please contact Marie Mehala with any questions. | |
| Technology | |  | | Even the upgrade of our internal computer components are going green! | Computers Going Green In keeping with the school's effort to become a Green School, we continue to reduce the carbon footprint of our existing technology and are taking the opportunity to "Go Green" whenever possible as we upgrade our computer systems. This week four Dell computers were replaced in the main library area by a single Dell computer which supports six student workstations. We utilized the same technology that was installed in the new media center last summer - namely, desktop virtualization through the use of thin clients. This technology reduces electricity, room cooling costs and maintenance costs. There are plans to expand the use of this technology to the other computer lab and to classrooms as we replace outdated equipment over the next few years. | |
| A Note from Mrs. Nave | | Lost and Found A pair of black Foster Grant reading glasses was dropped during carpool on Tuesday. They are safe on my desk. Stop by to claim. Please remember to check the lost and found for other items that might belong to your child/children. Lost at Family Fun Night Keep an eye out for a child's size, plain straw cowboy hat, without any band around the top.
Last seen at Family Fun Night. Let me know if you have seen it. Visitor Passes Please return all visitor passes to the receptionist’s office. Tooth Box Report- just for fun! Total for the last two weeks: 2 tooth boxes left my office. A first grader wanted me to pull her tooth. It was not ready. I gave her an apple. That didn’t work. She ate her lunch and that did the trick. I had better success with a second grader who was very happy that her tooth came out with my help. | |
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| | From Our Head of School | | I’d like to share a Barnesville story with you, a story that I think has a lesson for us all. This past week, there was a ripple of concern about a mysterious figure roaming around the middle school lockers called the “Locker Ninja”. It began with a note left on a student’s locker whiteboard, saying that the Locker Ninja had come to visit. About the same time, a few students noticed some problems with the content of their lockers. And so a rumor was born. Who was this Locker Ninja? The Locker Ninja was getting into students' lockers! The Locker Ninja was causing damage to students’ belongings! Except there was no “Locker Ninja”. At least, not in the way we all imagined. Yes, one of our students (on a lark) left a message from the Locker Ninja on another student’s whiteboard. But no, that student didn’t touch anything in that locker, or anyone else’s locker. And no, there was no malicious figure lurking the hallways, out to cause trouble and mayhem. And no, there was no widespread damage to students’ personal property. I think this story is such an important reminder of how quickly we can take a couple of unrelated events, put them together, and craft a rumor, even if we don’t mean to do so. After all, our minds look for patterns. We’re programmed to see fit and order even when there is none. Just think of constellations – once you’ve seen Orion as a human figure and identified his shoulders, belt, and sword, you can’t help but see Orion in the same way every time it appears in the night sky. This Locker Ninja story shows that even when the facts seem to fit so neatly and all the stars align, the story we create in our heads isn’t necessarily the truth. The Locker Ninja story is so juicy and interesting, it must be true! But it isn’t. Spring is always the high season for rumors in independent schools. Maybe it’s the change in season, maybe it’s the first look ahead to the upcoming school year. I ask that before you share an interesting story, ask yourself – is this a Locker Ninja? When in doubt, as always, go to the source! It’s what we want our students to do. John Huber
Head of School | |
| Lower School | | News From Some of Our Classrooms
First Grade
Each year the tricky leprechauns arrive at The Barnesville School and cause mischief! They love to pull pranks and mess up the classrooms. To protect our rooms, first graders build leprechaun traps at home. On March 16th, they will bring their traps to school in the hope of catching that pesky leprechaun and asking for his/her pot of gold! As part of our celebration of St. Patrick’s Day, the first grade students build good muscles while hand cranking homemade ice cream. The leprechaun even interferes with this process as our vanilla ice cream, with all white ingredients, comes out GREEN! Be on the lookout for our wonderful traps and keep your fingers crossed that we finally catch old Lucky Leprechaun. PS. First graders may bring one stuffed animal to read to and may wear their PJ’s tomorrow, Friday, March 12. They will be following the directions in their reading book to make pancakes. Third Grade
On March 4th, the third graders participated in our annual Famous Americans Book Float parade. During the month of February each child read a biography about a famous American. He/she then created a book float representing that person’s life. During the parade, each child -in costume or with props- showed off his/her float and delivered a speech about this person to an audience of attentive parents and students. Fourth Grade
The fourth graders have just finished their monthly oral book reports on biographies and have created time lines. These will be on display soon in the hall. Many of the children incorporated their PowerPoint skills in creating colorful slides of information. | |
| Middle School | | Come See the Peeps Each year the Washington Post holds a contest asking participants to create a "peeps diorama" capturing a historic event, current event and/or known occurence.This year the 7th and 8th grade students have been asked to take part in something similar. In Language Arts, students must incorporate literary terms, such as a pun in the title of their display and re-create their idea using marshmallow peeps as the characters. Not only is there a great literary connection, writing component and oral presentation, but also creativity! The students seem very excited. We also have about twenty judges and 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners will receive a small prize for their efforts! Judging will take place during the day and winners will be announced on Monday, March 15. Every participant will receive a small token of acknowledgement for their participation too. So, beginning at 8:15 AM, on Friday, March 12, the peeps diorama projects will be on display in the middle school hallway and library hallway.
Parents can come by anytime on Friday to see the display! Middle School "Glow" Dance The Dance is being held next Friday, March 19th from 7:00 to 10:00 PM in the gym. Admission is $10.00 at the door. There will be a D.J., games, and prizes. All students are encouraged to wear glow in the dark clothing. I know many students are getting t-shirts and painting them with glow in the dark fabric paint to get ready for the dance! All students are asked to bring the following items to contribute to the refreshment table: 8th Grade - Drinks 7th Grade - Sweet Snacks 6th Grade - Cups and Plates 5th Grade - Salty Snacks Lacrosse Practice Lacrosse started yesterday (3/10). If your son or daughter is still interested in playing and did not attend the first practice, please have them contact Ms. Donza (boy's coach) or Mrs. Crawford (girl's coach). The next practice is tomorrow, Friday, March 12th from 3:00-4:30. | |
| Admissions and Advancement | | Welcome Back Ms. Glen! Welcome Back to Georganna Glen, our wonderful Director of Advancement and Admissions, who is back from maternity leave! Be sure to stop by her office to see a picture of her beautiful baby boy, John Christopher! Admissions The Admissions season is in full swing for next school year! On Friday, March 5th we mailed out acceptance packets to our admitted applicants. It was a pleasure sharing the great news of their child's acceptance with eager parents! Please note that although our application deadline was January, 15th we operate on a rolling admissions basis and therefore all new applications will be considered. Please spread the word that our next Admissions Open House is Tuesday, March 16th @ 9:30 am. Referral Campaign Don’t forget our Admissions referral campaign! We’d love to give you $1,000! Simply share a referral card with your family and friends and if a student using the card enrolls, you’ll be eligible to receive $1,000. In addition, the family who applies using your card will receive an application fee waiver, saving them $75.00! So it’s a win-win for everyone! | |
| Communications and Marketing | | Thanks for a great Family Fun Night! We really can’t say thanks enough to all of the amazing volunteers who worked to pull everything together. It was a really great night for all of us and our kids! We raised more than $10,000 for The Barnesville School! That is one heck of a “barn raising” and a great way to start the spring! Everyone who donated prizes for the raffle can know that their donations really paid off for the school. And everyone who bought raffle tickets – even if you didn’t bring home a big prize – should feel like a winner because 100% of ticket sales revenue goes to the school! Along with income from the Annual Fund Campaign, proceeds from this Raffle and the Spring Auction help the school attract and retain amazing teachers who encourage our kids to reach for the prizes that really count -- personal achievement and excellence. Looking ahead to the Gala, it is not too late to include a commemorative ad in the Gala catalog. We are accepting ads up until Spring Break (March 26). You can do a simple text “Love Note” for $25 or include a photo for quarter, half, or full page ads. Click here for an ad form. Want to "Campaign" for Barnesville? We've all see candidate signs in front yards as we drive by area homes. Would you be interested in promoting Barnesville the same way? Let the Communications Office know if you'd be interested in having a "Barnesville School" yard sign in your front yard. Tell those passing by your home that you're a Barnesville supporter! | |
| Facilities and Transportation | | Snow Update Just to give you a winter storm update, the heavy snows did cause several facility problems. One of our roof heat pumps took in a major snow drift, and the fan motor needed replacement. Also, the heavy snows coming down from our metal roofs caused most of our gutters to give way. All repairs have been made. Also, be careful when pulling into the school driveway, as there is a rut that we have highlighted with reflective stakes. Dishes Parents, don't forget to pick up your crockpots. We've got many pots, trays, tongs, etc. in the Faculty Room. You can find them located beneath the soda fridge in the big blue container. | |
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