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Thursday - April 29, 2010


From the School

A ZEN QUERY
If I demand I get silence
When I seek I find the answer
When I demand I get thunder
If I ask I am given the light

-Written by 2XLETTER FROM SALLY SELBY TO 4TH GRADE PARENTS
Please click on "Read More" below for a letter from Sally Selby, Middle School Principal, regarding important upcoming events. Read MoreRSVP DEADLINE & PARKING FOR GRANDPARENTS DAY: MAY 7TH
We have had an overwhelming response for Grandparents Day next week! As a result, we are unable to take any more RSVP's after 12pm noon tomorrow, Friday, April 30th. It would be a HUGE help if parents could drop their children's grandparents off for the day. Parking will be very limited!! Registration will begin at 8:15 am and lunch will conclude at 12:45 pm. Please contact [email protected] or 202-537-8442 if you have any questions.NEW MEETINGHOUSE & ARTS FACILITIES
Are you curious about these new facilities? Mike Saxenian, CFO, will provide a visual presentation that details the timing, design, and architectural renderings of the plans on Monday, May 3rd at 7:30 pm in the Middle School Drama Studio.ANNUAL PHYSICAL EXAMS
Please make arrangements for your student’s annual physical exam soon. The SFS Physician’s Report for the 2010–2011 School Year is due back to Lower School by July 15th, 2010. If your student has received any immunizations during this past year, ask the doctor’s office to include that information on the Maryland Immunization Record. Both of these forms can be downloaded from the SFS Website. Go to the Parents page, click on Health and emergency forms on the left hand column to download the necessary forms. The electronic updates for student health and emergency information will be available on May 3rd. Directions about accessing and updating your information will be emailed to parents within the next 7–10 days. Please contact Barbara Conte with any concerns ([email protected]).LAST CHANCE TO CLAIM ITEMS IN LOST AND FOUND BIN
The Lost and Found bin will be cleaned out on Tuesday, May 4th. Unclaimed, unlabeled items will be donated to Martha’s Table on Wednesday, May 5th. Please take a look in the bin and claim your child’s lost clothing.GRADUATION ATTIRE FOR FOURTH GRADERS
Boys – White dress shirt with collar or polo shirt (long or short sleeves); Dress pants, no jacket or tie.

Girls – Simple white or pastel dress or nice slacks and similar top. The outfit may be solid color or with a subtle design.
Please contact Anna Urciolo with any questions ([email protected]).


PA Announcements

LS SPRING FESTIVAL: THIS SATURDAY!
CALLING ALL LOWER SCHOOL STUDENTS, SIBLINGS, AND PARENTS
The annual Lower School Spring Festival is scheduled for THIS Saturday, May 1st from 3-5 pm (Rain or Shine) at the Lower School Campus. Come and enjoy the festivities - including: arts & crafts, field games, 4th grade car wash & bake sale, community service activities, music and more. For more information, please contact Ellen Alexander at [email protected] or Donna DePasquale at [email protected].

COLLECTION OF HOUSEHOLD ESSENTIALS FOR A WIDER CIRCLE
Spring Clean, Recycle and Do Your Part to Fight Poverty - All At Once! Please join LS in collecting gently-used household essentials at Spring Festival. Donated items will be given to A Wider Circle (www.awidercircle.org), a local non-profit that helps families just moving out of shelters and into homes. They provide necessities (beds, linens, furniture) that the families would otherwise not have. See "Read More" below for a more complete list of wishlist items.
Read MoreLOOK OUT FOR NEW SIGNS IN ENGLISH, SPANISH, AND CHINESE AT LS
Our children are very excited by new signs in English, Spanish, and Chinese posted around the school at central points. Parents and staff are also enjoying the new linguistic furnishings. It has taken a team of committed parents matched by the wonderful support and enthusiasm of the faculty to turn the idea of the signs into a reality. The PA Diversity hopes the new signs will broaden our children's horizons by encouraging their love of learning and enhancing their ability to view our diverse world with a global vision.JOIN YOUR CHILD FOR MEETING FOR WORSHIP: TUESDAY MAY 4TH, 1:20-2PM
As the year draws to a close, please remember that you are always welcome to come share Meeting for Worship with your child's current class. Including parents in the classroom or meeting house Meetings for Worship is a wonderful tradition and gives parents an opportunity to model silent worship and appropriate behavior for our active children. Parking during Meeting is available in the driveway/carpool line. Meeting begins promptly at 1:30 pm. On May 4th, Classes 4X, 1 and 1X will be in the meeting house. 3X will go to join PK in the PK classroom. K will go to 2X. 2 will go to KX. 3 will go to 4Y. 3Y will go to 4.SFS FAMILY GARDEN PROJECTS
On May 15th and May 22nd from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm, Sidwell Friends families will be planting gardens in partnership with KidpowerDC and the DC Department of Parks and Recreation. On May 15th, families will be working alongside children from Kimball Elementary School to plant and maintain a community garden in Fort Dupont Park SE. On May 22nd, families will be planting a garden at Hearst Recreation Center (a DC Department of Parks and Recreation community center) located at 3950 37th Street NW. There will be garden work appropriate for all ages. Please contact David Connell [email protected] or Kathleen Kaye [email protected] for more information.COMMUNITY SERVICE CORNER
WEEKEND VOLUNTEERING IN MAY
* A Wider Circle: Join SFS families at A Wider Circle in Silver Spring on Sunday, May 2nd from 1 to 3 pm. Volunteers will help sort children’s clothing, household items, pantry foods and furniture. All families welcome (ages 4 and up), Second and Fourth Grade families encouraged. Please RSVP as soon as possible to Sara Jane Harris, [email protected].
* Martha's Table: Gather at Martha's Table Saturday, May 22nd from 10 am to 12:30 pm to make and bag donated food to feed the hungry throughout the city. All families welcome (ages 4 and up), PK and Kindergarten families encouraged. Please RSVP as soon as possible to Camille Thornton, [email protected].

These are the final scheduled weekend volunteer dates of the school year. Please join us!PA RETREAT - SAVE THE DATE: MAY 13
The PA Retreat is scheduled for Thursday, May 13th, 2010 from 6:00-9:00 pm in the Upper School Dining Room. All PA Clerks, Vice Clerks, Committee Clerks, Grade Reps, and At-large Reps from this year and those who will fill the positions next year are invited to celebrate the successful conclusion of the 2009-10 Parent Association year and share ideas and suggestions for 2010-11. This is an important time to exchange materials and information before summer is upon us, so please plan to attend. We’ll eat dinner together and then break out into small planning groups. Please RSVP no later than May 1st to Lynn Sachs at [email protected] SPEAKER - SAVE THE DATE: MAY 18TH
Tuesday, May 18, 2009, 7:00 pm, Lower School Multi-Purpose Room. Harvard University’s Richard Weissbourd will talk to parents about his book, The Parents We Mean to Be. A New Yorker Magazine’s 2009 Reviewers’ Favorite, the book discusses how well-intentioned adults can inadvertently undermine children’s moral and emotional development. Weissbourd suggests concrete strategies for raising moral and happy children that involve the extremes of too much or too little involvement. This is a terrific opportunity to hear from a nationally-renowned child psychologist and education expert right here on our own campus. Parents, faculty, and all members of the Sidwell community are welcome.STATE OF THE SCHOOL MEETING MINUTES
Minutes from the April 8th PA meeting, including Rich Lodish's "State of the School" talk, are now available online. To view, click on the following link, log in, and then click on "LS Meeting Minutes 4-8-10" under "Recent PA Meetings." http://www.sidwell.edu/broadcast/action/clickthru.aspx?id=366.1044.506315.55595.6257FIELD DAY IS JUNE 2ND
WANT TO VOLUNTEER?
Come help out with this favorite Lower School Tradition. The kids look forward to a day of games, food and outdoor fun, and you can too! One volunteer per class is needed to help set up, run the games, and clean up. The time commitment is 9 a.m. to noon. If you would like to volunteer, please contact Amy Goldberg at [email protected] or (301) 806-1680.GREEN TIPS: NATIONAL PARKS
Earth Day was last week, but did you know it was also National Park Week? The National Park Service waived fees (sorry, just last week) to all parks, but some promotions are still ongoing. Check out the National Park Service’s info at www.nps.gov/npweek and the non-profit National Park Foundation at www.nationalparks.org to find the perfect park for your family. You can explore nature and experience history with your family on any budget. The Find a Park sections on both sites allows you to find a park by state, topic of interest or activity preference. Try it and see why the National Parks are called “America’s Best Idea.” Comments, questions to Louise Micallef at [email protected].


Other News

2010-2011 AFTER CARE AND SHUTTLE
Sign up online now for 2010-11 after care and shuttle! Go to www.sidwell.edu and select the LS page. The registration button is on the right side of the page. See attached PDF for detailed step by step instructions.
EVENTS FOR STUDENT SCHOLARSHIPS: GOLF TOURNAMENT
Tee off with us for another great day of golf and communing at the Kenwood Country Club to help us raise money for student financial aid on Monday, May 24, 2010. Your afternoon on the course will be followed by a cocktail reception with your foursome, friends and fellow players.
We hope you will register today to help make this event a hole in one! For information on registering and additional information on the tournament and sponsorship opportunities click here. Please contact the Events for Student Scholarships office at [email protected] or (202) 537-8110 if you have any questions or want sponsor the event.SFS DANCE ENSEMBLE: MAY 6TH
Please join the Spring 2010 Dance Ensemble for a free outoor performance behind Zartman House, on Thursday, May 6th at 4:30 pm and 7 pm. For more information please contact the Sidwell Friends School Art Department at 202-537-8141, ext. 2.LS THURSDAY NEWSLETTER INFORMATION
How to Subscribe
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How to Unsubscribe
If you have wish to have your name removed from the subscription list, send an e-mail to [email protected] with only the word "UNSUBSCRIBE" in the subject line.
How to Submit an Article to Thursday Letter
Send submissions to [email protected] by 2 pm Wednesday. Please reference "Newsletter Submission" and the publish date(s) in the subject line. Items should be submitted as text in the body of the e-mail. PLEASE do not include any formatting such as indents, bullets, boldface or all-caps and keep submissions succinct. If you have a form or flyer to include with your submission, please send it as a PDF attachment to your email. Receipt of your submissions will be confirmed as soon as possible.
Note Concerning the School Calendar:
The calendar entries that appear in the right column of each Newsletter are automatically generated by the official school calendar and are not subject to editing by the Newsletter Editors. All changes or additions to the school calendar must be made through the school scheduling office, reachable at: [email protected].

The Parents Association newsletters are a forum for communication among parents and provide announcements concerning School or PA events or information related to a School or PA event.
LS newsletter submissions should be sent to [email protected].


Calendar


Thu, Apr 29th

Senior Exams: Science Language

TBA


Middle School Parents invited to Meeting for Worship

Kenworthy Gym
8:10am - 8:40am


US Visual Arts Exhibit Opening Reception

Arts Center Gallery and Lobby
4:30pm - 6:00pm


Fri, Apr 30th

Senior Exams: Language, History


Kx Play

LS MultiPurpose Room
9:00am - 10:00am


US Choral Concert

Mary Ellen Caplin Theater
7:30pm


6th Grade Party

LS Multipurpose Room
7:30pm - 9:30pm


Sat, May 1st

SAT Testing (Not at Sidwell)


Pre-Festival New Family Event

Lower School
2:00pm - 3:00pm


Spring Festival

LS Meeting House
3:00pm - 5:00pm


Sun, May 2nd

US Jazz and Chamber Orchestra Concert

Theater
2:30pm


Mon, May 3rd

Presentation on the New Arts and Meetinghouse Facilities

MS Drama Studio
7:30pm - 9:00pm


Tue, May 4th

AP Tests: Computer Science, Spanish Language, Statistics


Parents of Rising 5th Graders Transition Meeting

MS Drama Studio
7:30pm


Wed, May 5th

AP Tests: Calculus, Chinese


SAT Testing


PA Executive Committee Meeting

US Crane Room
8:00am - 9:00am


LS Steering Committee Reception

LS Multi-purpose room and Breezeway
7:00pm - 9:00pm


Thu, May 6th

AP Tests: English Literature


All School Quaker Life Committee Meeting

Zartman Drawing Room
5:00pm - 6:30pm


Fri, May 7th

AP Tests: US History


LS Grandparents Day

Lower School


Mon, May 10th

AP Tests: Biology, Music Theory, Physics


5th Grade Parent Peer Group Meeting

5th Grade Science Classroom
7:30pm


Tue, May 11th

AP Tests: Chemistry, Environmental Science


5th Grade Hangout

US Dining Room
2:00pm - 3:30pm


Parents of Rising 7th Graders Transition Meeting

MS Drama Studio
7:30pm


Wed, May 12th

AP Tests: Art History


Newmyer Award Dinner

US Dining room
6:30pm - 9:00pm


Thu, May 13th

PA Retreat

US Dining Room
6:00pm - 9:00pm


Fri, May 14th

AP Tests: Spanish, Literature, Latin


1x Play

LS MultiPurpose Room
9:00am - 10:00am


Sat, May 15th

Alumni Reunion Weekend


Prom


Sun, May 16th

Alumni Reunion Weekend


Tue, May 18th

Richard Weissbourd Lecture

LS Multipurpose Room
6:00pm - 9:00pm


Parents of New Rising 6th Graders Meeting

MS Drama Studio
7:30pm


Wed, May 19th

Tour of MS For 4th Grade Parents

MS Lobby
9:15am


Appreciation Party for Steve Barker, Ellis Turner, and Rebecca Zug

Sledge Garden/US Dining Room
5:00pm - 6:00pm


More


3825 Wisconsin Avenue NW Washington, DC 20016 Tel: (202) 537 8100 Fax: (202) 537 8499