April 13, 2012  

Dear Parents,
    

I hope that all of our families enjoyed Spring Break. I personally had a great Spring Break, spending 12 days with 19 of our Upper School students on a tour of Italy, France, and the UK. Each year, a spring break trip is offered to students in the Upper School. It is a great opportunity for students to visit other countries at an affordable price.

Mr. DiBianca (Head of the Foreign Language and International English Language departments and Spanish teacher) planned and organized this year's trip as he has done in the past. As one of three chaperones, I can honestly say the trip was wonderful, as were the students. Our group met up with two other schools and it was quite obvious which students were from Andrews Osborne Academy. They were well mannered and their behavior was representative of what we would expect of students at AOA. They were also lots of fun.

Our tours usually began between 8:00 and 9:00 a.m., and in most cases we would not return to the hotel until 10:30-11:00 p.m. The tour began in Milan, Italy and ended in London. One of the highlights for me was seeing the musical Les Miserables at the Queen's Theatre in London. When asked what was my favorite part of the trip, I usually respond "the entire trip". If any of our Upper School students are interested in next year's Spring Break trip, start saving now.

Kelly Tapager, Anna Javins, Mrs. Sylstra, Morgan Adler,
Mary Poropat, and Samantha Jackson in Nice, France.
 

Dinner with Friends

Found in this week's email newsletter is information you have already received regarding Dinner with Friends, coming up in two weeks on Saturday, April 28th. We planned Dinner with Friends as our primary fundraising event this year.  There are a number of dinner options available and we hope that you will attend one of them. Prior to the dinners, everyone will meet in our dining room for cocktails and you will be able to bid on baskets and student artwork. Ron Clutter, founder of the SPIRE Institute, and I will host a surf and turf dinner at SPIRE. Following dinner, a tour of this magnificent facility will be given.

I want to thank all of our host families for their support of the school.  Registration and pricing for all of the dinners can be found online under "Events" on the AOA website.   
 

International Day

Next Friday, April 20th, is our annual International Day Festivities. You are welcome to join us by attending the International Day program in the auditorium which begins at 1:15 p.m. If you have not attended in the past, you don't want to miss the program, which features traditional costumes and acts from a number of countries, all performed by our students.

Have a great weekend and week ahead.