ESK Junior Kindergarten through Fifth Grade students gathered together with faculty, staff and parents, along with Headmaster Jay Secor, Father Joshua A. Hill, and The Rt. Rev. George D. Young, III for the blessing of the Lower School Addition Wednesday morning. Following the 8 a.m. service, Middle School students and faculty participated in Holy Eucharist with Bishop Young at 8:45 a.m.

Kindergarten Pet Food Drive

A school-wide pet food collection project accompanied the longstanding tradition of the Blessing of the Animals at ESK in honor of St. Francis of Assisi. Kindergarten classes collected nearly 400 bags, totaling 2,510 pounds, of dry food for cats and dogs, which was donated to the FISH hospitality pantries to feed hungry pets belonging to Knoxville residents. The project was conducted in partnership with the LAMBS pet ministry at the Episcopal Church of the Ascension. Thank you to all who donated to this cause!

Boarding School Fair Recap

Representatives from 40 area and regional boarding and high schools were at ESK on Tuesday as part of the 11th Annual Boarding and High School Fair. Students and parents had the opportunity to become acquainted with the range of options available to them for their high school years. A special thanks to ESK Director of Special Events, Alice Smith, for her hard work in coordinating this event!

Hunger Hike

Nearly 30 ESK Middle Students, along with staff members and parents, participated in the FISH Hospitality Pantry's annual Hunger Hike on Sunday at Lakeshore Park. The hike raised $5,400 to support the ministry of the FISH Hospitality Pantry, and ESK students raised almost $1,000 of that amount. ESK also won the award for having the most number of young people in their group. Thanks to all those who supported this great cause!

School Picture Orders

School picture proofs were sent home yesterday. Completed order forms are due back Friday, October 17, with photo retakes scheduled for that same day from 8:30-11:00 a.m. in the Lower School Addition multipurpose room. Please make sure that if you were absent on the first day, you get your picture taken at that time.

Science Night at ESK

Families - Mark your calendars for Monday, October 20 from 5:30-7:30 p.m. for Science Night at The Episcopal School of Knoxville. This event is part of National Nuclear Science Week and is FREE for children and parents of the Lower School. Four hands-on activities will be provided as well as a demonstration of using a Cloud Chamber. Topics for the evening include nuclear security, electrical circuits, electromagnetism and half-life. For more information or call the school at 865-777-9032.

Fall Break

Just a reminder to all parents -- there is no school for students Friday, Oct. 10, and Monday, Oct. 13. Please have a fun and safe fall break!

Admissions Open House

ESK will host an Admissions Open House on Sunday, October 26, from 2-4 p.m. If you have questions (or for more information), please contact Admissions Director Susan Denton via email at denton@esknoxville.org.

Tech Department is Growing!

ESK's technology department is growing! Please join us in welcoming Jon Hersey to our school. Jon will be helping manage our school-owned devices, and developing our Maker projects and curriculum. We're excited to have him on board!

Tech Talk @ Tuesday's PA Meeting

At this week's PA meeting, we had a chance to discuss the future of technology at ESK, screen time for young children, and some educational app recommendations. Here is a link to the presentation. The apps we discussed as well-designed for students included Mathmateer, Lightbot, Hopscotch, Wet Dry Try, Bugs and Buttons, Puppet Pals, Coin Math, TeachMe (grades K-2) and Spelling City. Click here to see the presentation. Thanks so much to all who attended!

Tennessee Code Academy Workshops

The Tennessee Code Academy is hosting a pair of upcoming workshops geared for students. There is a web design and python workshop at the Knoxville Entrepreneur Center on Monday, Oct. 13, and Tuesday, Oct. 14. For more details, visit this website. The mission of the Tennessee Code Academy is to provide a progressive, programming education platform that immerses students in an engaging, real-world environment in which they are challenged to create with code.

PA News

PA Shutterfly Page

Please sign up to be a member of the ESK Parents' Association Shutterfly page. This is an easy way for parents to sign up and get involved with ESK! Please be on the lookout for some new events! Click here to sign up.

The ESK Parents' Association launched its annual fundraiser last week. This year, the PA is joining with Vienna Coffee to create a simple stream of monthly revenue for the ESK PA and, at the same time, show support of a local coffeehouse!

Here's how it works:

Eighty percent of the parents at ESK drink at least 1-2 cups of coffee each day. Why not have those coffee drinking habits help support our school and our students! Instead of buying coffee from the local grocery or Starbucks, you can now buy the highest quality coffee from www.viennacoffeeco.com and $3.00 from every bag of coffee purchased will be given back to the school. If you, your spouse, or your company, are coffee drinkers, this is a great opportunity to buy coffee AND SUPPORT ESK.

Go to www.viennacoffeeco.com and support ESK PA today! Click here for video with step-by-step directions for ordering. If you have any questions, please contact PA President Katherine Fielden at kikifielden@gmail.com.

Library News

Thank You!!

Lower School Librarian Miranda Clark would like to extended a big thank you to ESK Parent Mark Hacker for his hard work and donation of a beautiful piece of amphitheater seating for use in the Clayton Family Library. It is a great way for students to come together to read or hear a story.

Tuesday, November 4, 2014  2-3 p.m.  

Please join Miranda Clark and Nancy Laurence at the November Parent Association Meeting to discuss our Fall 2014 book selection, All Joy and No Fun (February, 2014) by Jennifer Senior. Click here for a full review.  

Come with your insights from the book or come to listen and decide if you would like to read the book. We are expecting Joy and Fun as we gather to share our stories. Click here All Joy And No Fun to purchase your copy via Amazon.