NEWSWelcome

“The mission of St. James Episcopal School of Dallas is to provide

a unique Christian Montessori community emphasizing explora-

tion, independence, self-motivation, creativity and compassion.”

August 15, 2012

Dear St. James Families,

I hope you have enjoyed your summer! We are putting the class-

rooms together and are eagerly preparing for the children’s ar-

rival on August 21. We are all looking forward to another won-

derful year of learning and growing here at St. James. I’d like to

give you a brief introduction to Teachers, this year’s teaching and

administrative staff, our leaders within the St. James communi-

ty, as well as the improvements to our facilities over the summer:

Toddler and Primary Staffing

The 2012/2013 school year begins with opportunities and ac-

complishments for our talented staff. I am pleased to announce

that all of our lead teachers and most of our assistants will be

returning! Ms. Lindsey, Mrs. Eva and Mrs. Yoli will move for-

ward with our fantastic Mother’s Day Out program.

Ms. Coral, Ms. Charlotte and Mrs. Anna will continue to lead our

Toddler programs with assistance from Mrs. April, Ms. Beatriz

and Mrs. Martha, Ms. Linda and Mrs. Lilly. Ms. Charlotte will

be the Toddler Coordinator with Mrs. Anna as her assistant. Ms.

Carmen will be our nap room and ASC transition teacher and

will be welcoming triplet grandchildren later this month! Our

new toddler staff members are Beatriz Castaneda, Lilly Petrini

and Linda Gomes. All three teachers come highly recommend-

ed…I’m sure you’ll agree when you meet them! Mrs. Rhiannon

was offered a position at her daughter’s school and simply could

not turn it down.

In the Primary world, Mrs. Barrineau, Mrs. Bailey, Mrs. Julia and

Ms. Elizabeth will be returning as leads, with Mrs. Ashley and

Mrs. Tamara as co-leads. (a big congratulations to Mrs. Ashley

on her marriage this month to Clayton Woodruff!) Our Primary

assistants are Ms. Ana and Mrs. Shannon.

Sadly, Ms. Gavin will be finding work closer to her residence. We

will all miss you, Janiece! Also, Mrs. Ashli Cheung has decided

to pursue other opportunities. While we are very sad to lose Ms.

Cheung who has been a very valued member of our community,

we are thrilled that her protégé, Ms. Judi Kim has agreed to

transition into her role as the new art teacher. Welcome to St.

James, Miss Judi!

Summer Projects

Over the summer, we approved the following projects for contin-

ued improvement to our facilities:

1. Replace flooring in all classrooms: We are replacing all class-

room flooring with durable, beautiful, waterproof vinyl wood

plank flooring.

2. Front Entry and Hallway: Re-install carpet at the front en-

try down the steps and up the ramp leading to the back class-

rooms, reducing the amount of slippery surface for small and

large feet.

3. Repave the side driveway and back parking lot: We re-sur-

faced the side driveway, back parking lot and the enclosed por-

tion of back parking lot for basketball and small wheeled gliders

and scooters.

4. Add a drinking fountain to the playground (thanks to the

3. Repave the side driveway and back parking lot: We re-sur-

faced the side driveway, back parking lot and the enclosed por-

tion of back parking lot for basketball and small wheeled gliders

and scooters.

4. Add a drinking fountain to the playground

(thanks to the PTO!)

PTO News

As we begin a new year, I would like extend a huge thank you to

all of last year’s PTO officers for all the work they have done for

the school this upcoming school year. A special thanks to Sarah

Sutton for serving as the PTO president last year and returning

as president this year. Without the support and help of the PTO

officers and all the families we would not be able to accomplish

all that we do.

One of the major contributions of the PTO is the coordinating

and managing of the annual Auction. As we have already com-

municated, the Auction this past March was a huge success!

The 12th Annual Silent Auction “The Stars at Night are Big and

Bright” raised $28,000 for the school!!!! Funds raised by the

Auction are being consolidated with existing funds to accomplish

the necessary projects outlined above (e.g. new flooring, driveway

repairs, etc.). The contribution of these monies has enabled us

to move forward with these enhancements that would not have

been possible otherwise. So, a huge thank you to all, for your

contributions of time and money!!

As we prepare for the next year, the following parents have gra-

ciously agreed to become officers of the PTO; we thank you in

advance for your dedication and leadership:

Sarah Sutton – President Mindee Haas – Vice President

Cynthia Elliott – Treasurer Kristen Boothe – Secretary

Jaime Ali – Auction Chair Ashlie McGill – MDO Liaison

Rulanda Taylor – PTO Fundraising Coordinator

Meagan Martinelli – Reading Parent Coordinator

Melissa Kupchynsky - Room Parent Coordinator

Liz Reynolds – Sunshine Committee

Board of Trustees

Another huge thank you goes to Chris Peters, who served as the

President of the Board of Trustees this past year. I would also

like to formally welcome Mrs. Jennifer Hargrave who has gra-

ciously taken the helm! The Board of Trustees is the governing

body for the school. The Board is comprised of volunteers from

our school family, as well as the church, who are responsible for

setting policy, overseeing financial affairs and guiding the school’s

future in coordination with the Head of School. Jennifer Har-

grave has agreed to serve as the President of the Board for the

upcoming school year. In addition, the School Board has wel-

comed Ethan Boothe and Amy Bodwell as new members, and is

thankful to have the continued contributions of Cecile Allen and

Stephen Tillery from our school community. The Board of Trust-

ees is very pleased with the state of the school, and is looking

forward to an exciting 2012-13 school year.

ntinues to make St. James a vital, harmonious, and happy place

Final Words

Finally, thank you to everyone who continues to make St. James

Episcopal School a great place for our children to grow academi-

cally and spiritually. Your contribution of time and energy con-

tinues to make St. James a vital, harmonious, and happy place to

be. Please know that I speak for all the teachers and staff when

I say that each and every one of you has our deepest gratitude

for all you do and for choosing St. James for your family.

Please remember to put on your calendar; the first day of school

is Tuesday, August 21st. We look forward to seeing you!

Sincerely

Loree Birkenback

We are so happy to have all of our children back at school!! Our first week

was most definitely a success. It’s going to be a great year!!

Please remember to read over your entire welcome packet and if you have

any questions please feel free to ask us.

The children really did great for their first week back!! They were already

doing works and using a rug or placemat for their work space. They are en-

joying getting to know each other and normalizing to the environment. We

can’t wait to see the wonderful works they will be doing this year, and we

have a lot of new ideas for our Mothers Day Out program!!

If you haven’t brought us a change of clothes, toothbrush, brush or comb

please do so. We will be focusing on the first steps of independence…care

of self...so these items are actually part of that work!

Thanks,

Your MDO Teachers

Welcome Back St. James Toddlers

It’s that time again! Summer has flown by and we are busy preparing the

environment for a new year in the Toddler Montessori Community. This

year we are excited to welcome Lilly Petrini to our classroom as our new

toddler assistant to support Ms. April and myself. We have lots of plans for

art projects, new recipes to try and lots of fun lessons to introduce to the

children. We are excited to announce that each of the toddler teachers will

be posting weekly on a couple of Montessori Pinterest Boards. One will be

geared toward fun, Montessori style works to do at home and the other will

be a weekly update on new work in the toddler community. We also have

plans for parent education nights throughout the year to keep parents in

the loop and answer any questions you may have about Montessori phi-

losophy or our classroom. Beginning in October, we encourage parents to

schedule an observation in the classroom so you can witness the Montes-

sori community in action. We look forward to seeing your sweet children

soon. Thank you in advance for all the ongoing support and commitment to

the Montessori way!

-Mrs. Charlotte and Ms Lilly

Welcome back to St. James Episcopal School. We are very

excited to meet the additional friends we have added this

year to our toddler community; as well as, welcome back

our returning students. It is amazing at what a toddler

can accomplish in a few months and we are so excited to

see the progression and growth in the children. We are

overjoyed to integrate our new assistant , Ms. Linda, into

the toddler classroom. We are confident in her abilities to

guide the children and to make them feel comfortable and

important to our environment. As we gear up for this year,

we hope all of you are as excited as we are to return to

school.

Ms. Coral, Mrs. Martha, Ms. Linda

Welcome to the Toddler 2 Class of 2012 - 2013! This summer has just flown

by and we are looking forward to another wonderful school year here at St.

James. This year we are excited to welcome Miss. Beatriz; she will be my as-

sistant and will be a wonderful addition to our classroom. With cooking, art,

gardening and Christian education and much more, we are going to have a

fun filled year. The Toddler Team will also be having several Parent Educa-

tion classes to help you stay in the loop of what the toddler environment is

all about. We will also have two pintrest boards that you can follow, one will

be a board with fun works to make at home and one board that shows you

works that are at school.

Mrs. Anna and Miss. Beatriz

Hello everyone!

We hope all of you had a wonderful and relaxing summer! It is hard to

believe that summer vacation is coming to an end; time has passed so

quickly. Although summer has been wonderful, we are very excited about

the start of a new school year! We have missed our returning students and

look forward to meeting and getting to know the new children and families.

The teachers have all been busy preparing the Montessori environment in

anticipation for the beginning of school. Much thought and love goes into

making the classrooms beautiful learning environments for the children to

enjoy. We have many exciting new works to share with the children includ-

ing a new art section, musical instrument shelf, sequencing beads, as well

as cheese and cracker serving. We also have a new pet in our classroom

– a baby corn snake! The children loved Houdini the ribbon snake so much

that we decided to get a new snake in addition to our zebra finches and

aquarium. We will wait until the children arrive to name the new snake!

We look forward to seeing all of you soon!

Miss Elizabeth and Ms. Ashley

Dear familes of P3,

We hope that each family had a wonderful, refreshing summer! We are look-

ing forward to seeing each of you next week as we begin this new school

year. In addition, we will be welcoming our new students this Thursday and

Friday at orientation. It will be a lovely time of introductory lessons, learning

the classroom routine, and getting to know each child. Please remember that

next Monday evening, August 20th, is Meet the Teacher Night - we hope to

see you there!

Please enjoy these last few lazy days of summer and we will see you soon!

Best,

Ms. Julia & Ms. Tamara

Welcome and welcome back. We are looking forward to a great school

year.Please send an extra change of clothes for your child to leave in the

classroom. They do not have to be the school uniform. They will only be

used in case of accidents. (If you have a 3 year old please leave three or

four pair of underwear). Please allow your child to independently put lunch

boxes, sweaters, etc., in their cubbies and also independently retrieve those

items at the end of the day. One of the goals of the Montessori class-

room is to lead the child to independence. If you need to talk with me in the

morning when you drop off your child, please write a note on the pad of pa-

per on the table in the entrance of the school. I will check for notes ASAP.

We welcome communication from you. SNACKS - snack schedules will be

put in your child’s cubbie. Please post the schedule with your other fam-

ily reminders. If you cannot bing the snack on your assigned week/weeks

please arrange a trade with another family. Any questions, please ask.

LUNCH GUIDELINES - WE ASK THAT YOU SEND YOUR CHILD A

HEALTHY LUNCH. Please do not include chips of any kind. Most have no

nutritional value. Please DO NOT include sweets. Please include a protein

in your child’s lunch. HERE WE GO!

Mrs. Barrineau/Ms. Ana

Welcome All New and Returning Families

This Thursday and Friday all new students will be visiting our

Classroom for “Orientation”. This is a special time to meet their teachers

as well as a few friends also new to our group.

The children will tour the classroom, the bathroom, the handwashing

sinks, play some name games, and perhaps sit to eat at the snack table

with a new friend. There will be time for each child to have a few prelimi-

nary lessons, begin to learn “how to choose work”, “how to use the mate-

rial purposefully” and “how to return it to its place on the shelf, ready for

the next person to use it”.

On Tuesday, August 21, the returning students will join us. I am so excited

to see all of you and so happy for you to meet your new teacher, Mrs.

Shannon. This day is always amazing to observe! Many of the returning

students come right in, ready “to go to work”! It is so much fun to see

what they are ready to do and immediately begin giving lessons to the

new children by “choosing work and using the material purposefully”.

This summer my family, including children, parents, aunt, uncle and

grandparents, went to stay in a cottage in Maine for a week. I am

setting up a Maine table with objects, postcards, a map, children’s

story books and art cards, all to be used as Language and Cultural

materials for the first week of school.

Did you and your child go somewhere special this summer?

The children love to bring meaningful things from home that can

be used as a Cultural Lesson. Objects, pictures or postcards that fit

into any of our Cultural Areas (Science, Geography, History, Zool-

ogy, Botany, Art, and Music) are the best. All of these things stimu-

late conversation and Language for the beginning days of school.

Bringing something meaningful from home to the classroom also,

of course, helps the children to feel comfortable and secure. Simply

writing on a slip of paper the name of a state you visited with your

Welcome to “Primary 1” for the School Year 2012 – 2013!

Mrs. Shannon and I are so excited to see all of you!

Anne Bailey

After School Care

I am excited to be heading up the after school care program for my second

year. Tori McClure will be returning for her second year and will be working

with your toddlers. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free

to direct them to myself or to Tori. We have two new staff members to help

Tori and they are Delaney Cotton and Hannah Sparks. Delaney and Hannah

are both seniors at Lake Highlands High School. Tori, Delaney and Hannah

have a tremendous amount of energy, patience and love to bring to our tod-

dler ASC room, I am excited for you to meet them. I will again be working

directly with the primary students and I am excited to say that Elizabeth Stark

will be joining.

Lisa Wilson

Welcome and Hello! My name is Miss Judi and I will be the new

teacher for Arts and Technology! I am so excited to start teaching

and getting to know everyone here at St James! This year for Art we

have lots to look forward to, like the annual auction house piece

and much more!

From Van Gogh to Picasso, the students will learn about all the

major artists that shaped and inspired today’s art world! Our first

project we will learn about color theory and how to draw trees. We

will incorporate the tree drawing with the four seasons in the back-

ground. Can’t wait to start painting!

In Technology, our kindergarteners will begin with learning about

the Parts of a Computer and Laptop such as the motherboard, hard

drive, etc. I will help them understand what each part does to make

the computer function. In addition to learning about the computer,

we will work with Lego Robotics, and Microsoft office (MS Word and

MS PowerPoint) on the computer. It’s going to be a great year and

look forward to seeing everyone soon!

- Miss Judi