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CDSG Weekly News
February 27, 2009
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Director's Corner
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We were so busy here last week that I couldn't find the time to sit down and write the newsletter. I had several parents visit the school and fill out applications as they make plans to enroll for the 2009/2010 school year. I'm excited about the new students and families that are coming to join us. I really want to thank all of you who hosted families for a lunch or dinner. It really helps to give them a glimpse of the wonderfully warm community they will be joining. I had several comments from them about what a terrific time they had, and felt they had already made new friends. One family decided to enroll earlier as a result. Please also keep in mind that many of these new families are looking to buy or rent homes during their visits, so if have knowledge of properties for sale or rent that you would like me to pass on to them email me the information and I will save it and give it to them before or during their visit. Almost every incoming family asks me for my advice on where they should live or who to contact to help them find a place, so this is very useful information for me to have.
As you'll see in the length of this newsletter we still have not slowed down, but instead we are gaining speed as we head into spring. It seems as though our teachers, coaches, National Honor Society, Mano a Mano, and student governments are sensing that the school year is quickly coming to an end and they are desperately trying to squeeze more activities onto the calendar before June is upon us. Exciting times at Country Day. Combine all of our activities with fiesta season and a Mardi Gras Festival in the middle of it and there never seems to be a dull moment around here. So sit back, grab a cold drink and a snack, and enjoy the pictures and news of the events.
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Ancient Egyptians Build Tomb at CDSG!
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The sixth grade class, led by Mr. Bragg, (with artwork produced in Ms. Susie's class), put on a live Egyptian Museum on our auditorium stage last Friday. The students all made costumes and dressed themselves as ancient Egyptians and decorated the stage as if it were a real Egyptian tomb. All of our students were given a tour of the museum as the sixth graders explained what each area of the tomb contained and what the ancient Egyptians believed about the afterlife and why the tombs and their contents were so important. Several parents showed their support and attended the event and took the tour also. I'm very proud of what a great job the students did. They spent many hours preparing for this, as did Ms. Susie. The props were beautifully decorated and they really made it so you felt that you were inside of a real tomb. Bravo 6th grade!
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What Are the boarding Students Up To?
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The boarding students sure had a busy couple of weekends. Two weekends ago they traveled to Rio Paquare for a rafting trip and canopy tour, and last weekend they completed their scuba certification by completing the open water diving exercises. I have included pictures of the rafting trip. Remember that these trips and activities are available to all of our upper school students. If your upper school son or daughter would like to join them for an upcoming activity just let Mr. Bragg know the week before. I will try to be better about letting you know of upcoming events. Come join them in the fun.
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Road Closed in Parking Lot 8:00-2:30
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You may have noticed that we have placed orange cones blocking the road between the cafetorium and the swimming pool during school hours. This was done out of concern for the safety of our kids. There is a crosswalk there for kids to use when leaving the lunch area or the high school area on their way to the gym. There is also a dangerous blind spot there. The building block views of children approaching the street, making it dangerous for children that might choose to run down the stairs and out into the street. If a driver is going too fast or not expecting the sudden crossing of a student we could have a serious accident. So we have decided that after children are dropped off and the parents have left, we will block the road. If you arrive at school during the day you'll simply have to use the elementary parking lot and when you leave just make a U-Turn and go back out the way you came in (crossing the world's largest speed bump).. Thank you for your cooperation and please drive slowly.
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Recycle, Reuse, Reduce!
We kicked off our recycling/composting program in the elementary program thanks to the student government leaders and their advisors, Mrs. Haun and Ms. Alli. But of course I would be mistaken not to mention the talented actors from the high school led by an Academy Award performance of Mr. Dan Baldwin. They put on a play about the three R's (Recycle, Reuse, Reduce) to the delight of all of our elementary students in attendance. It was a great way to inform our students about the importance of recycling. The elementary SGA raised money to purchase recycling bins for every classroom with profits frombake sales and Pirate Pride sales. Thank you very much to all of you who baked delicious cakes and cookies for them to sell. They were/are very popular. Keep up the good work Lower School SGA, and all of you remember to Recycle, Reuse, and Reduce!
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Candygrams
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Here are pictures of some of our Lower school students making Candy Grams. The Candy Gram sale was put on by our Lower School Student Government, just before Valentine's Day.
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"Spread The Love" Dance a Success
Thank You Reserva Conchal!
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The Lower School SGA also sponsored a middle school dance called "Spread the Love". This was a joint event between Country Day and La Paz schools. Teachers from our school and La Paz were in charge of organizing the fun event. Thank you Ms. Jamie and Ms. Sarah for helping to organize it. Over $380 was raised at this event. All proceeds went to CEPIA to help with their school supply drive for children in need. I also want to express a big thank you to Reserva Conchal for making their facilities available to us once again. They have been very generous in providing their conference center to us for many dances this year and also are always willing to provide equipment for us to be able to put on larger events such as our Independence Day Festival and Open House for Realtors. We really appreciate all of the support. Thank you Reserva Conchal!
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CEPIA and Mano A Mano Back to Work
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Mano a Mano and CEPIA
Our Mano a Mano team, led by Mrs. Haun and Ms. Jaime, once again participated with CEPIA to distribute school supplies to students in local public schools last week. As you might remember, the elementary students raised over $1,300 from their read-a-thon in December. This money went to help CEPIA purchase enough school supplies for 400 students in our area. It is a great cause supported by CEPIA every year and we are proud to have been a big part of this year's success. Thank you to Mano a Mano, our students, our parents, our teachers, and Sarah and Jamie for keeping our connection with this program alive.
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In this week's SLP Corner I wrote ...
If parents have speech/language/academic concerns about their child, then parents should notify classroom teachers and/or myself. I think that's how it's working, and it's working well.
If a teacher has concerns about a student, parents should be notified before I am in contact with the parents - - I think that's how it's working, and it's working well too!.
Thank you, Tara
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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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Pirate Baseball Going Strong
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Don't forget that we are continuing to play baseball at Snapper field every Saturday morning from 9:00 until 11:00 am. I must thank Rodgers for all of his help every weekend as well. Just look at his shins and you'll see all of the bruises he has incurred from all of my bad pitches. Mr. Rothman is also a huge supporter and I am grateful to him for providing a bridge to the local community as he gets up early on Saturday and takes his truck to pick up several Nicaraguan boys that now join us each morning. He also is generous enough to bring snacks and drinks for the boys. It's becoming a very special time for all of us. Come and join us and cheer the boys on (don't forget that girls are welcome).
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Lady Pirates Hit the Road
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Our Lady Pirates are heading to San Jose this weekend to play soccer against our sister school in Escazu, and possibly one more game on Saturday against Blue Valley. They have been practicing extremely hard with Mr. Berry and Ms. Susie. My favorite practice is when they run to the beach on Thursdays and play a game of rugby soccer (soccerby?) invented by Mr. Berry. He says it is meant to toughen them up for the very physical style of play in this area. If you find yourself in Brasilito on a Thursday around four o'clock, you should head to the beach in front of Outback Jack's and cheer them on. If you see one of the girls, be sure to wish them good luck this weekend. Thank you Sam, Gaylord, Tom, and Susie for volunteering to go and help chaperone the trip.
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High School Field Trips
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Dan and Kim Baldwin are continuing to make our high school science program truly and amazing experiential program. They are really taking advantage of all that this area has to offer and enrich our curriculum. It is one of the things that sets our school apart from any other, as it should. There was trip to the beach in search of sea worms a couple of weeks ago, then a trip to the sugar refinery in Liberia last week, a trip to Liberia this week to visit the Ruby Throated Hummingbird migration site near the Menking Ranch, and the week will end with a snorkeling trip to Conchal Beach in search of life studied in Mrs. Baldwin's marine biology classes. These classes are all part of our program and enrich and support our curriculum. These trips bring science alive and improve learning in the classroom. Please support these trips by allowing and encouraging your kids to attend. These trips are fun, but more importantly they are living lessons. Missing a trip is like missing an important lesson/lecture. It causes students to fall behind in their work and miss valuable opportunities for deeper learning. I know sometimes our students don't feel like going, but it is very difficult for our teachers to plan when several students decide not to attend. Thank you for your support and remember to thank all of those teachers that are willing to volunteer so many extra hours of their time taking students on these trips. Thank you guys! You take our school from good to great!
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Beach Challenge Picking Up Steam
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Some support is starting to come in for the Beach Challenge. Jerry Hirsch has been hard at work getting volunteers together who will take time to approach local businesses to buy ad space on our Beach Challenge t-shirts. It was a slow start but things are picking up a bit now. We are simply asking families directly to contribute by buying ad space themselves. I'm sure you have seen the many emails we have sent. We only do this because the event has always been such a success. I haven't been to one but I picture it as something similar to the Raft Up in Tamarindo. It will be lots of fun and it is for a very good cause. Thank you to those who have already donated. Please contact Jerry if you would like to donate you time or your money, or both.
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Performing Arts Program at CDSG?
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I have recently interviewed a professional performing arts teacher who recently moved to our area and is interested in developing a program for CDSG. It is a very interesting proposition and one that I'm sure would be supported by our community. She has been employed as an elementary and high school dance and performance teacher and also teaches dance to other dance professionals and has produced musicals. I will have more information at a later date. In the mean time I may give her the opportunity to teach classes as an after school activity this semester if there is sufficient interest. I will be contacting parents and sending home information about what type of instruction might be offered. If you are interested I will ask you to please attend a meeting to discuss the possibilities. I would be excited to see our beautiful stage used as it was originally intended. I will keep you informed as I gain more information.
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Movie Night
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Sounds like the kids had a great time at movie night two weeks ago. The upper and lower elementary showed movies and popped popcorn. The Lower School SGA sponsored that event doing their best to try and be the busiest student organization on campus.
Next up will be an elementary school slumber party that the Upper School National Honor Society will be sponsoring in April. The fun never stops around here.
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Upcoming Events
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Snapper Field Baseball Saturday Morning
Girls' Soccer In San Jose This weekend
High School Field Trip - Ruby Throated Hummingbirds
3rd Quarter Report Cards in March
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