Here we are already in May! This is perhaps the busiest time of the year so please be sure to mark your calendar with these important dates. Included in this Newsletter is the calendar for June as well as May so you all can know what lies ahead.
If you think that you will be purchasing a new laptop for your daughter for next year, please make every effort to attend the Forum for Parents on Technology on May 15. At 7:00 p.m. The Tech department will be presenting our choice for next year, the Tablet PC, and demonstrating the exciting aspects in making technology a user-friendly tool. Remember laptop re-imaging which must be done every year (you will receive the date to bring in your laptop in early summer.)
Physics Day (May 16) is a required annual tenth grade event when the girls take off for Hershey Park armed with instruments and lab packets that their physics and math teachers have created to test their ability to understand and explain how and why all those fun rides work. The girls should wear comfortable clothes and shoes to school (with a change of clothes in case they get wet.)
Uniform fitting day is May 15 from 7:30-4:00. The Upper School lunch time (11:25-12:00) is a particularly good time to try on and order uniforms, as well as between classes, during a free period, and after school until 4:00. This will be located in the Commons.
On May 23rd, the whole student body will gather to commemorate Memorial Day. At this convocation, the names of family members and friends of the School who have died during the last year are read aloud. If a member of your child’s family has died during this past year, please be sure that we have his or her name. Call Sue Welsh at 323-5500, ext. 3058 or e-mail at welshs@rpcs.org with the name, his or her relationship to your daughter, and the date of death.
Please consult the last pages of the Upper School Handbook in the RedBook for the AP exam and final exam schedule. Students who are taking AP exams must attend morning classes if it is an afternoon exam and likewise, they must attend afternoon classes if it is a morning exam. Seniors, of course, may come out of uniform but underclass students taking AP’s must be in uniform. Students may not make any changes in their RPCS exam schedule without my approval. Any request for a change in an exam date must be made by Wednesday, May 28.
There will be a number of trips offered to Upper School students next year that may be of interest to you and your daughter.
· FTE, Semiquavers, and the Roses will have their bi-annual trip next June to Prague. This trip is an expectation for those enrolled in any of these three audition groups. Contact person: Laura Hackman.
· There is a tri-school trip to France planned for Spring Break. Obviously this trip is planned for students who are studying French and includes a home stay. Contact person: Kati Colombat.
· A trip that focuses on European History is planned for Spring Break specifically for sophomores who all study European History. Contact person: Gail Rauch-Tilstra.
· Each Spring Break there is a short trip to New York City that enables students to see a variety of Broadway and off-Broadway plays. Contact person: Laura Hackman.
· The annual Russian exchange trip will occur in late November. This is an exchange so it is geared towards those students who hosted Russian students this past year. Contact person: Tanya Blumenthal.
All grades must attend Class Day and Commencement. If your daughter has another obligation that would prevent her from attending, please send me a note explaining the circumstance. Grades 9, 10, 11 all wear white street-length dresses (or skirts and blouses) and white shoes for both events. Seniors wear colorful dresses for Class Day and a long (at least ankle length) white (not cream or off-white) dress (preferably not strapless) and white shoes for Commencement. In the event of rain, Class Day and/or Commencement are moved into the Sinex Theater. In that event, only the 11th grade is required to attend.
Take a deep breath – the days fly by!
~ J.F.S.