Barnesville School -> Newsletters -> BITS 2-10-11

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joy. support. excellence.

It is with great sadness that we share Justin Thornton '05, older brother of Allyssa '15, passed away on February 1st following complications from his bone marrow transplant. In 2006, Justin had been diagnosed with lymphatic leukemia and had received care at Duke University. The Thorntons have informed us that his funeral service will be held on Friday, February 18th at the Inter-Denominational Church of God, 19201 Woodfield Road, Gaithersburg, 20879. All family and friends can participate in the viewing between 9:00 am and 11:00 am, with the funeral service beginning at 11:00. After the funeral service, all are invited to attend the burial service at the Baltimore National Cemetery, 5501 Frederick Avenue, Baltimore, 21228. The burial service will begin at 2:00 pm. Flower arrangements can be sent to Snowden Funeral Home, 246 North Washington St., Rockville, MD 20850. Charitable donations are being sent to Pediatric BMT, Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center, DUMC P.O. Box 3350, Durham, NC 27710.

There is an article about Justin in the Gazette, available here. Please join us in keeping the Thorntons in your thoughts.

From Our Head of School

Last week we said farewell to our four Peruvian exchange students and their chaperone as their three week visit came to an end. It was another successful connection with our friends at the Leonardo da Vinci School in Lima. On Thursday, our 8th graders and exchange students performed a Spanish skit titled Se Venden Gorras, and then we held a farewell party in our visitors’ honor. The following morning, our entire Middle School hit the slopes to spend a final day with the Peruvians at Ski Liberty. Many, many thanks to Mrs. Zeppos for her joyful play, Mrs. Barr for her hosting and assistance, all of our parent hosts for their kindness, and most importantly, Mrs. Waldhorn for orchestrating another wonderful exchange program.

Why do we do this? Why go to all this trouble? I think the most important reason is to make a connection between our students and people from another place on the globe. Then through this connection, our students begin to take notice of a community other than their own, and thus they begin to care about the world at large.

Back in the early 90’s, I had the opportunity to spend two months traveling throughout Turkey with a few fellow students and a professor. We visited archaeological sites, met with local officials, and explored historic mosques and ruins. While my time there was brief in the grand scheme of things, it made an indelible impression on me. I got to know more about Turkey, and I grew interested in the country and its people.

Fast forward to this morning when I opened up the Washington Post and skimmed through the World section of the paper. So many articles covering events both big and small throughout the world, but what catches my eye in particular, both today and for the past two decades, are articles that reference Turkey, now considered a possible model of a Muslim democracy for the Middle East. Why do I care anything at all about Turkey? It all comes from those short eight weeks spent visiting many years ago.

This is why we hold our exchange program each year. It opens up a window for our students, helps them learn more about a different place in the world, and establishes a global connection. As Mary Waldhorn shared at a talk last week, when our students get to know their exchange program buddies, these connections can last a lifetime.

John Huber

	Please Welcome Ms. Nicole Ostrander to the Board
	At the January meeting, the Barnesville Board of Trustees unanimously voted to welcome Ms. Nicole Ostrander to the Board. Ms. Ostrander is an designer with a background in architecture and urban design. She has experience in design charrettes, urban plan development, and schematic building design. Nicole has family ties to Barnesville, as she is the daughter-in-law of former Board Chair Claudia Pleasants (mother of Casey Pleasants '09). She lives in Clarksburg and recently she and her husband Ross witnessed the birth of their first child Wyatt in November. Ms. Ostrander fills the seat left vacant by Sean Sullivan, who resigned due to a family move to North Carolina. Please welcome Nicole to the Barnesville community! Nicole, along with our entire Board of Trustees, will be hosting our annual Parent / Board Gathering on Wednesday, Feb. 16th @ 7 pm. We look forward to seeing you then!

What's Happening in the Classroom?

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The date for the "Looking Ahead to Middle School" meeting for all 3rd and 4th grade parents has been changed to Thursday, February 17th at 8:00 AM in the Media Center. Please join us for a presentation about our middle school program to help you better understand all of the wonderful opportunities your child will have here at The Barnesville School.
The middle school basketball teams will be participating in playoff games during the week of February 14th-18th with the consolation and championship games being played on Friday, February 18th at New Life School in Frederick. Stay tuned for the schedule and come cheer our teams on to victory!
This Friday, February 11th our 4th grade will be traveling to the Frederick County Historical Society Museum and then tour a modern fiber mill in Frederick to support their studies of Colonial America.
On Monday, February 14th our third grade students will be making their annual delivery of homemade muffins to our Senior friends in the Barnesville community.
On Friday, February 18th our third grade students will be going on a field trip to the Museums of Natural History and American History. They will be going on a scavenger hunt in the museums created by Mrs. Gekas and parent, Deb Collins, to find answers to many questions. It should be a fun-filled day full of adventure!
The 8th grade and EC 3's/PK Buddies got together today for a Heart Healthy activity and snack to support Early Childhood's study of the heart for the month of February. The eighth grade students guided their buddies through a variety of activity stations before heading to the Media Center for a snack.

Seeing Stars in Pre-K

Pre-K started our "Star of the Week" program, in which each child gets a week to teach us more about themselves and share their favorite things to do. Zackary started us off by creating the base, and then we worked together to paint and add details to our Pre-K Monster Truck! Allie was our second "Star" and we got to meet a real pheasant!!

Pre-K is also learning about our community. We are going to the Barnesville Post Office to mail something special to our families and learn about how a post office works!

	En Espanol
	Spanish Library We're looking for volunteers to help covering, label and categorize books. Please contact Senora Zeppos if you have any questions. Latin American Country: Peru These next two weeks we will be learning about "Peru". Every two weeks Eighth Grade students have to write a research project about an assigned country and then one student is in charge of decorating our culture bulletin board in the Spanish classroom so that students of lower grades can learn from it. In addition to the culture bulletin board, the classroom has a table with objects from that country! Please feel free to stop by any time to learn more about all these interesting countries. If you happen to have some extra items at home from any Latin American country that you would like to donate them to our classroom, it would be greatly appreciated. First Spanish Interview by Students Seventh grade is studying about professions and careers. As part of this unit, they need to interview two people: one being a non-Spanish speaking person to translate their interview into Spanish, and then a Spanish speaking person to practice their language comprehension.

Business Office

Valentine's Day on a Budget

Looking to save money? Here are a bunch of tips to save some dough on Valentine's Day. I'll confess...some are a little unconventional. If you are looking to save on the standard fare of flowers and jewelry, I may not have anything for you. So here goes:

Write a Love Note- I did this one (once upon-a-time). I was reading an article that mentioned the most beautiful words in the English language. I found a way to work them all in. I think it came out a little forced, but still worked. It's the thought that counts.
Surprise Him/Her- Try doing a treasure hunt around the neighborhood, which works well. A hot air balloon ride is a good one, but it doesn't really fall in our frugality goal; Delmarva Balloon Rides is local and they have a 50% coupon on their website.
Stay Home & Celebrate- There are a few suggestions that could work together for a romantic time at home. My forewarning with this is that you really have to make this one special because the venue is simply ordinary. However, if you can pull it off, this idea has big dividends, as you are already near closed doors.
Exchange Small Practical Gifts
Tour the Romantic Places of the Past- You can go to where you had a first date or first kissed or other milestones.

Of course if all of the above fails, you can go the traditional route. Here are some deals for those:

Flowers- FTD.com (a dozen roses start at $19.99) and there is a 25% off coupon on their website
Jewelry- ice.com has free shipping
Chocolate- Show her that you don't think she's fat, and buy her some chocolate at chocolate.com
Wine- Though this company can't legally ship to all states, it might be worth looking at the deals at wine.com

I hope I was able to give you some ideas for that special day. If all else fails, you can always celebrate a different day.

~Lise Robinson, Business Manager

Upcoming Events

2/11	7th-8th Coffee with the Head of School	7:30 AM
2/12	Preschool Playdate & Open House	9:30 AM
2/14	Financial Aid Application Deadline
2/16	Open Board Meeting	7:00 PM
2/17	Looking Ahead to Middle School	8:00 AM

***Please check out our 2011-2012 Major Dates Calendar attached here. ***

From the BPC

Volunteers Needed!

We are looking for volunteers to help with set up, clean up, and help during Family Fun Night. We also need some volunteers to donate food - snack bags of chips, water bottles, individual containers of applesauce,and Gogurt yogurts. If you're able to help out or donate, please contact Deb Weiss-Collins.

	Facilities and Transportation
	A school safety issue - A stranger knocked on one of our exterior doors to gain admittance to the main building. One of our students opened the door letting this individual in. This was a kind gesture, but in reality, this could have been someone looking to do harm in our school. The teachers were informed about this incident, and there was discussion with their students. Some parents have also entered the main building in this manner. Please remember that all access to our school should be via the receptionist office. Thanks for your cooperation. ~Bernie Weintraub, Director of Facilities and Transportation

	Admissions
	The Admissions Office is hosting a Preschool Playdate & Open House this Saturday, February 12th @ 9:30 am. This event is targeted for prospective Early Childhood, PreKindergarten, and Kindergarten families. We will start with "storytime" in the library, then give our visitors a tour of the classrooms and finish with "playtime" in our full-sized gymnasium. Please invite your friends and neighbors, with 3-5 year old children, to join the fun! Click here to RSVP! By now, you should have received your reenrollment contracts for the 2011-2012 school year. Contracts are due back by March 1, 2011 to take advantage of to early renewal discount. Each year Barnesville budgets a percentage of its operating budget to be used for tuition assistance. Families interested in applying for Financial Aid must submit their application and required supporting documents by Monday, February 14, 2011. ~Susanne Johnson, Director of Admissions

Advancement

Annual Fund Progress Report

As of the end of January, we’ve achieved 91% of our $235,000 goal!!! There are also three classes who have attained 100% participation! FANTASTIC JOB! THANK YOU to all who have participated thus far!!

First Grade and Early Childhood 3’s are racing neck-and-neck to be the next class at 100%! Find out in the next BITS which class pulls-ahead.

We are so close to attaining the overall goal of $235,000. If you haven’t already, please consider making your gift today. Each dollar counts. And, there are 176 good reasons why we encourage you to do so….each of our children, all 176 of them, benefit from your contribution.

Group Participation	Percent participated
Board:	100%
Faculty/Staff:	100%
Current Parents:	75%

Participation by Class:
Early Childhood 3's	87%
Pre-Kindergarten	100%
Kindergarten	77%
1st Grade	85%
2nd Grade	100%
3rd Grade	68%
4th Grade	78%
5th Grade	69%
6th Grade	70%
7th Grade	50%
8th Grade	100%

Last chance to buy a COMMEMORATIVE BRICK!!

Commemorate your family member, future Barnesville alumni, a faculty member or staff member by purchasing an engraved brick! Sentiments can include a message of your choice be it the name and class year of your student or a happy birthday note. As long as the message fits the space provided (see order form) the sky is the limit! Order by February 28, 2011 so your honoree can see his or her brick before summer break. Bricks will be placed in our Commemorative Walkway or Boarder. What a great way to honor your daughter or son!!! Don’t wait! Buy your brick today. Proceeds support The Barnesville School.

Two ways to order:

Online
Submit a form – forms located outside Karol Nave’s office

If you have questions, contact Georganna Glen, Advancement Director at 301-972-0341 ext. 235

10% Goes Back to Schools!

January 29th through February 28th a redemption code will be printed at the bottom of your shopping receipts from the following stores:

Safeway
Vons
Dominick’s
Tom Thumb
Genuardi’s
Pavilions
Carrs

Please turn in the bottom of your receipt (with the redemption code) to Karol Nave’s office on or before February 28 and Barnesville will receive 10% of your total purchase! (Normally, the school would only receive up to 3% of registered card-holders total purchases.) What an easy way to support Barnesville!

~Georganna Glen, Director of Advancement

Communication, Marketing & Special Events

X-Box! Kindle! Legos! We've got them, and you can win them at the Family Fun Night Raffle! Get your tickets in advance, so you don't have to wait in line. Ticket order forms went home with students last week and are also available online. Don't miss out!

We need help wrapping baskets and getting everything ready for the raffle, so if you have some extra time between morning drop-off and afternoon pick-up, stop in Nicole Campbell's office and we'll put you to work! We can also use volunteers to help out on March 4th at the event. If you're available, let Nicole Campbell know.

	Auxiliary Programs
	Our winter session of after school programs is in full swing. We have a wide variety of programs for students in grades K-8. Due to the snow days, I Made My Own Snack and Fun With Computers will be extended one week to make up the lost time. It is time to register for Young Performers! This popular program will begin on Monday, February 28th. The registration information is available on the school website. Registration ends Friday, February 18th. The registration information for our spring session will be available online at the beginning of March. Spring classes will begin after Spring Break. Summer is on the way!!!!! Have you seen the camps we are offering? Learn how to use power tools with Mr. Bernie. Build and program a Robot with Mr. H. Travel under the sea and to the farm. Explore the Ag Reserve. Exercise your adventurous side at Calleva. We have an exciting mix of fun and learning planned for this summer. There is something for everyone! Please take some time to look at the choices. Early Bird discounts end on March 31st!!! Camps are filling so register soon! Please call me if you have any questions about our auxilary programs.

	A Note From Mrs. Nave
	Visitor Passes Please return any visitor passes that you forgotten to return in my office. I am missing most of our passes. There will be no questions asked. Reward offered. Thank you Corrections to the Family Directory Please make the following corrections to your directory: Bailey-Hunter, Greer (1st) Amanda's new email address: amandasunshineb@aol.com Murray, Gillian(K), Dillon(EC) New mailing address: P. O. Box 448, Barnesville, MD 20838 Phone: 301-525-7114 also Kieran's cell number Kieran's email address: jpmurkie@comcast.net Lost and Found Reminder To keep your child's clothing out of our lost and found, please label their clothing. Remember boots, snow pants, gloves and hats need a name label as well as sweaters and coats. Tooth box report- just for fun! The tooth fairy was not as busy the last two weeks. Only 2 tooth boxes have left my office. Tristan Mecenas (2nd) lost a tooth on the last day of January. February is starting out as a slow month with Alyssa Tull's tooth being the only tooth needing a box for our favorite tooth fairy in February.

	Ski Club
	Ski Club will be headed to Whitetail Friday after school. We'll be meeting up for dinner in the Lodge around 6:30. We'd love to see more Barnesville friends again this week.

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