Spring Book Fair
March 12th, 2012

We're having a Book Fair luau! An amazing selection of books is headed our way. At the Book Fair you will find the latest and finest titles for kids, as well as books of interest to parents. Mark your calendar for our Family Event on Tuesday, April 3, where the whole family can join in the fun. Proceeds from the Book Fair are used to add to the St. Nicholas library book collection, so come to the Book Fair and help build our library.

Go online and check out some of the popular titles
you may find at our Book Fair*.
The previews include book descriptions and special features like author video clips and reading levels.
*Remember that not all books are available at all Fairs.

Families will be able to order online beginning Friday, March 16^th through April 5^th. The book fair at school begins Friday, March 3oth through April 5^th.
Follow the link: ST. NICHOLAS BOOK FAIR

DOWNLOAD BOOK FAIR VOUCHER

Posted by Kathy Daugherty   |  1 Comment(s)  |  Leave a Comment

Summer Camp: Summer Camp 2012
January 21st, 2012

St. Nicholas Summer Camp 2012 is June 4th through August 3rd. Located in the East Brainerd area, the camp features a day and enrichment camp for boys and girls ages 4-12, and a camp leadership program for ages 13-15. Camp hours are 7am-6pm.

More Information: SUMMER CAMP
Review SUMMER CAMP POLICIES
Download:  SUMMER CAMP CATALOG
Download:  SUMMER CAMP REGISTRATION FORMS

Posted by Kathy Daugherty   |  2 Comment(s)  |  Leave a Comment

Winter/Spring Enrichment Classes
December 8th, 2011

Check out the Extended School Program after-school classes
for Winter and Spring 2012! 

New classes include "Mighty Manners" Etiquette, "Winter Fun" Reading and Crafts, "I Hear America Singing" Folk Songs and Singing Games, and CSI Investigation Activities for Upper Primary students! 

Other offerings include:
         Computer Explorers
         Art and Sculpture Classes
         Flower Arranging
         Reading and Crafts
         Ballet and Creative Dance
         Chipshots Golf
         Spanish Games and Dances
         Private Music Lessons

Download the Winter/Spring Catalog
Download the Winter/Spring Enrichment Registration Form

Private Music Lessons Policy Form
(required for private lesson students)

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From Head of School: Parent Night Remarks 2011
September 9th, 2011

One major goal of parenting is to work ourselves out of the job.  We provide love and support, wisdom, experience and advice.  We model good decision-making and problem solving.  Over time, we give our kids more and more responsibility, cede decision-making to them at appropriate milestones, and finally send them out into the world to be responsible, caring adults.   Self-reliant and independent. 

This summer, our faculty/staff reading assignment focused on this very process.   We read Raising Self-Reliant Children in a Self-Indulgent World: Seven Building Blocks for Developing Capable Young People by Stephen Glenn and Jane Nelson.

We recommend the book to all parents as there are practical applications for each of these seven building blocks.  There are numerous examples of strategies or approaches to parenting that develop independence, character, and problem-solving in our kids.  As a faculty and staff, we read the book and considered ways that we develop these seven building blocks as part of our program.

So what are the seven building blocks?

The first three building blocks are beliefs.  The next four are basic life skills.

1. I am a capable person who can learn, change, and find my own direction when I need to.
2. I am important and make valuable contributions.  I contribute in meaningful ways and I am genuinely needed.
3. I can solve problems and affect what happens to me.  I have influence over my life and can make a difference in the world around me.
4. I have self-discipline.   I understand my personal emotions and I use that understanding to develop self-discipline and self-control and to learn from experiences.
5. I know how to communicate and interact positively with others.  I have the ability to work with others and develop friendships through communicating, cooperating, negotiating, sharing, empathizing, and listening.
6. I am responsible.  I have the ability to respond to the limits and consequences of everyday life with responsibility, adaptability, flexibility and integrity.
7. I can make appropriate judgments.  I have the ability to use wisdom and to evaluate situations according to appropriate values.

It’s important to recognize that developing these building blocks is a process and takes time.  All students will not display every one of these qualities at every moment of every day, in all decisions that they make.  It’s really more of a peaks and valleys type of growth, sometimes one step forward and two steps back.  Over time, as parents and teachers, we hope to see forward movement with increased consistency.

Growth also requires discipline on the part of parents and teachers to not rescue the kids or protect them from their own mistakes, because without those mistakes, there would be no successes.  That’s why we’re in partnership, sharing common goals and supporting each other.

At St. Nicholas, so many of our classroom routines and practices help develop these building blocks.  They are also reinforced in chapel and throughout the day.  Our Expectations and Objectives for students certainly focus on these building blocks, and more. 

Expectations of a St. Nicholas Student

• Responsibility for self, both as an individual and as a part of the group; responsibility for property and environment.
• Commitment to work for excellence.
• Sensitivity, sympathy, and empathy for others.
• Respect for self, teachers, other races, religions, and socio-economic groups, situations, rules and environment.
• Awareness of and tending to situations, rules and social environment.
• Trustworthiness, integrity, and honesty.
• Spiritual awareness.
• Zest for learning.
• Independence in learning which is age-appropriate

Objectives

• St. Nicholas students will become self-initiating learners who are independent, self-motivated, and creative.
• St. Nicholas students will be served by an individual continuous-progress curriculum, utilizing age mixing practices within a warm, nurturing atmosphere.
• St. Nicholas students will strive for individual excellence in reading, written and oral communication skills, mathematics, social studies, science, art, movement, and music.
• St. Nicholas students will be enriched through the arts, foreign language, technology skills, and a multi-disciplinary approach to subject matter.
• St. Nicholas students will develop an expanded perspective of the world through exposure to a variety of people, customs, family traditions, and ideologies.
• St. Nicholas students will become environmentally responsible.
• St. Nicholas students will be encouraged in spiritual growth and strengthened in their religious beliefs.
• St. Nicholas students will develop respect for the individual while learning to function as a responsible member of a larger group.

The process starts in Level 1 and grows over time, often in imperceptible ways.  By the time students graduate from Level 7, they have made great progress in expectations and objectives.

Granted, there will still be much growth ahead, especially through the middle and high school years, but their experience at St. Nicholas will prepare them not just academically, but socially and spiritually as well, and give them a wonderful foundation for continued success.

Posted by Mark Fallo in Developing Capable Young People   |  0 Comment(s)  |  Leave a Comment

From Head of School: Mindsets and Learning
August 28th, 2011

How does St. Nicholas develop students who are intellectually curious and confident enough to take on challenges?  This article by Carol Dweck provides insight as to why our educational environment has such a profound impact on motivation, learning and school achievement.

Click on the image below to view the article.
You will be able to return to the blog.

Posted by Mark Fallo in Motivation   |  0 Comment(s)  |  Leave a Comment