In this edition
Important Announcements
Academic Updates
School Events
Volunteer Central
Extracurricular Activities
Student Council
Kudos Corner
Support MPA
Upcoming Dates                     
 
January 
1/31 - Career Day (school hours); Upper School Winter Dance 

 

Save the dates....

2/10/14 - Group Photo Day for Yearbook

2/21/14 - Invention Convention

2/22/14 - MPA night @ the Lake Erie Monsters

3/14/14 - MPA K-4 Math/Pi Night, 6:30 pm 

4/5/14  -  3rd Annual MPA Quiz Night: Revenge of the Quizmaster!

 

Hot Lunch next week: Tuesday-pizza; Thursday-hot dogs.

Important Announcements 
The latest news from MPA

Yearbooks On Sale 
It is time to order your 2013-14 MPA Yearbook. Don't miss out on this important keepsake.

Yearbooks can be ordered online or you can pick-up an order form at the front desk. 

 

Order online 
Go to: ybpay.lifetouch.com 
Enter Yearbook ID: 10096814 
Follow the simple steps and pay!
 
Elective Survey 
Don't forget to complete the electives survey sent home last week. If you need another copy, 
Academic Updates                    

February Parent Teacher Conferences
Parent Teacher Conferences will be held on February 13th and 14th. While the Lower School conferences will be conducted in same manner as before, the Upper School conference schedule is being re-worked to better serve individual needs. 

Upper School conferences will be conducted in the cafetorium, art room, and volunteer lounge with all of the middle school teachers set up in stations throughout the room. Parents will be able sign-up for a particular time block, and then will have the opportunity to meet with as few or as many of your students' teachers as desired. 
We hope this "buffet" style option will help families spend the time and attention where they have the most questions.

Sign-ups for February 13th and 14th will be available beginning Monday, February 3rd. 

School Newsletters

School Events

There is always something wonderful around the corner!  

 
Parent Book Club Resumes
The MPA Parent Book Club will be returning under the leadership of Dr. Susan Rakow. The first meeting will be held on Thursday, February 6, from 3:45-4:45 p.m
 
Parents who were previously a part of the sessions and new parents are all welcome. The group discussions and readings will help parents with questions about the social-emotional growth and development of their gifted youngster and their familial relationships, as well as questions about study habits and academic behaviors. 
 
Group discussions will, in part, come from A Parent's Guide to Gifted Children. New participants may wish to purchase a copy, but it is not required for attending the first meeting. 
 
What It Is

A supportive and positive environment for Menlo parents to learn new ideas and skills for parenting gifted children.

 

Facilitation

A facilitator to help coordinate readings and cultivate conversations.

 

Book

A Parent's Guide to Gifted Children; Webb, Gore, Amend, DeVries (2007).

 

Parents should RSVP to Dr. Rakow.  


Career Day
MPA is hosting Career Day next Friday, January 31st. Professionals from across the area and a variety of industries will be presenting to MPA classes. Students were surveyed for their preferences and will have the opportunity to learn more about particular areas of interest.
Volunteer Central - MPA Needs You!
 
Community Service Learning Programs
The second trimester Community Service Learning Program advisory classes are looking for parent volunteers to help work under the direction of the teacher and with the students around their chosen community service project. Parent volunteers would need to come in on Thursday mornings from 8:30 to 9:00 a.m., from now through February 27, 2014.  

The classes will also need volunteer chaperons on field trips in January and February to the Community Service organizations or destinations. 

Interested volunteers can download more information here. 
Volunteers must have BCI and have attended a volunteer training session
 
Invention Convention Support
Mr. Kiddey and Mr. O'Donnell will be working with students on Tuesday afternoons from 3:15 to 4:30 p.m. helping prepare them for the upcoming Invention Convention. If you can volunteer time to help with students needing support around this process, please contact Mr. Kiddey
 
Destination Imagination
Menlo Park has 3 fantastic Destination Imagination teams this year, and each team is required to provide 2 volunteer appraisers.  If we can't provide the required volunteers, our teams will lose 20 points before they even present their solutions!  
 
Each volunteer appraiser would work to judge other teams, (they would not be able to watch or judge the Menlo teams), and would be provided lunch. No previous experience with Destination Imagination needed - all training provided the day of the event.
 
Event Information
Date: Saturday, March 15th - All day (approx. 8 a.m.-5 p.m.)
Where: Beachwood High School
Who: Anyone over the age of 18 who can help for the day.
Please contact Rachael Haning if you are available to help.  Thank you! 
 
Extracurricular Activities                     

Don't Forget to order your Favorite Cookies!
Girl Scout Cookies will be on sale now through February 12, 2014! 
All the same great flavors for just $4.00 a box!!
 
Order your cookies here! Please give your name, phone number, preferred email, type of cookie(s), and quantity. All email orders sent will be divided among the girls for their order counts. Thank you for supporting MPA Girl Scouts! 

Family Outing with MPA!
The MPA night with the Lake Erie Monsters is quickly approaching on Saturday, February 22nd! Please join us for a fun night of watching the Monsters take on the Iowa Wild. Every student who attends will be entered into a random drawing to participate in the intermission Broomball show. Orders are due by Tuesday, February 18th at 3:00 pm.  Order forms are being sent home or can be downloaded here.
 
Student Council Update           
                                       
Upper School Dance
The Student Council-sponsored Upper School Winter Dance will be held on Friday, January 31st from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m.  
 
To help offset the cost of providing pizza and the DJ, the Student Council has decided to sell tickets to the Winter Dance for $3. Tickets will be sold every day next week (1/27 through 1/31) during the Upper School lunch periods and for the first 15 minutes of the dance on Friday.
 
In order to keep costs low, students are encouraged to bring a healthy snack to share with the group.
 
Dance Schedule

5:30 to 6:30 p.m.
  • Pizza and snacks; all grades together
6:30 to 7:30 p.m.
  • Dance; all grades together
7:30 to 8:30 p.m.
  • Dance; 7th and 8th grades only
  • Game/Hang-Out Room: 5th and 6th grades only
 8:30 p.m.
  • Dance ends; all participants to be picked up promptly
    Students will need to be signed out at the end of dance. Students riding home with another family will need to have pink slips from both families turned in by Friday morning, per MPA policy. 
Ten parent volunteers and chaperons would be greatly appreciated. If you are interested and available that evening, please contact Nicole Yousef 
Kudos Corner
 
Academic Achievements
Honor Roll Oversight
Congratulations to Cameron B. for being a part of the Honor Roll for the 1st Trimester of the academic year. He was unfortunately overlooked at last week's assembly; our sincere apologies Cameron! 
 
Scholarship News
A huge congratulations to David M. for earning a a merit scholarship through the St. Ignatius Scholars program, and full-tuition scholarship Benedictine Principal's Scholar Award! 

 

Making Great Music

Aidan S. has been selected to play violin in the Suzuki Youth Orchestra of the Americas. He will be traveling to Minneapolis this spring to rehearse and perform with the orchestra at the Suzuki Association of the Americas Conference, where he will meet musicians from both North and South America. Congratulations on this wonderful opportunity! 
Support MPA                    

 

Box Top Updates

Now through January 26th, you can earn up to 40 Bonus Box Tops when you buy select General Mills (Big G) cereals. Any variety of the following cereals are included in this offer: Cheerios, Chex, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Cocoa Puffs, Cookie Crisp, Fiber One, Golden Grahams, Oatmeal Crisp, Kix, Lucky Charms, Raisin Nut Bran, Reese's Puffs, Total, Trix and Wheaties.

Next week the Box Top Challenge will end, be sure to send in your box tops to be counted. The student with the most box tops at the close of the contest next Friday, January 31, will receive 2 free tickets to the Monsters game in February and get to ride the Zamboni!

Please be sure to send box tops in a plastic baggie or envelope with your child's name and grade/teacher written on it. Also write "boy" or "girl" as some names are gender neutral.

FYI: Just because the content ends, box top collections doesn't stop. Keeping sending your box tops in to support the school!
 
Annual Fund Appeal
It is not too late to support the Annual Fund at MPA. Annual Giving plays an important role in helping meet the needs of our students and school. Every gift of every size makes a positive difference! If you have not contributed to the annual fund, please consider donating today. 
Have Something for the Newsletter?
Information can be submitted via email to: [email protected] for review and inclusion in the weekly update. Submissions are subject to Director approval.