Mark Your Calendars ~ Non-Uniform & Ugly Holiday Sweater Day - December 21 No School - December 24 - January 1 Semester 1 Final Exams - January 16-18 End of Quarter 2 - January 18 No School - January 21 & 22

From the Principal's Desk

Dear Parents and Students,  As winter break quickly approaches, I would like to remind you that this time of year can be demanding for students. We all want our students to do well in school and that takes all of us working together to support and encourage our kids to do their very best.    As a parent, you can help your student practice self-advocacy and communication with teachers. Discuss how best to approach something that might be frustrating and encourage them to reach out to teachers. This is an important skill as they move through the year. Communication can resolve misinformation and help clarify teacher and student expectations.   If you’ve not done so already, please use Synergy ParentVUE to view your student’s grades on-line. Using ParentVUE can prevent “unwanted” surprises at the end of the semester. Please contact the  upper school office  if you have questions.   This newsletter contains information regarding weather-related school closings. Parents and students are encouraged to keep this information available at home.    The radio and television stations listed are the first parties to be notified when school delays or closings are announced, and we encourage you to monitor those outlets for the earliest available information.    On behalf of the faculty and staff, I want to wish you a happy and safe holiday season! Andrew Sachariason Upper School Principal

Music Department Fruit Sale Delivery ~ is on Thursday, December 13. Pick up your child’s fruit from the PAC by 6:00 pm. Your order form will be there to help you check out with the right boxes.  No orders may be picked up between 3:45 and 4:15 pm!  Please plan ahead to get your fruit prior to parent pickup or after the buses have exited the parking lot.  Prep-Appella ~ An informational meeting for all students interested in joining Prep-Appella will be held on Wednesday, December 19 at 9:00am in the choir room. Those unable to attend should see Mr. Beulke next week for details. Prep-Appella is open to any student in grades 9-12 including those not in choir .  Attention all Juniors and Seniors! ~ Are you interested in helping plan Prom 2019? The Prom Committee will be made up of eight very interested, motivated, organized members. There is an application process which is new this year. Applications can be picked up in the upper school office and they are due back by December 21. If you have questions please see Ms. Runge in the upper school office. Help make Prom 2019 the best Prom ever!  Semester 2 Schedule Changes ~ Please take time to go to StudentVue and review your semester 2 schedule. There will be schedule change request forms available in the upper school office beginning on January 2. Please note that a schedule change request is a “request only,” not a guarantee that your schedule will be changed. Priority will be given to upper classmen and students that need a course to graduate. Forms will be due no later than the end of the school day on Friday, January 11.  Non-Uniform Day ~ Friday, December 21 is an "All School" Non-Uniform and Ugly Holiday Sweater Day. Show your holiday spirit and wear your ugliest holiday sweater. Students who choose not to wear an ugly sweater, should follow the regular non-uniform attire regulations. Students are reminded to be respectful and appropriate in their clothing selection. No hats allowed.   Semester 1 Final Exam Schedule ~ Final Exams for Semester 1 are scheduled for Wednesday, January 16 through Friday, January 18. Click here for details. Literary Magazine ~ We are now accepting submissions for our Literary Magazine. Are you a creative writer? Do you write poetry, short stories, or creative nonfiction? Do you have a college essay you're willing to share? We want to see it! Share your best writing with National English Honor Society. Send submissions to senior Else Krueger or to Ms. Bransford .   UNICEF Club ~ Unicef Club is a subgroup of service club and is always welcoming new members. If you are interested in helping children around the world please consider joining. Contact Sofia Fix if you are interested. There will be a “Creating Awareness Week” Jan 28-Feb 1. Updated MySchoolAnywhere Coming Soon! ~ We are updating and refreshing our MySchoolAnywhere (our online family directory database) with all current family directory information. Watch for an email coming soon with a new temporary password to log into your account. Winter Break ~  St. Croix Prep will be closed over Winter Break: Friday, December 21 is the last day of school prior to Winter Break. The offices and building of St. Croix Prep will be closed over the break (December 24 - January 1). Classes will resume Wednesday, January 2. School Closings and Delays Due to Weather ~   Since Stillwater Area Public Schools provides bus transportation for our students, St. Croix Prep will close when Stillwater closes school. Please check one of the following for school closing information:   SCPA website ,  KARE11 ,  KSTP , and  WCCO .

Service Club Offering Service Hour Opportunities

Need service hours? Service Club has some upcoming service hour opportunities. Students should check the Upper School bulletin board and emails for upcoming events. Read the descriptions below of a few opportunities coming up that might interest you. More details will be in the January newsletter. Dog Toy Workshop - On Tuesday, December 18 in room 211 at 4:15.Students will make braided fleece dog toys for a rescue organization in Puerto Rico. See Taylor Lanners if you have questions. Cake Kit Donations - Help construct a birthday cake kit (including cake mix, icing, candles, decorations etc.) and bring to local shelter for children.

The Upper School Theatre Department presents Fools February 21, 22, and 23 - 7:00 p.m. Tickets: $10 for Adults $7 for Students

College Counseling Corner - Mathew Williams Are you scheduling times to visit colleges?

Seniors: It’s been a busy fall in the College Counseling office. For the most part, the bulk of the college application season is behind us. As of today, nearly every senior who plans to apply to college has submitted at least one application. However, I want to be clear that it’s not too late to apply for admission to a great many schools, including any school that reviews applications as they arrive (rolling admission).  January 1 and February 1 are the last firm deadlines at some selective institutions, so there will still be a small flurry of activity late-month and early in the new year. However, for the most part, seniors and their families should be turning their attention to the college financial aid process and the continued hunt for scholarships. If students are stumped for a place to begin, have them review the scholarship list in Naviance, as well as one of the following scholarship search websites: ·        http://www.fastweb.com ·        https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/scholarship-search ·        https://www.collegegreenlight.com ·        http://www.collegenet.com/elect/app/app ·        http://www.scholarship.com Juniors: The junior class has also had a busy fall with nearly every student attending the College Fair in Minneapolis in late October. Many of our juniors also took the PSAT earlier that month, and those scores just became available online to students this week. Paper PSAT Score Reports will be shared with juniors during an Advisory session this month. Please ask your junior to share their results with you.  Juniors who did incredibly well on the PSAT will also be automatically reported to National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) for entry into its competitions. Aside from the PSAT, juniors should continue to consider visits to college campuses in the months ahead, as well as preparation for the ACT or SAT college admission exams. As a reminder, we will offer the ACT here on Tuesday, April 2. The exam will be posted in FeePay early in the new year. Sophomores & Freshmen:   I was happy to see a number of sophomores and freshmen take advantage of college admission presentations that took place throughout the fall months. College rep visits have quieted down now for the next two months, but will pick up again second semester. As a reminder, sophomores and freshmen are encouraged (not required) to take in one college rep visit each year. Information about up-coming visits by college reps is shared in the morning announcements. College rep visits are also listed on the SCPA website under Upper School College Counseling.  As always, I’m happy to meet with any Upper School students and/or parents to discuss post-secondary planning. Please feel free to drop me an email to arrange a conversation.   Mathew Williams College Counselor

Dean of Students in Upper School

Many of you know Ms. Wolfgram for her work in our Upper School Special Education department, but this year she is also taking on some duties as a Dean in the Upper School. As a Dean, Ms. Wolfgram is looking forward to working with a larger section of students in the Upper School. Some of the duties assigned will be tracking attendance, issuing detentions, and enforcing the dress code. Her work will also include reaching out and supporting students and families of the Upper School as needed. Feel free to contact me with any questions. Thank you! Mr. Sachariason

School Newspaper Update Did you know that upper school students work hard to put out a quarterly magazine exploring community and cultural issues? The  Prep Quarterly  is entirely organized and led by students, who plan everything from the topics they'll explore to the format of the magazine. They are the authors, editors, photographers, and researchers for this publication. This provides students a chance to expand their voices as writers, reaching real audiences in real time, and also helps students see firsthand the complex decisions that go into any article and publication. This quarter's topics include an expose of the fashion industry, a discussion about the escalating costs of college, and interviews with our foreign exchange students, to name just a few. Newspaper meets on Tuesdays during lunch in Room 214.

Newspaper staff work to plan articles for the Quarter 2 publication!

Science Club Students Lead Circulation and Respiration Lesson to 1st Graders A team from the Upper School Science Club recently designed and gave a science lesson for the first grade classes. Using interactive models of red and white blood cells, the students showed how our body uses these cells for immune function and delivery of oxygen. First graders also learned how our lungs work and how to measure heart rate. This lesson was delivered to all three first grade classes simultaneously by teams of 3 students. Enormous credit is given to this team for designing and delivering an incredibly creative lesson. The first grade teachers were impressed by our students’ engagement with our youngest students and their ability to teach scientific concepts in such an interactive manner. We look forward to further upper school-lower school science learning opportunities! Individuals participating in this include: Cameron Matchinsky (photographer), Quinn Petersen, Arian Tomar, Grace McFarlane, Daniel Peterson, Logan Tan, Julia Garland, Anja Krueger, Lauren Mecum, Anna Schieckel.

Logan Tan Earns Excellence in Volunteerism Award

Logan Tan (10th grade) recently earned the Excellence in Volunteerism Award by Minnesota Association for Volunteer Administration (MAVA). Logan earned a Varsity Letter in Service last year and is currently working on another letter for this school year at SCPA.  He has earned over 250 hours of service in the past two years at the Science Museum and Como Zoo. “My favorite service component at Como Zoo was the summer camp where I led campers in hands-on experiences.”  The opportunity to focus on service at St Croix Prep was a key motivator for Logan’s continued devotion to his work at the Como Zoo, the Science Museum and other service projects. Logan plans to continue to serve in the local community as a young adult.  Congratulations to Logan on this remarkable achievement and thank you for helping build a spirit of service at SCPA! Upper school students interested lettering in service for the 2019-2020 school year, please contact Ms. Vidlock.

SCPA Upper School Administrative Staff Andrew Sachariason - Upper School Principal Email:  [email protected] Phone: 651-395-5971  Mathew Williams - Upper School College Counselor Email:  [email protected] Phone: 651-395-5926            Diane Anderson - Upper School Office Manager          Email:  [email protected] Phone: 651-395-5970   Theresa Seichter - Upper School Admin Assistant & Attendance Clerk          Email:  [email protected] Phone: 651-395-5701   Upper School Attendance Line - 651-395-5993