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FROM THE DESK OF STEVE LORENZ
| Daily Life at TGS and the Student and Parent Handbook
Daily life at The Grammar School is incredibly busy and diverse. Each day brings new explorations and discoveries. Your child's day is packed with a variety of learning opportunities, both on and off campus. As parents you play an important role is supporting and partnering with us to make these days, weeks, and the entire school year successful. There are many expectations you have for us as your child's educators, and many expectations we have for you as our "parent partners." One of our expectations for parents, that allows us to start each day successfully, is for students to be to school on time. Students should arrive at school no later than 8:15 am (you may begin dropping students off at 8:00 am). Class begins promptly at 8:20 am, and the school day ends at 3:05 pm. That gives us a little over 6 and 1/2 hours to complete a full and rich day of classes and activities.
This information and much more about daily life and the school year at TGS can be found in Section 2 of the Student and Parent Handbook. All new parents received a hard copy of this document and it also resides on our website at www.thegrammarschool.org. Once again I encourage you to read and refer to this document as it contains many pages of valuable information. And of course, when in doubt reach out to your child's teacher, the front office, or me.
Annual Fund Campaign Kick Off - Goal Once Again Set at $100,000.
Within the next week we will begin our 2011-2012 Annual Fund Campaign. Thank you to those of you who participated last year and helped us raise over $100,000. As we strive for our $100,000 goal again this year, parent participation is critical. We ask trustees, faculty, staff, and parents to all give, as 100% participation is just as important as how much you give. Foundations and individual donors do ask about the participation level of our community members and often weigh this statistic when determining their gifts.
For your information, we do not rely only on current parents to reach our fundraising goal. Our mailing reaches over 1,000 alumni, friends, grandparents, businesses, and former faculty, staff, parents, and so on. The Annual Fund Campaign funds student programs, faculty salaries, and student scholarships. The Annual Fund and our two big fundraising events, The Medieval Faire and the Spring Event, bridge the difference between the tuition you pay and the actual cost of educating each child here at TGS (a $1,500-$2,000 a gap per student per year).
Thank you in advance for your participation. If you have questions about the campaign please be in touch with Pauline O'Brien in the Development Office.
Sharing Life Experiences at TGS
 Quite often teachers and staff invite speakers to come to TGS and share their life experiences with our school community. We feel these are important learning opportunities for all of us. This past Tuesday I had the good fortune of being with our 7th and 8th graders as they heard from a friend of Laurie Fichter and TGS, and former resident of Westminster VT, Neil Taylor. Neil shared with us his incredible journey of going totally blind three years ago at the age of 29. TGS students were riveted to their seats as they listened to Neil's struggles, his fears, and his triumphs. I was very moved by Neil's time with us and so very proud of our students. They were attentive, respectful, asked poignant questions, cried, laughed, and personally thanked Neil at the end our time together. Both the 7th and 8th graders had or are reading "The Miracle Worker," a story of the life of Helen Keller and her teacher Anne Sullivan.
Steve Lorenz
Head of School
Day of the Dead art projects on display |
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Venez tous! Venga todos!
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Venez tous! Vengan todos! The French and Spanish classes are very excited to announce our first annual Foreign Language Night to be held on Wednesday, November 2, at TGS. Come celebrate the diversity of the cultures and contexts where Spanish and French are spoken.
Students in grades K-6 will perform songs and other short forms of entertainment in the auditorium from 6:00 to 6:45. Please make sure all children in grades K-6 are in their classrooms by 5:50 pm.
Grades 7 and 8 will present a rich variety of cultural topics in the Upper School from 7:00 to 7:45. Students should be at TGS Upper School no later than 6:45 pm to set up for their presentations.
Please mark your calendars for this special evening, November 2.
We very much hope that all families will be able to attend and enjoy this evening!
Gracias y hasta pronto,
Susan
Merci et à bientôt,
Johanna
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| Upper School Boil Water Notice | Due to the need for system maintenance/repairs we are on a boil water notice at the Upper School only, until further notice. Please feel free to email Chris Harlow with any questions.
Thank you,
Chris Harlow
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SPORTS
|  The 7th-8th Greenwood Soccer Tournament is coming up this weekend, November 5-6. See schedule.
For all other grades, fall sports are finished for the season. Please return soccer jerseys and running singlets to Deb or Mary.
Check next week's Wednesday Notice for important information on our winter ski programs. |
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Open House at TGS November 5
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SKI/SKATE SALE DEC. 1-2
| TGS annual ski/skate sale will be held in the theater from 3:00-5:30 on Thursday, Dec. 1 and all day on Friday, Dec. 2. Donations needed!
This is a fundraiser for the Putney Bill Koch League XC ski program, and also an opportunity for you to pass on your outgrown equipment and retain a percentage of the sale to purchase other equipment. We suggest a donation to the BKL program of 20-50% of the items sold. Please use this month to go through your winter equipment and decide what you would like to recycle. More information will follow. Reminder: please mark your items with your name and the percentages for you and for the BKL, i.e. 60/40 indicates that the donor gets 60% and BKSL gets 40%.
Thanks, |
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Putney Community Supper Nov. 11
| The Grammar School is pleased to host the Putney Community Supper on Friday, November 11 from 5:30-7pm at the Historical Society/Next Stage building.
We will be serving soups, salad, bread, and dessert, and we'd love your help. If you are willing to contribute any of the following, please contact Tara for details:
2 gallons of soup - email Deb for options
2 dozen brownies or cookies
An hour or two of your time to help with setup, serving, or cleanup
We plan to bake bread or rolls with students for the event.
Thank you,
Tara |
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PUTNEY FOOD SHELF
| PUTNEY FOOD SHELF: THIRD GRADERS ARE COLLECTING FOR THE MONTH OF NOVEMBER. NON-PERISHABLE GOODS MAY BE BROUGHT TO BOXES OUTSIDE THE MAIN OFFICE OR THE THIRD GRADE CLASSROOM. Many, many thanks to all for your continued generosity.
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Note Taker for Board of Trustee Meetings Needed
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The Grammar School Board of Trustees is looking for someone to take notes at their meetings. Trustees meet on the fourth Tuesday of each month from August to June at TGS from 6-8 p.m. A note taker would need to attend each meeting and record in detail the work of the trustees, and compile their notes into minutes. The notetaker would receive $50 payment for each meeting.
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ORDER TGS T-SHIRTS AND SWEATSHIRTS!
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COMMUNITY NEWS!
| Come see TGS Grads Molly Brennan '10, Nevie McOwen '11 and Wyeth Olmsted '11 in Vermont Academy's fall play production!
On Friday, Nov 11th and Saturday, Nov 12th, Vermont Academy will present THE IMAGINARY INVALID by Moliere, an adaptation by Miles Malleson. This adaptation of Moliere's classic farce is the story of a modern man riddled with anxiety over his debilitating disease - life. Argan's obsession with the institution of medicine causes him to blindly jeopardize the happiness of his daughter, Angelica, by insisting that she marry a doctor for his own medical convenience. Angelica, however, is in love with another and is beside herself at her father's decree. Thanks to Argan's brash and clever maid, Toinette-Angelica's fervent defender-the scheme unravels quickly, in the end proving to Argan that true love can, and should, triumph over even modern medicine -and those who adhere too closely to its precepts. The punch line of this classic satire still hits us where it counts, and the outrageous comedy makes it an easy pill to swallow.
The performance will be in the Horowitz Performing Arts Hall on Vermont Academy's campus at 7:30 both nights. Run time is approximately 2 hours. Tickets are $10 at the door.
"Mother Nature's Child", a documentary about nature deficit disorder, is based on Richard Louv's, "Last Child in the Woods." It is showing at the Hooker Dumham building on November 6 at 3:00. This showing is free and will be followed by a talk from David Sobel of Antioch.
You can view the trailer here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OzhnBaJ9p78
West Hill Women's Night - Saturday, Nov. 5 from 5-7pm - An evening of fanciful fun for women! Enticing specials from Isis, Ibex, Mountain Hardware, and Salomon. Indulging products from the Putney Coop and delicious delectables from Meditrina. Network with other women who also love to play outdoors - bring your business cards.
The Drowsy Chaperone, a musical with dancing, starring a wonderful cast of students from Leland and Gray including TGS grad Addie Mahdavi, will be playing on November 10, 11,12 and 13 in the Dutton Gym on Route 30 in Townshend. Times are Thursday at 7:00Pm, Friday at 7:30, Saturday at 3:00 and at 7:30, and Sunday at 3:00. Tickets are $8 for adults and $5 for students. If you have questions please email verbatim@svcable.net, or call 365-7355 X204. Tickets do sell out, so please reserve if possible.
Monadnock Region Fiddle & Cello Workshop with Greg & Jessie Boardman, Accompanied by Mary Cay Brass on Piano Saturday, November 5, 2011 at The Starving Artist,10 West Street, Keene, NH 03431.
1 pm Advanced, 2 pm Intermediate (and Advanced), 3 pm Beginner (and Intermediate and Advanced), 4-5 pm Contra Dance! Participants will receive sheet music and a CD to prepare workshop tunes for the contra dance. Students do not need to know all the tunes in their level to participate. Contact Jessie Boardman at jessiefiddle@gmail.com. |
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