| From Our Head of School | |  . | I’m just back in from recess duty, where I had the pleasure of watching 30 students in snow pants and boots sled down our little hill near the fence. Some chose to share their sleds with their friends, others opted for the “penguin approach” and slid down the hill on their stomachs! A delightful reminder of the joy that comes with a few inches of snow, maybe something to think about to lighten your spirits in the midst of the shoveling and the plowing. Speaking of joy, one of the pleasures we have at Barnesville is to bring local authors to our school for the benefit of our students and the community. On Thursday, January 27th, author Howard Norman will be meeting with our 3rd-8th grade students to talk about his books which cover such topics as life in Canada and Inuit folklore. Then that evening at 7:00 pm, we will be opening out doors to the public and host an evening with Howard. He will be answering questions and reading from his book What Is Left the Daughter. A book signing will follow the event. This event is made possible with the support of the Klingenstein Lecture Series. I urge you to visit Howard’s author page at Amazon, then send an rsvp to us here. It should be a wonderful evening! John Huber |  |
| Peace Week Fundraiser | | Is your child ready to change the world and end global hunger and poverty? Heifer International developed Chores for Change to give students a way to set off a chain reaction of positive change around the world. The idea is simple and it works. Instead of providing families in need with a non-renewable source of food, Heifer International provides a ‟Living loan” of an animal and training to take care of it. The family “repays” the living loan by “passing on the gift” of one or more of their animals‟ offspring to another family in need. And that family passes on more offspring…and so on and so on. Just one gift animal can eventually transform an entire community! Heifer International has been around for more than 60 years and has helped 8.5 million struggling families in 125 countries lift themselves out of poverty and move closer to self-reliance. We hope your childs‟s efforts to “seize the day” by joining other children who are changing the world.
Here at The Barnesville School, we are asking that your child do 5 Chores or 5 acts of kindness to earn $5.00 toward our goats for Haiti. The student (or parent for younger children) should write their “good works” on the imitation $5.00 bill. We will add them to our goat on the bulletin board in the hall. If every child of the Barnesville School brings in $5.00, we can buy 9 Goats for Haiti. The classes that return all their envelopes by January 14 will get to name the goats. Please send in the $5.00 in the Heifer pledge envelopes provided. Our fund drive ends on January 21, 2011. Our theme for this year’s Peace Week is “Give Light”. Please help us make a difference in Haiti and bring some "light" to families in Haiti by providing them with goats. If you have any questions about this program, please contact your child’s homeroom teacher, Mrs. Barr or Mrs. Waldhorn. Thank you for your participation! ~Mrs. Barr, Mrs. Mrs. Gekas, Mr. Huber, and Mrs. Waldhorn, Peace Week Coordinators | |
| Admissions | | The Admissions season is in full swing! The priority deadline for applications for K-8th is January 14, 2011. All K-8th applications after this date will be considered on a rolling basis. The priority deadline for applications for Early Childhood and Pre-Kindergarten is March 1, 2011. On Monday, January 24th we will be hosting an Admissions Middle School "Bring a Friend to School" day. This is an opportunity for friends, who might be prospective applicants, to spend a day at Barnesville and learn more about our school. Be on the lookout for more information and a visitor permission slip! Mark your calendar! The Admissions office will be hosting a "Priority Candidate" Coffee on January 26, 2011 from 8:00 - 9:00 am. This will be an Admissions information session for current families, faculty, Board members and alumni who have admissions candidates for next school year. The Admissions office will walk you through the application process. Current families will learn how they can get the $75.00 application fee waived and get a $500.00 self-referral bonus using our Referral campaign!
~Susanne Johnson, Director of Admissions
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| Auxiliary Programs | | The winter session of after school enrichment activities began this week. There is still time to sign up for the Hoola Hooping class with Mrs. Rutsch which begins next Wednesday. The registration for can be found on the school website. I know we had some snow this week, but it is time to start thinking about summer camp. Our camp brochure will be online next week. In our efforts to be green, we have decided to do online registrations only this year. If you have any questions, please let me know.
~Lynda Forman, Director of Auxiliary Programs | |
| Technology | | Get Your Head IN the Clouds!
Wikipedia defines cloud computing as "location independent computing, whereby shared servers provide resources, software, and data to computers and other devices on demand, as with the electricity grid". The term cloud computing is commonly used as a metaphor for the Internet, based on the cloud drawing used in the past to represent the telephone network and later to depict the Internet in computer network diagrams as an abstraction of the underlying infrastructure it represents. If you move from local PC-based or server-based computing to Internet-based computing you are essentially doing your work in the cloud. Examples of cloud computing are web mail, on-line banking, on-line tax preparation, and on-line Quickbooks. Companies that traditionally sell software for Macs and PCs, such as Microsoft and Intuit, now offer much their functionality in the cloud.
So what does this mean for parents and students? First, if you plan to move most of your work to cloud applications you need a fast Internet connection with a minimum bandwidth of 1 Mbps download/1 Mbps upload. In this case more bandwidth is better! If you live in an urban area, connections of this type are available from Comcast and Verizon supporting data rates of 5 -10 Mbps. If you don't already have high speed Internet, get it.
Second, it means you don't need to keep buying bigger and faster computers because much of your processing and data storage is handled by a server in the cloud. You also don't need to keep buying new versions of software because cloud-based software is constantly updated on the application server.
Third, cloud computing allows you to access your data from any computer, any place, any time as long as you have a computer connected to the Internet. All Barnesville School 4th - 8th grade students now have Google Docs accounts that may be used to store classwork and homework assignments, thereby eliminating the need to move files between home and school using a flash drive. Teachers will be working with students the remainder of this school year to help them use and organize their Google Docs files with the hope that flash drives will soon disappear from the school landscape altogether.
While cloud computing has the potential to be cheaper and more flexible for computer users, each user must make their own decision when considering working in an Internet-based world. Privacy and security issues should be weighed against cost and convenience before jumping into the cloud with both feet. I'm available by phone or email of you would like to discuss cloud computing in more detail. ~Jim Snider, Director of Technology | |
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| | Upcoming Events | | 1/14 | 1st-2nd Coffee with the Head of School | 7:30 AM | 1/14 | Admissions Application Priority Deadline K-8 |
| | 1/14 | Girls and Boys Basketball at New Life | 4:00 PM and 5:00 PM |
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1/17 |
MLK Holiday-School & Offices Closed |
| | 1/18 | Boys and Girls Basketball vs. Frederick Force | 4:30 PM and 5:30 PM |
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1/21 |
3rd-4th Coffee with the Head of School |
7:30 AM |
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| From the BPC | |
Staff Appreciation Thanks! Thank you to the terrific volunteers who provided lunch for the faculty and staff this week. This month's theme was the Luxor Casino so the food was Middle Eastern and a real departure for both chefs and staff. From the rave reviews it was a great success! A big thank you to Angel, Melissa, Theresa, Julie, Kristen, Princina, Dana, Jacqueline, Lynn, Michelle, Gay, Brittney, Karin, Caroline, Susan, and Sabrina. | |
| Facilities and Transportation | | There are just two designated traffic lanes during PM
dismissal. Occasionally an effort is made to squeeze in a third middle lane to
hasten leaving our facility. This is very dangerous during the car loading
process. So, please just be a bit more patient.
We are all aware of the inadequate outdoor field lighting
during evening events at Barnesville. Unfortunately due to zoning we cannot
erect permanent lighting, but we are looking into temporary fixtures that will
give us some needed lighting. Ultimately, our goal is to install spotlights on
our outdoor shed.
Although the initial pavilion design would have been an
attractive addition to our landscape, there were too many construction hurdles.
Our search has been narrowed down to several styles of prebuilt pavilions. The
pavilion will have electricity, and a line will be continued to the outdoor
shed which will then give use the power needed for minimal field lighting.
~Bernie Weintraub, Director of Facilities and Transportation | |
| Communication, Marketing & Special Events | |
Only three weeks left to get your donations in for Family Fun Night! We are still collecting gift cards as well as prizes any kid would love to win. Need ideas? Here's a few: electronics, squinkies, sports balls and equipment, Barbies, family movies, Wii and DS games, science equipment and outdoor toys. Let us know if you need more suggestions! Don't forget to check out our Amazon.com wish list with even more ideas! Donations can be delivered to Nicole Campbell and must be received by February 1. | |
| A Note From Mrs. Nave | | Parent/Teacher Conferences - January 27 and 28th
Please contact me to schedule conferences. I will be scheduling conferences until January 25th. If you will need Kids Club during your conference time, please let me know. If you need to use our "drop in" Kids Club from dismissal, please let me know as soon as possible as there is limited space available. There is a noon dismissal on both days and no hot lunch is available.
Have a visitor pass at home?
Please return any visitor passes that you might have taken home accidently. Thank you.
Tooth box report -- Just for fun!
Three third grade students lost teeth during the school day on January 4th. The tooth fairy was busy that night visiting Amy Germer, Andrew Robinson, and Josh Marett. Colby Patterson had a visit from the tooth fairy on January 11th. | |
| Ski with Barnesville Friends at Ski Liberty Friday! | | The Ski Club would love for other Barnesville families to meet up with us either on the slopes or in the lodge. We are going to Liberty this week, right after dismissal on Friday. We gather in the East Wind Room (close to the Learning Center) between 4:00 and 4:30 to gear up. If you miss us there, look for us on the slopes at 5:00 -- beginners go to the “First Class Quad” lift and others start at the “Dipsy Quad” lift (takes you to "Sneaky Peat" and "Lower Blue Streak". We try meet up again in the East Wind Room for dinner at 6:30. Check BITS and Tidbits for updates each week – next week we’ll probably head to Whitetail for a change of pace. | |
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