ONLY AT STANBRIDGE
We ended the year with a visit from the one-and-only Stanbridge Santa and lively performances at the Annual Holiday Concert. A highlight of the concert is the leadership of performance arts teacher Tobias Banks, he certainly makes our students shine bright. Thank you all for supporting this annual event. (Stay tuned to social media over break for lots of pictures... and get a sneak peek in the weekly collages below!) Thank you to the Stanbridge community for your thoughtfulness, generosity, and support. We appreciate the gifts and the snacks that were brought in for the staff on Tuesday, as well as through the rest of the week. We were able to feast on savory and sweet treats all week long! ANNUAL FUND UPDATE We have now reached over 85% participation in the 2024-25 annual fund from our parent community! A special thank you to our Advancement committee members Cindy Kuenhle, Kinga Czegeni, and Sherrie Shagong for sending emails and making calls to help us close the gap. It takes a village – we appreciate all you do for our community. We all wish you health and happiness as you head off into Winter Break to celebrate the holidays. Spending time with friends and family to laugh, relax, and recharge. Wishing you joy to come in 2025. Happy Holidays! Julie Smith & Danny Martin It's hard to believe that we have just one more week of school before Winter Break and the new calendar year! It will be a busy week ahead full of festivities and, of course, continued learning. We hope to see all of you on campus for our All School Holiday Concert on Friday from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m.
Thank you for your generous response this Giving Tuesday in support of our annual fund. Our community has raised over $160,000 so far with over 70% of our parents contributing. Our annual fund supports all aspects of our program – from Social Learning to scholarships, from Middle El's extensive civic studies to High School Student Government. Application approval for outside grant funding often relies on 100% participation from our community, including trustees, staff, and the parent body, too. There is still time to make a year end gift to our school and to help us reach 100%! Our Board and Parent volunteers will be making phone calls soon to get us to 100%, so avoid the call and make your gift today. Every gift, of any amount, is an appreciated investment in a child’s future here at Stanbridge, and will make a real and significant impact. Stay Strong, Bulldogs! Julie Smith Head of School As we head into our Break, many of our families will be observing Thanksgiving. We hope you will have the chance to gather with friends or family and enjoy some special time together. These times, building family traditions and having time together away from the hectic pace of everyday life, form amazing memories for your children. Now that the holiday season has begun, we would like to express our deep gratitude to the entire Stanbridge community. To our families that entrust us to care for and educate your children in an environment where they are seen for their individual talents and skills. To the students who continue to grow academically, socially and emotionally and who bring their unique talents to school everyday. And to our faculty and staff who support the learning and holistic health of our students, you are the heart and backbone of our school. We hope the week ahead will be restful and joyful! When we return from break, there will be many holidays that are celebrated by our diverse community. We wish each of you a restful season with family and friends as you gather to share time together. Stay Strong, Bulldogs! Julie Smith Head of School ELEMENTARY THANKFUL TREE
Dear Stanbridge Community,
We have had another eventful week at school with our 10th-12th graders on experiential trips. The pictures we have seen show engaged, and happy students – check some of them out below and stay tuned to social media channels for more. These overnight trips help our students practice independence and responsibility as well as work on their executive functioning skills. A huge thank you to our faculty chaperones for providing the guidance and support that make these trips successful. Overnight experientials always kick-off a busy time in the Stanbridge calendar leading up to the all-important Fall Parent-Teacher Conferences. This week, you should have received instruction to sign up for conferences on consecutive Mondays, November 4th and November 11th. Most core faculty members are available to meet with you during these conference days. Please be sure to sign up for your chosen time/s by the Friday prior to conferences. See Tuesday's email for the link to sign up for Middle School, High School, and Specialists. Email your K-5 teacher to sign up for core Elementary conferences. All conferences will be on Google Meet. We are holding an Open House for High School on October 22 for prospective families interested in enrolling their child at Stanbridge. We are also holding a Special High School Open House for our current 7th and 8th grade families the following Tuesday on October 29. Both of these open houses are on campus from 9:00- 11:00 a.m. and will include time to hear about our program and to tour the classrooms in session. Our Bridges class is co-hosting a Preparing for College Zoom session with the Landmark Success Center on Wednesday, October 23, at 5:00 p.m. High Schoolers and their families can join us to see “What Comes Next: an overview of post-secondary options.” This session will include educational and vocational options as well as what supports are available and should be requested. Zoom link to be shared early this coming week. This coming Friday, October 25, from 6:00-8:00 p.m. will be our first High School Dance of the school year! Appropriately Fall-themed for Halloween, the entire High School is invited to attend. So, get your costumes ready and RSVP for this fun, social event. Lastly before Halloween, we have over 125 people signed up to attend our annual community Back to School Picnic on October 27 from noon- 2:00 p.m. If you have not yet signed up, it is not too late – RSVPs are due this Monday. This event is for our Stanbridge community – past and present – and their family members, too! We will provide food and snacks, all you need to do is come enjoy lunch and games with other Stanbridge families! Stay Strong, Bulldogs! Julie Smith Head of School Dear Stanbridge Community,
We had a great week of school and have been enjoying the cooler weather! Remember there is no school this Monday, October 14, for Indigenous Peoples' Day. On Monday morning, when school is closed, our Seniors will head out for their week in Yosemite Valley. Please make sure your Senior is at school no later than 9:00 am on Monday. The van will load up and head out for the long drive shortly thereafter. Our Sophomores and Juniors will also have their experiential trip next week! Wednesday morning they will head out to the Mother Lode/Gold Country in Lotus, returning to school early evening on Friday. We are excited that they will also have the chance to go white water rafting as a part of their trip this year. Please be sure you turn in any medications needed for the trip so that we will not have any delays. These overnight experiential trips give our students the opportunity to practice autonomy and responsibility; create closer bonds with their peers and teachers; improve communication and collaborative skills; and engage in appropriate challenges – all in safe and supportive environments. Middle School students will take part in their overnight trip to the Marin Headlands from November 13-15. We will share pictures and highlights from the trips next week. Enjoy the long weekend ahead! Stay Strong, Bulldogs! Julie Smith Head of School Dear Stanbridge Community,
It is hard to believe that the calendar turned to October this week, especially given the unusually high temperatures. Please remember to send a refillable water bottle to school with your child every day. We have water filling stations at school and encourage students to stay well hydrated to beat the heat. We have a series of open houses that will be coming up this fall. Word of mouth about our great school is one of the main ways families come to Stanbridge. Please consider spreading the word about these open house opportunities to families you know who have a child that could benefit from a Stanbridge Academy education. Invite your friends whose children could benefit from Stanbridge.
RSVP Online: Stanbridgeacademy.org/admissions. Have a great weekend! Stay Strong, Bulldogs! – Julie Smith, Head of School Dear Stanbridge Community,
It was wonderful to welcome so many of our families to Back to School night last evening. We heard from many of our parents how impressed they were with the teachers and their presentations. It is a highlight for our staff to see our students' parents as well. We are partners in your children's educational journey. Today, the staff continued in our quest for excellence in our field of education for neurodiverse students. We reviewed an essential tool in our social emotional learning: Leah Kuyper's Zones of Regulation. You can click on the link to familiarize yourself with these zones. You might be surprised that our staff uses these zones for their personal feelings too. Today we also welcomed Jennifer Abrams, an educator and communications specialist. Ms. Abrams is widely known for increasing intergenerational communication through a variety of exercises and discussions. The materials we engaged with were based on Jennifer’s most recent book, Stretching your learning Edges: Growing (UP) at Work. Having the time for staff to engage in meaningful ongoing education is critical for school improvement. Faculty and staff building a trusting, working relationship improves student outcomes as well. Stay Strong, Bulldogs! Julie Smith Head of School Dear Stanbridge Community,
We are wrapping up our third week of school and starting to settle into routines. This past week the Stanbridge Parent Association (SPA) held its first meeting of the school year. It was encouraging to see so many new faces joining us! Danny Martin shared about our CARES program, and our Positive Behavior Interventions and Support (PBIS) program. We will continue to highlight different aspects of our program during upcoming in-person SPA meetings. We hope more parents will be able to volunteer this year to help with the many SPA activities. We are alternating between in-person and Zoom for the SPA meetings to try to encourage more families to participate. The next SPA meeting will be October 2 on Zoom from 12:00 - 12:30 pm so that you can join us from wherever you are during your day. SAVE THE DATE- BACK TO SCHOOL INFORMATION There will be two sessions for the “Back to School” programs on September 19, 2024:
The “Back to School” programs will allow you to hear from your student’s teachers and ask general curriculum questions. If you have more individualized questions regarding your child, we encourage you to email your child’s teacher directly and reach out to set up a time to connect. Parent Teacher conferences will be held in November and those meetings will be specifically about your child. We look forward to seeing you at the Back to School programs and happy weekend! Stay Strong, Bulldogs! Julie Smith Head of School Dear Stanbridge Community,
This week was all about settling into our school routines. It is always a pleasure to see happy students in classes and also outside learning and playing. This year, a bright spot has been our new sports court. Through your generous donations at the 2024 Gala, we were able to have the old court replaced to make it an inviting place to be. Our students are enjoying using the Sport Court for Physical Education and for recess/lunch breaks. The photos below capture just some of the ways that the sport court is being used: Coach Gage is warming up with his Middle School Physical Education class and, lunchtime basketball with Middle and High School playing together with teacher, Daniel Geller. Enjoy the Labor Day long weekend ahead and we will see you back at Stanbridge next Tuesday, September 3. Stay Strong, Bulldogs! Julie Smith Head of School Dear Stanbridge Community, We had a very smooth beginning of the 2024-25 school year this week. It was wonderful to welcome students and families during our Back-to-School Orientation and Ice Cream Social on Tuesday afternoon. This provided an opportunity for students and families to meet faculty and staff, as well as meet new students and old friends prior to the first day of school. We appreciate that so many of you joined us on Tuesday. There was a tremendous amount of positive energy and enthusiasm around campus all week, and it is heartwarming to hear students share how happy they are to be back in school! Thank you to our Stanbridge Parent Association (SPA) co-chairs, Lisa Kennedy and Pamela Davies for hosting our back to school coffee get together! It was wonderful to see returning families welcoming our newest Bulldog families into the fold. This community is not only for your children, there is a wealth of information that our families are happy to share with one another. We will continue to look for opportunities to bring our families together to help build a strong community. Our first SPA meeting will take place on Wednesday, September 4th at 8:30am on campus. Danny Martin will be our guest speaker for this first meeting and he will share about our CARES Program, our School-wide Positive Behavioral Interventions (SW-PBIS) System. I hope you are seeing the positive energy at home that we are seeing after the first three days of school. I did hear quite a few students discussing how tired they are getting up early for school, so enjoy a restful, recharging weekend. We will see you back here for Week Two on Monday morning. It is going to be a wonderful school year! Stay Strong, Bulldogs! Julie Smith Head of School PS - Check out some photos from this week below! |
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