Recycled Innovations Contest Winners!

Our contest winners outside the Channel 10 News studios.

Congratulations to Country Day School 4th graders Tyson & Dylan. Along with the rest of the 4th grade class, they entered the City of Largo’s 3rd annual Recycled Innovations Contest.

Largo’s eco-innovators were challenged to construct useful creations from the contents of their trash can. This online contest encouraged innovators to go beyond recycling by re-purposing their waste. All entries were to be made of 75 percent or more recycled or material that would otherwise be discarded. Contrary to a recycled art show, Recycled Innovations are items that may be reused in daily activities.
The boys were recognized for their achievements at the Channel 10 Studio in a live interview.  Check it out!

Holiday Food Drive

As we approach the holiday season, Country Day School continues on with the tradition of promoting community service and giving with our students. The Middle School spends time each month in a local independent living facility. Students pick up trash on our street to keep our neighborhood beautiful. As Thanksgiving approaches, the Middle School students have chosen to support a food collection for the St. Petersburg Free Clinic.

St. Petersburg Free Clinic is a multi-service, independent, not-for-profit, human services agency providing our community neighbors temporary assistance with food, shelter and health care. We have been caring for the unserved and underserved facing temporary emergency needs throughout Pinellas County, Florida, since 1970.

St. Petersburg Free Clinic began as a walk-in medical facility that provided basic health care services to individuals without health insurance, primarily those people who fall through the cracks of existing systems and services. In subsequent years, we expanded our services to become a multi-service, multi-site agency addressing the need for food, shelter and health care through our five essential programs: Free Clinic Health Center, Free Clinic We Help Services, Free Clinic Food Bank, Free Clinic Women’s Residence, Free Clinic Beacon House (men’s transitional housing).

Please send in food items to support this cause. If every student sends in just one item, we will be making a significant difference in a families holiday. Please review the list for helpful suggestions.

Additionally, the Primary classrooms are using this as a learning opportunity in the classroom. A food item is the theme of the classroom ‘share’ show ‘n tell for Thursday, Nov. 17th.

Pepsi Refresh Grant

We are trying one more time to win a Pepsi Refresh Grant during the month of September. Our application for a $10,000 grant to host a children’s art and reading festival, called The Art of Reading, went live on the Pepsi Refresh website on September 1 and will be up until the end of the month. In order to win the grant, we need everyone to vote for our idea EVERY DAY during the month of September. If we are in the Top 15 in our category at the end of the month, we will receive the funding. (We competed in June and got as high as #17. We ended up at #27!) Now that school is in session and all of our families and staff have returned, we should have a much better chance of winning! Our idea is currently in the #22 position- with your help we can definitely get in the top 15! Please continue reading to learn how to vote, who are partners are in this contest, and what contests we will be hosting to support this project (you can win prizes!).

Country Day Groupon!

This weekend, August 6-7, we are running an out of this world deal on Groupon. If you or your kids ever wanted to try horseback riding, now is your chance. See you at the barn!

Visit our ‘Groupon Store’ and become a follower!

Summer Language Opportunity for Students

With numerous requests for Summer Spanish enrichment/tutoring and the addition of this new program, we will now be able to offer a limited number of students the following opportunity:

o Each student will receive an individual secured log in to utilize the Spanish e-learning curriculum from school and home for the remainder of the Summer (through August 20th).
o Each student will be able to receive up to 8 class sessions (16 hours) of small group instruction/coaching with Mrs. Siracusa utilizing this curriculum and other select enrichment.
o Eligible students: 4th- 8th grade from beginner to advanced; younger students will be accepted on a per case basis.
o Dates and times: 6/27-7/1; 7/11-7/15; 7/25-7/29; 8/8-8/12 from 1pm-3pm in the Reading and Writing Center (students may attend any of these dates up to 8 sessions).
o Costs:

Currently enrolled Country Day students:

$200 full Spanish program with e learning curriculum and 8 class sessions (extra sessions will be $15 per session)

$100 e learning curriculum only (in any language)

Non currently enrolled students:

$400 full Spanish program with e learning curriculum and 8 class sessions (extra sessions will be $30 per session)

$200 e learning curriculum only (in any language)

Contact the front office for additional information and to sign up. Don’t miss out on this Summer opportunity to further your language skills!

World Language Updates

Commitment to World Language Learning

Country Day School has always supported the importance of students learning other languages. All students from 2 years old to 8th grade receive instruction in Spanish and Chinese. English, Spanish and Chinese are the most utilized languages in the world. Students with foundations in these languages will have substantial advantages over their peers in the future.

Country Day is committed to being a leader in the use of best practices in teaching world languages. Under the direction of Mrs. Fran Siracusa, we have been testing various web 2.0 learning tools that will support individualized curriculum and be congruent with our overall program. We are now very excited to announce the next phase of our World Language program!

New Program

Country Day will be one of the first schools in Florida to incorporate a school wide site license with Rosetta Stone’s e-learning curriculum covering all languages including Arabic, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Hebrew, Irish, Chinese, Japanese, Polish, Greek, Korean, Dutch, Hindi, Persian (Farsi), Swedish, Latin, Tagalog, Vietnamese and Turkish. Our core World Language curriculum will continue to be Spanish and Chinese. However, we will now be able to offer the motivated student the opportunity to learn other languages as well.

Individualized Curriculum

With the utilization of this new technology we will be able to have each student’s learning be individualized to their level and pace. They will have secured web access to the curriculum 24 hours a day from home or school. The program will use advanced speech recognition technology that engages the student in lifelike conversations that let them produce spoken or written sentences from words and phrases they’ve learned. Our teachers will integrate this program with other technology applications and group activities. A curriculum editor lets our teachers customize the Rosetta content for individual or class development needs. Additionally, our teachers will use advanced administrative mapping tools to monitor student progress and provide individualized coaching.

Country Day School Alumni Take Highest Honors Amongst Pinellas County High School Graduates

CDS Alumni Sophie and Aubrey at CCC Graduation

Country Day School announces record high school outcomes with its alumni taking multiple Valedictorian/Salutatorian spots among the most competitive high school programs in the County.

o Aubrey Danielson, Valedictorian, Advanced Placement Program, Clearwater Central Catholic High School.
o Sophie Newman, Valedictorian, International Baccalaureate Program, Clearwater Central Catholic High School.
o Stephen Page, Salutatorian, Shorecrest Preparatory High School

In addition to the above, Country Day School alumni also received the St. Petersburg High School International Baccalaureate Valedictorian honors two of the last five years.

Valedictorian and Salutatorian are the most coveted awards among high school graduates. They identify the top two students in a high school. In Pinellas County, over 9000 students enter high school each year. After four years of coursework and intense competition, less than ½ of one % of them receive these recognitions. The success of Country Day School’s alumni is unprecedented.

According to Melissa Newman, parent of one of the Valedictorians, the results were not surprising: “Coming from Country Day, my daughter was better prepared for high school than any of the other Freshmen. Country Day’s Montessori elementary and cutting edge middle school gave her a substantial advantage over traditional programs.”

Dr. John Venturella, President of Clearwater Central Catholic High School, also concurred: “We are a private school with high academic expectations through our Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate programs. The students coming from Country Day are extraordinarily well educated and take on the most rigorous high school classes with ease. I have visited the school and been amazed at the innovative approaches to education being implemented at Country Day.”