Camelot Update 2014-08-31

Greetings!

Thank you for a wonderful opening!  Everyone pitched in to see that things ran smoothly from the parking lot to the high ropes course! Thanks to teachers Dan Hill and Amanda Fox for posting some pictures of the fun here:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/camelotacademy/sets/

Special thanks to teacher Lori Hilliard who coordinated much of the Student Orientation and opening details.  Also, kudos to administrative staff Scott Mitchell, Wendy Morris and Jill Pitino who have worn even more hats than usual for the past couple of weeks and have done so with excellence.  We are eager and excited to start classes on Tuesday!

A few important reminders for the upcoming week:

Monday -

         - School is closed in observance of Labor Day

Tuesday -

         - Classes begin - as do our regular operating hours of 7:30 AM to 5:30 PM

         -Lunch delivery service begins

         - FLL meetings begin 3:30 - 5:00 PM

Wednesday -

         - First Home Soccer Game - 4:30 PM Upper and Middle Grades fans who wish to attend will be transported via school bus IF I receive an email request from a parent by 5 PM Tuesday night.  Parents pick up from the Piney Woods Field at 5:30 PM.

         - Deadline for Praxi School lunch orders for NEXT week - order info here:

http://www.camelotacademy.org/lunchOrders.php

Thursday -

         - NOON  - Meredith College visit- this is the first of many college reps who will visit our school this year.  High School students may sign up to attend these small group meetings. These visits provide invaluable opportunities for our students to have "face time" with a person from a college admissions office - very often the person who will be reading applications.  Please encourage your student to attend many of these sessions.

Friday -

         - Noon - Dickinson College visit

         - 4:30 PM Home game at Piney Woods (fans needing rides send me an email by 5 PM Thursday)

Saturday -

         The new FTC Robotics Team will attend a season Kick-off at Cisco Systems in RTP. Any 9th through 12th grader who is interested in learning more about the team is welcome to attend. Contact Coach Bob Radcliffe, bob@roboknights.net, for more information

Ongoing:

Please drive through our lot SLOWLY and with extreme caution.

Parents who wish to park and accompany a youngster in the morning may find it most convenient to park on Shepherd Street, thus avoiding a wait to back out of a space when the traffic flow is heavy.

If you are looking for your student during after school hours, please consult the marker board at the front of the Big Hall for study hall and club locations.

Juniors and Seniors may sign up for the SAT course that starts next week. Contact instructor Frank Newman atFrank@camelotacademy.org.

Students who borrowed a math book over the summer need to return it on Tuesday, please!

I hope you and yours enjoy a wonderful holiday weekend.  I look forward to seeing you on Tuesday.

Camelot Update 2014-08-24

Greetings!

We had a very busy first week back with the faculty!  The teachers returned last Monday and have been hard at work in meetings, setting up classrooms and making exciting plans for the year.  The seniors came in for interviews that left us all proud and pleased with the leadership they will bring to the activities of this school year.  On Thursday afternoon the building transformed from a "work in progress" to a school ready to receive its families.  Upper School Orientation went smoothly and we find ourselves poised for the return of our students on Wednesday.

Please note the UPDATED info below.

I.  Lower and Middle Grade Parent Orientation is Monday night at 5:30 PM.

Some important UPDATES about this event:

A) A group of Upper School students have volunteered to provide childcare during Lower School and Middle Grades Parent Orientation on Monday evening.  The suggested donation is $5 per child which will go towards helping the National Honor Society plant an educational rain garden on the Camelot campus. Our Upper School students will supervise youngsters on the playground during the meeting. Please remember that due to space limitations, we ask that children NOT accompany parents to the meetings.  To sign up for childcare, please click the link below. Space is limited to 20 SCHOOL-AGED (5 or older) students. 

www.SignUpGenius.com/go/10C0845A8AF22ABF49-lower1

B) Regarding parking for this event, we have made arrangements for overflow parking at the Duke Physician Assistant lot accessible off of Proctor St (the paved part!) on the other side of Vickers.  Please allow a few extra minutes for parking and the short walk to our building.

II. Soccer practice has started - we are still accepting team members.  In order to join this co-ed team (grades 6-12) a student's completed paperwork must be on file with our office.  You may access that info here:

http://www.camelotacademy.org/forms.php

The athletic fee discount for sign-up for ALL of our team sports (soccer, basketball and ultimate frisbee) is this Friday, August 29.

Also available at the link above are School Supply Lists for each grade level.

III. Students return on Wednesday, August 27. 

Please note the following UPDATE from the published school calendar - students will be dismissed at the regular division-level dismissal times:

Lower School:  3:00 PM

Middle Grades:  3:10 PM*

Upper School: 3:20 PM*

* We will transport soccer players to practice every school day, beginning Wednesday.  Parents pick up from the field, please.

Optional Care for 1st Grade through Middle Grades students is available on Wednesday and Thursday by advance sign-up. 

Contact Ms. Wendy at wendy@camelotacademy.org.

The school will provide a pizza lunch for all students this Friday.

Students should bring a lunch from home on Wednesday and Thursday.

Our lunch vendor delivery starts Tuesday, September 2nd. 

We have a new online ordering system - the link is here:

http://www.camelotacademy.org/lunchOrders.php

Students may continue to come in this week to take AR tests on their summer reading. The final deadline for these tests is this Friday, August 29.

Please note that school will be closed on Monday, September 1 for Labor Day.  Our regular class schedule will begin on Tuesday, September 2nd.

I'm thrilled to begin the year with you and your children!

Camelot Update 2014-08-17

Greetings!

I hope that you have had a great second-half of your summer.

Our faculty returns tomorrow and Year 32 will have its official launch.  We have a full-returning staff and a wonderful addition - OliverKhamky has signed on to be one of our Upper School math teachers.  Oliver is an MIT grad who taught at the Moses Brown School in Rhode Island.  Please join me in welcoming him to our Camelot Family.

Our new international students (from China and Finland) have already started their orientation program and are off to a great start.  We are excited about the perspective these students add to our learning environment. Our growing experience in international education quite literally opens the world to our students.  Along these lines, we have formed a Sister School relationship with The Experimental School of the Shuangliu Middle School in Chengdu, China (http://www.szsy.com.cn/news_show.aspx?id=369).  We hope this will be followed with alliances with other schools around the world.

I look forward to welcoming parents at one of the two upcoming Parent Orientation events:

Upper School - this Thursday, August 21 at 5:30 PM

Lower and Middle Grades - Monday, August 25 at 5:30 PM

Please plan to arrive early enough to find street parking!  Due to limited space, this is a parent-only event.  Please remember that this is a REQUIRED parent event.

Soccer practice starts this Tuesday.  In order to join this co-ed team (grades 6-12), the office must have completed paperwork on file. You may access that info here:

http://www.camelotacademy.org/forms.php

Also available at that link is School Supply Lists for each grade level.

Students return on Wednesday, August 27.  Please note the school calendar for special hours. At Parent Orientation you will be given grade-specific information about activities planned for your student during Orientation.

Students may continue to come in this week to take AR tests on their summer reading. Please make this a priority!

We have many exciting plans to share with you at Parent Orientation.  I look forward to seeing you then and to working together this year.