Another week at ESK has come and gone! With all the activity in and around school, this time of the year always seems to fly by! We wish everyone a Happy Holiday season as we all prepare for Winter Break. 

12/12              Junior Kindergarten/Kindergarten Christmas Program - 8:45 a.m.

12/16              Middle School Christmas Program - 6 p.m. @ Ascension

12/19              Holy Eucharist - 10:30 a.m.

                       Christmas Break Begins - Dismissal at 11:30 a.m.

ESK Announces Expansion of Junior Kindergarten Program

Due to the success of our Junior Kindergarten program this year, ESK is proud to announce that the Board of Trustees has voted to approve an expansion to include three-year-old students in August of 2015! We will be using the same innovative model of a Reggio inspired approach in our new classroom. Students will be enriched with Spanish, Mandarin, Physical Education, Music, Art, and Library classes as well as a daily chapel service designed just for them. A Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday class or a Monday through Friday class will be offered. JK-3 will begin at 8:00 a.m. and end at 1:30 p.m. Extended care will be available until 6:00 p.m. Lunch and snacks will be served, and the class size will be limited to 16 students. The JK-3 classroom will be located right next door to the JK-4 classroom, and we are looking forward to sharing our beautiful campus with another set of inquisitive youngsters. Please tell your friends and family and learn more by coming for a tour or contacting the Admissions Office at 865-777-9032.

Winter Bands Concert

The ESK Band hosted a winter concert Thursday night in Googe Hall. Director of Bands Carrie Tedder led the Advanced and Beginning Bands as they played holiday classics such as "Angels We Have Heard on High", "Good King Wenceslas", Up on the House Top", and "Jolly Old Saint Nicholas". Grade 8 String Band students, under the direction of Ed Wing and Curtis Bower, presented "Silent Night"and "Ode to Joy" and joined the concert bands on "Jingle Bells" and "We Wish You a Merry Christmas". The concert was a treat. Great job to all the students!

Second through Fifth Grade students put on a spectacular show Tuesday night at St. John's Cathedral in downtown Knoxville. The program featured holiday classics such as "O Come All Ye Faithful" and "Silent Night" as well as other favorites like "Will You Be Ready for the Light?" and "Rise Up Shepherds." Students sang songs in many different languages, including Spanish, French, Ukrainian and Latin. Fifth Grade students provided the narration and Fourth Grade students participated in the Nativity Tableau. A special thanks to Choral Director Deb Sousa for coordinating this cherished annual tradition.

The First Grade classes took to the stage in Googe Hall on Thursday with their own Christmas Program. The students from Mr. Bishop's, and Mrs. Ottaviano's classes put on a wonderful show for their families and friends. The children opened the program with "Get Ready" and "Will You Be Ready for the Light" and wowed the crowd with such holiday favorites as "Jingle Bells" and "We Wish You a Merry Christmas". Other highlights included "Il Est Ne" and "Must be Santa". The students shared cookies and hot chocolate with their guests following the performance.  

The Parent Association's annual Winterfest event took place Saturday morning throughout the halls of ESK. Students and families enjoyed the 5K trail run, a visit from Santa and making holiday crafts. Special thanks to the Parents' Association and everyone involved with making this event such a success!

The Kline Gymnasium was full of excitement last Friday afternoon as the student body gathered for the annual Spelling Bee. Seventeen contestants were chosen for the event through individual class spelling bees. Sixth Grader Megan Quigley won the bee for the first time. Classmate Max Lancaster and Eighth Grader Paige Gleason finished second and third, respectively.  

Megan will now compete at the News Sentinel Southern Appalachia Regional Spelling Bee at Alumni Memorial Building on the UT campus in the spring. The first round of the spelling bee is a written test, which is held in the morning. The test will be graded over a lunch break, and the students with the top 50 - 60 scores will be announced and called on stage to compete in the oral bee at 1 p.m. The winner of the oral bee will be named Regional Champion and will represent our area at the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C.

A group of four ESK Middle School students had their art submissions selected for inclusion in the 2014 East Tennessee Regional Student Art Exhibition at the Knoxville Museum of Art. The exhibit runs through Sunday, January 11, 2015.

Sixth Grade: Ella Jones

Eighth Grade: Alex Carter, Paige Gleason, Miela Hurst

Middle School art teacher Philip Hoffman is thrilled that so many of the submissions were accepted into the show! Congratulations to all these students, especially Ella, who earned Honorable Mention for her drawing, "A Girl's Best Friend."

All students were recognized at a reception and awards presentation Tuesday night at the Knoxville Museum of Art. For further information on the process, awards, etc., please follow this link.

Members of the ESK Middle School Chorus, Lower School students and several faculty members marched in the WIVK Christmas Parade on Friday night in downtown Knoxville. The students sang carols and spread Christmas cheer while walking in front of and riding in the Big Love Bus, owned by ESK parents Renee and David Sprouse. What a treat for our students to spread the holiday spirit in the Knoxville community!

ESK Christmas Programs

The Junior Kindergarten and Kindergarten Christmas program will be Friday, Dec. 12, at 8:45 a.m. in Googe Hall. Children will present a variety of Christmas carols and secular holiday favorites for their families. Students may wear holiday clothes. 

Middle School Evening Prayer and Carol Service will be presented on Tuesday, Dec. 16, at 6 p.m. at Church of the Ascension on Northshore. Students in the 6th, 7th and 8th grade choruses will present an evening of Christmas music in the lovely setting at Church of the Ascension. The chorus will be accompanied by piano, flute and violin. All are invited to attend this beautiful evening worship. A reception will follow. 

Please contact Dr. Sousa at sousa@esknoxville.orgwith any questions regarding our Christmas programs. Thank you!

Library News

Author Visit

On Monday, ESK welcomed author Jessica Young to speak about her award-winning book, My Blue is Happy, as well as some of her upcoming titles. My Blue is Happy is her debut picture book that received glowing reviews and was awarded the Charlotte Zolotow award by the Cooperative Children's Book Center for its writing. Jessica's second picture book, Spy Guy: the Not-So Secret Agent, comes out this spring. Two new early reader chapter book series, Finley Flowers and Haggis and Tank Unleashed, are also expected this spring and fall. Young spoke to all Lower School students during her visit.

Guidance News

Banana Splits

"Banana Splits" is a voluntary peer support group for students whose family structure has changed, whether it is through separation, divorce, death, remarriage, or living with a guardian or relative. The goal of ESK's Banana Splits group is to help students cope successfully with their family structure by engaging in fun activities with their peers who have experienced similar family changes.

There are two different groups, one for students in grades 1-5, and the other for students in grades 6-8; both groups will meet with Mrs. Ross for six weeks, beginning the week of January 12. The Lower School group will meet in the new Lower School Multi-Purpose Room for a 30-minute session once a week, during the school day (time to be determined), and the Middle School group will meet in the Guidance Room once a week during lunch. The last session is the most fun - the kids get to make their own banana splits!

To participate:

* Attendance is voluntary. Not every child who has experienced a family change wants to attend Banana Splits (although most do!). Even within the group, the child can choose his/her own level of participation. A child never has to participate in any activity that might make him/her uncomfortable (honoring the Tribes Agreement, "Right to Pass").

* Confidentiality is important. Children are encouraged to share with their parents anything done or talked about in the group, and their own thoughts and feelings, but are not to share anyone else's information.

* Parent permission is requested. You know your child best, and you are the best judge about the appropriateness of a peer support group for your child.

Please let me know if you want your child to participate, or if your child fits the criteria but you don't want him/her to participate. Just send Mrs. Ross an email at ross@esknoxville.org, or call 777-9032, ext. 288.