In considering  our new location two important changes will occur. The instructional hours will be somewhat earlier, from 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. The actual instructional time at Endhaven is 6 ½ hours. We find that amount of time to be supportive of our program design, so the goal is to keep the hours of instruction consistent. What will change is the actual start/end time. Class hours will be 8:30 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. Classrooms will be open at 8:15 a.m. with dismissal  at 3:10 p.m. Before and aftercare hours will be the same.

 

A second change for 2010/2011 is the elimination of our morning and afternoon bus routes. We will keep the bus for our more than 150 field trips, but we will not be providing transportation to and from the school. When the school moved 45 miles in 2005, our commitment to our families in Mooresville, Concord and other northerly locations was to provide transportation, so that transportation issues did not keep them from attending the school. With a more centralized, accessible location, this need is less acute, and the school will be able to transfer some transportation funds to other parts of the program. The transportation committee remains committed to assisting families with arranging carpools and other transportation needs.

 

We understand that these two changes are not insignificant.  However, both of them are aligned with the school mission and our vision of what the school will become in our new home.
 
The school science fair is Monday, January 25. Our original school events calendar listed the date as February 15. We had to change this date so that our students would be eligible for the UNC Charlotte Science Fair, the Science Fair at NCSSM and the North Carolina Science Fair in Raleigh. Parent viewing of the science fair is Monday evening from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
 
NC Testing Update - On Wednesday, January 20, students in grades 4 and 7 will participate in the second session of the NC Writing Assessment. Students will be given an on-demand prompt and are required to plan and write a comprehensive essay in an allotted time. The test will begin at 9:25 a.m.
 
On Thursday, January 14, our school hosted visitors from our sister school, The Affiliated Middle/High School of Shanxi University, in Taiyuan, China. Our guests were Dr. Hanjing Zhang, Vice President of Shanxi University and Party Secretary of the Affiliated High School of Shanxi University; Mr. Xinsheng Dong, Director of the Principal's Office and Ms. Wang the English translator for the delegation. We visited classrooms, discussed our admissions practices, school similarities, our proposed student exchange program, staffing, and other topics important to the sister school relationship. This picture is from our visit to the beginning of the Geography Bee in Ms. Pieper's classroom. Special thanks to Ms. Lisa Hu, our Chinese teacher, for logistical support during the visit, and to Professor Weihong Yan of the Confucius Institute at Pfeiffer University for his support of our Confucius Classroom.

 

For the first time in the history of our school, one student won both the Spelling Bee and the Geography Bee.  Congratulations to Devin McKillop (Bolick) as well as everyone who participated in these challenging bees.

 

For the earth,