This year we are losing some of our staff, who are moving on to retirement, marriage, and professional development.  We will be sorry to see them go, but wish them all the best:

Allison Peacock:

        Allison has accepted a new position at Growing Up Green.  She will be the Director of Math Education.

We wish her great success in her new position.

         After a long career as an educator,  and 10 years spent at Renaissance, Lelia is retiring.  Her teaching experience includes 28 years of teaching in Waldorf schools and institutions. She has a degree in Art Education and Fine Art and a Master's in Special Education.  We know she will enjoy having the time to paint the watercolors that she loves and we wish her all the best.

         Kindergarten and 1st Grade Loop Teacher SuhJin is leaving us after five years.  She is getting married and moving to Pennsylvania.  She wanted to share some memories with us all and made this video of her class over the last two years.

        Renaissance accepted its first class of Pre-K students this year.  Eighteen 4-year old "future leaders" will begin their education with us in September.  Obviously, we had to order a lot of supplies in an extra-small sizes!

       This also means a number of changes, as the Pre-K class will be held on the main floor.  For those families who did not attend the "meet & greet" of the new teachers (see article above) and see where your new classroom will be, please be sure you and/or your child arrives on-time the first day to help adjust with any changes- for example the 1st grade class will now be on the third floor!

       Any student who remains with Renaissance through their primary and secondary education we will be with us for 14 years and will graduate in 2028.  Another first for Renaissance!

Featured Article - Have You Tasted the APIL?

         Renaissance's "Annual Parent Information Letter ", or APIL, which sounds much tastier, is now available!  It is jam-packed with information you will need to know for the coming year, so please find it, download it, or come and pick up a hard copy!  You can find it attached to an email, if we have your current email address, you can find it on our website on the Parents page (http://www.renaissancecharter.org/parents.html) or you can drop by the office and request a hard copy.

Dear Renaissance Families,

 

        We are very happy to present you with our end of summer newsletter that gives you important information about what's to come in the 2014-2015 school year.

Our newsletters provide you with lots of great information about what is going on at Renaissance and I strongly encourage you to read each one.

        If you have suggestions for items you would like to see us cover, please email Peggy Heeney at pheeney@renaissancecharter.org.  This is your newsletter and we want to make it relevant to your needs. If there are any interested parents who would like to consider being a "guest reporter", please also let us know. We would love to have more involvement in this effort. Your talents and creativity will only make our newsletter better!

        Please make sure to read your Annual Parent Information Letter that will be coming to you shortly. It has been affectionately nicknamed the APIL with a picture of an apple nearby. Please know that we can spell apple, but definitely think that the play on words is fun. In fact, I suggested we call it the Big APIL since every year it gets larger and packed with more information to help you understand school policies, procedures and philosophy. Remember, that our mission is to "Develop Leaders for the Renaissance of New York" and so the Big Apple is an integral part of the Renaissance learning experience.

So, let me again encourage you to check out this newsletter and the others that will be sent to you via email. Make sure to notify us on your child's emergency contact form if your email address has changed.

Here's to a great school year!

 

Best,

 

Stacey

 

       There has been a worldwide focus on the benefits of having a 'mindful' classroom ~ one where students are given techniques to help them relax and be better prepared for the day ahead. These techniques can include stretching, meditation and yoga.  Our own 4th Grade teacher Christina has been doing just that with her class this year and her efforts and the effects on her class have been written up about in the Huffington Post.

 

 

Christina rockin' a pose!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

       In particular they discuss how this practice led to the great yoga fundraiser that the 4th grade class held to raise money for the Nature's Classroom trip. 

Read all about it here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mark-w-guay/the-mindful-classroom_b_5632358.html 

 

       Also, if you want to follow-up on the mural project Christina's class took part in this spring, visit http://vimeo.com/98370867 to connect to a video documentary.