Hi RS Community,

Thank you to Phillip Beaurline for his generosity of time and talent this week. Mr. Beaurline is helping us update our marketing by providing us new photography of our building and classrooms.

This afternoon, Festival of the Photograph is speaking with our students about this year’s festival. Renaissance School is thrilled to be working with the Festival of the Photograph this year! Also this afternoon, students are busy planning the Annual Coffeehouse show and the upcoming Field Day activities.

Early next week the second semester exam schedule will be posted. Students should receive exam review sheets next week as well.

Students are also in the process of completing Class Evaluation Forms this week. This process occurs during the start of classes and is an evaluation of the overall class.

Green Light Driving School has scheduled several classroom sessions of Driver’s Education for this summer. Check the website www.drivegreenlight.com for the dates and times. Contact Sheila Jones @ 979-5300 with any questions.

Finally, Mr. Fugate is participating in the Farmer’s Market. Stop by and see him there! The Market is every Wednesday May through September from 3pm to 7pm at Meade Park, on the corner of Chesapeake Street and Meade Avenue.

Have a wonderful weekend!

We have officially entered the last month of school! Where did the year go?!

Thanks to Maren Stunes leadership in this year’s Food Bank drive, Renaissance School was awarded a “Schools Serve award for collecting the most amount of food for a High School”. Way to go Renaissance School!

Also thank you to the Parent Council for rallying up the end-of-year activity coverage. An email went out to each grade requesting specific contributions for specific upcoming events. Parent support is a key part of the success of these events. Renaissance School is so grateful for your contributions and help in making these events a success. Please contact Alison Wilson (craignal@embarqmail.com ) and Laura Farrell (lgf240@hotmail.com ) for more information.

Now that May is upon us, I will list the end-of-year events and information below:

Friday, May 4: 2:30-4pm, Senior Thesis Defense. All RS students are required to attend. RS parents and community are welcome to attend as well.

Friday, May 4: 4-4:45pm, Annual Student Art Exhibition. All art students are required to attend the length of the opening. RS COMMUNITY IS WELCOME!! Small refreshments will be provided.

Thursday, May 17: noon-1pm: Parent Council Meeting at Renaissance School. Bring a bagged lunch and join the discussion!

Friday, May 25: noon – 4pm, Field Day. Students will have regular morning classes. Students should bring a bagged lunch to eat at the Farrell’s house, as well as comfortable running shoes and attire. If the weather is nice, swimming is a possibility.
May 29-June 1: Semester exams

June 1: 5:30pm Awards Night and Senior Coffeehouse. Awards night should be attended by all–it is a special evening designed to celebrate student achievement. Following the Awards Night is Coffeehouse, a RS Tradition. For this, juniors dedicate a “show” to the seniors. It is often really silly, a lot of fun, and full of love. It is a great event leading to graduation.

June 2: 10am-noon, GRADUATION! This event is to be attended by ALL students in ALL grades. This year’s graduation speaker, Dr. Peter Metcalf, was selected by the senior class. Dr. Metcalf is an anthropologist and UVA Professor. Parents, extended family and friends, and alumni are welcome to this event. Set-up begins at 8am and we will need volunteers to help with this (the parent council is organizing parent help).

Have a wonderful weekend!!

Hello RS Community,

It is hard to believe this is the last week of April. As we look ahead in the final month of the school year, there are many exciting events coming up.

This week, our seniors finished their thesis presentations and will be preparing for next week’s senior thesis defense. Also, this week interim reports were sent home. Interims are written for students with significant improvement or decline in a subject, OR if they currently have a ‘C’ or below.

Congratulations to Alex Bragg on his acceptance to VCU!

Next week kicks off Independent Study speeches!

Upcoming events:
Friday, May 4: 2:30-4 senior thesis defense, 4-4:45 student art exhibition reception (all art students must be present during this time)
Wednesday, May 9: AP Calculus exam administered
Thursday, May 10: AP English exam administered
Tuesday, May 15: AP History exam administered
Friday, May 25: Field Day

Have a wonderful weekend!

Students and faculty have been enjoying senior thesis presentations all week. This week’s presentations came from Caroline (The Science of Baking), Devan (New Journalism), and Julia (Fame: A comparison of Andy Warhol and Lady Gaga). Next week presentations will continue with Erin, Christen, Alex, and Patrick. These presentations are a graduation requirement for the thesis class. Immediately following thesis presentations, we will have Independent Study Speeches, which will also be held during assembly.

Several students opted to participate in the National Day of Silence this year. The Day of Silence originated at UVA in 1996 and is the largest single student-led action towards creating safer schools for all students.

We will have a 2:30 dismissal this Friday, April 20, due to Interim Reports, which will go out next week.

Renaissance School welcomes Festival of the Photograph to our building during the week of June 3! Festival of the Photograph will be giving a special presentation to our students in the coming weeks.

Some important upcoming dates for your calendars:
May 4: Senior Thesis defense 2:30-4pm, Student Art Exhibition Opening 4-4:45
May 25: Field Day (more information to come)
May 28: No School
May 29-June 1: Semester exams
June 1: Coffeehouse and Awards night (times to come)
June 2: Graduation (10am-noon). Students and faculty will need to arrive earlier, but that information will be distributed closer to the date.

Finally, click the following link for information about a Parent and Teen Summit. Feel free to contact the organization directly if you are interested in signing up or for more information. Teen & Parent Summit Newsletter

Have a wonderful weekend!

Hi RS Community,

I hope everyone had a restful Spring Break last week. Congratulations to Christen Johnson on her Merit Award at this year’s McGuffey High School Student Art Show. Twelve high school students were awarded the Merit Award and the top three were chosen to receive an additional prize of monetary value, Christen was one of the top three. Congratulations!

This week students have been busy working on next year’s classes. All students need to arrange a time to meet with Ms. Johnson to look at classes for next year.

Also this week, seniors had the opportunity to meet with this year’s graduation speaker, Dr. Peter Metcalf. We are all looking forward to his commencement address and welcome him to our community.

Thanks to Lucy and Chris Thompson for coming in and speaking with our students about life as musicians both in practice and career. It was an inspiring presentation. Also, thank you to Rachel Needham for arranging an assembly visit with Saul Barodofsky, owner of SunBow Trading Company. Saul had some incredible stories and it was wonderful having him speak with our students.
Have a wonderful weekend!

Hello,

I have to begin by saying how impressed I was with our students and the music and performing arts programs. Their story and performance of Dante’s Mine was quite simply engaging and wonderful. I am still amazed that the entire piece was created by our students! Thank you so much to Ms. Mitchell and Mr. McCarthy for your leadership and guidance over process and performance and to Mr. Mitchell for his generous gift of carpentry skills! Also, thank you to Lawrence Levine for recording the show and providing the opportunity to view it online: http://kidcomet.com/dante/ Along the same lines, bravo to the parent council and student government for the success of Friday night’s auction!

Also, thank you to the parent council for the incredible parent-teacher dinner last night. It was wonderful to spend relaxed time with such a great community of faculty and parents.

Next Friday, April 6, Christen Johnson and Julia Grammer will have work on display at McGuffey’s Annual Student Art Exhibition. The work will be up for the remaining of the month. Also, Julia and Christen will have their portfolio exhibition at Renaissance School in the month of April. The exhibition will be up from Friday, April 13-27.

Congratulations to Caroline Bruce on her acceptance to UVA and Franklin and Marshall. Also to Christen Johnson on her acceptance with scholarship to Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art.

Have a wonderful Spring Break!

Hi everyone,
What a week! A special thank you to Eve Danziger for speaking to our students about her career as an anthropologist and UVA professor.

Congratulations to our environthon studdents on their third place finish in today’s competition at Walnut Creek! Renaissance School’s Environthon team is led by Mr. Fugate and includes Rachel Needham, Cullen Burk, Maren Stunes, Alex Bragg, and Ryan Ewell.

Also good luck to the performing arts and music students on this weekend’s performances of Dante’s Mine! Friday’s performance kicks off with a silent auction from 6:30-7:20pm in our front office space. The musical will begin at 7:30.

This afternoon, Renaissance School welcomes author Eleanor Henderson as part of the Festival of the Book. Eleanor will speak about the writing and publishing process and her career as a writer. Students who stay after Eleanor’s talk to help set up for the auction will be treated with a pizza dinner prior to preparing for the musical.

This week was also a big week for our seniors in hearing back from colleges. Congratulations to Christen Johnson on her acceptance with scholarship to Corcoran College of Art and VCU Arts. Also to Devan Daly on her acceptance to Eugene Lang. And to Caroline Bruce on her acceptance to Macalister, Bryn Mawr and Wooster with scholarship! Stay tuned for more to come!

Hello,
We are in the final hour of the third quarter. It is hard to believe that as of Monday morning we will begin the fourth and final quarter of the year! Where did the time go?

Next week will be very a full week at Renaissance School. We will have several guests visiting the school additionally we will have the final two art instructor candidates on Monday and Wednesday of next week. A sincere ‘thank you’ to those students that are participating in the search either by the meet-n-greet session or in the classroom.

On Friday, March 23, author Eleanor Henderson will speak with students about her career as a writer and the process of getting published. This visit is part of the Festival of the Book. Also on Friday, several students will be heading to the annual Envirothon competition. Good luck!

In anticipation of Thursday’s dress rehearsal performance, Renaissance School faculty agreed to a “no homework” evening on Thursday.

Friday, March 23, is the OPENING NIGHT of Dante’s Mine! This performance also marks a silent auction fundraiser put on by the Parent Council and the Student Government.
I have had a sneak peek at some of the items to be auctioned, and it is an event that is not to be missed! Bring your checkbooks–there are some incredible gifts! Saturday evening will be the closing show. You will need to book your tickets in advanced since there is limited seating! Please contact Mrs. Mitchell to reserve your seat.

Lastly, a reminder from the parent council: Thursday, March 29, at 5:30pm is a parent-teacher dinner hosted at the Farrell’s home. An email with more details will be coming soon.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Hello RS Community,

What a week! A snow day on Monday and spring weather two days later! We are entering into a busy time of the year next week–the end of the third quarter. Please work with your student to create a plan that will help balance all they need to complete, especially if they are behind with any work. Mrs. Mitchell is recommending all students bring homework to next week’s rehearsals so that it can get worked on during down times.

Congratulations to Alex Bragg on his acceptance to Appalachian State University! Also, congratulations to Caroline Bruce on her acceptance to the University of Connecticut! Julia Grammer was awarded the Teen Theater Award through Live Arts, congratulations!

Our Spring Musical and fundraiser is just around the corner! Be sure to attend either Friday, March 23, or Saturday, March 24. Please reserve your tickets with Ms. Mitchell via email. There is limited space, so please reserve early. The Friday night performance will include a silent auction fundraising event hosted by the Parent Council and the Student Government.

The RS Parent Council and the Student Government are asking for your help in donations for the silent auction. All creative donations are encouraged! Perhaps you could offer a service or a piece of art, or a gift certificate. Perhaps a group of parents or students could partner together to come up with something. Several items have recently been donated and we are looking to have a great auction!

Lastly, a generous thank you to Janet Bruce and Lucy Thompson for their incredible efforts in selling Playbill Ad Space!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Hi RS community,

Wow, what a week! We kicked off the week with a snow delay and ended the week with a Tornado Watch! Sandwiched in between the strange weather, were three open house days with lots of great visitors! Renaissance School students did a wonderful job at making our guests feel welcome and showing them around the school.

Wrapping up the week, students broke into groups and planned some of the details of next week’s Ninth Week trip. Below you will find a list of those details.

Monday: Green Adventure Project (Ropes Course) and campfire cookout. Green Adventure Project is located at Triple C Camp
What to bring: Students need to wear comfortable clothes and closed-toed durable shoes. bring a bagged lunch.
10am: Arrive at Renaissance School
9pm: Pick up at Triple C Camp, 920 Camp Road, Charlottesville VA 22902. If you would prefer to have your student picked up at Renaissance School by 9:20pm, please email me by Sunday evening.

Tuesday: Service work with Habitat for Humanity and Pine Knot
What to bring: bagged lunch. closed-toe shoes, weather appropriate clothes, water bottle, bug spray
11am: Arrive at Renaissance School. Students will divide up into service groups from school
4:30pm: Pick up at Renaissance School

Wednesday: Richmond Museums (Science Museum and VMFA)
What to bring: bagged lunch, comfortable walking shoes, nice and weather appropriate clothes
8:30am: Arrive at Renaissance School
4:45 (approximately): pick up at Renaissance School

Please make sure Ninth Week permission forms and payments are received by Monday morning.
Have a wonderful weekend!