Believe it or not, it's already time for first-quarter progress reports! And it's a good time to remind everyone that we are now on a quarter system and providing you feedback four times a year instead of three as before. This aligns with the Downtown Campus and provides more consistency for families with students in both locations. You will be receiving a link to access your child's progress reports today and hopefully most of the glitches gaining entry have been worked out by now! Please let us know if you still have any troubles.

Also today, look for an email from Alexandra and me with a letter of explanation about our progress reports on Friday too. We send this rationale and summation with the first-quarter reports to give you some insight into our methods and beliefs. (Also, we purposely align our conference dates with progress reports so parents can partner with teachers right on the heels of this important information.) One key item to note is the change in our year-end Effort Honor Roll criteria. Due to an additional reporting period, our new requirements are that students make the Effort Honor Roll two out of the first three quarters AND the final quarter. This may make attaining that distinction a little more difficult, but we think that is just fine. It should be a meaningful accomplishment. Look for the first quarter list in next week's newsletter, and we hope to see you at parent-teacher conferences next week!

On an entirely different note, we often sing the praises of our morning meeting as a wonderful way to start our day. It builds community and provides a meaningful forum to share many different types of information. From the practical to the celebratory to the inspirational and even, at times, disciplinary, it brings us together. I took the opportunity this Monday to read to the Middle School from an article in last week's Courier-Journal. It was about a Utah high school football coach who suspended his entire team for a lack of character and leadership. I read excerpts from it, including his definition of character. No summation was necessary at the end - it spoke for itself just fine. Several teachers commented on its power, and I made them copies and decided to share with you too. Click here for the link if you have a few minutes to read it for yourself.

Feel free to join us for a morning meeting on either side of the building anytime you like!

For those of you familiar with the Peace Education Program, Carrie has been back this week to facilitate trainings with our 6th and 8th graders. For those of you who are unfamiliar, the Peace Education Program is a local organization that has been working since 1982 to help children learn to constructively resolve conflict. Our 6th graders are in the process of leaning to be Cooperative Game Leaders and will start working with our students in the Lower School during lead/advisee time after Holiday Break. By working with the younger students, the 6th graders are improving their leadership skills and are helping teach the lower school students important skills such as communication, cooperation, and observation through fun and exciting games. As one 6th grader commented, "I like this process because I enjoy working with the younger students and am excited to show them how to do things that will help them." 

By now I bet most of you know that the Wyvern Store is now open two mornings a week--Wednesday and Thursday! I want to say a big thank you to Kim Diamond for all of her hard work and time in getting this accomplished! I know many of you signed up to help in the bookstore and I've passed your information along to Kim and she'll be contacting you soon! Also, please note that bookstore cards are available for purchase. Just send money in an envelope addressed to the Wyvern Store along with a note specifying your child's name and any spending limits you would like (i.e. no more than $2/visit). I apologize to anyone who put money on a card at Parent Night but whose child was told s/he didn't have one when s/he went to the bookstore. Those cards were left in the lock box after that event, but they are now in the bookstore where they belong! 

I also want to thank our Picture Day volunteers---Ariana Massey, Jennifer Keegan and Jenna Vetter! 

With class Halloween parties coming up soon, I want to take this opportunity to ask everyone to please respect our nut-free policy! If you're bringing in treats, please read the labels carefully and understand that we can not serve anything that contains or may contain nuts or is manufactured in a facility that processes nuts. As the parent of a child with a nut allergy, I understand this eliminates some yummy foods but it's the only way to keep all our kiddos safe! 

Finally, please mark your calendars for our next PA meeting, Friday, November 8th!

Parents,

All lost and found items will be laid out in the Main Amp during conferences Thursday and Friday. Please stop by and locate any items that belong to your family. 

Thank you.