monthly report to parents august 2017, volume 17...

!August 2017, Volume 17

300 Blue Stem Dr, Pawleys Island, SC (843) 237-4147 www.lowcountryprep.org

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Monthly Report to Parents

August 2017

August 2017, Volume 17Welcome, New Students!

We kick off Academic Year 2017-2018 with seven more students compared year-to-date with August 2016, despite having graduated a relatively large senior class of 15. We welcome new students in the Lower, Middle, and Upper Schools.

In the Lower School, we say hello to pre-K students Archer Blackburn, Porter Brooks, Nicolas Doran, Annalise Lee, F r a n c i s S a i a , a n d N o a h Thompson; K-5 students Brenna Ballard, Ellison Barr, Owen G r a h a m , S o p h i a G r e e n e , Reaghan Greer, Vivian Metz, and Ben Skvarka; third-grade student App Hutto; fourth-grade student Milly Harris; and fifth-grade students Reynold Harris and Elizabeth Joseph.

In the Middle School, our newcomers include Jennifer Musiol in the sixth grade; Julia Davis (returning), Lucy Joseph, and Sailor Rearden in the seventh; and Cory Appleton, Molly Tate, and Tony Zhang in the eighth grade.

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In the Upper School, we are happy to have with us among the freshmen Lillie Akers, Eric Bennett, Kenneth Chow, Blake Joseph, Riley Moore, and Jack Nguyen; among the sophomores C o d y A p p l e t o n , Wa l l a c e Johnson, and Alson Thomas; and among the juniors Josiah Cohen, G r e t a M a u c h , a n d N i k k i Nguyen.

Parents are reporting smooth transitions among their children, testament to the welcoming nature of both our veteran students and our teachers. Welcome aboard, new Marlins!



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Solar Eclipse!

The Sisters Little, Peyton (11th) a n d A n n e - H a c k e t t ( 8 t h ) , embarked upon Suite Relief around noon on August 21, 2017 and sailed south from the Reserve Marina to an anchoring point beyond Georgetown from which to experience the solar eclipse. Mrs. Rebecca Green had previously provided the students their eclipse glasses.

Beginning in the morning, weather conditions were not encouraging, with rain falling in Murrells Inlet to the north and clouds omnipresent. However, enough blue sky was present in the early- to mid-afternoon to see the historic spectacle—safely!

Dunlap Collects Funds for Tablets and Cart

Ms. Maggie Dunlap, our Middle and Upper School Spanish Teacher, launched a PledgeCents campaign this summer and collected $4,602 through the generous investment of friends, family, and supporters of our school. She used the funds to purchase 20 tablets, 20 cases, and a charging cart for use by students in Spanish and French in the World Language Department.

This is not Ms. Dunlap’s first substantial improvement of the World Language Department. Last year, she transitioned to national-level testing in Spanish, and her students did impressively well. In the eyes of our accrediting agency, AdvancED, such testing carries more weight as it is a more r igorous assessment of our teaching and learning.

Enjoy the tablets, students! Nice work, Ms. Dunlap!

For Two Alums, A New Way of Life

While some of our youngest alumni are pledging fraternities and sororities at various civilian colleges and universities, Cadets Landstreet and Starnes are getting to know classmates in their respective rifle companies at The Citadel.

The lifestyle there marks quite a contrast to that enjoyed at LPS. “Uniform” has a whole new meaning. Much less time is spent washing, combing, and brushing hair. Shiny belt buckles and shoes are in style. Cleaning up one’s room tends to take place in a more efficient and effective manner—yes, quite a contrast.

On the bright side, Parents’ Day is on the way in October. It includes an opportunity for fourthclass cadets to get off campus on their own for a break. Hang in there, Brice and Myles!



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Coach Ferguson Varsity Boys Soccer

Coach Nelson Varsity Girls Tennis

Coach Green JV and Varsity Volleyball

Coach Tamale B Team Soccer

Yes, a lot of new faces among our fall coaching lineup this year—lets’s meet them. Coach Scott Ferguson is a member of the South Carolina Soccer Coaches Hall of Fame and has 20 years of experience coaching with over 200 wins.

Coach David Nelson is skilled i n t e n n i s s t r e n g t h a n d conditioning. Many of you know him from HealthPoint where he i s an exe rc i se physiologist. During the winter season, he will be coaching boys varsity basketball.

Coach Thomas Tamale played p r o f e s s i o n a l s o c c e r i n h i s homeland, Uganda. He also played for four years for the Myrtle Beach Mutiny. He is the co-founder of Kickoff Elite Academy.

Coach Rebecca Green played volleyball throughout high school and some club volleyball as an undergraduate. She is, of course, also our Middle and Upper School science teacher.

Much credit goes to AD Gwyn Single for finding these sharp coaches—good job!

Meet Our Fall Coaches! Volleyball Update

Coach Rebecca Green has led the Lady Marlins to a fine 2-0 record in volleyball, with wins against North Myrtle Beach Christian and the Georgetown School of Arts and Sciences. Turnout for both the junior varsity and varsity squads has been solid this year, and hopes are high for a winning season.

The co-captains of this year’s varsity team are Josie Mangialardo and Tanea Miller. Brooke Ashton and Lucy Joseph are serving as co-captains of the junior varsity team.

The girls are doing a particularly nice job of both serving and setting up shots this year. Coach Green insists upon overhand serves—a requirement to be a member of the varsity squad. Setting up shots requires skill and teamwork. Both are clearly evident to spectators. Coach Green’s focus upon fundamentals is paying off nicely.

You are off to a great start, Lady Marlins. Keep going!



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Lunch with the Chinese

Mr. Yinguang Zhang and young Haining Zhang, our new eighth-grader, hosted lunch on August 20, 2017. Guests included the liaison family, the Petrees: Mr. Pat Petree, Mrs. Hong Petree, and Linda Zhang, a junior. Also included was Mr. Walter McElveen, the owner of Pawleys Island Realty, who played a key role in identifying the property that Mr. Zhang rented for his year here. Mr. McElveen is no stranger to life overseas. As a retired Air Force officer, he previously served as an exchange pilot with the German Air Force and was assigned to Osan Air Base in South Korea. Rounding out the guests were Head of School Scott Gibson III and his wife, Kathy.

Lunch was authentically Chinese, prepared from goods purchased at the Hong Kong Super Market in Myrtle Beach. It included various rice dishes and an excellent salad with cucumbers and tofu.

Following lunch, Mr. Zhang played the guqin, a stringed instrument that dates back to ancient Chinese times. It is reportedly the instrument of choice among the Chinese sages and the well educated.

T h e Z h a n g ' s h a v e k i n d l y introduced us to Chinese culture. We look forward to introducing them to Amer ican cul ture . Welcome aboard!

Dunlap Earns Graduate Credits at Middlebury

College

Middle and Upper School Spanish Teacher Maggie Dunlap attended the first six weeks of an immersion graduate program on the idyllic campus of Middlebury College this s u m m e r . T h e s c h o o l i s internationally renowned for its excellence in instruction in modern languages. Maggie earned three graduate credits. She plans to return to Middlebury next summer to continue the program.

Ms. Dunlap’s exceptional skill in Spanish derives in part from her growing up in El Salvador. Her parents were teachers at a bilingual private school there when Maggie was in the middle and upper school. Contrary to popular belief, she did not major in Spanish at Sewanee. In fact, she studied political science.

Congratulations, Ms. Dunlap, we are proud of you!



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LaBruce, Newest SCISA Master Teacher

Just days before the return of students for the new academic year, SCISA’s Administrative Assistant called to inform us that its Master Teacher Committee had approved Bernie LaBruce’s nomination. We have grown from one such teacher to four over the past several years. The three others include Flo Phillips (still a substitute on occasion), David Suber, and Janet Kelly.

Master Teachers must demonstrate t o S C I S A t h e c a p a c i t y t o collaborate with other teachers. The application portfolio includes s a m p l e s o f t h e t e a c h e r ' s collaboration with colleagues, details of effective teaching s t r a t e g i e s , a n d l e t t e r s o f recommendation from students, parents, and colleagues, plus one from the head of school. A video of the teacher instructing is also required. Nice work, Bernie!

Students, parents, and members of the faculty and staff responded to the call and turned out in solid numbers for an impressive day of cleanup on August 12, 2017. M u c h w a s a c c o m p l i s h e d . Accompanying the volunteers was a good bit of power equipment. Both the boys’ and the girls’ locker rooms benefited from thorough power washings of the floors. Likewise, volunteers power-washed the exteriors of the permanent buildings. A licensed electrician kindly made several electrical repairs. In addition, a skilled carpenter built additional s tanding shelving for Mrs. Ferguson’s third-grade classroom.

Less glorious but just as important was the detailed cleaning. A year of dust was removed from most window blinds. Overhead air vents w e r e t h o r o u g h l y b r u s h e d . Bookshelves were unstocked, cleaned, and restocked. Floors were mopped and deep cleaned. Countertops were cleared and cleaned. Additionally, records no longer required to be maintained were collected for shredding.

Our annual Cleanup Day brings us together as a community and allows us to start the year looking s h a r p . To t h e m a n y w h o participated, thanks very much!

Whirlwind Cleanup Day!



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Martha Murray Cox

LS Art

Alissa Miller

4th Grade and STEM

Linelle Yates

Theater and Music

Kathy Gibson

Front Desk

Susan Parsons

LS Librarian

Rebecca Green

Science

Gwyn Single

Athletic Director

Meagan Johnson

Art

Timothy Warner

Physical Education

Andrea Little

Front Desk

Patti Wilson

US Mathematics

Meet New Members of the Faculty and Staff!

Coming Soon!



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Marlinopoly Returns!

The familiar board game is back! Mrs. Andrea Peterson is taking the lead this year on soliciting Annual Fund donations from fellow parents.

“This year, we plan to be more specific with parents in terms of both our overall Annual Fund goal in dollars and where the money goes. As a parent, these are two questions that I typically hear,” said Ms. Peterson.

Over the past two years, the school has distinguished itself through 100 percent participation among the big three: parents, employees, and trustees. This marks a rare accomplishment among schools of the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS), of which LPS is a member.

“Yes,” continued Ms. Peterson, “we certainly plan to achieve 100 percent participation, again, this academic year—no reason we can’t!”

RenWeb Update

The t r ans i t i on t o RenWeb c o n t i n u e s . R e n We b i s a comprehensive software system that combines several standalone programs that we previously used. They included Engrade and iContact, for example. Among the functions RenWeb provides are the parent portal, group e-mail capability, online grade book, report cards and transcripts, scheduling, attendance, and lunch ordering.

Training began this summer with a handful of administrators. Training continued with the return of teachers prior to the start of the academic year. Now, we are preparing to provide parents training in how to order lunches online. We anticipate ordering in September for lunches provided in October. Look for instructions provided via e-mail in the near term.

Parents should have access to the parent portal through which student progress in academics can be monitored. If you are having trouble gaining access, please send V a l e r i e H e n s l e y , [email protected], an e-mail with your contact information. Like anything new, patience will help us master this new system. We can do it!

Join Us for the Half!

Consider joining us for the half-marathon in Myrtle Beach on October 22, 2017. Thus far, three teachers and a trustee have committed to run. Plenty of time remains to get into shape. Here is the link to the event: http://www.runmyrtlebeach.com

Teachers, parents, and students have previously joined forces and run the Myrtle Beach Marathon Relay with some running the full marathon. It’s always a good time and a great way to stay in shape. So, think about it!

monthly report to parents august 2017, volume 17...

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