February 12, 2026 | Volume 44, Issue 21

NO SCHOOL

MID-WINTER BREAK

Fri-Mon., Feb. 13-16

We will be closed tomorrow and next Monday for our mid-winter break and President’s Day.

✨ AUCTION ITEM OF THE WEEK ✨

“Sourdough Bread Basket”

This week's highlighted item is 2 loaves of SOURDOUGH BREAD, freshly baked by Dr. Morse on the morning of our 33rd Annual Benefit Auction!



Matured over the last 5+ years, the starter came originally from San Francisco Sourdough Bakers.

In addition to the 2 loaves of freshly baked bread, the basket will contain the following:

• a Recipe
• a jar of Sourdough Bread Starter
• a 5 lb bag of “Sir Lancelot” Bread Flour … a King Arthur brand flour
• a jar of Honey
• a package of Butter

For a “morning after” the Auction treat, be prepared to bid on this tasty item!

Buy Your Auction Tickets Now for Your Chance to Bid on This and Other Items!

PLAN FOR IOWA TESTING

Feb. 23-26, M-Th Mornings

NO SCHOOL Fri., Feb. 27

IOWA achievement tests are administered annually to students in grades 3-8. We do not give it to the younger grades because research indicates that the results are not accurate for students below grade 3 and that at younger ages, it creates unnecessary stress which may lead to test anxiety. This test gives us the ability to evaluate our students compared to national norms and confirm the teachers’ assessments of students.

While some low scores may occur in social studies and science because our curriculum does not follow the exact sequence of the public schools, these lower scores usually adjust by 8th grade as the students complete the acquisition of information for the public school K-8 curriculum. Occasionally, a student will have an "off" year due to overconfidence; consequently, students usually take greater care to check their answers the following year, which is a valuable learning experience.

Most students enjoy this week as an opportunity for a change of pace and to prove what they know. We do not study for the test ahead of time, and students should not do any test prep at home so that the experience remains a fun one for them.



Parents, the following are ways you can help your child have a successful test-taking experience:

• Keep a consistent attendance schedule by not missing school the week prior to IOWA testing or any of the days during the test week. Parents, if you didn’t take this into account in your vacation planning, please remember it for the future. If your child is absent from school the week prior to IOWA testing, s/he might not demonstrate his/her skills accurately.
• If your child is sick, please keep him/her home. While there will not be any make-up tests, please remember the scores will not be accurate if your child is not feeling well.
• Get students to bed early the weekend prior to the start of IOWA testing so they are at their best on the first day. Getting to bed early each night during the week will also be helpful.
• Help your child get up early enough to enjoy a leisurely high-protein breakfast — eggs, cheese, milk, and breakfast meats. High-sugar breakfasts and refined carbohydrates will leave students with quick high energy first thing in the morning, but this will be followed by a slump, which will occur around the time they test. Send high-protein snacks for mid-test breaks.
• Reassure students that their best will be good enough for you and assure them that it will be normal to not know the answers to some questions and that they should not worry about it.

HONOR YOUR STUDENT

Buy a Tribute Ad for the

Auction Keepsake Catalogue

Wondering how to honor your student and help Steppingstone with fundraising at the same time? Order a Tribute Ad for your student that will be published in the Auction Keepsake Catalog.

Under their photo, you can offer a message of praise / encouragement and an expression of pride.

You can provide a photo or ask that we use their school photo. See the order form for unique framing and your personal message to your student.

Tribute ads are also a great way for Grandparents, Aunts & Uncles, other relatives, and friends to recognize your student and help the school.



If you need an order form go to:

https://steppingstoneschool.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/2026-Tribute-Ads.pdf

We are hoping to be able to honor all the Steppingstone students with a Tribute Ad, and we need all the messages and photos to be submitted by March 13th. (We will be reminding parents again at Parent-Teacher Conferences!)

❄️ Thank You for a Fantastic Ski Day! ⛷️

Thanks to beautiful winter weather, our students enjoyed a wonderful annual P.E. cross-country skiing field trip at the Kensington Metropark Golf Course yesterday!

A heartfelt "thank you" to Barb (Fin’s mom), Gilyong (Francis’ dad), and Becky (Aurelia’s aunt) for volunteering their time and energy to help make the day a success. Your support made a big difference!



This field trip is always a highlight of our P.E. program—offering students meaningful outdoor movement, fresh air, and a chance to build confidence while learning a new skill. For our first-time skiers especially, it was a fantastic hands-on learning experience filled with smiles, perseverance, and plenty of fun.

January Spirit-ed Day!

Last week we had a nice group of guests for our Spirit Day lunch!  We were glad to welcome Chris, dad to our newest student, Aurelia.  We also enjoyed having Jenny & Alex (Jacob's parents), Robert & Jenny (Finnley & Cassie's parents), and Dr. Morse joined us, as well!

Those who remembered to wear Steppingstone gear were awarded 100 Auction Dollars.  Mr. Liou passed out fortune cookies to everyone, as well.

CONGRATULATIONS to Aurelia, who won the January High-Stepper Button Design contest!  Since she enrolled in January, this was her first entry of the year!  Nice work, Aurelia!

WISH GRANTED

Thanks to the Schiff Family

Thanks to the Schiff family, Steppingstone is now the proud owner of a new microscope camera. The set-up shown here is in Dr. Morse’s workspace and displays both the camera on top of a dissecting scope and the image it produces at 30x magnification. You can barely make out the markings on the SD chip on the microscope stage but it is displayed in glorious detail on the screen. We hope Steppingstone students will get many years of use and enjoyment from this camera. 

Annual Giving 2025-2026

We would like to thank everyone who made an Annual Giving donation in the 2025-2026 school year.

$5,000 to $9,999

$1,000 to $4,999

Chong & Yong Son

Dorothea Coffin

Fran Eldis

Shuh Yuan Liou & Shau Ching Tang

Yong Pan

$500 to $999

David Liou

Hedy Zablocki

Michelle Belt

Stepping Stones Wellness Center

$100 to $499

Chris Isberg

Joanne Chang

Joyce Li

Liqun Yang

Minghung Hsu

Simon Margules

$50 to $99

James & Alicia Phillips

Kroger's

Up to $50

Jason Roder

In-Kind

Volunteers

Auction Chair

Barbara Malnar-Styke

Auction Acquisitions

Michelle Belt

Dena Nehme

Brad Styke

SMART Center Chair

Dr. Reef Morse

Marketing

Jorge Contreras

WISHLIST



A subscription to Highlights Children's Magazine

https://shop.highlights.com/

Donated by Barbara Malnar-Styke

OMAX 1.3MP USB 2.0 C-Mount Microscope Camrea for Windows, Mac OS, and Linux

https://omaxmicroscope.com/products/a3513u

Donated by the Schiff family



ADOPT-A-SALMON

Thank you to our Adopt-A-Salmon donors ($10 per adopted salmon):

Dorothy Linzell -- adopted Fin & Barb

Aliya -- adopted Summer & Aggro

Mrs. Coffin -- adopted Angela, Ray, Nick & George

Dr. & Mrs. Morse -- adopted Isabella, Harrison, Sawyer, Rory, Oliver, Jax, Colette, Nadia & Sophie

Jacob - adopted Waffles, Pom Pom, Blanket and Major Meowser