A Reflection on the Journey

Last week I had the great fortune to attend two conferences back-to-back.  The week started with the National Association of Episcopal Schools (NAES) Head of School Retreat at the House of the Redeemer in New York City.  It was a wonderfully spiritual time as Heads of Episcopal schools were led to seek calm in their life and identify the “soul” of their school.  It seemed to be easier for me than most to identify our soul as I looked back at the action that our students had taken this year in support of various ministries.  From Food for Families to recycling our children understand the value of community involvement and service.  The NAES retreat was followed by the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) annual conference.  A number of great sessions were offered and I focused my training time on management and governance of the school.  Over 6500 independent school educators attended the conference.  One of the highlights was the keynote address delivered by Marianne Pearl, wife of slain journalist Daniel Pearl.  On a personal note, I walked well over 20 miles over the week, mostly because the taxi rides that I took scared me to death.  I did have the opportunity to visit both St. Thomas Episcopal School and Church and Trinity Episcopal Church near “ground zero”.  I will highlight a few of the sessions in later issues.  I hope you all have a great Spring Break next week. 
Rich Webb

3rd Grade Musical

Coming to the stage of St. Paul’s School on Thursday, March 6, 2:15
Mr. Bell’s Magnificent Talking Machine, a musical presented by
the Third Grade Class…..Everyone is invited!

Hot Lunch Menu & Servers

Monday ~ Steakfingers ~ Lisa Sheldon
Tuesday ~ Fazoli's Spaghetti ~ Melinda Suchecki
Wednesday ~ Double Dave's Pizza ~ Staci Love
Thursday ~ Hot Dogs ~ Mari Beth Casson
Friday ~ Chick-Fil-A Nuggets ~ Larie Coleman

New Service Project - Recycling

In conjunction with the Keep Waco Beautiful Project, St. Paul's school will be recycling plastic bottles from now through the end of May. We're looking for water bottles, milk jugs, laundry detergent bottles, etc. Please rinse out bottles and put them in the big green trash can by the stage in the Parish Hall. Schools around the nation are collecting plastic in hopes of saving 45 million plastic bottles from going to the land fills. These plastics will be recycled into jackets, backpacks, park benches, etc. If we are one of the top 100 schools, our students will each receive a backpack made from recycled plastic. Last year, we were the 101st school. We just need a little more effort to be in the top 100! Thank you!

Komen Race for the Cure

It's that time of year again! St. Paul's is sponsoring a team to run/walk in the Komen Race for the Cure, which will be held this year on May 3, beginning at 8 a.m. Our team is participating to honor our own breast cancer survivor, Claudette Basden. To join in, go to www.komencentraltexas.org and sign up by April 19. Cost is $25 per participant.

This Week at St. Paul's

March 4 ~ 8:15 a.m. ~ Parents & Friends meeting
March 6 ~ 6th Grade to Medieval Times
March 6 ~ 2:15 p.m. ~ 3rd Grade Musical in Parish Hall
March 7 ~ T-Shirt Day
March 8-16 ~ Spring Break

Basketball Games This Week

March 3 ~ 6:00 p.m. ~ 3 Point and Free Throw Contest @ TCA gym
March 3 ~ 7:00 p.m. ~ Sixth Grade Boys vs. St. Louis @ TCA gym

IB in Action

Attitude of the Week ~ Independence
~ To make your own decisions and
to be able to defend what you say or do~

Choose-Act-Reflect ~ One of the thinking processes encouraged by the IB program is "Choose-Act-Reflect." Students and teachers are encouraged to choose a course of action based on research and personal perspective. After debating the various choices one can make, it is then important to take a step of action and do what was chosen. Then, the most important step, which is also the one most forgotten, is to reflect on the action to decide if it was the correct step to take. Children sometimes have difficulty seeing how their own actions lead to the situations in which they find themselves. One of the goals at St. Paul's is for all of the people in the community to think honestly about their strengths and weaknesses and to make decisions that are well thought out. This week the attitude of the week is independence, which fits right in with the Choose-Act-Reflect. The process is individual because in the end, we are independently responsible for the choices we make.

Annual Fund

As we enter the 2nd half of the school year, it is so difficult for us all not to have a touch of Spring Fever (or the Flu for some).  As we enjoy the buds blooming and the grass turning back to a vivid green, I ask you to take a moment to think about the ever blossoming minds of our St. Paul’s children. They are bursting with energy and excited about learning. Thankfully, St. Paul’s Episcopal Day School fosters this enthusiasm through a superior curriculum and nurturing environment. We are blessed to have a terrific administration and talented teachers. All of this could not be offered without the continued support from our tuition and fundraising efforts. At this time we are mid way through our Annual Fund Campaign. The Board of Trustees uses this particular fundraiser to offset the difference between what we charge to educate each child, and what it actually costs us to do so. Said specifically, there is a $1500 shortfall per child each year. Some of you might ask, then why don’t we just raise tuition? Simply answered, the Waco market won’t allow it. So…annually we ask you for help. If you have already given to the 2007-2008 Annual Fund Campaign, please accept my heartfelt THANK YOU. If you have not yet given, please consider making a pledge or contribution. Your participation is critical to the continued success of our school. No amount is too small! We are striving to have 100% participation. Please be a part!

Most Sincerely,

Loren Schwartz
President
Board of Trustees