... More Than A School
J U N E   2 0 1 7    I S S U E                                                    E - N E W S L E T T E R
In This Issue:
 
THANK YOU!

We are so grateful to the wonderful members of our CEA Community who with their presence, thoughtfulness, and cooperation make CEA a better and more beautiful place every day.

Thank you to the Victoria family, who so generously redid the garden in front of our Virgin Mary statue in the breezeway. 
It looks beautiful!

Thank you to the 
Tomas-Aranda family, for generously donating 27 brand-new printers to CEA for our teachers to use!

We are incredibly grateful for presence and support!
 
CEA Peace Wreath

Earlier this year, Ms. Jolliff asked second and third graders to write messages of peace on origami birds, which she took with her on her vacation. During the trip, she handed these little messages to different people she encountered on her journey. The people's reactions were of incredible surprise, but more importantly, they were touched by the beautiful notes that the CEA children wrote. In the main building hallway Ms. Jolliff has now hung a Peace Wreath.

 Whenever anyone passing by witnesses an act of kindness, they are asked to please tie a ribbon to the wreath. Each day she makes sure to have spare ribbon available for those passing by to tie. Her full wreath is a testament to the wonderful community we have at Conchita and the many acts of kindness that go on each day.  This last week of school, let's remember to continue to be kind to each other, and tie more ribbons to our 
Peace Wreath. 
 
Summer Registration is Still Open!


SUMMER AT CEA 2017 will offer our extraordinary intensive programs in Music, Theatre, Sports, Dance, Technology, Art, Voice, and Adventures in the Arts. 

 
SUMMER SESSION DATES

Session 1: 
June 12 - June 30

Session 2: 
July 3 - July 21

Full Summer: 
June 12 - July 21

We look forward to seeing you this summer!!!
 
faces
Faces of Conchita
Michael Acosta
c/o 2004

 
alumninews 
More Alumni News!
Laura Rodriguez
c/o 2003

This week, CEA alumna and NBC reporter, Laura Rodriguez, came to CEA to talk to the 7th grade. She spoke to them in the library about her personal journey and process in becoming a journalist. They discussed the writing process, the importance of reading and writing, journalistic ethics, time management, meeting deadlines, how she got her "foot in the door," her university experience, and many other topics. Most importantly, Laura gave a beautiful testament to how CEA formed her into the incredible woman she is today. We are so thankful that she took time from her busy schedule to come to CEA and continue to give back to her home! We really have exceptional alumni and a wonderful community!

Katherine Londono
c/o 2002

Congratulations to Katherine Londono, recipient of the prestigious 2017 Equal Justice Works Fellowship. Katherine's fellowship is with Make the Road New Jersey, where she will provide direct representation, policy advocacy, and community outreach to ensure low-income immigrant women throughout New Jersey have access to earned sick time and paid family and medical leave.  Read More
 
 
Photo by Christopher Furlong / Getty Images

The 1979 6-Year-Old: Less Reading, 
More Range
"It's amazing what a difference 30 years have made. Academically, that 1979 first grader (who also needed to be 'six years, six months' old and 'have two to five permanent or second teeth') would have been considered right on target to start preschool. In terms of life skills, she's heading for middle school, riding her two-wheeled bike and finding her own way home." Read More


How Empathy Is Important For Parents And Teens When Things Get Stressful
When adolescents are distressed, most parents are inclined to try to solve their problems, but often what teens really need is help developing problem-solving skills of their own. Parents don't need an entirely new set of tools to impart these lessons to their teenagers. They can adapt lessons about empathy and perspective that they taught their kids earlier in childhood. Read More
 
grad8th Grade Graduation

Congratulations to the Class of 2017!
We are so proud of your accomplishments and the extraordinary human beings that you have become during your years at CEA. We are proud of every single one of you - you are intelligent, well-rounded, compassionate, confident, and kind individuals, and we know that with the foundation you have today, you will shine wherever you go. Now it is time for your next stage in life - follow your heart, live your dreams.  You are Conchita's legacy.
 
To celebrate our c/o 2017, the 8th grade will have their annual:
 
Graduation Dance
Friday, June 9, 2017
7:00pm - 10:30pm
 
Graduation Ceremony and Luncheon
Saturday, June 10, 2017
Prince of Peace Catholic Church
9:30 a.m.
lastdayThe end of the school year is approaching, and there are some important dates to remember before we start our summers!

Last Day of School
Monday, June 5th 

Award Ceremonies for K-2nd Grades
Tuesday, June 6th
9:30 a.m - Kindergarten
10:45 a.m.- Pre-Primary
12:30 p.m. - 1st Grade
2:00 p.m. - 2nd Grade

Award Ceremonies for 3rd - 7th Grades
Wednesday, June 7th
9:00 a.m. - 4 th   Grade
10:30 a.m. - 3 rd   Grade
11:30 a.m. - 5 th   Grade
1:00 p.m. - 6 th   Grade
2:00 p.m. - 7 th   Grade

Students should come to school in gala uniform and be in their classrooms 15 minutes prior to their assembly. Students may leave after their assembly. Report cards will be emailed after 4:00 p.m.  
There is no regular school on these days.

We hope you'll make plans to come celebrate with your children at the appropriate assembly.  
Please arrive no earlier than 10 minutes before your child's scheduled assembly.  
Thank you for a spectacular year!  
  Before you know it, we will be back in school!

First Day of School

Lower School (K-4th grades) 
August 24th

Upper School (5th - 8th grades) 
August 25th

  Enjoy your summer and we will see you in August
NYCUpper School Students Travel to 
New York City!

Journalism students had the opportunity to tour the Columbia University School of Journalism and took time to visit several TV studios, including NBC Studios and CNN and have up-close encounters with individuals who help create the most watched news in the nation. They even experienced being in the news room both at NBC and CNN during breaking news!

Dancers took a variety of classes at Paul Taylor and Broadway Dance Center. They took a Fosse class, a Broadway class, and a Pascal Rioult class, among other activities. 

Together, the students watched the Broadway musical,  On Your Feet, toured Radio City Music Hall, took a Central Park bike tour and visited the Twin Towers Memorial. This was a fantastic experience for all the students involved! See More
 splashmathMrs. Perez' 3rd Grade Class Wins Splashmath Competition!

Congratulations to Mrs. Perez' 3rd Grade class for winning the 
Splashmath Springboard 2017 Challenge! 
Their class won a $20 Amazon gift card as a prize!

Splash Math is an app on a mission to create fun learning experiences that motivate young learners to achieve mastery in math skills. Splash Math SpringBoard is a free 7-week international math contest for classrooms. Points are earned by students by answering problems, answering correctly and mastering math skills in the process.

 Classrooms win prizes by doing grade-level math challenges and for improving their scores week-to-week.   We are so proud of our 3rd graders!!
 wordle6th Grade "Wordles" about Literature

Alejandra Lopez, 6th Grade

Mrs. Santalo's 6th graders read The Breadwinner, a book about  a young girl their age in Afghanistan, whose life is quite different from theirs. Mrs. Santalo challenged her class to ponder about that and practice being grateful for their many blessings. Half her class was asked to reflect on the protagonist of the novel and the other half to reflect on their lives. Then, they each created "wordles" on their reflections. Wordle is a toy for generating "word clouds" from text. The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text. 

Since CEA has so many gifted artists, it was a great way for them integrate their passion for art with literature and vocabulary. See More Wordles
 pioneer3rd Grade Celebrates Pioneer Day!

On Wednesday, May 18th 3rd Grade celebrated Pioneer Day. The students created a living museum depicting what life was like for pioneers in 19th century America. The tour began in the theatre with entertainment from the era, including square dancing, guitar players, fiddle players, and Elbow Room. From there, trail guides led their families and other CEA students to the various vignettes set up around the school, which included depictions of farming, a homestead, a school, the transcontinental railroad, the pony express, and the gold rush, among others. The celebration was a tremendous success! 

Thank you to our third grade teachers: Ms. Jolliff, Mrs. Perez, Mrs. Majors, and Mrs. Espina for their wonderful work!  See Pictures

Each year, the second grade studies fairy tales from around the world. Not only do the second graders read the fairy tales and discuss fairy tales in class, but they also learn about the music from fairy tales in their music classes and learn a ball dance together as a group. The unit culminates in the annual Second Grade Fairy Tale Ball, when they dress up as princes and princesses and perform their musical pieces and ball dance in this magnificent enchanted morning. Parents are welcome to attend the ball, which is complete with medieval snacks. Several guests attended the ball this year, including The Big Bad Wolf, Snow White, and many more! 

Thank you to our magnificent 2nd grade teachers: Mrs. Hernandez, Mrs. Llerena, and Mrs. Prieto, and to our DREAMS teachers and faculty who helped in all the details!  See Pictures