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Special Announcements & Reminders:
H.S. Washington D.C. Trip is Underway
Saturday Baseball now meets 3:00 - 5:00 p.m.
Senior Projects Meetings This Week
Elementary Grades 3-6 Musicals On Thursday, 1:30
Awards Ceremony Friday, May 29th
Final Exams June 1st, 2nd, 3rd
Last Day H.S. June 3rd
Last Day Elementary & 6th Gr. Graduation June 4th
High School Graduation June 5th
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CDSG Weekly News
May 18, 2009
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Director's Corner
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Less than three weeks left in school. Hard to believe the year is coming to an end already. But as you can see by the events calendar at the top of the page we won't stop with our activities until the last second ticks off of the clock. We still have two concerts, a swim meet, a science fair, 'Reefs, Rips, and Rocks' ocean saftey courses on Saturday mornings, baseball on Saturday afternoons, senior projects, awards banquet, final exams, 6th grade graduation, and finally the high school grauation ceremonies on June 5th. The final three weeks will be a blur of activity and a lot of fun as we welcome summer vacation.
Just a few weeks ago we had our Beach Challenge which was a big success. Many parents and teachers helped out, but Jerry Hirsch did the lion's share of organizing the event and deserves much credit. Thank you Jerry!!! And thank you to all of you who volunteered. We also finished our funraising poker night series crowning Jacob Dole the world series champion. We supported Brasilito Church and Community center's yard sale this past weekend by donating items for the sale. Many parents at our school helped out at this event as well. The Pre K - 1st grade students put on a pancake breakfast for their mothers last Monday. The parents also gave a wonderful gift to the staff by hosting a sunset catamaran trip a week ago. Thank you 'Team Noodle'!! Our staff really appreciates all of the parents and had a lot of fun on the sailing adventure. Finally, we also just finished two weeks of AP teasting for our 11th and 12th graders.
Take a look at all of the pictures we have included below. We made a lot of memories this year and still have a few more in the making. Enjoy your week!
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News of Next Year
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In an effort to keep you up to date on our plans for next year, parents of elementary students were invited to come to school for an open meeting last week. During the meeting we discussed the tuition reduction for next year that will effect families with students in our Pre K to grade 5. Tuition for Pre K was reduced 40% and grades 3 - 5 reduced 20%. The youngest elementary student from a multi-child family will also be reduced another 5%. This reduction is permanent and not just a one time reduction.
I also talked about the class groupings for next year. This year we had blended classes in Pre K/K, Prepa/1st, and 3/4. Next year's groupings will be PreK/K, Prepa/1st, 2/3, solo grade 4 and 5/6. Classes will be split if the total number of students in each grade of a blended class exceeds 10 (more than 20 total). We will closely monitor the class sizes between now and August. I will keep you informed of any changes.
We also began a dialogue about how we can expose our elementary students to more Spanish language. Some of the ideas presented included teaching specials classes in Spanish, offering after school activities in Spanish, and supplementing more in-class lessons with Spanish language support. We will be implementing some of these ideas into our curriculum in the Fall in order to improve our students opportunities for learning Spanish. We welcome any of your good ideas for expanding this part of our program.
High school classes will be larger than ever with 7th and 8th grades having over 20 students each. We will have a new math teacher coming and we will continue to offer AP courses and honors classes as well as all of our organized sports. There is even talk of adding more agricultural opportunities to our curriculum as we are able to use our property for sustainable farming. Many new possibilites on the horizon as we look for ways to add to our curriculum and make our high school stand out from all others in Costa Rica. CDSG, The Place to Be!
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SOME OF THE LATEST PHOTOS.......
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Goldilocks, of course...
Followed by Mama & Papa Bear
"The House of Maria Alba"
Presented by the Spanish Dept.
Amazing Actresses
The Beach Challenge!
Chariots of Fire
Future Stars
What Terrific Form!
Fire Safety Visit in Pre-K-Grade 2
Fire Safety Instruction
Mother's Day Pancake Breakfast
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Senior Projects Meetings This Week
May 21st: Elementary Grades 3-6 Musicals at 1:30
May 21st: Baseball Bake Sale at snack and lunch
May 22nd: Ice cream and Pirate Sale sponsored by SGA
May 25 through May 29: CDSG Lower School Spirit Week
May 29th: Prepa / First grade play "Caps For Sale" at 8:00 am
May 29th: Awards Assembly
June 1st, 2nd and 3rd: Final Exams
June 3rd: Lower School Water Day sponsored by SGA
June 3rd: Last Day H.S., Early dismissal
Thursday June 4th:
- Last day of school
- 6th Gr. Graduation
- Early dismissal at 11:00 am
June 5th: High School Graduation
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Don't Forget Swimming Lessons
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Don't forget that Eric, our PE teacher, offers swimming lessons after school for all ages immediately following after-school activities in in our beautiful swimming pool. Please drop by after school from 3:45 to 5:45 and see Eric if you are interested.
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Summer 'Reef to Rain Forest" Program
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Take a minute and click on the link to our new summer program we are calling "Reef to Rain Forest" or "R2R" for short. It is a two week program that takes students all over Costa Rica learning about the environment and the incredible biodiversity of this great country. It is also a chance to earn a paritial credit for science and Spanish for those participants looking to add to their resumes. Just click on the link at the top of this newsletter and then send me an email to tell me what you think and also if you have ideas about how we can promote this new program. Students from all over are invited to join us. We hope CDSG students and students from around the globe will participate in this exciting new program.
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Monica Riascos' Workshops Continue...
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Every week Mrs. Riascos is hosting a different workshop for parents and teachers concerning child development and learning styles and other important issues to help us better understand our childrens' development and how we can be more effective parents and teachers. I invite you all to come and participate in these valuable sessions. We are fortunate to have someone as knowledgeable and talented on our staff. Thank you Monica!
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