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April 15, 2011
Dear Families and Friends,
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Here's the link to a very interesting article about education from last Sunday's NYT, "The Fragile Story of School Reform in the Bronx," by Jonathan Mahler: NYT School Reform article. It focuses on a remarkable principal, and raises many of the issues that are so prominent in education today -- from assessment to accountability to charter schools to parent involvement. I'd welcome your thoughts on the article.
From Ben, Performing Arts teacher: Here's a photo that shows how the B-K (Bodily-Kinesthetic) intelligence is used in learning about the Musical intelligence. Our first graders are building rainsticks; they've learned about where rainsticks come from, and they've played a traditional one made from a cactus branch. They will each nail in about 50 nails before capping them off and adding beads to make the sound of rain as the tube is tilted.
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From the P.O. Please join The PO for the last Movie Night of this school year. It will be this Friday starting at 6:30pm. We will be showing Megamind in Tommi's Room and The Secretariat in the Dining Hall. This is a family fun event for all ages. Snacks and Drinks will be provided. We hope to see you there.
Please remember that the PO is also seeking a new Co-Chair to replace Terry Davis now that her term has expired. If you are interested but were not able to attend one the informal meetings that we hosted earlier this month, please feel free to contact Candace P arker at trevien2@yahoo.com or Terry Davis at davist@charter.net by April 25.
Naturalist faculty members Eric and Claire worked with our second graders to “plant” patches of mushrooms in the Centennial Garden. Students learned about the food, sunlight and moisture requirements of the fungi, and then found an appropriate spot to spread the spawn
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You already know that Betsy Blankenship is retiring at the end of this year. Betsy's been here for 35 years (gasp), and has spent 27 of them in her admis sions role. We wish her well and will miss her. We're already looking forward to hearing what it's like to sleep late and become best friends with Oprah.
I'm pleased to note that we have hired Melanie Harmon as our Director of Admissions. Melanie is currently the lower school head of admissions at Visitation Academy. She previously taught Spanish there, and holds a BA from the University of Kansas. You may see a bit of Melanie before the end of the year (she'll be at the school picnic, for example), and you'll see a lot of her next year! I know that you'll enjoy meeting and working with Melanie.
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Join us for Parent Work Day!
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From Shawn: Do you have WORK DAY on your calendar? Saturday, April 30 (starting at 9am), will be our Work Day at New City School. (Please note that this is a change from your original school calendar, which indicates May 7.) We will have some great projects in which families can participate to help spruce up our grounds.
 We will have FREE pizza and FREE child care! If you are interested in joining us, please contact Desiree White at dawhite@wustl.edu or me at srunge@newcityschool.org. We would like to get an idea of the number of volunteers we will have, but if you are unable to RSVP, you are still welcome to stop by that day!
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Trivia Night... A Great Success!
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 From Joe: Thanks to all 216 people who joined us for our Seventh Annual NCS Trivia Night. It was a wonderful event with all different parts of the NCS community represented. Not only was the event lots of fun, but it helped to raise over $4,000 for our library. Books aren't getting cheaper, and we appreciate your support. And to top it all off, we had a proposal of marriage at the event; fun all around.
The night would not have happened without the help of many wonderful people, especially the committee members; Linda King, Lisa Klorer, Lori Boschert, Jami Dix, Suj Narayan, and Katie Schenck. What a great group of people! Thanks to all who attended and all who made the evening the success it was. I am already looking forward to next year (of course, I don’t have to answer the questions, which helps).
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Amazon via New City School
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Last month we received a check from Amazon.com for $242.29! This is our share of the purchases made from Amazon through our website. Such a deal! You can help us earn more money (which goes to our library). How???
When going to Amazon to buy anything...
1. First go to our website, www.newcityschool.org
2. Once at our site, go to any second page, and you'll see the Amazon icon
3. Click it, and you're at the Amazon site, only now we get a percentage of your purchase. Your extra clicks count for a lot! Thanks!
Here's a photo of one of our students on our Green Roof. Our green roof continues to provide insulation, water conservation…and fascination to all at NCS. Here are some Green Roof Facts from Ben: For every inch of rain that falls in St. Louis, our green roof collects and makes use of approximately 1,000 gallons of water and prevents it from entering our storm drain system. On the hottest days of summer, a typical rooftop might reach temperatures in excess of 130 degrees. Even on those hottest days, the temperature under green roof is typically in the upper 60's. It has been theorized that adding green surfaces to all the rooftops in a city like Chicago would decrease the heat island effect and lower the average temperature in such a city by about TEN degrees. What does this all mean? It means that by maintaining our green roof, NCS is helping to build a sustainable world for the future!
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From Tobie: Football with Nathan Williams will start again next week and run for six weeks from 4-5pm. On Tuesdays it is for KG-3rd, and on Thursdays it's for 4th-6th. The cost for this class is $115. Sign up in the Extended Day Office or email AJ at AJohnson@newcityschool.org and let her know that you are interested.
Also in your cubbies and mailboxes soon will be a brochure for Nathan’s NEW ACE Program which will start the week of April 25th. ACE stands for Athleticism, Confidence and Education. This is a dynamic and energetic program designed to progressively enhance an athlete’s talents and well being. It targets Loco-Motor Skills and Muscular-Motor Skills.
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Invitation to NO IMPACT WEEK
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 From Ben: From April 24-April 30, NCS families are invited to participate in No Impact Week, a 7-day experiment where participants do their best to live everyday life without any negative impact on the planet. Throughout the week, participating families will get to share stories of their successes and failures, resources discovered, and lessons learned all through a blog about the experiment. Whether you already bleed green or never thought about your personal impact at all, this will undoubtedly be an eye-opening experience.
If you're interested in learning more or signing up for the project, please visit ncsnoimpact.wordpress.com and scroll down to the "Sign Me Up!" button. We'll use the email address you submit for communications related to the project only.
Also, mark your calendar for the No Impact Project Launch meeting next Thursday, April 21, 6:30-7:30pm. All participating family members are welcome to attend. We'll discuss all the details of the project, pool resources, learn how to use the blog, network with other participants, and eat some locally grown snacks.
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A Season of Religion and Tradition
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From Sheryl, our Diversity Coordinator: Followers of both Jewish and Christian faiths observe holy days each spring. Passover, which begins at sundown on Monday, April 18 and lasts for eight days, commemorates the deliverance of the Jewish people from slavery in Egypt. The first two nights of Passover are typically marked by Seder dinners, filled with foods with special meanings, prayers, and songs. Families read from the Haggadah which recounts the story of Passover and holds other stories and prayers. Jews eat unleavened bread (matzos) to remind them of their ancestors following Moses across the Red Sea and out of Egypt, leaving no time to let their bread rise before baking. Maror (bitter herbs) are eaten to remind Jews of the bitter and cruel way Pharaoh treated the Jewish people in Egypt and roasted eggs are a symbol of life and spring.
For many Christians, Maundy Thursday (April 21), also called Holy Thursday, marks the Last Supper during which Jesus gave to his disciples a “New Commandment" to love one another as he loved them. The Eucharist was also instituted at the Last Supper, as a remembrance of Jesus Christ. This is the bread eaten and wine drunk as “the body and the blood" of Christ. Good Friday marks Jesus’ crucifixion, while Easter marks the resurrection. As with Passover, many Christians view the egg as a symbol of life, rebirth and spring. The forty day Lenten season began with Ash Wednesday and ends with Easter.
In the United States, Easter also holds many secular traditions that include the famed bunny and the dying of eggs. Some of these traditions date back to Medieval Europe, Ancient Egypt and Persia.
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From Duke University’s School of Medicine: Jessica Fowler (‘96) has been selected for the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia residency program in Pediatrics, beginning in June.
From Bradley University: Margaret Merlo (‘02), majoring in Marketing, is on the Dean's List and is serving her second term as president of her sorority.
From Marquette University: Jenny Merlo ('98 ) graduated with a degree in Biomedical Engineering, and is currently completing her third year at St. Louis University Medical School.
Finally, although she's not an alum, hats off to Kate Nuernberger, daughter of Pat, our Assistant Head for Academics. Kate's first book of poetry, Rag a nd Bone, has been published by Elixir Press. Kate has just accepted as position as an assistant professor of English at Missouri State University.
Here's a poster for the performance we're hosting here on Friday evening, April 29: The Uppity Theater Company's Big, Fat LGBT Everything You Need To Know Show of Shows. Do join us!
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Driving around in the 'hood... I had a few people comment on my use of this term in last week's PL. I wrote "Spring also means more people walking around the 'hood. That's my way of reminding you to drive safely, courteously, and s l o w l y." Some folks commented on the fact that "hood" isn't commonly used to refer to the kind of neighborhood that surrounds New City. But that's exactly my point. A neighborhood is a 'hood is a neighborhood.
Sure, neighborhoods differ on lots of variables from population density to crime-rate to amenities. But one thing they all have in common is the fact that we care for our young people. The Central West End is a neighborhood, a 'hood, just like Carondelet in South St. Louis and Fountain Park a bit north of school. And wherever we live, whether we want to call it a neighborhood, a 'hood, or just an area, we should be driving carefully around our neighborhood school!
 From Susie, fifth grade teacher: Fifth graders used their Spatial, Bodily-Kinesthetic, and Linguistic intelligences to reflect on issues that people faced during Civil War times. The students created characters who could have lived during the Civil War, made puppets from their characters, and then wrote puppet skits based on conflicts and issues of that time period. The skits will be performed as part of our History Museum at the end of May.
TOM
Thomas R. Hoerr, PhD
Head of School
trhoerr@newcityschool.org
Quote of the week, from Monty Roberts: "An amateur will practice until she gets it right; a professional will practice until she can't get it wrong."
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