Reminder: Reenrollment and District Busing for 2021-2022
The annual process of reenrollment is well underway! Reenrollment materials are available online through Net Community, and the Admissions Office would like to remind you once again that the deadline to reenroll is near at hand: March 18. Due to high demand for available spaces, we are asking parents to please submit their child’s reenrollment by the deadline and to contact Admissions if there are circumstances that make it difficult to do so.
In addition, please remember that there has been a change to the process to request bus transportation from your public district. For families residing in districts other than Syracuse City, you must submit your bus request directly to your school district (MPH can only submit bus requests for families residing in Syracuse City). Requests to your district must be submitted by April 1. Please visit the Transportation webpage for additional information.
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Students Creatively Remind Us:
Fill Out the DHA!
For this week's All-School Meeting, MPH Light & Magic, the student-led production team, created a rendering of the Manlius Pebble Hill campus in the popular video game "Minecraft." The students, Simon Fortner, Jake Aretsky, and Ava Benedict, spent time during free blocks, tutorials, and outside of school to recreate the quad, exteriors of several hallways, and the interior of the Phoenix Student Center. In true MPH health protocols fashion, they even included a sign reminding community members to fill out their DHA prior to entering any buildings on campus.
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JV Basketball in Action
Our photographer, Chuck Wainwright '74, captured some great action shots of our JV Basketball team at last Monday's game versus Onondaga Central. Athletic Director Jim Ryan commented, "Even with some obvious challenges, our athletes are thrilled to be on the court, playing with their teammates, and competing against some of their rival schools. Both the JV and Varsity teams have shown great maturity while facing a condensed season, new protocols, and weekly testing. I am incredibly proud of how they have handled themselves, which will bode well for this group moving ahead.” Take a look at the photo gallery to the left.
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"All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten!"
A lot has been happening in Kindergarten lately, as evidenced by the photo gallery on the left ! As just one example, the students have been taking turns being the weekly “Star Student” and “Star Scientist.” When it’s their designated week, students present their (Star Student) poster on Monday and their science laboratory report and chosen experiment on Friday. The audience? Their teachers, their classmates, and, via Zoom, their respective families!
Kindergarteners also certainly seem to love their numbers! They recently enjoyed celebrating 100 days of school (counting by twos and tens to make 10 groups of 10 with pom poms, and then gluing them onto their balloons). In addition, these young learners participate in daily calendar math, working on decomposing and composing numbers, using tally marks, place value, and manipulating Base Ten blocks.
Alas, these young ones also demonstrated their care of our planet after they learned about reducing waste, recycling, and the concepts of reuse and composting. They now focus on taking care of their school lunches and get the leftover food ready for composting.
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Last week we introduced you to MPH Global and our first session with MPH alumna Carrie Manolakos. MPH Global masterclasses deliver a unique opportunity for students to perform a prepared solo in front of a live virtual audience and receive one-on-one coaching from our world-class performers! The performances and coaching will be followed by interactive conversations, including Q&A sessions with our guest-artist faculty for all participants.
The second in our series is a jazz piano Masterclass workshop with pianist, composer, author, and music producer Noah Kellman '09 on April 19, 6:30–7:45 p.m., for students in grades 9–12. Learn more here!
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Fourth and Fifth Graders Creatively Learn about Different Cultures
Fourth-grade students in Mrs. Ricciardiello’s humanities class created Wampum belts during their study of the Haudenosaunee. They wrote about each symbol featured on their belt and why it was important to the culture. Take a look at their creations by clicking on the image on the right!
Meanwhile, fifth-grade students captured key elements from the first section of the book, "The Birchbark House," by Louise Eldrich. They worked in small groups to create posters that included what they learned about characters, events, and the Ojibwa culture. When finished, they presented them to classmates. Check out a few of their posters below!
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This Week's Alumni Guest Speaker
At Wednesday’s morning's All-School Meeting, we welcomed Valdis Rigdon ’95 as our alumni special guest speaker. While he was a student at MPH, Valdis played soccer and basketball, and he ran track. Additionally, he was a member of National Honor Society, Model U.N., and Math League.
After MPH, Valdis received his B.A. in computer science from Cornell University. Upon graduation, he spent 10 years as a software engineer, part of which he worked for a defense contractor and the other part working in the healthcare industry. Today, he is employed by Appian, where he is the principal software engineer. Valdis has even developed several iPhone apps over the years!
Valdis shared how grateful he was to have attended such a kind, supportive institution for his high school years. He specifically gave credit to Mrs. Meehan, Mr. Curtis, and Mr. Ridall for being such positive influences. Valdis and his wife live in Ithaca with their three kids.
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Advanced Programming = Advanced Fun!
Last week, both sections of Mr. Zlomek's Advanced Programming built video games in the Scratch language and programmed controls in which to play them. The students had an open arcade and tested out each other’s games, giving feedback to determine where improvements could be made.
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Hot Shot Basketball Winners! |
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With thanks to Coach Ridall for capturing this picture, our Grade 8 "Hot Shot Basketball" winners are Rainbow, Carter, and Ruby! What is Hot Shot Basketball? We asked the same thing! It’s an individual shooting-skills competition in PE class, an innovative alternative when some of the traditional games can't be played. Students participate in a variety of shooting contests, with points given in each area. Congrats to this week's winners!
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MPH Senior Creates Learning Opportunity for Lower Schoolers
This week, MPH senior Angel facilitated a financial literacy lesson with fifth graders as part of her Senior Thesis Project (STP). Students met with Angel via Zoom as well as in the classroom to learn about and discuss concepts such as supply and demand, budgeting, credit, interest, business revenue, profit, and debt. Students shared their own business ideas and discussed possibilities and challenges.
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A Youthful 100!
This Kindergartner paid tribute to 100 days of school last week by coming to school dressed as a 100-year-old! Proof that you're never too old to learn!
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Hello, Sunshine!
MPH students welcomed the warmer temperatures this week! On Wednesday, Ms. Bentley Hoke captured students in the Trivia & Games Club engrossed in a good old-fashioned game of hide and-seek, Ms. Strickland's Positive Psychology Club members used sidewalk chalk to write positive messages to our community, and Mr. Preston's ninth graders spent some time soaking up the rays!
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