Weekly Update 1/31/10

Greetings!

I hope that you and your family are enjoying our winter wonderland. I’ll send another email later today with an update on our school schedule for tomorrow.

As you might have guessed, our Open House that was scheduled for yesterday was canceled due to the weather. We have rescheduled for this coming Saturday, February 6. Please remember to send your friends and plan to drop by yourself if you’d like to check out different classrooms at our school.

Ski trip pictures are on the website – check them out!

Several important deadlines are coming up:
Monday, February 1 – Final date for re-enrollment Option 3 (4 payment plan)
Friday, February 5 – Final date to enroll in Edu-camp with no registration fee
Tuesday, February 9 – Financial aid and new sibling applicant deadline

Next week all classes are suspended for conferences on Wednesday—Friday (Feb 10-12):
-Parents of Lower and Middle Grades students should sign up for a conference on the schedule posted in or outside the classroom.
-Upper School parents should contact Wendy for an appointment.

*Please note that ALL Lower and Middle Grades families are expected to have a conference.
*Upper School conferences are held based on teacher or family request and are NOT required of all families.

OPTIONAL CARE is available all day Wednesday-Friday (Feb 10-12) for Lower and Middle Grades students. ADVANCE sign-up is required. Please contact Wendy right away if you need to sign your student up for care on any of these days.

Students and faculty are hard a work with plans to assist the Haiti relief efforts. This week students are sponsoring a “pay to break the dress code” event. Students pay $1.00 for each allowable dress code violation. Students were given details in Morning Meeting on Friday and reminder flyers have been posted at school. Also, next Saturday, Camelot music teacher Dan Raimi is organizing a concert at Duke University’s Baldwin Auditorium (East Campus) from 7-8:30 PM. The concert will feature a NY Haitian musician coming in just for this event.

This week is CLUB PREVIEW WEEK! Students may “try out” a club, at the regular after school rate, to see if they want to sign up for the semester. We have options available for students of all grades K-12. There is a link to the sign up sheet on the Forms page of our website: http://www.camelotacademy.org/forms.php. Students must sign up by this Friday.

The club options for each day are incorporated in the weekly preview below. More details can be found on the flyer.

Monday:
- February 1 – Option 3 Re-enrollment deadline
- Club previews – Dance club (grades 4-12 – at Durham Arts Council), Legos (Grades K-1), Drama (9-12)
- Basketball – Away game – 6 PM Woods Charter School

Tuesday:
- Club previews – Legos (grades 2-4), Yearbook (grades 5-12)

Wednesday:
- Club previews - Yearbook (grades 5-12), Home Arts Club (grades 5-12)
- Basketball – Home game – 5 PM Lyon Park
- Lunch orders by 11:59 PM

Thursday:
- Club previews – Drama club (age 13 and up)

Friday:
- Club previews – Guitar (ages 12 and up), Girls’ basketball (Grades 5-12)
- Deadline for Club Sign up
- Basketball – Away Game – Hopewell Academy – 4 PM
- Deadline for Edu-Camp sign up (with no registration fee)

Saturday:
- Open House 1-3 PM
- Haiti Relief Concert at Duke (7-8:30 PM)



I’ll be in touch again later today. Have a good week.

Thelma

Weekly Update 1/24/10

Greetings!

Thanks to everyone for the great turnout at the pie supper. Special thanks to parent Paul Kartcheske for securing us the wonderful facility for this event and thanks to all of the parents who worked before and during the evening to make is so enjoyable. Kudos to Wendy Morris – event planner extraordinaire!

Congratulations to Module 5 Merit Award and Honor Roll students. Merit Award – Wyatt Grose and Danny Sutton. Honor Roll – Angela Dodson, Ben Kirby, Justice Lanphear, Elizabeth Provenzale, Sophie Reiter, Cameron Stell, Tyler Thigpen, Alex Berro, Zoe Paige, Andrew Pettyjohn, Olivia Arges, Kriea Giffin-Dean, Michelle Hill, Carolyn Mac Nair, Elisabeth Parker, Rachel Roush, Josh Stallings, Tate Arges, Zachariah Claypole White, Max Fried, Bri Oleson, Josh Pettway-Hinton, Liz Reeder, Meg Rusconi-Warner, Sarah Chetty, Ryan Siebens, Ryn Wilkes, Ian Reid, Michael Berro, Molly Williams, Jung-Woong Yoon, Viola Samadi and Amanda Stevens.

Saturday, January 30 we have an Open House from 1-3 PM. Please be sure to tell your friends to stop by and, also, if you want to learn about another grade level at our school this is a wonderful opportunity for our own families to stop by to learn more.

With the start of the second semester, instructor Brittain Peck has added another Middle Grades class to his job description. We are thrilled to expand our foreign language department to include Brittain with our younger students.

Second semester clubs will preview next week (week of February 1). Look for a flyer with details that will go home later this week.

We have a school spirit day this Friday – students are encouraged to wear their most entertaining T-shirt so that we can get a photo spread for the yearbook!

Reminder – please lock your cars when you enter the building. The neighborhood has been experiencing some problems with items being taken from unlocked cars.

The Week Ahead:

Monday –
-Basketball AWAY game – 7:30 PM – East Wake Academy. Players need to arrive by 7 PM.

Wednesday-
- Basketball HOME game – 4:30 PM (Lyon Park)
- Lunch orders due by 11:59 PM

Friday-
- School Spirit Day
- Basketball HOME game – 4 :00 PM (Lyon Park)

Saturday-
- Open House 1-3 PM


Have a great week!

Best,

Thelma

Weekly Update 1/17/10

Greetings!

I hope you are enjoying the long holiday weekend. As you know, school is closed tomorrow (Monday) in observance of MLK Day.

Tuesday is the first day of Second Semester. We celebrate this new beginning with the Pie Supper held at the Doris Duke Center at Duke Gardens from 5:30-7 PM. Please bring a pie to share – a meat pie, a vegetable pie, a quiche, a dessert – and your appetite! Please label your pie with a description and mark your serving utensils with your name. Also note that the facility does not have a means for us to reheat anything on site. Before you leave please take you dish and utensils with you – we won’t be transporting anything back to school. The school will be providing pizza “pie,” salad and beverages. This is a popular event at which the whole agenda is to socialize and get to know other Camelot families. I look forward to seeing you there.

Both Camelot bands resume practice this week.

Clubs begin two weeks from now – during the first week of February.

Thursday is picture re-takes as well as club and sports pictures.

Thursday night there is a screening of a local movie that my daughter (Rita Glynn - Camelot Class of ’09) is featured. “Teenaged” plays at the Rialto in Raleigh at 7:20 PM. The movie is unique in that is is an autobiographical story of its sixteen year old author and leading man about the changes that occurred in his life after a near fatal car accident.

More information can be found at the website: http://www.teenagedproduction.com.

Special Session was a great success. The ski trip was a hit and teachers Jill Sugg, Jenny Feaster, Matt Wilhelm and Dan Hill get high praise for handling the predictable and the unpredictable with great teamwork and professionalism. Thanks to Lori Hilliard for the planning and thanks to Lori, Celia Battle, Michelle Banal and Krista Moll for running three great days of programming back on campus that included cooking, swimming, museums, guest speakers and movies. Special thanks to parents Heather King, Jonathan Holt and Patrick Byker for their career presentations for the Upper School.

The Week Ahead:

Monday -

School closed in observance of MLK Day

Tuesday-

Second Semester begins

Club Band resumes

Mathcounts meets

Pie Supper 5:30 – 7 PM – Doris Duke Center at Duke Gardens

Wednesday -

Credit Band resumes

Lunch orders due by 11:59 PM

Thursday-

Picture retakes and club/sports pictures

Screening of “Teenaged” – 7:20 at Rialto in Raleigh

Friday -

Basketball Home game (versus Clover Garden) at 4 PM (Lyon Park)

I’ll see you Tuesday night!

Best,

Thelma

Weekly Update 1/10/10

Greetings!

Week One of 2010 was particularly busy and Week Two looks to be the same. Please read this email thoroughly to be sure not to miss any important events or deadlines!

Thank You:

A big thank you to all of the parents and students who showered the Camelot faculty and staff with cards, baked goods and gifts during the holiday season. We are all very appreciative.

Another shout out goes to our community for the wonderful support of the coat drive. We broke all records of participation with this important way to help our community spearheaded by student Elisabeth Parker.

Announcements:

Ski trip participants – paperwork sent home last week MUST be returned tomorrow (Monday). See Wendy for extra copies.

Band members-paperwork sent home last week MUST be returned tomorrow (Monday). See Wendy for extra copies.

Please label coats and jackets with your student’s name. We have a constant flow of missing and found items – especially during this cold weather when students are wearing multiple outwear items.

Lunch orders can now be placed for two weeks at a time. Yeah!

New latecomer policy – students entering school during Morning Meeting – between 8:40 and 9:00 AM – will be asked to enter through the FRONT door and to wait in the stairwell until a pause in the meeting that allows for entry with minimal interruption. We have reviewed this new routine with the students many times over the past few days and I believe everyone understands how this will help all of us in the meeting maintain a better focus. Teachers will assist students entering the meeting late.

Inclement weather delays – if we have any – will be announced via email and the three major TV networks. In the event of power outages we move to radio stations for announcements. Please refer to you Student Handbook for more details.

Summer Plans – In addition to our popular Edu-Camp and Summer School Camelot has plans to expand our offerings this summer with an exciting array of one-week special programs for students ages 5-18. Right now we’re accepting proposals from adults who would like to propose and run such programs. Any parents interested in offering a program should download the proposal form from our website (found under Employment). Forms are due this Friday – January 15.

Also due this Friday, January 15 – is Option One Regular Re-enrollment paperwork. Families eligible for this opportunity received a package in the mail last week. Please be sure to review this information right away so as not to miss this important deadline.

CALENDAR:

Monday –
- Basketball – away game – parent drivers transport to Wake Forest – depart Camelot at 3:00 PM.

Tuesday –
- Mathcounts meeting

Wednesday –
- Ski trip departs
- Lunch orders due online by 11:59 PM

Friday –
- Option One Re-enrollment Deadline
- Ski trip returns

UPCOMING

Monday, January 18 –
- School closed in observance of MLK Day

Tuesday, January 19
- Second Semester starts
- Pie Supper for all Camelot families at Duke Gardens facility – see mailing sent home for details
- Bands resume classes

Thursday, January 21
- School picture retakes – plus clubs and sport pictures

Wow! Do you have all that? Thanks for reading this info carefully.

Have a great week.

Thelma

Weekly Update 1/3/10

Greetings and Happy New Year! I hope you had a wonderful holiday season.

School opens for students on Tuesday and we’ll be jumping right in with a lot of activity.

First, some updates and reminders.

Congratulations to senior Michael Berro who was accepted Early Decision to Davidson College.

Check out the photo gallery on the website for pictures of the snow flurries of December 18, the Holidays Around the World presentations and the band performance at Southpoint Mall.

Last call for the coat/outerwear collection drive. Please turn in you donations to the container in the Big Hall.

The month of January is an intermission between the two offerings of after school clubs. This first week back, however, those clubs that had an instructor cancellation during the fall have make up sessions – they are dance club on Tuesday (pick up from Lyon Park), Wednesday drama club and Thursday drama club.

Mathcounts WILL meet during the month of January in preparation for the early February competition. Students in attendance will be recorded in the regular after school attendance count.

Both bands are on hiatus until the start of second semester (Tuesday, January 19). Details about second semester will be sent home in a letter from Glenn this week.

The basketball calendar has been updated with time and game changes that go into place this week. Basketball players will receive a separate email with details.

This Week:

Monday:
- Teacher Work Day (No students)
- Away Game - Emerson Waldorf - 4:30 PM
Tuesday:
- Upper School exam review
- Upper School crates out (important pre-exam review opportunity!)
- Mathcounts
- Dance club make up session

Wednesday:
- Upper School exam review
- Upper School crates out (important pre-exam review opportunity!)
- Lunch orders due by 11:59 PM for next week
- Drama club make up session
- Home Game - Woods Charter (4 PM Lyon Park)


Thursday:
- Upper School exam – Spanish exam
- Drama club make up session


Friday:
- Upper School exams - Math and Language Arts
- Away Game - 5 PM Kestrel Heights

Next week:

Monday – Upper School Exams - History and Science
Tuesday – Upper School “specials” (NOTE: Exam make up day)
Wednesday- Friday – “Special Session” and Ski trip


Coming up:
Monday, January 18 – School closed in observance of MLK Day
Tuesday, January 19 – Second Semester starts
- Pie Supper – annual Happy New Year family dinner at Duke Gardens
(details to follow)


I hope you have a great week - stay warm!

Best,

Thelma