FROM THE LOWER SCHOOL HEAD

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Greetings from the Lower School,
 
I hope this letter finds everyone in good health and spirits.  This has been both a relaxed and productive summer.  We’ve been busy in the office getting things ready for what we hope will be a wonderful new school year.  On a personal note, Sam and I had the luxury of enjoying some extended time with our adorable grandchildren, as well as traveling to California to kayak down the Russian River and visit numerous wineries — needless to say, I am feeling refreshed and relaxed.
 
In addition to some well deserved R&R, many of the faculty spent part of the summer working on collaborative curriculum projects or attending a variety of summer conferences. I plan to share details of their work with you throughout the year.  Their academic endeavors and professional growth pursuits will definitely enrich the students’ learning experiences this year.
 
You’ll be happy to hear that there are only a few changes regarding our stellar faculty.  We are very delighted to welcome Sandy Flores to our Spanish department. She replace Mercedes Osella, who happily accepted the position of fourth grade homeroom teacher, vacated by Elva Bruce.  Sandy brings nine years of teaching experience. She has taught in Mexico City, Houston and most recently at St. Matthew’s Episcopal Day School.  She has a B.A. from Menlo College and is a native Spanish speaker.  Some of you might know Sandy as the mother of two St. Andrew’s students.  We are also very fortunate to have Andrew Rist, a St. Andrew's graduate and Harvard scholar, join us to teach Latin in both Lower and Upper School. He will replace beloved Latin teacher Gaylan Dubose, who retired, and Lauren Dill who will now teach Latin full-time in the Middle School.

We are also very excited to announce that St. Andrew’s received a grant from the RGK foundation to underwrite a second learning specialist position.  KimMarie Suhr will be working collaboratively with Pam Craig in this position and we have hired Gloria King to take KimMarie’s second grade homeroom.  We got to know Gloria last year while she worked as one of our regular substitutes.  Gloria was highly regarded by our faculty for the caring and professional manner in which she handled every classroom assignment. She has four years of teaching experience in Bryan, San Antonio, and Austin.  Gloria is the mother of two and married to a St. Andrew’s alum.  She has a B.S. from Texas A&M University.
 
Below are several downloadable files that have to do with school policies.  In addition to the regular reminders I send each year, I wanted to call your attention to the “dress code”, the “absence due to travel”, and the “tardy” policies because each has been slightly amended.

1-4 Dress Code & Absences
5-6 Dress Code & Absences

•  Lunch program – Patricia’s Lunchbox will again provide lunches for our campus Tuesday through Friday.  I highly encourage you to sign your child up for at least one of the days.  These lunches are both delicious and very nutritious.  Parents' Council will again oversee the pizza lunches on Mondays.

Patricia's Lunchbox Sign-up
Fall Pizza Sign-up

• Fast food lunches – please save fast-food/restaurant lunches for your student’s birthday or other special occasion. Also remember that soft drinks are not allowed for students in the lower school.  Please save that special treat for another time. 
  
  
• Lost and Found – We had a lot of clothing items, lunch boxes, etc left at the end of the year.  A wonderful team of parent volunteers worked diligently to return these items to the rightful owners when they could be identified. It’s very helpful if you put your child’s name in clothing items.
  
  
• School Directory & All-School Parent Handbook – directories are typically ready about 3 weeks after the start of school.  A copy will be sent home with your student (and we’ll e-mail you to let you know to expect it). The directory is primarily contact information.  Other school related information and policies will be printed in the 1st-12th Grade Handbook with tabs for lower, middle and upper school. A hard copy will be available in the lower school office and available to you as a website download.
  
  
• Calendar events – a hard copy of the school calendar will be handed out to every student on the first day of school.  In addition, all calendar events will be posted on the St. Andrew’s website.
  
  
• Early morning arrival – you are welcome to drop off your student as early as 7:00.  All students will remain in the front hall until the 7:45 bell. (Note: Some teachers allow/encourage students to come to their homerooms before this time for early morning academic support. This information will be shared with the students so they can take advantage of this opportunity if needed.)
  
  
• Carpool – 1st and 2nd grade pick-up is in front of the school and 3rd-6th grade pick-up is behind the school on Bailey Lane (except for early dismissal when all grades get out at the same time and then 5th/6th carpool is in front of the 6th grade wing).  All drivers are asked to follow these guidelines:
  • Drop-off and pick-up only at the curb
  • Pull as far forward as traffic allows
  • Do not pull into the faculty parking lots for drop-off or pick-up
  • Students should not walk through the parking lots, it’s unsafe. Please drop off at the stairs which is much safer
  • Do not leave unattended cars in the carpool line
    
    
• After school policy – all students remaining on the St. Andrew’s campus, after their dismissal bell, must be supervised in one of the following ways:
  • Go to Beyond the Classroom (BTC) after school program
  • Participate in a sanctioned after school activity such as athletics, scouts, service trip, etc.
  • Work on homework with an adult in the library
  • Work with a tutor at an approved site on campus
  
  
• Homework policy – typically students will have 20 minutes of homework per night beginning in 1st grade; the time requirement will increase by this increment each year through 6th grade, (e.g., 2 hours/night in 6th grade).  If you find that your student falls significantly outside this norm, please contact your homeroom teacher to discuss the situation.  We want to help serve as a resource to both students and parents.


• Test & quiz definitions – tests require advanced study, are announced in advance and are weighted more heavily than other grades.  Quizzes require little or no extra study because they cover less material that has been recently covered in class.  Quizzes are often not announced in advance and are weighted less than other grades. There is a 6th grade test and projects calendar posted on all the homeroom teachers’ websites.  Information regarding tests and projects for the four core subjects as well as Spanish and Latin is included.


• Athletic shorts – “soffe” shorts and other types of short athletic shorts are reserved for afterschool athletics and should not be worn during the day (the one exception is the “loose and to the knee” type).
  
  
• School dress day – every Wednesday and on field trips unless otherwise noted, students are asked to wear khaki or navy blue shorts, pants, or skirts along with a collared shirt of any color.  Athletic shoes should be worn daily.


• Cell phones – students are always welcome to use the office phone.  Cell phones are unnecessary, distracting, and should not be brought to school. If there’s a compelling reason why your child needs to bring a cell phone to school, it should be turned off and tucked away in a backpack.


• Anti-bullying policy – we are committed to providing a caring, friendly, and safe environment for all our students enabling them to learn in a relaxed and secure atmosphere.  Bullying of any kind is unacceptable at our school.  If bullying does occur, the students are assured that incidents will be dealt with promptly and effectively.  We are a TELLING school. That means that anyone who knows that bullying is happening is expected to tell a faculty member or administrative staff.  The procedures and outcomes are outlined in our 1st-12th Grade Handbook.


• Invitation/Party policy – when hosting a party that includes the majority of the class, all students should be included (or the full subset such as all boys or all girls).  Invitations should not be distributed at school unless the whole class is invited.
• Trading cards, etc. – students should not bring “stuff” to school to play with or trade, (e.g., silly bandz, baseball cards, iPods, etc.).  Decks of cards, checkers and other games are available to the students to be used before the morning bell rings.
  
  
• Chewing gum/candy/soft drinks – are not allowed on the lower school campus.


• Boxtops for Education – please save the “boxtop coupons” from the tops of General Mills products.  One of our St. Andrew’s parents coordinates this program.  The money generated from this program is used to buy “extra” books in the lower school. 

Sometimes a parent will say, “I haven’t wanted to bother you, but…”  Hearing from you is not a bother.  I maintain an open door policy and believe that a strong relationship between the school and the family is fostered by comfortable communication.  Working together is always the best way to problem solve.   Please call me or drop by if you have any questions or concerns.  
 
Best wishes to all our families for a productive and satisfying school year.
 
Warm regards,
Sharon Wilson