Music

On Tuesday I went to the 3rd-5th grade concert. I was blown away by the combination of musical talents and vocal strengths our students have. I was also impressed by Mr. Myrick's and Mrs. Snyder's dedication to transforming our students into musicians.

Music education is an often overlooked, but important part of our students’ schooling. The benefits of music are extensive. Children who have early music training develop areas of the brain related to language and reasoning.

Music also teaches students teamwork, risk-taking, and self-confidence. Before the show on Tuesday, I heard lots of students say, “I’m nervous.” Performing in a concert teaches them how to overcome anxiety and fear, while reaching their full potential.

At St. Paul’s, we recognize these benefits and encourage all of our students to not just grow in reading, writing, and math, but also musical ability.

Conferences

First off, thank you for attending parent teacher conferences this week. Research shows that the more a family is involved in their child’s education, the better the child's academic performance and attitude about school.

You and your student’s teacher both want your child to learn and do well. When parents and teachers talk, both parties get to share information about your child’s talents and needs. We all need praise and constructive criticism to grow. This leads to a better understanding of each child and helps map the best path for their education.

Although conference time provides an opportunity for every parent to meet with their child’s teacher, I encourage you to email the teacher and set up additional meetings throughout the year. If you sense any changes in your child or feel “in the dark” about what is happening in the classroom, please contact the teacher right away. Things do come up over the year and changes are natural, but our goal at St. Paul’s is to keep you informed and provide a support system for your child if you ever need one.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is a great time to combine the core commitments of reflection and creativity. Below are projects where students reflect on those things for which they are thankful. I would also like to say how thankful I am to be part of such a wonderful school. The parents, students, and staff at St. Paul's make everyday a joy. I wish all of you a very Happy Thanksgiving.

What is an Annual Fund?

The Annual Fund and the Salute Auction are the core of our fundraising efforts at St. Paul’s. While there are many other “fundraisers,” they are often geared toward a particular class trip, or enrichment. While I encourage you to continue to support all fundraising efforts, the best way to truly support every student at St. Paul’s is by giving to the Annual Fund.

St. Paul’s relies on Annual Fund contributions to bridge the gap between tuition and operational expenses. Many of you came to the financial presentations earlier this year and saw that our total expense per student is $11,794. Our tuition is $7,357 per student. It doesn’t take a mathematician to see how valuable your extra assistance is to supporting our students' education.

Often people don’t give because they feel their gift may not match our large donors. I am here to tell you- no gift is too small. In fact, the amount of people that give is more important than the amount given.

The percentage of people that participate is tied to the magnitude of our success. One of the first things that outside agencies (such as our accrediting bodies) look at is the percentage of participation in the Annual Fund. Other corporations, banks, or foundations that may be willing to support St. Paul’s with grants, loans, or scholarships also use this number as a barometer. These groups need to see giving from individuals within the school community before they make an institutional contribution. In this sense, a $10 gift is just as valuable as a $10,000 gift.

So, how is our parent participation so far this year? Heather Black, our development director, has created a great way for you to see our participation grow. Each time we reach 25, 50, 75 or 100% percent of class parent participation another square goes to our quilt.

Thank you to all of you who have already given. If you have not donated yet, there are pledge forms below the quilt in the lower school or you may make a donation by contacting Heather Black. Let’s make this year, the year we reach 100% participation!

Math at SPA

Recent data from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics revealed that in order to meet the demands of the 21st century more students must pursue mathematical and technical occupations. Students must master advanced skills in mathematics, science, and technology to stay on track for college and for favorable careers. Mathematics teaches ways of thinking that are essential to work and life.

We do a few unique things here at St. Paul’s to make mathematics a top priority for our students. Everyday we reserve a chunk of time deemed “math block.” We all have math at the same time in order to allow students to move around and get instruction that is catered to their individual math needs.

Of all the subjects we teach, math is especially not a 'one size fits all' subject. Each student comes to our school with different backgrounds and finding the best fit mathematically is important to us. For instance, in the same grade we may have a student who gets extra one-on-one time from their teacher, and another student who goes to the middle school to take classes.

Another great math option we have is Math Team. This is a club that students in 4th and 5th grade can join, where they practice math skills and get to compete in competitions such as, the Whatcom County Math Championship.

Whether it is Math Team or Math Block, creating strong mathematicians is something we value.

 5th grade students teach 4th grade students a math lesson 

 2nd grade math students dance and sing along with a math clip about fact families 

2nd grade students use iPads to enhance their math lesson

 Upper school students visit the lower school to collect mathematical data 

House League

Yesterday, I was flipping through the TV channels when I came across the movie, Harry Potter. This movie is what comes to the mind of most people when we mention that St. Paul’s (like Hogwarts) also has a house system.

House league provides another opportunity for students to bond with other members of our school community. House assignments begin in Kindergarten and last until graduation, providing students with another sense of identity, acceptance, and belonging. All new students are assigned a house upon joining our school. Each house has a mascot, color, and cheer.

At St. Paul’s our house families are a mix of students from grade K-12 separated into four groups (aka houses). Each house honors a family that is important to St. Paul’s. We have Hess, Ferlin, Kaiser, and Ershig.

Throughout the year our “houses” will come together to bond as a group, meet friends outside of their class, and participate in activities that embody our core commitments. Below are photos of our first house league meet and greet.

Happy Halloween

Have a safe, warm, and  happy halloween!

Thank you to all the parents, staff, and students who made this such a special, fun, and "thrilling" day. 

PALS

Some schools call their parent association PTA or PTO. At St. Paul’s we call it PALS (Parents Actively Lending Support). This acronym is spot on when describing the role of this organization. PALS supports our school in so many ways.

Today our school got an extra free dress day and I had to (or got to) wear my PJ’s as a reward for reaching our Innisbrook Fundraising goal. I am not sure how “rewarding” it is to see your principal in PJ’s but I guess it must be! Innisbrook is just one of the many ways PALS helps raise money to support our school.

You may wonder where all of the money PALS raises goes. It goes directly to making our school a wonderful place for staff, students and parents. Some things that PALS has paid for already this year are:

• Lower school entryway improvement
• Art enrichment
• Musical instruments
• Passport Club supplies
• Books for classrooms 
• Teacher appreciation lunches
• Every field trip students have taken this year

This is just the beginning of ways that PALS funds go straight to making your family's experience at St. Paul’s Academy richer. Kara Crotty, our PALS president, and parent volunteers make sure there's always a friendly face and parental support in everything St. Paul's does.

I hope to see all of you tonight at another fabulous PALS event- The Fall Festival!

Ms. Martin and her class celebrate in PJ's

Buddies

This week as I walked through the Lower School, a kindergartener screamed in excitement, “Mrs. Bucsko, our buddies are coming!” This expression of joy is not uncommon among students regarding buddy time. Students at every grade level in our school are paired up with a buddy at the start of the school year. This pairing consists of one older and one younger student and lasts for the rest of the year.

The teaming allows both students to experience different benefits. The younger buddy enjoys the one-on-one attention received from the older one, and relishes in the fact that they have a “big kid” friend. The older student helps his or her young counterpart advance academically by providing assistance and giving them a role model. The older buddy gets to practice leadership skills by assuming the role of teacher and mentor.

Both students get so much value out of buddy time that it is no wonder students are screaming in excitement!

a second grade student with her upper school buddy

A Kindergarten student with his third grade buddy

A first grade student with her fourth grade buddy

The fifth grade class and their Little Epistles Preschool buddies

The Mystery of PD Days

This week we had two professional development days. These days can be a big mystery for our students. They often wonder, “What do my teachers do at school when I’m not there?” When I taught first grade some years ago, a student asked me, “Do teachers cry when the kids are gone and they have to have school?” I hoped that she thought the teachers would cry because they missed their students - not because they had to go to school!

In-service days can raise questions for parents also. You may be wondering, “Why do staff members need two days for professional development?” I hope this blog post will help alleviate this shroud of mystery.

Extra time for development is really important for St. Paul’s Academy this year. At the end of April 2015 our school will be visited by an external review team. This team will be a mix of administration officials, and teachers from all over the Pacific Northwest who specialize in the field of education.

They will comb through all of the pieces of our school (purpose and direction, governance and leadership, teaching and assessing for learning, and resources and support systems). At the end of the visit they will give us advice and insight into how we can be a stronger institution and better serve you (our families). They will also decide if they want to renew our accreditation status based on findings and evaluation.

There is lots of preparation required before this visit. Before we have an outside source look at our school we must review ourselves internally and provide evidence that we are an institution meeting all of its claims. This process will not only help the evaluating team, but enable us to take a better look at ourselves.

Next time you see a professional development day coming up, I hope instead of thinking of it as a “mysterious” time, you will know that it is time dedicated to making St. Paul’s a better place for you and your child.

Core Commitments

Last week, I wrote about what makes independent schools unique. This week I want to talk about one way independent school students are unique.

I love when I get to see Natalie (our Admissions Director) give a tour, not only because it’s an opportunity to meet new families, but also because our St. Paul’s students shine. We do not tell the students what to say, but often after a tour is done new families remark on our students’ manners, maturity, and how well spoken they are. These comments reinforce what I discovered the first day of school - we have wonderful students!

The staff at St. Paul’s works hard to help all of our students grow - not only academically but in all of life’s skill sets. This year we adopted “core commitments.” These commitments are: I will Engage, I will Reflect, I will Create, I will Care.

Our head of school, Jamie Estill, recently said, “We'll strive all year to make those commitments realities and not just pretty words.”

So how are we making our commitments a reality at the Lower School? By guiding our students on tasks that foster engagement, encourage creativity and reflection, and by modeling and urging caring for themselves and others.

I will Create

I will Reflect

I will Engage

I will Care

We want our visitors to see that our students are unique, but we also want the community to know they are. We hope these core commitments will be our guide in this endeavor.

The value of independent schools

For those of you who are not aware, my background includes (besides administration) teaching in both public and private schools in Maine and Alaska. I feel that these experiences have allowed me to develop a comparison between the two types of educational institutions. The list of benefits that students receive in independent schools, compared to public, is very long. The small class sizes, individual attention, and teacher availability for parents are all at the top of the great benefits students receive. However, one of my favorite parts of schools like St. Paul’s Academy are the “value-added” activities. Not only do children receive a quality education in the classroom but they also experience numerous activities in, and with the greater community.

Last night, I had the pleasure of visiting our 5^th graders at Camp Lutherwood.  For those of you (like me) who are new this year, Camp Lutherwood is an annual 5^th grade overnight trip where students participate in teambuilding and environmental education.

I also got to experience my first “Passport Club” today. Passport Club is a geography program for elementary schools. It is designed to encourage students to learn some or all of the names of the world’s countries over the course of the school year. The program adds 5-10 new countries per year so that by the end of 5^th grade students will know all 195 of the world’s current independent nations!

Another wonderful event this week was that the Kindergarten made Apple Baskets. With the help of the Chapel Guild, students filled and distributed baskets of apples to all of our St. Paul’s Academy neighbors.

The best part of all of these activities is that this was not a special week. These community events are what give independent school children a well-rounded education. St. Paul’s Academy is a great example of making education expand out of the classroom and into the community.

Welcome to my blog!

Welcome to my blog! I’m Mrs. Bucsko, Lower School Director at St. Paul’s Academy in Bellingham, Washington. Through-out the school year I will post bits of information that I feel the St. Paul’s community may enjoy.