Week of October 10, 2011

From the Head of School

Did I mention that I like bragging about Academy students?

We sent the SAT scores last week, so I thought a good follow up would be some information on the AP Scores that came in over the summer. A quick summary:

• Of the 120 tests taken last year, 107 earned college credit (scores of 3-5).  That's about 90% of the tests taken!
• 83 of the 120 earned scores of 4 or 5 which is 69%
• 52 of the 120 earned a score of 5 which is 43% of all test taken
• 100% of the tests earned passing grades in 8 of the 11 different subjects in which Academy students took AP tests. In fact, in the past 5 years every student that has taken a calculus or English AP has earned a 3 or above.

Those are impressive stats, but the real question is how do they compare with other groups? I’ll give you one more stat that pretty well tells it all…the overall average score for all tests taken last spring.

• All Test Takers in Nation        2.81
• National Public Schools          2.76
• North Carolina All Schools     2.88
• North Carolina All Females    2.78
• National Private Schools         3.29
• Salem Academy            3.98

Great teachers and great students make for great scores! Good stuff!

God Bless,

Karl Sjolund

Announcements/Upcoming Events

• On Saturday, Mike Satterfield and several Salem staff members will be taking a large group of students to Carowinds Amusement Park.  However, this is not your normal amusement park at this time of year!  It turns into "Scarowinds" in the weeks leading up to Halloween.  The girls are in for a scary night of rides, haunted house, creepy music, etc.  The busses will leave school at 4:00pm and will return at 2:15am.

• Host a Student for Thanksgiving Break: We have several international students that may need a place to stay over Thanksgiving vacation. If anyone would be interested in hosting one of these students, please get in touch with Miss Thompson

• Flu shotsare being offered to all students on Wednesday, Oct. 19th. The cost of the shot is $22. To receive a shot, each student must have the flu immunization form signed by a parent. The link to the form and an information sheet are below. Please return the form to Miss Thompson at the Academy by either FAX, email, or the paper copy. Please call Miss Thompson if you have any questions.

  1) Flu Shot Consent Form (please sign and return)

  2) Flu Vaccine Information Sheet

Comenius Collaborative Community Presentation

All Salem Academy parents, relatives, and friends are invited to this event:

In an unprecedented partnership between Salem College, Salem Academy, Summit School, Forsyth Country Day School and the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County School System, the Comenius Collaborative welcomes internationally respected educational technology thinker and speaker, Marc Prensky. Prensky will speak on the topic, “Yesterday’s Education Tomorrow?” on Oct. 19 at 7:30 p.m. in Hanes Auditorium in the Salem Fine Arts Center.

Prensky, a former CEO, speaker, inventor and author of three books about modern education (Digital Game-Based Learning, Don’t Bother Me Mom—I’m Learning and Teaching Digital Narratives), has spoken internationally about new trends in education and digital learning.

WSFCS superintendent Dr. Don Martin will moderate the evening. The event is free and open to the public. A book sale and signing will follow Prensky’s presentation.

Glee Club is Going to Walt Disney World

Dear Parents/Guardians and Participants of the Salem Academy Glee Club Long Weekend- Walt Disney World Trip,

Plans are being made daily for our performance trip to Walt Disney World in Florida during long weekend in February 2012 (actual dates are Friday, February 17-Monday, February 20th). Glee Club will be performing at the Waterside Stage in Downtown Disney.

I need the permission slip (click here for the form) signed and returned to me by October 21st. I need to know how many girls will be attending this trip in order to confirm all of the other details of our trip (rooms, meals, transportation, etc). We are trying very hard to keep the cost of this trip at $100 or less per student.

Please feel free to contact me at either my office (336-721-2779) or by email at joy.rushton@salem.edu. I am really looking forward to this wonderful performance trip and truly hope your daughter will be joining us!

Best regards,

College Admissions Reps Visiting October 17-21

Wednesday, October 19th:
10:30  Emory University

Thursday, October 20th:
10:00 Radford University

Athletic Updates

JV Field Hockey

The JV field hockey team finished its season last week. The main focus for the season was playing together as a team and improving their skills and both of those goals were accomplished. The final game was at home against Reagan High School. The defense was led by goalie, Chelsea Clemons, while Nami Kuang led the midfield. The team will be recognized for their hard work at the athletic banquet.

Varsity Field Hockey

The field hockey team played Parkland High School on Thursday, October 13th. This was the first game for the team in a week. The team hit the field a little bit rusty but ready to play. Daniela DeCristo worked with Haley Norris and Rachel Williams to score the first goal eleven minutes into the first half. Daniela dribbled the ball down the middle of the field, making a quick pass to Haley as she waited to pass the ball to Rachel who took a shot on the goal right in front of the net. Daniela and Haley worked together eight minutes later scoring the second and final goal of the game.

Daniela dribbled the ball down to Haley at the top of the circle allowing her to take a strong hard shot on goal. Even though this was the first game back after Fall Break, the team continued to show improvement and most importantly they continued to lift each other up on the field. This game also allowed the team and supporters to recognize four seniors; Daniela DeCristo, Virginia Maddrey, Blakeney Gallahan, and Madeleine Shelton for their four years of hard work and dedication to Salem and the field hockey program. Coach Vaughan spoke of how proud she was to have had the opportunity to coach four very impressive girls.

The team's next game will be on Tuesday, October 18th at Asheville School.

Cross Country

On October 4th, the cross country team traveled to McAlpine Park for a second chance to preview the course that will be used at the State Meet. Of the ten girls who ran, five of them set a new personal best time: Mary Beth Browne (25:49), Christa Combs (22:21), Bethann Hilla (25:07), Chie Mushayamunda (22:11), Caroline Musser (26:00).

Two days later, the girls went to Carolina Friends School to preview the course where the Conference Meet will be held. With the girls using the race as a workout, it did lead to their first loss of the season to a conference opponent. Nevertheless, the girls felt that the workout went well and were glad to get a chance to preview the course.

On Tuesday, October 18th, the team will travel back to Carolina Friends to try and win the Conference Championship.

Shop at Food Lion and Earn Money for Salem

Dear Parents, Faculty and Friends,

Thank you for supporting our school through the Food Lion MVP Rewards program.

Salem Academy is participating in the new Food Lion Classroom Rewards program to earn much needed funding for our school. We need your help and support to maximize our fundraising effort. We are encouraging you to shop at your local Food Lion store and every time you shop, Salem Academy will earn a share of the program funds donated by Food Lion based on what you purchase.

If you haven’t already linked your MVP Card to support our school, please follow the steps below.

1. Go to www.foodlion.com

2. Click on Community Outreach

3. Click on MVP Rewards

4. Click Register your MVP Card

5. Click on the arrow that says, “Shoppers register here”

Once on the MVP Shopper Registration page, enter your MVP Card number (all 12 digits), your contact information and link it to our school. Our code is 214297.

Purchases of only the following brands will help earn cash for our school: Food Lion Brand, Healthy Accents, Home 360, Nature’s Place, On the Go Bistro, Smart Option, Taste of Inspirations, Butchers Brand Beef and Holly Farms Poultry.

Help our school earn even more by shopping on double points day! All Food Lion brand product purchases will receive double credit on the 10th of each month.

Food Lion is a banner of Food Lion LLC, a subsidiary of Brussels-based Delhaize Group (NYSE: DEG).

Link Your Harris Teeter VIC Card and Support Salem

Beginning August 1, Salem Academy proudly continued in Harris Teeter's Together In Education program to help raise funds for our school.  It's easy and it's FREE. Simply give the cashier our code, 5509, and your VIC card when you check out and your card will be linked for the entire school year. That's it! You only have to link your VIC card once each school year. Once your card is linked, Salem Academy will receive a percentage of your Harris Teeter brand (Harris Teeter, Premier Selection, H.T. Traders, Harris Teeter Naturals, Your Pet, Hunter Farms, Highland Crest and More Value) purchases credited back to our account. This program does not interfere with your VIC savings or cost you any money!

For those of you who participated last year, don't forget to re-link your VIC card to our account code next time you are shopping at Harris Teeter!