Hello RS Community,

Students and faculty working to get back into the swing of a regular schedule again after last week’s exams and the long weekend. Second quarter and first semester grades were submitted Wednesday morning and will be mailed home next week.

Thank you to those of you that attended Wednesday’s State of the School meeting. This annual meeting is a great opportunity meet other RS parents and Board members and learn about the goals and future of our wonderful school.

Congratulations to Christen Johnson on her acceptance to the School of Visual Art in NYC!

Finally, we are ending the week with a special surprise for our students: an afternoon at the ice park!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Hello!

Students are wrapping up their final exams today and thus completing the first semester. Monday is Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday, with no school. Tuesday is a faculty work day–students will not have classes this day as teachers prepare their first semester grades and reports. Classes resume on Wednesday, January 18, the first day of our second semester.

Renaissance School welcomes Mr. Erazo to our faculty! Mr. Erazo will be teaching the second semester physical activity class focusing on soccer. We are also welcoming Micayle Levine, who will be joining the Ninth Grade class.

Congratulations to Devan Daly on her acceptance to San Francisco State University! Also congratulations to Erin Reres on her acceptances to James Madison University and Mary Washington University! Well done seniors!!!

Additional congratulations to Ryan Ewell on his acceptance to Prescott College’s summer program!

Mark your calendars:
Wednesday, January 18, 5pm: The Annual State of the School meeting held in the Art Room. This meeting is hosted by the Board of Directors, Head of School, and Parent Council.

Have a great long weekend!

Hello!

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday break. This week marks the end of our first semester, with next week being semester exams.

Next week’s exam schedule was emailed to parents and students on Monday. A hard copy of the schedule was distributed during Monday’s assembly and several hard copies are posted around the school. All exam schedule conflicts need to be resolved by the end of school on Friday. The resolution will be documented in a note signed by the student and teacher. Please double check that your student has their exam schedule set for next week.

We have a 2:30 dismissal this afternoon in preparation for exams. All exams are between 10am and noon next week, with review session before and after the exams (please see Monday’s email for the exam details). Students will NOT be permitted into the testing room after the start of the exam at 10am. Please allow extra traveling and parking time.

Congratulations to Caroline Bruce on her acceptance to Loyola University!

Also, congratulations to Mr. Fugate on his engagement to Vanessa Kitchen, Charlottesville Waldorf School’s kindergarten teacher!

Hello!

Wow, winter break is nearly here! Students participated in our first Spirit Week, with such themes as “Ugly Christmas Sweater Day” and “Favorite Character Day”. It was so much fun to come in each day and see the attire! Also, the theater department sends a big ‘Thank you’ for your support during this week’s Spring Musical fundraiser.

This afternoon is going to be very full. At 2:30 students will be making decorations for the Holiday Talent Show. 3pm will be our annual Secret Santa gift exchange. 3:30 marks the set-up for the Talent Show.

4:30 kicks off our Annual Winter Talent Show hosted, organized, and performed by Renaissance School students. Be prepared for a lot of great fun! Faculty will be giving thanks to the RS community by donating food for the show and the Habitat Club will serve drinks with 100% of the proceeds going to Habitat for Humanity. Also, there will be a Parent Council table and an opportunity to order RS apparel.

Winter Break is December 17-January 1. Classes resume January 2.

Friday, January 6, is a 2:30 dismissal and semester exams are January 9-13. The Exam schedule will be emailed and handed out Monday, January 2.

Have a wonderful and happy holiday break and see you in the new year!

Hello RS community,

Congratulations to the students who auditioned this week for our spring musical. The Spring Musical Publicity crew is holding another fundraiser for the spring musical. Thursday, Dec 15th, drinks and finger foods will be available to the Renaissance Community: $2 for all you can drink; $4 for all you can eat and drink; $1 to purchase drinks and snacks individually. Stop in an fill up your travel mug!
This afternoon Robin Blue, Rachel Needham and Liam Rowland will perform Shakespeare monologues for the English Speaking Union’s preliminary Shakespeare competition.

Next Friday afternoon will be a busy one for the Renaissance School community. In the afternoon students will participate in our annual Secret Santa gift exchange. There is a maximum limit of $10 for the exchange and homemade gifts and goodies are heavily encouraged. Following the exchange, students will begin setting up for the Holiday Variety Show. This free event is created, hosted, and performed by Renaissance School students. The show will begin at 4:30pm on Friday, December 16th in the assembly room and all RS families are invited to attend. Please come out and support our very talented students as they perform musical numbers and skits.

Leading up to the Holiday Show, the student government organized Renaissance School’s first Spirit Week!
Monday is “Favorite Character Day” (book, film, etc)
Tuesday is “Pajama Day”
Wednesday is “1980s Day”
Thursday is “Hipster Day”
Friday is “Ugly Christmas Sweater Day”

Renaissance School now has a Facebook page! The link is: www.facebook.com/renschool. Please “Like” us on Facebook and help us to spread the word about Renaissance School. This page will be used to post updates about the happenings at school and perhaps a picture or two.

Should we have inclement weather, Renaissance School notifies families via email, a posting on our website, NBC 29 and a recorded message will be left on the phone. Students and parents are always encouraged to use their best judgement is assessing road conditions of your area. We do not follow any county or city ruling, so if you are unsure you can always phone in. We do our best to make decisions between 5 and 7am. Should we have an early dismissal, students may use their cell phones to call home.

Hello,

It is hard to believe we are nearly half-way through the second quarter! Interim Reports are due next week. Interim Reports are only written in cases of significant decline or improvement in a class, also if a student has a ‘C’ or lower in any class.

This afternoon is an early dismissal of 2:30pm, providing faculty the opportunity to work on interim reports.

Pre-paid student portrait orders went to the students Thursday afternoon. The stairwell of portraits looks great! Stop by and see them anytime!

Tuesday, December 6th, Mr. McCarthy and Ms Mitchell will hold auditions for the Renaissance School spring musical. Auditions will begin at 4:15 in the assembly room. Students should come prepared to sing a verse and chorus from “This Land is Your Land” and perform a prepared reading of one of the monologues Ms. Mitchell printed out from Spoon River Anthology. Parts will be posted the following morning at school.

Mark your calendars:
The student government is organizing a Winter Talent Show and current Renaissance School families are welcome! The show will be on Friday, December 16, after school (the exact time will be announced very soon). This event is always a TON of fun to attend!

Finally, please visit our website, www.renaissanceschool.org, anytime for upcoming events and announcements.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Hello everyone,

We kicked off the week with a visit from Prescott College, a small college with an environmental studies focus located in Prescott Arizona. On Thursday, all Renaissance School students went to Staunton, Virginia to view Blackfriar Theater’s production of Hamlet. A special thank you to parents who carpooled our students.

Please remember today is the last day to place student portrait orders. I will be accepting orders until 5pm this afternoon.

Beginning at 5pm this evening I will host a college counseling workshop for all Renaissance School parents. We will talk about the College Counseling program at RS, the admissions process, gap year(s), and the financial aspects of college. Be sure to bring a notebook and writing utensils! I look forward to seeing everyone there!

As you are budgeting your holiday gift spending, please consider donating to the RS Annual Fund. A letter from the board about the fund will be mailed home in the next few weeks. Our goal is 100% family and faculty participation. You don’t have to wait for the letter to come out, donations can be made anytime through our website under the “Giving” page.

Next week will be a shortened holiday week. We will not have school on Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Hello everyone,

Grades were mailed home early Tuesday. If you have not received your grades, please contact Mrs. Mitchell to get a second copy sent, or to pick them up at school.

On Thursday UVa Professor Lisa Goff spoke to all Renaissance School students about 1930s shantytowns, an era they are researching for this year’s spring musical. This afternoon students will begin a new round of Arts Practicum classes. The offerings for this round of classes include knitting, money management, and ultimate frisbee. The student government announced the revival of our winter talent show as part of their fundraising efforts this year. This event is always so much fun! Please look for upcoming details from the student government about this event.

During this week we also wrapped up the student portrait project. Student portraits are available for viewing and ordering through next Friday, November 18. Several parents inquired about ordering additional portraits from last year as well. I do have last year’s photos and they will be available for ordering as well. Please stop by my office to view the portraits and to pick up an order form. I am available between 8:30 and 5pm except for this Friday, November 11, I will not be available after 3pm.

Two faculty members are leading committees to focus on future Renaissance School developments. Thank you to Mr. Fugate for leading our intramural sports committee. This committee of faculty and students is dedicated to researching and developing an intramural sports program for Renaissance School. Also, thank you to Ms. Smith for leading a technology committee of faculty looking into integrating new technologies into the classroom.

Next Thursday the entire student body will be traveling to see Hamlet at Blackfriar’s in Staunton. This will be an all day trip. Details of this day including drop-off and pick-up times will be emailed early next week.

Next Friday, November 18, at 5pm is a college counseling workshop for all RS parents (parents with students in any grade. The workshop will be held in our assembly room. We will cover what students can be doing right now, what the college application process is like and the financial side of the process, among many other topics. Be prepared to take lots of notes! If you are planning on attending this workshop, please rsvp via email.

Have a wonderful weekend!

We just wrapped up another wonderful week at Renaissance School. We continued with our varied college visits during Assembly this week. On Tuesday Maryland Institute College of Art stopped by assembly to talk about their school and program. They also provided individual portfolio critiques to interested students. Wednesday’s assembly welcomed the University of Southern California. Next week Prescott College will be visiting Renaissance School to talk about their school and programs.

Also this week, students participated in the annual student portrait project. The students have been quite creative this year and we have some incredible photos! I will be wrapping up the photo shooting next week. Two images are taken, a “candid” photograph that is designed by the student and a “portrait” that is more of the traditional head-shot. The candid photos are enlarged as black and white images and displayed in the school. This year parents can order black and white OR color versions of either photo. I am attaching an order form for the images to this email. The images will be available to view later next week.

First quarter grades are currently being processed and will be mailed home early next week. Please check your mailboxes!

Students will enjoy watching the video work of their fellow classmates during this afternoon’s “student video festival”. It is always a joy to see the talent of our students displayed in venues such as this.

Finally, I sent an email out earlier this week noting some important upcoming dates and events including an upcoming college workshop for parents and a trip to Blackfriars. Please mark those on your calendars. Also, we are looking for a couple more drivers for the Blackfriar’s trip. If you are willing and available, please email me.

Have a wonderful weekend!

October 29, 2011

Hello Everyone!

Can you believe we just wrapped up the first quarter of the year?

On Monday parents of seniors attended a college counseling workshop. I will host a second college workshop for all Renaissance School parents later this year. During Wednesday’s assembly students heard from Sydney Tenhundfeld, Renaissance School alumni and current fourth year UVA student. Sydney talked about the transition from Renaissance School to UVA and her experiences as a college student. Also this week some of our seniors submitted their first college applications! And to top off the week, nearly the entire student body dressed up for Halloween. It was quite the challenge to keep a straight face in college counseling class as I looked onto a group of dressed up juniors.

Today was an early dismissal for students as teachers prepare to work on the quarter grades. Monday is a faculty work day and there is no school for students.

Next week kicks off our student portrait project. All students should have signed up for a time to have their picture taken. Also next week we have visits from Maryland Institute College of Art and the University of Southern California.

On Friday, November 4 from 3-4pm students will enjoy seeing the films of their classmates during a student film festival.

Finally, ALL students are required by their English, Musical Theater, and Music classes to attend Dr. Lisa Goff’s lecture on November 10 from 4-5pm. Lisa has a PhD in history from the University of Virginia and is currently teaching history there. Her dissertation was on shantytowns, the subject of her talk.

Have a wonderful weekend!

–
Sara C Johnson
Head of School, Studio Art
Renaissance School
434.984.1952