August 18, 2008
Take Note Parents’ Night August 21 Information During Parents’ Night, the Highlands shuttle bus will run beginning at 6:00 p.m. until 9:30 p.m. from the old Mountain Brook Swim & Tennis Club (5601 Old Leeds Road) Highlands School Parents’ Auxiliary 2008—2009 School Merchandise Before you visit your student’s classrooms be sure to get a preview of the items that will be for sale this year. Lee Kauper will have a display set up in the back of the Spencer Center Auditorium. Order forms will be available. Highlands School Sally Foster Catalog Sale Begins Friday, August 22! Visit the Sally Foster display table, in the back of the Auditorium to see what will be offered this year.
Dear Parents, This morning, I greeted our son Thomas singing, “Happy First Day of School.” On my calendar, the first day of school is akin to a holiday and I thank you for the 272 presents who walked onto the campus this morning. There is nothing like the first day of school to remind us of the possibilities that are within a child, a teacher, a school, and yes, even the world. This year, we continue to embrace the Chinese language and culture, technological opportunities with additional multiplatform laptop computers, brain-based teaching, and more. With your help and Isabelle Silko’s help, you will notice an added emphasis this year on the environment and community service. The new Highlands School website is almost ready for prime-time viewing, and we look forward to sharing its modern, easy to use format with you. This is, indeed, an exciting time in the life of Highlands. Mark your calendars for Highlands’ events that will help you stay informed about our community’s progress. As always, let us know when you have a question or an idea. Communication is crucial to our success, and I am confident that we are poised for an incredibly successful year! Happy First Day of School!
Kathryn Woodson Barr
Calendar Highlights Thurs. Aug. 21 Fri. 22 Mon. Sept. 1 Tues. 2 Thurs.- Fri 4-5 Mon.-Tues. 8-9 Thurs. 11 Fri. 5 Tues. 16 Wed.-Fri. 17-19
Parents’ Night 6:30 p.m. Spencer Center Sally Foster Fundraiser Begins Labor Day Holiday - No School & Offices Closed Parents’ Auxiliary Meeting 6:30 p.m. Learning Center Class of 2009 Leadership Retreat Speech and Hearing Screening Picture Day! Don’t forget your smile! 9/11 Pledge on the Quad Sally Foster Sale Ends A Day in the Life (K, 2nd, 3rd, MS) Spencer Center 5th Grade to Camp McDowell
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Meet our New Teachers When you see them on campus be sure to introduce yourself and to offer them a warm Highlands School welcome! We are very excited to have them as the newest members of the Highlands School Faculty. From Left to Right Sitting: Treasure Horton: First Grade; Garland McKee: Middle School Language Arts; Candace Ware: Middle School Social Studies; Laurie Hunsicker: Middle School Mathematics. From Left to Right Standing: Alice Marx: Preschool Associate; Leah Gregory: First Grade Associate; Sarah Steinbeck: 4th and 5th Grade Mathematics; Anne Beevers: Middle School/Sixth Grade English and Social Studies; Noah Hoppe-McQueen: Spanish. Highlands Math Scores on the ERB Soar! This past April, students in grades 2-8 took the CTP IV test published by ERB, and their results on the mathematics sections impressed us! When looking at the overall performance of our school, our students scored significantly better on the test than their independent school peers, a particularly notable feat given the caliber of the comparison schools. We are especially pleased with our math scores which increased by 7 percentile points on the independent norm in just one year! WOW! These scores tell us that the average Highlands student scores about 14 points higher in mathematics than the average independent school student. Students, teachers, and parents have reason to be proud of these results. Although no standardized test captures the full value of a school’s academic program, these results indicate that Highlands students are indeed achieving a “Higher Degree of Learning.”
Short Notes General Carpool Rules No Cell Phone Use Display Carpool Number Pull forward as directed by the teachers; do not change lanes Put your car in park as children are loaded into cars After loading, exit only as directed by the teachers Please do not get outside of your car while in the car line.
Congratulations to Judy and Randy McDonald on the birth of his grandson, Miller Lewis McDonald, who was born on July 3, 2008. Registration for the 7th & 8th Grade Cross-Country Team is currently underway. Contact Kage Cavanah, Director of Athletics and Wellness, for more information.
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1st – 5th Grade Boys Sign up for Cub Scouts If you have a son in 1st grade through 5th grade, please plan to attend the Cub Scout recruitment meeting on Tuesday, August 26 at 6:00 p.m. in the Spencer Center . Currently we are planning Den meetings on Tuesdays (3-4:30 pm for 3rd, 4th, 5th graders with Den Leader Aaron Nafziger, and 5-6pm for 1st and 2nd graders with Den Leader Mike Madden. If we have more than four 2nd and 3rd graders, they will have a separate Den which will meet Thursdays 3-4pm. We will discuss the many activities planned through out the year. Some of the events include: Top Gun BB gun contest Sept 13, Soap Box Derby Nov 15, Overnight at Sequoia Oct 25, and Pinewood Derby held in February . If you are not able to attend the meeting and would like more information, please email mmadden100@aol.com. Congratulations to Highlands Pack 88 BB gun team for winning the 2nd Place Silver Medals at the Alabama Sports Festival (Alabama's equivalent of the Olympic games) in June. The team consisted of Patrick O'Neal, Wesley Madden, Eli Nafziger, James Brandon, and Henry Giattina.
Highlands EDP Gears up for a New Year! Regular Highlands Extended Day Program Care starts this Monday, August 18 th! However, the after school activities don’t start until August 25th. We are excited to meet new students, parents and counselors and also to welcome back some familiar faces. Along with some of our tried and true activities like Karate, Chess, Theater, Piano and Guitar; we are thrilled to add some new ones like Tai Chi, Alice Computer Programming and Gymnastics. And that’s not all! There are still spaces available in many activities, so take a look at what we have to offer. You can email me directly or access the EDP contract with activities on the webpage under the Community page. If you have questions, come see me at Open House or Parents Night! Thanks! Gabe McCool EDP/Summer Camp Director (205) 956-9731 ext. 105 Chess Registration is Now Open! Fall registration for the Highlands Knight School is now open. Returning this year to coach the Highlands Chess Team will be David Brooks, Ph.D., Coach of the 2008 Birmingham City Chess Champion John Carroll Catholic High School. In 1998, Dr. Brooks founded the John Carroll Chess Program and has coached scores of students through ten seasons of exciting, clock-controlled chess play. In the regular season, John Carroll has spent these ten seasons undefeated, currently sporting a 43-0 record. Dr. Brooks also coaches eleven other area chess teams, including the Highlands Chess Team. Classes always include fun PowerPoint lessons with remote-control clickers, monthly tournaments, candy prizes, and much more! For more information call 823-5715 or email Dr. Brooks at dbrooksphd@hotmail.com. Registration for the Highlands Knight School is through the Highlands EDP.
Scalise Honored by Duke University TIP Program On June 1, Patrick Scalise (Highlands 7th Grader) was recognized at the 28 th Annual Alabama Recognition Ceremony held by the Duke University Talent Identification at the University of Alabama for his performance on the EXPLORE test. This test was developed by ACT for 8 th graders to assess academic development and is used by the TIP program as an above-level assessment for advanced fifth and sixth grade students. Out of 4902 students in the fifth and sixth grades taking the EXPLORE test this year, Patrick was one of 155 to receive a composite score in the 99th percentile or higher, and the only one from Alabama.
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A Note from the Admissions Office Welcome to Highlands for the 2008-2009 school year! Although the summer was short, we are happy to have our students back at school. We are looking forward to a wonderful year, full of exciting adventures in learning! This year we welcome 38 new families to Highlands School, adding 44 smiling new faces to our classrooms. In addition to joining our community from the Birmingham area, we have families joining us from Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Ohio, Florida, and Massachusetts, as well as a variety of other countries. Thank you all for helping us welcome our new families and making them feel at home with us at Highlands School! This year we will host two Prospective Parent Open Houses. The first will be Tuesday, October 21 at 9:00 a.m. The second will be Sunday, January 11, 2009 at 2:00 p.m. Anyone interested in learning more about Highlands School is welcome to attend either or both of these events or to call the Admissions Office to schedule an individual tour. If you are interested in helping to organize these events, please let me know. This year we will also be scheduling neighborhood events for prospective parents. If you live in Mountain Brook, Liberty Park, or Forest Park and would be interested in hosting an evening get-together at your home, please let me know. We wish you a happy and productive 2008-2009 school year. Please don’t hesitate to call on any of us in the office with questions or information about families who may be interested in Highlands School! Judy Ladden McDonald Director of Admissions
Back to School We Go!