Subject: MS Tuesday Letter
From: <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 28 Jan 2013 23:30:00 -0500

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  MIDDLE SCHOOL TUESDAY LETTER
  
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FROM THE SCHOOL
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This Week's Query
How can I refrain from being so mean to someone who is mean to me?

Notes from Sally
We will have our assembly at a special time this week: on Thursday at 
1:00. The program will be a lecture and demonstration of Beijing 
Opera - the Monkey King. As always, parents are welcome.

Tonight at 7 PM there is a Security meeting at the Lower School 
campus - see the email from Tom Farquhar about this.

Conversations with Sally begin this week with the 5th grade parents 
on Wednesday morning at 7:45 in the dining room. Come hear "What's 
new on my bookshelf" and join in discussion about Middle School. 
Conversations for 6th grade parents will be next Wednesday - same 
time, same place.

Parents are warmly invited to join us for Meeting for Worship on 
Thursday morning at 8:10 in the Meeting Room.

The booklet of regular Minimester offerings will be distributed to 
students today and also will be posted on the Parent Portal. There 
will be a chance to meet with teachers to hear about these offerings 
on Friday afternoon, and preference sheets are due to homeroom 
teachers/ advisors by next Thursday, February 7th.

We have had several instances of parents dropping off or picking up 
students on 37th Street from the middle of the street 
(double-parked.) PLEASE do not do this - it is not safe! Do not pick 
up students until you are fully at the curb.

5th grade teacher Jamie Lauth had her baby on Friday! Caroline 
Michele Lauth and mom are doing well!

We welcome our new Help Desk technician Khalil Braswell.

Congratulations to Sidwell's 2013 champion of the National Geographic 
Geography Bee, 7th grader, Isabel Kirsch. Isabel will take a written 
qualifying test for the state level bee. Great job first runner-up, 
6th grader, Alex Wang, too. Thanks to all our Middle School 
Geographers and Social Studies teachers for participating this year!

Instrumental Music Notes 
5/6 Concert Band Wednesday Rehearsal Period Rm. 101

5/6 Guitars Friday DEAR Period Rm. 101

Jazz/Rock Band Monday 3:45-5:00 Rm. 101 (refreshment provided)

7/8 Concert Band Wednesday Rehearsal Period Rm. 101

Mulan Pit Band Wednesday 3:45-5:00 Rm. 101 (refreshment provided)

Chorus Rehearsals This Week
Wednesday, January 30th

Boys Ensemble 7:25-everyone must be present!

Girls Ensemble during rehearsal period

Auction Donation Deadline is Friday, February 1!
We are LOW on donations for the 2013 Live Auction, "Starry Night: A 
Celebration in the Countryside," but you're in luck... there's still 
ONE WEEK left to donate! Please help us by making a tax-deductible 
donation of your choice. Here are a few suggestions. We welcome your 
donation suggestions, too.

Something you HAVE --

frequent flyer miles

American Express points

use of vacation homes, condos or time shares

access to your golf or country club

sports and concert tickets

private boxes and suites for theater, sports, etc.

special access to places, events and celebrities

Something you LOVE -- gift certificate to your favorite restaurant

hotel and travel accomodations

clothing and accessories

beauty products and services

special wines and spirits

Something you DO --

host a party

bake or cook something delicious

private performance

create a themed basket professional services (interior design, 
landscape, handyman, tutoring, photography, etc.)

lessons (art, music, tennis, golf, sewing, etc.)

Please donate directly online by clicking here. For questions, please 
contact [email-masked].

Thank you for your support! Ginger Dietrich (Olivia '24) and Maggie 
Prieto (Olivia '14 and Felisa '16)

2013 Auction Chairs

News from the Nurse
Please remember to keep your child with an infectious illness at 
home. Chronic, persistent cough, vomiting, diarrhea or fever are 
considered to be signs and symptoms of those illnesses that warrant 
school absence.

Please remember that children cannot return to school until fever 
free ( less than 100F) and without fever reducing medications such as 
Tylenol, Advil, etc. Prolonged illnesses such as the flu virus can 
weaken the immune system, so please bear in mind that although your 
child may not have a fever, it does not necessarily mean that they 
are well enough to return to school. Please use your best judgment; 
children may need another day or two to regain their strength after 
their fever has returned to normal.

We want to be vigilant and reduce the spread of illnesses as much as 
possible so please alert Nurse Jasmin Whitfield 
([email-masked]) with information about the nature of a 
student's illness, so trends of contagion can be tracked and 
contained.

PA ANNOUNCEMENTS
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Technology in Our Schools Program at Holton Arms -- This Thursday!
This program, sponsored by the Parent Council of Washington, has been 
rescheduled for this Thursday, January 31.

The panel, featuring teachers from the Langley School, Woods Academy 
and Holton Arms School will discuss the Use of 21st Century 
Technology in our Schools: Peaks and Pitfalls. The program is hosted 
by the Holton Arms School. PCW will post information provided by all 
member schools, including Sidwell Friends, in a virtual binder on 
their web site.

If you are interested in attending, please check the event website 
for schedule and ticket information. 

Community Service Corner
Let Your Life Speak

Looking for a meaningful way to spend time with your family? Consider 
volunteering on a Saturday or Sunday at A Wider Circle. Anyone who is 
old enough to fold clothes, tidy up toys in the children's corner, 
clean a dusty bookshelf or make a special card for a client is 
welcome! Just call AWC at(301) 608-3504.

Toiletries are urgently needed for Middle School Service Day Project

A Wider Circle is continuously in need of personal care items such as 
soap, toothpaste, toothbrushes, shampoo, lotion, deodorant and 
tissues for their clients. Please consider contributing to the 
ongoing MS Toiletry Collection benefitting A Wider Circle and to our 
special push for the Middle School Service Day! A collection basket 
is in the MS office. Thank you for helping the 7th and 8th grades 
with this important Community Service Project.

If you and your family would like to volunteer with any of Sidwell 
Friends' other community partners, please contact Community Service 
Co-Clerks, Sara Jane Harris or Felice Roggen for more information. 
Sara Jane Harris [email-masked] or Felice [email-masked]

Support Sidwell Rowing:  Sign Up and Test Your Fitness or Come and 
Cheer!
The National Capital Erg Invitational "Erg, Play, Love," the Rowing 
Team's major annual fundraiser, takes place on Sunday Feb 10 (10am to 
3pm) in the Athletic Center. It is essentially a crew regatta, but 
inside, on rowing machines. Everyone is welcome to participate. It is 
an all-day experience, but you can dive in for any part of it, with 
the more serious races in the morning, and the more "social" races in 
the afternoon, involving teams and relays. Visit 
www.NationalCapitalErg.org to learn more and to sign up-online 
registration closes Thursday February 7.

What's this all about? If you've never been to such an event, about 
20 ergs (rowing machines) are connected to each other, enabling 
multi-person teams, but also are used individually for direct 
competitions. The races are projected onto a screen so you can watch 
the progress (as little boat icons). It's fun for the whole family, 
whether or not you have a racer. Come and hang out, watch the 
competitors, chat with your friends, buy some homemade and home-baked 
goods. It's a great destination event for your family, and gives 
younger children new things to think about doing!

Please help this fundraiser be an outstanding success! The SFS Rowing 
Team and support staff (aka parents) work hard to stage this event, 
and we need all of you to join the energy of the day. We appreciate 
your support!

OTHER NEWS
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Quaker Quotes
Rufus Jones speaking to young Quaker men and women in Paris in the 
winter of 1918 as they began their work of reconstruction:

"...this thing which you are doing will never cease, for when you 
translate Love into Life, when you become organs of God for a piece 
of service, nothing can obliterate it. Tonight I feel, as I did this 
morning in Notre Dame, an emotion that throbs through my whole being. 
Thank God we can have our little share in this age in translating the 
love of God into terms of human service and that we can fight, not 
with guns, not with bombs, but with the sword of the Spirit which is 
the word of God"

from Builders of the Quaker Road by Caroline Nicholson Jacob

Parents Invited to Meeting for Worship
Parents of Middle School students are invited to attend Meeting for 
Worship with their child on Thursday, January 31, 8:10 - 8:40 a.m., 
in the Smith Meeting House.

For Quakers, wisdom begins in silence. This is a wonderful way for 
parents to experience Meeting, take part in your child's education, 
and demonstrate the value of silent worship.

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Sidwell Friends School
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3825 Wisconsin Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20016
Tel: (202) 537 8100
Fax: (202) 537 8499
http://www.sidwell.edu/
               
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