Camelot Update 12/16/12

Greetings!

Our Class of 2013 is beginning to reap the benefits of much hard work in preparing excellent college applications.  This week the following acceptances came in:

Liz Reeder - Duke University and NC State

Max Fried - Highpoint University and Eckerd College

Zachariah Claypole White - UNC Asheville

Josh Pettway-Hinton - UNC Asheville

Congratulations Module 4 Merit Award Recipients - Heather Hartman, Evan MacDonald, Ray Palma and Kathleen Stancil-Sutton.

Congratulations Module 4 Honor Roll Students - Christopher Radcliffe, Virginia Bruhn, Wyatt Grose, Willa Holt, Collin Wilkes, Richard Carruthers, David McShea, Rachel Milkereit, Toyin Tosh, Leah Flood, Sarah Fauver, Victoria Hill, Alex Berro, Fiona Castorina, Olivia Castorina, Zander Hall, Zack Milkereit, Jenna Smith, Spencer Ahn, Olivia Arges, Grace He, Ke Lu, Lyn Mattox, Brian Powell, Rachel Roush, Zachariah Claypole White, Nathaniel Fischer, Max Fried, Bri Oleson, Josh Pettway-Hinton, William Radcliffe, Liz Reeder, Meg Rusconi-Warner and Josh Stallings.

Kudos to eighth grader Rachel Milkereit who is a successful entrepreneur!  Her original-design greeting cards and holiday boxes are for sale at Morgan Imports, Regulator Bookshop and Parker and Otis.  Please stop by to purchase what is sure to be a collector's item in a few years!

Our days at Camelot have been especially filled with student-powered outreach to make a positive difference in the world.  Sr MAPP students Olivia Goldsmith and Ephram Oliver have been drawing and selling cartoons to benefit the Durham Rescue Mission.  Ji HaoLi spoke poignantly in Morning Meeting to promote a local event to benefit underprivileged children.  Our NHS students continue to rally us to support the Crayons2Calculator tree and high school students Olivia Arges, Rachel Roush and Lyn Mattox, along with teacher advisor Jill Sugg, brought tears to our eyes at the news of how our shipment to the Afghanistan troops was so exuberantly received.  In these times of difficult news stories it is both heartening and empowering to keep the focus on the positive change we can be in the world.  I am constantly inspired and humbled by this focus that springs so genuinely from our wonderful student body.

In other news....

- HAPPENING TODAY!

Check out the Upper School vocal band and the Middle Grades instrumental band  at University Mall at 3 PM.

- Ms Krista and Ms Judith used the last yearbook/photography club meeting of 2012 to take some amazing pictures with the help of their students.   Check them out here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/camelotacademy/

- We still need to keep voting for our NHS Crayons2Calculators tree.  Please text or go online:

Votes can be cast by texting "TREE06" to 46988 or online at :

triangletreechallenge.com           Tree #6.

- We have a short week this week!

School closes EARLY on Wednesday

-11:30 AM for Kindergarten through Middle Grades students. 

-11:45 AM for Upper School. 

There will be no Optional Care or other activities after noon that day.

In Morning Meetings we will have a guest speaker each day to present HOLIDAYS AROUND THE WORLD.  On Wednesday, all three of our performing groups will perform their holiday repertoire for us.

Middle Grades students have several exams to go: 

            Monday:  math

            Tuesday:  Science and the World Cultures exam (Ms Amy's class).

Senior tutor Liz Reeder will once again run a free Spanish Review Session tomorrow from 4:30-5:30 PM.  Please send me an email to sign your student up for this.

Upper School students were sent home on Friday with exam review sheets for each class.  All of these are to be reviewed and signed by a parent and returned on Monday.  Tuesday is the last regular Upper School class day of the semester. 

The Tuesday dance club WILL meet this week for a make-up session.  All other Fall clubs have concluded.

The Upper School final exam schedule is posted on our website here:

http://www.camelotacademy.org/admin/editor_assets/documents/1213f_exam_sched.pdf

****Please Note this Important Fact Regarding Math - Upper School students who work through new math material over the Winter Break and wish to test on the material will have 2 options:

            1. Email me to come in at 3 PM on Thursday, January 3 (a Teacher Work Day)                 2. Stay for after school study hall on Friday, January 4. 

NO MATH TESTS CAN BE TAKEN DURING THE REGULAR SCHOOL DAY OF FRIDAY, JANUARY 4 - this is a REVIEW DAY!

All students return to school from the break on Friday, January 4.  We will have a pizza lunch that day compliments of the school. Regular lunch orders resume Monday, January 7 - lunch orders must be placed by midnight on Wednesday, January 2. 

All school pictures (individual, homeroom and whole school pictures) will be sent home with students on Monday.

Our lost and found collection is overflowing!  Please check the big Tupperware container at the front of the Big Hall for any missing items.

Have a great break and a Happy New Year.  I look forward to more great times together in 2013.

Best,

Thelma

Camelot Update 12/9/12

Greetings!

Congratulations to our Lego League Robo-Foxes -  students Susannah Hill, Kathleen Stancil-Sutton, Willa Holt and Virginia Bruhn who did a great job representing our school at the NC Regional FLL competition in Greensboro yesterday.  Many thanks to parents Jonathan Holt and Tina Sanders-Hill for their help at the event and to Coaches Amanda Fox, Chris Wilkes and Robyn Stephens for a terrific season.

Also, thank you to parent Richard Hill (Susannah's Dad) who not only made buttons for the Robo-Foxes (and a badge for me, the proud Director) but who also spruced up our playground castle last weekend!

Speaking of sprucing up, our National Honor Society students decorated the Crayons 2 Calculators Tree at the American Tobacco Complex this week. Now we need you to vote for their tree so that Crayons 2 Calculators can win funds for their great work.

Here's a reminder message from senior Meg Rusconi-Warner:

The Upper School National Honors Society has decorated a tree in the Triangle Christmas Tree Challenge in the name of Crayons2Calculators, an organization run by our own Amy Cummings which donates school supplies to those in need. We would really appreciate it if you would vote for our tree (#06). Votes can be cast by texting "TREE06" to 46988 or online at triangletreechallenge.com. You can vote once per day per device, and if you would like to have us vote daily in your name, you can write your email address on the sheet posted in the Big Hall. If you want, you can come see our handiwork downtown in the big field outside the DPAC.

http://www.triangletreechallenge.com 

Thanks to Ms Krista for taking pictures of the tree decorating - now found on our website:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/camelotacademy/sets/72157632180237340

Speaking of pictures, thanks to Mr. Scott, Mr. Mike and Ms. Wendy for getting the poster-sized photos of our student body, faculty and the Class of 2013 on display in the Big Hall.

This week is the last week of Fall Clubs.  The one exception is the Tuesday dance club which will run a makeup session next Tuesday, December 18.

Our basketball Knights have a home game this Friday, at 4:00 PM.  Please send me an email by 5 PM Thursday if you have a Middle Grades or Upper School fan you would like us to transport to the game.  Pick up at JCC at 5 PM.

MIDDLE GRADES PARENTS!   Your students have come home with Exam Review Sheets for each academic class.  Each of these sheets needs your review and signature - and return on Monday.  Middle Grades students start exams this Thursday and we need your help to pace and prepare them.  Thanks, in advance.

CALLING ALL PARENTS WITH HOLIDAY TRADITIONS FROM OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD!  Please contact Ms. Wendy if you are available to give a brief Morning meeting presentation the week of December 17.  This is a Parent Service opportunity.

Note from senior peer tutor Liz Reeder:

"I will be running a Spanish study group for Middle and Upper School students on Mondays, December 10th and 17th, from 4:30 to 5:30. These sessions are free to attend and will be covering a variety of basic Spanish material (verb tenses, vocabulary, pronouns and simple conversation). If your student would benefit from some extra review before exams, this session will be perfect! The class will also include useful study techniques and other tricks. Students must sign up in advance by sending an email to Ms.Thelma. Please note: Unless your student has a club on Monday, he or she will need to attend Study Hall before the tutoring hour."

Our bands will be performing holiday music next weekend.  Please mark your calendars and try to come out to support our musicians in their first "public" performance of the year!

-       Saturday December 15 at 3pm all 3 of the Camelot music groups (The Middle Grades Music Group, the Upper School Instrumental Group and the Upper School Vocal Ensemble) will be performing atSouthpoint Mall. Look for them indoors, in the atrium near Santa Claus.

-       Sunday, December 16 at 3pm the Middle Grades Music Group and the Upper School Vocal Ensemble will be performing at University Mall in Chapel Hill, in the center stage area.

Looking ahead to 2013....

ANOTHER PARENT SERVICE OPPORTUNITY!  Did you every wish you had known as a teenager what you know now?  Well, we can't help with a do-over but we can provide an opportunity for you to share your wisdom with the next generation!  Young people are unaware of many career options, stymied by how to get from here to there and often they are paralyzed by the idea that they must decide their entire lives before graduating!  Of course, we work hard to address these issues, but "many voices" can be a powerful thing.  As such, I'm coordinating a career speaker series for our Upper School students to take place on Friday, January 11.  I am seeking six parents willing to share info about their careers, their career path (meaning - what they thought  they  wanted to be when  they grew up....and then what happened?), their educational advice, etc.  Each parent will be asked to present to FIVE age-based groups (7th-12th graders) between 9:30 AM and noon on Friday, January 11.  Each session should include 20 minutes of information and five minutes for Q and A.  Presenters are then encouraged to stay for lunch to allow students to follow up informally. The entire commitment is from 9:30 AM to 12:30 PM. If you are interested and available please forward me an email with a few ideas about what you'd like to share.

We will have a Camelot Pizza Day on Friday, January 3 - the first day back to school from the Winter Break. Each student will enjoy pizza compliments of the school. There will be no lunch orders that day.

The first Lunch Order after the Winter Break will be for the week of January  7 - 11, all orders must be placed by midnight on Wednesday, January 2.

Thanks for reading this through and for your attention to all of the details included!  It is a challenging time of year for us all – keeping track of multiple priorities and demands - we'll do a great job....together!

Have a great week.

Best,

Thelma

Camelot Update 12/2/12

Greetings!  Happy December!

Thanks to Ms Krista for sharing her special gift of photography with us at the Academic Fair/Thanksgiving Feast.  Check out her great shots here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/camelotacademy/sets/72157632134901974

This is the absolute “last call” for the March trip to England.  We are about to release the extra airline seats we had on hold.  Please let me know right away if you wish to join this trip!

We're in the homestretch of the semester now, so there is a lot to keep up with!

Monday - Second Semester Fees due

Wednesday - Middle Grades and Upper School have a "catch up" and special event day.   Those who need the time to catch up in a subject or task will be given extended time to do so. National Honor Society students will travel to American Tobacco Complex to decorate a tree*, Advanced Biology students will travel to a lecture at Duke and many others will attend a special screening of Lincolnat the MLK movie theatre.  This day has evolved to address many agendas in a way that is uniquely typical of our special school - I love the creative spontaneity of it!

Wednesday - home basketball game at 4 PM.  Middle and Upper School fans need to notify me via email by 5 PM TUESDAY if they want to ride the bus to the game.  Pick up at JCC at 5 PM.

Thursday - speaking of our unique and special school - on Thursday we will host our last Open House of 2012 from 4-5:30 PM.  This is a great time to send your friends over to meet our teachers and it is also a great time for current parents to stop in to learn about the next "division up" for your own student!

* Note from senior and NHS member Meg Rusconi-Warner:

The Upper School National Honors Society will be decorating a tree in the Triangle Christmas Tree Challenge in the name of Crayons2Calculators, an organization run by our own Amy Cummings which donates school supplies to those in need.  You can come watch the tree lighting ceremony at the Tower Lighting, which is held downtown in the American Tobacco Amphitheater from 6-7 PM on December 7th. We would also really appreciate it if, starting December 7th, you would vote for our tree (#06). Votes can be cast by texting TREE and our tree's two-digit number to 46988 or online at triangletreechallenge.com. You can vote daily both by text and online, and if you would like to have us vote daily in your name, you can write your email address on the sheet posted in the Big Hall.

http://www.triangletreechallenge.com

Have a great week!  Enjoy the holiday tunes in the sunshine!

Best,

Thelma