August 2011 - Upper School Newsletter 
Dear Parents and Students,
I hope that you have all had a wonderful summer. I am getting very excited about the upcoming year and am looking forward to working with all of you.
As of today, we have 288 students in the Upper School: 74 in 9th grade (22 new girls); 70 in the 10th grade (3 new girls); 81 in the 11th grade (1 new girl); and 63 in the 12th grade. We also have two exchange students for first semester – a junior from Germany and a senior from Belgium. I am looking forward to welcoming all of you, old and new, back to RPCS!
New to Roland Park
I would like to welcome the new employees joining the Upper School this year. Sonia Chainani will be teaching 9th and 11th grade math. Mrs. Chainani is a graduate of Colorado College and holds a master’s degree from University of Northern Colorado and a certificate in Culturally Responsive Urban Education from University of Colorado at Denver. She was most recently teaching at Smoky Hill High School in Aurora, Colorado. Tricia Dabrowski will be teaching Physical Education and coaching. She is a graduate of Loyola University. After college, she was the Assistant Women’s Lacrosse Coach at Johns Hopkins University. She was most recently teaching and coaching at Holton-Arms School in Bethesda, Maryland. Kristin Drake, who was my maternity leave substitute last year, is joining the faculty this year and teaching honors physics. Mrs. Drake is a graduate of the College of William and Mary. Recently, Mrs. Drake has taken some time off from teaching to be home with her daughters. Prior to that, she was teaching physics at St. Mark’s School in Southborough, Massachusetts. Hollis Dvorkin, class of 2007, just graduated from Northwestern University and is joining us as a history intern. She will be teaching a section of 10th grade history. Some of you may have had a chance to meet Kate Feiring, the new Administrative Assistant in the Upper School. Ms. Feiring has a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Bates College. In her past work experience, she was involved in administration, human resources, and most recently was a health insurance broker. Amy Hruska will be teaching both honors and regular chemistry. Ms. Hruska is a graduate of University of Mary Washington and holds a master’s degree from the College of William and Mary. She participated in the Faculty Fellows Program at Wesleyan School in Norcross, Georgia and more recently completed her student-teaching at Tabb High School in Yorktown, Virginia. Nigel Sequeira will be teaching 10th and 11th grade math. Mr. Sequeira holds a Bachelor of Science from Oklahoma State University, a master’s from Harvard University Graduate School of Education, and a graduate certificate in Educational Leadership for Independent Schools from Johns Hopkins University. He is also a graduate of the prestigious Klingenstein Summer Institute. Most recently he has been teaching math at St. Paul’s School and has been their Upper School Diversity Coordinator.
Schedules
Your daughter received her schedule in July. They are now available on SchoolBASE. She will be receiving the final copy of her schedule either at Orientation for 9th graders and new students on Tuesday, September 6or during Advisory on Wednesday, September 7with all updated information. As always, please don’t hesitate to call if you have any questions about her schedule or course of study.
Health Forms
Please make sure that you return your physician forms to Mrs. Hamilton, the School Nurse and complete the electronic health forms on SchoolBASE. Your daughter will not be allowed to start school, nor be able to participate in any school activity (including all activities that occur before the first day of school) until those completed forms are received. Please contact Mrs. Hamilton at hamiltond@rpcs.org with any questions. For more information, go to: http://sp.rpcs.org/rpcsweb/home/parents/webpages/From%20the%20School%20Nurse.aspx.
Parents’ Night
Parents’ Night is from 7-9:30 p.m. on Wednesday, September 14th . Please come and meet your daughter’s teachers and learn about her curriculum for the year. For those of you whose daughters take classes off campus, you can meet those teachers from 6-6:30 p.m. at the parents’ nights of those schools (Gilman’s night is Thursday, September 15th and Bryn Mawr’s night is the same as ours).
SAT Prep
As you know, RPCS has a SAT Preparatory curriculum which is taught by Capital Educators to all students in grades 9-11. Please encourage your daughters to take this class seriously. It should be treated as any other academic course. They should be focused in class and prepared for the vocabulary quizzes. Over the years we have seen a correlation between performance in the course and performance on the SAT.
Your daughter is required to take two practice PSAT or SAT tests, one in the fall and one in the winter, here at school in order to pass the course. (Note that a failing grade in this class will eliminate a student from Honor Roll.)
Fall Practice Test Dates:
Saturday, September 24th from 9am – 1pm: Testing for 10th and 11th graders (scores will be returned in student mailboxes before the October 12th PSAT)
Saturday, October 15th from 9am – 1pm: Testing for 9th graders (scores will be returned to parents at the October 25College Night for 9grade parents)
Winter Practice Test Dates:
Saturday, February 4th from 9am – 1pm: Students with last names A-M (scores will mailed)
Saturday, February 11th from 9am – 1pm: Students with last names N-Z (scores will mailed)
Additional information:
If your daughter has a schedule conflict with one of the testing dates, she should let me know and attend the alternative testing date for that season.
Tenth and eleventh grades will take a practice ACT at the winter testing.
Saturday, April 14th from 9am – 1pm is an optional third SAT/ACT practice test. It can also serve as a make-up date you have missed during either the fall or the winter testing.
Important Links
To the right of this letter you will find links to the following documents:
New Student Writing & Technology Orientation flier (required for new 9,10, and 11 grade students)
Letter to the Class of 2012
Senior Open Campus Permission Form (requires signature)
Academic Calendar for the year
Important Dates for Start of School – 9th Grade
Important Dates for Start of School – 10th Grade
Important Dates for Start of School – 11th Grade
Important Dates for Start of School – 12th Grade
Please do not forget to complete your summer reading which includes the Upper School summer reading book, The Bean Trees, by Barbara Kingsolver.
See you all soon!
Ereni Malfa
Head of Upper School
Getting Started