1. New Covenant School I&E Meeting
February 21, 2017

2. For Parents
Thank you for the wonderful projects your students submitted to the 2017 Literature Fair.
You raised the bar this year with wonderful projects, costumes, interviews, and reports.
Breathe easy. You don’t have to think about the next fair until June of Remember: we change the general area of the fair each year.

3. King Center Event Thursday, February 23
“Project Trio: Bach to Rock to Hip-Hop”
10:30
Don’t forget to use your tickets!

4. Spring Play! Scenes from Shakespeare
Thursday, March 2nd and Friday, March 3rd
Tickets available in the office for $8 per person
Of interest to grades 4-12 and adults
Leave the young ones with a sitter (or split the nights with another family) as younger grades won’t enjoy it.
Open to the whole community
The actors and actresses are from grades 6 through 9 & adults.
Each scene is either a monologue or a duet scene and there is one scene with a larger group.
You will hear many lines that are famous and see some of the impact of Shakespeare on our culture.

5. King Center Event Tuesday, March 7 “The Song of Mulan” 10:30
Don’t forget to use your tickets.

6. Special March Events
Sunday, March 12 – Daylight Savings Time Starts: Spring Forward !
Friday, March 17 – St. Patrick’s Day; Dottie’s Restaurant on Babcock at the intersection with Port Malabar will have an evening meal of corned beef, cabbage, potatoes, carrots, and dessert. Call Dottie’s for more details. (321) Dottie’s is owned by one of our New Covenant families.

7. Annual Written Contests Soon!
Monday, March 13 – 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Wednesday, March 15 – 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Friday, March 17 – 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
What they are
Grade level and subject level written contests in many of the academic subjects to give students a chance to shine in their own best areas.
How it works
Come one day or two days or all three. It’s up to you.
You serve as proctor to your kids’ taking the contests.
Each grade has a set list of subjects in which they can try the contest. Your kids can do all the subjects or whatever number you wish. You can do one student a day or all of them for whatever amount of time is available.
Contests are hard because we are trying to find a winner.
All awards will be announced and students receive their awards at the May ceremony.
Do not help your student. We even strongly suggest you do not look at your students’ answers.

8. Shakespeare AGAIN! Orlando Shakespeare Theatre Trip
Open to those who bought tickets last fall.
Love’s Labour’s Lost
Tuesday, March 14
Must be in Orlando at the Orlando Shakespeare Theatre by 9:30. I have to check everyone in at the same time, so you must not be late or they will penalize all of us.
This trip will last much of the day. Typically, you will get home around 3 or 4 pm, depending upon how you choose to do lunch.
Dress nicely; bring a sweater as it can get cold in the theatre.
***The April trip to see Antony & Cleopatra has been cancelled due to being oversold. (first come got the tickets). If you paid for those tickets, you will have a credit on your account. However, I believe you weren’t charged for them.
If you paid for tickets but cannot attend, let me know as soon as possible. If you didn’t buy tickets but want to go, let me know. If possible, I will try to match you with those who cannot use their tickets. Nothing possible if you wait to less than 24 hours before the performance.
I will send an to those who bought tickets when we get closer to the trip date. It will have addresses, maps, instructions, and my cell number.

9. Art Contest News
March 14 – 16 = Brevard County Art Contest for Grades K-8; New Covenant School’s Art Contest winners’ projects from grades K-6th will be submitted by the office. The county will notify us shortly before their scheduled ceremony if we have any winners, and then we will notify you.
Winning entries from grades 6th-12th will be submitted to the Melbourne Art Festival in late April.
All art contest entries will be kept until May. We will use them at the Awards Night, and then you can take them home.
An was sent last week to everyone. In it were the winners’ names.

10. For Grades K-12 Presidential Physical Fitness Competition
Morning time TBA by the office by Friday
Friday, March 17
Open to all grades K-12 of New Covenant School students
If you’d like to volunteer to help, the office. There is always a need for timers, counters, etc., for this event.

11. Grades 6-12: Mandatory Annual Composition Exam Monday, March 20
Students will write two pieces on topics we assign.
Poem
Essay
Have each student bring 2 black or blue ink pens (no gel pens; they smear), medium point. NO FINE POINT PENS.
Bonus points if they do the work in cursive.
Know this: RED is good. Expect many corrections, especially in younger grades and from new students.

12. Ages 12 years and upwards Road Clean up – Gateway Saturday, March 25
9:30 to 11
Great chance for volunteer hours.
We will probably be done by 10:30.
Meet at the north end of Gateway Blvd, where Gateway ends into NASA Blvd. There’s a parking lot on the southeast corner.
We will finish at the south end, where Gateway ends at Hibiscus, near the Oaks Theatre.
City of Melbourne supplies bags, pickeruppers, and vests.
Wear closed-toe shoes.
Bring your own beverage, hat, sunscreen.

13. For grades 3rd-11th April 2017 Monday, April 3 Annual Testing Begins
Ends in April
Two parts to the testing.
Part I includes two timed tests by grade level (Listening & Otis Lennon). Your students were assigned to two-hour time blocks. Check your or contact Marsha.
Part 2 includes a 4-5 hour testing block. The Stanford Achievement Test is used. These tests are untimed. Your student can take their time as needed. They can get up and walk around, have a snack, go to the restroom, etc., as needed. You must select a time from the times still remaining. Call the office as soon as possible. Most people already have done their scheduling.
No calculators allowed.
Bring a lunch (or snacks) and a beverage(s).
We will supply pencils and scratch paper.
In order to receive your students’ results, your account must be up to date.
Makeup tests will cost extra this year.

14. For Grades K-2nd Annual Testing Wide Range Achievement Testing
Given one-on-one with Mrs. Hancock or a designated, trained person.
Covers Math, Spelling, Reading, and --- for some grades --- Reading Comprehension.
Test dates available in May. Call the office to schedule your time.

15. For All Grades Art History & Appreciation Contest Thursday, April 6th
“The Perfectionist” by Grant Wood
Art History & Appreciation Contest
Thursday, April 6th
2 pm to 3 pm.
Contest pictures have been listed on the school’s website since October. Not too late to begin.
It will be a multiple choice contest paper. Titles or artists will be given. The student picks the ones that match the picture on the projection screen. Students will also be asked to identify a few paintings whose artist was in the picture list, but the painting used will not have been in the list. The student will be asked which artist the picture matches by style.
For students in the Thursday classes, they will have this in their last hour. Those not in Thursday classes should come to the office before 2 pm (like 1:45) to be situated.

16. Grades K-6th Friday, April 7
Last day to submit Book-It Reading Contest Forms
This is a solid, unmovable deadline.

17. Tonight’s Topic: NCS Business
Part 1: For some of you, this topic is not relevant at all.
NCS is an actual 501(c)3 corporation.
That means we are a not-for-profit corporation.
Our budget is determined by actual costs for materials, 3 staff members {all part-time}, annual costs for things like rent, Turnitin, Blackbaud, ACSI Membership, licenses, inspections, electricity, Internet, phones, etc.
Right now, only about one-third of our families have their accounts up to date. A number of people are some months behind. Something else always comes before us when bill paying time comes, I guess.
We are at a point where we have bills but need people to pay their accounts in order for us to pay those bills. It is a tough spot.
We can accept payments via PayPal, credit card (in person or over the phone), cash, and checks.
If you are behind in your account, I sincerely ask that you use one of the means mentioned above to pay your account up to date so we can pay our bills.
If you ARE up to date, I thank you humbly.

18. Tonight’s Topic: NCS Business
Next Year! is fast approaching.
We need your input on:
Classes on site: what you like, what you don’t like, what should we find teachers to teach, what you’d like to teach, etc.
Field trips
Activities and contests
Office hours
Teachers, good and bad
Website
Facebook posting
Seminars and I&E Meetings
Please us or message me on my private messaging on FB and let us know what you think.

19. Questions?