SAVE THE DATE...

The Admission office will be hosting the first of two Open Houses for those interested in Grades 6-12 on Tuesday, November 16th at 5:30 PM. The second Open House will take place on January 25, 2011.

For those interested in grades Cottage through 5th, St. Martin's offers year-round Personal Open House Tours by appointment (call Susan Pansano 736-9916). These private tours are a unique and personal way to educate families about what we have to offer, and are especially effective as a way of showcasing the George Cottage and Lower School.

As St. Martin's parents, you are very valuable in helping to get the word out about our school.

Tell someone about St. Martin's! Brag to a friend, a co-worker or neighbor and invite them to come see St. Martin's at one of our Open Houses or to take a personal tour!

Put an STM OPEN HOUSE YARD SIGN IN YOUR YARD!! The yard signs are in the Admission office ready and are ready to be picked up! Put one in your yard or neighborhood and get the word out about St. Martin's and our upcoming Open Houses.

Thank you for your support of St. Martin's - and stop by our office today and pick up your St. Martin's Open House Yard Sign! (limited quantities-first come, first served)

The STM Admission Team

GEORGE COTTAGE NEWS...

Our November Parent Partnership Meeting will be Wednesday, November 10th at 5:30 pm in the PK Classroom in St. Martin's Lower School.  STM Pre-K teacher Alma Roohi will be our guest speaker and discuss the process of choosing a school and Pre-Kindergarten program that is right for your child. We will extend our aftercare hours until 6:30 p.m. for those parents who need child care services.

And - Just for our 3's Parents - We invite you to a very special Chapel Service on Tuesday, November 16th at 9:00 am. This Chapel service will feature our Cottage 3 year olds. George Cottage 3's families are encouraged to attend. A Lower School Open House exclusively for our George Cottage 3's families will follow with a tour of the St. Martin's Lower School. During your tour, you will spend time in our Pre-Kindergarten classroom, and speak with STM's Pre -K teacher Alma Roohi.

Hope to see you at both of these events!
Tim Rock
Director of the George Cottage
Tim.Rock@stmsaints.com

Upcoming Dates:

11/5-St. Martin's Day!! (12:15 dismissal)
11/9-Parenting Perspective "An Evening of Dialogue Between 10th Grade Students and their Parents" (7pm, Saint's Hall) MANDATORY FOR 10TH GRADERS & THEIR PARENTS
11/23-Grandparents' Day (full day of school)
11/24-11/26-Thanksgiving Break-NO SCHOOL
12/8-Exam Review Day (12:30 dismissal)
12/9-12/15-Fall Exams (11:00 dismissal)
12/16-1/2-Christmas Break-NO SCHOOL
1/3-Classes resume

December Exams

As we progress toward the end of the semester, I know parents need to understand the Upper School exam schedule so that you can plan ahead.

December 8th is our exam review day; classes will be dismissed for the day at 12:30. Since the English exam is the next day, many English teachers will probably schedule help sessions that afternoon. The Dining Hall will be available to students on review day and buses will run at the regular time (3:40pm), but there will be no structured supervision after 1:00pm.

Our fall exams take place December 9 - 15. All exams are administered from 9:00-11:00am. If a make-up exam is needed, please call the Upper School office (736-9909) to arrange it. The usual make-up time slot is 1:00-3:00pm.

On exam days, students are required to be in classrooms from 8:45-10:30am. While many teachers offer either optional or mandatory help sessions the afternoon before their exam, official supervision is only provided from 8:00 -11:30am on exam days. Help sessions vary in length and meeting time; teachers arrange these details with their individual classes in the week before exams.

Lunch in the Dining Hall is available to Upper School students around 11:30; they are allowed in after the Middle School is finished. Once again, if you would like your child to be supervised, you will need to make arrangements to pick up your child by 11:30am during exams.

The last day of Upper School for the first semester is December 15. Christmas break effectively begins for Upper School students on December 16, though teachers are required to be on campus through December 17.

Semester exams are important, as most exams count for 20% of the total semester grade, depending on the course.

Kudos and Congratulations go to...

*The Upper and Middle School students were awarded the "Largest School Team" at this year's Race for the Cure in City Park.

*Collin Stedman'11 earned a perfect score on the ACT!

*The varsity volleyball team has placed 8th in the state and will proceed to the state tournament!

New for 2010-11: Order St. Martin's Ties, Totes and Belts!

Show your school spirit and support St. Martin's-great for holiday gifts!

Place your order today by contacting ties@stmsaints.com or call Julie Talbot, Alumni Director, at (504) 736-9914

Tie $50
Club Belt $30
D-Ring Belt $25
Small Totepurse $45
Large Totebag $55
Key Fob $10

Pay by check, Visa or MasterCard. Prices include shipping and handling. A portion of the proceeds will benefit St. Martin's Annual Giving Campaign. Orders will be shipped in 6-8 weeks.

All items by NolaCoutoure. Nola Couture was founded in 2006 by Cecile Hardy, who attended St. Martin's from 1989-1991. NOLA Couture's line includes high quality men's, women's and pet accessories. NOLA Couture's STM ties are 100% silk and are a custom designed order. Nola Couture's lines are sold in fine stores in New Orleans and across the country. A portion of all NOLA Couture sales go to local charities.

From the Mothers' Club...

Coming soon...Santa's Secret Workshop! This year Santa's Secret Workshop will be moving to STM's Little Gym! Be sure to support the Mothers' Club and send money for your children to shop and make time to stop by yourself and shop! Lots of great gift items to choose from...start December off right, by visiting Santa's Secret Workshop!

Santa's Secret Workshop will be open Tuesday, December 7th - Thursday December 9th! Tell your friends about STM's Santa's Secret Workshop! This year will be bigger and better than ever!

Also Please note: There will be NO Mothers' Club meeting in December!

And Remember to support the Mothers' Club Birthday Book Club!
Birthday Book Club Order Form

The next Guild of Fine Arts meeting will be
Monday, November 8, 2010
7:00 PM
in the Merrick Conference Room
Newcomers welcome to join!

Look for a new set of STM note cards featuring STM Upper School artwork to be unveiled soon!

Also be sure to support the STM Theatre Department at the TWO UPCOMING Fall productions.

The City
(directed by STM senior, Emily Heine)
Thursday, November 11, 2010 • 7:00 PM
Friday, November 12, 2010 • 7:00 PM
STM Solomon Theater

Fashion
(directed by STM senior, Sophie Kuhn)
Saturday, November 13, 2010 • 7:00 PM
Sunday, November 14, 2010 • 2:00 PM
STM Solomon Theater

ALSO COMING IN DECEMBER...

SUPPER WITH SANTA!
Tuesday, December 7th
6:00- 8:00 pm
Saints Hall and The Solomon Theater

Come enjoy Supper with Santa and the rest of the St. Martin's performing arts cast of characters! Snow White, Alice and Ariel will all be there! Take a photo with Santa! You and your child will love spending the envening with Santa and his friends! Tickets are $10.00.

Supper with Santa Ticket Order Form

MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS REPORT ON THEIR CLASS TRIPS... 

Annual 8th Grade Trip to Washington D.C....

On Tuesday the 26th of October, students gathered at a ghost town airport at 4:00 in the morning. You would expect it to be quiet at this hour but when more students started to arrive the noise level quickly increased as the students, four teachers, and the middle school head boarded the plane to go on the yearly trip to Washington D.C.
The eighth grade Washington trip is an exciting experience for the eighth graders and lets them learn more about their country that they may not have known before. This year the eighth graders had the opportunity to go to all Smithsonian museums, see the Capitol, Archives, Newseum, Holocaust Museum, National Cathedral, Bureau of Engraving and Printing, Ford's Theatre, Arlington National Cemetery, Mount Vernon, and see the hilarious play Sheer Madness. They also got the chance to see the Washington, Lincoln, Jefferson, Roosevelt, Iwo Jima, Korean War, Vietnam, and WWII memorials and monuments.

One of the most informative experiences on the trip came from Arlington National Cemetery. The students of the eighth grade learned who was buried in the cemetery, as well as what the size of the tombstones mean. One thing that was interesting to watch was the changing of the guard. During the changing of the guard one soldier who was guarding the tomb of unknown soldiers is replaced by another. This happens every hour of the day including at night so there is always someone guarding the tomb. Another interesting thing to watch was the wreath laying ceremony. Four of the eighth graders, Joey DeCorte, Bonnie Cash, Alex Monier, and Tiffany Tavassoli, set the wreath down by the tomb with a guard.
The eighth graders did not just learn about history though, they also learned how to act around other people. During their time in Washington, the students were split into groups that had people they usually didn't hang out with in them. This gave them a chance to learn more about their fellow classmates and maybe even make new friends. They also learned how to walk around new places without getting lost and how to behave in places like a memorial.

Late Saturday night everyone arrived at the New Orleans airport tired and ready to take a break. Even though it was 10:00 the eighth graders still thought very highly of the D.C. trip and were still talking about it when they went to baggage claim with their parents. The Washington D.C. trip helps students learn our country's history as well as important life skills that they will use in the future. This trip will always be a enjoyed and fun for eighth graders and we hope it continues on for many years.

By,

Ross Reggio, Class of 2015

Annual 7th Grade Trip to Seacamp...

Seacamp, located in the beautiful Florida Keys, is a unique and educational adventure.
Specific things about Seacamp make the trip an unforgettable experience. There are so many things to learn at Seacamp and so many hands-on activities to do there. While you are at Seacamp, you have the opportunity to dissect squids, snorkel in the coral reefs, mangroves, and sea grass communities, and do so much more! There are labs and stress tests such as the hermit crab lab and the Cassiopeia stress test, which you can learn about and understand what affects the animal, how it affects it, and why. There are many activities such as hiking through the mangrove forests, and wading to small islands teeming with small marine life. Seacamp offers students to expand their minds beyond the classroom, and allows every student to become more enthusiastic about learning what lives in the ocean!

By

Abbey Sims, Class of 2016

OCTOBER PARENTS E-NEWSLETTER 

Save the Date...

St. Martin's Calendar News... 

You may have noticed that this year, Mardi Gras falls later than usual. When we plan the calendar for a school year, the administration must balance our breaks and festive occasions throughout the year. The date of Mardi Gras 2011 gave us a challenge this summer as we planned the 2010-11 calendar. Our traditional Easter Break (Good Friday and the week after Easter) would mean an unusually long stretch spanning the 3rd and 4th quarters with neither a break nor rallying point. It would also mean the Upper School would have only two weeks after Easter to complete the semester material and review before May exams.

It's an unusual circumstance, but one which could have lasting effects on Upper School students, as exams are generally worth 20% of the semester grade in a course. Further, St. Martin's has moved our traditional Easter Break in similar situations in the past.

After discussing these factors, the administration decided to move our Spring Break to the week before Easter plus Easter Monday this year. Although the decision was made based on Upper School exams, for the sake of consistency we are making our Spring Break the same for all divisions. This was also a decision made in concert with other local independent schools.

2010-11 STM Calendar

 Chapel News from the Lower School...Our First Family Chapel of the year will be Friday, October 22nd

Chapel  has traditionally been a very important part of our lives here at St. Martin's. Serving as an acolyte, or being selected to take part in the service are cherished honors throughout the grade levels at St. Martin's. This year we are going to do things a little bit differently for some of our chapel services.

We are going to have Family Chapels once a month. For these chapel services, student's families will be invited and encouraged to attend chapel with our Lower School students. Students may sit with their families and enjoy the service together. This chapel is for students in grades K-5 and their families.

We are also going to introduce Grade Highlight Chapels. In these chapel services, a specific grade will be highlighted. This grade's students will serve as the acolytes, readers, singers etc. The parents and families of the highlighted grade will receive invitations to this special service. So mark your calendars and plan to attend of these wonderful chapel servcies and be a part of your Lower School student's day!

Family Chapels: (beginning at 8:10 am)

10/22

11/17

12/17

1/21/11

2/18/11

3/25/11

4/29/11

5/17/11

Grade Highlight Chapels: (beginning at 8:10 am)

10/7/10 - 4th grade

11/16/10 - Kindergarten

12/7/10 - 2nd grade

1/28/11 - 3rd grade

2/17/11 - 5th grade

3/22/11 - Pre-Kindergarten

4/5/11 - 1st grade

3 Year Old Chapels will be on: (beginning at 9:00 am)

11/16/10

2/8/11

3/22/11

5/3/11

Middle School News...

Every year Duke University conducts its Talent Identification Program (TIP) to identify academically talented seventh grade students across the country. St. Martin's is proud to announce the following students were named as Duke TIP Scholars:

Patrick Adams
Tristan Autin
Courtney Black
Matthew Clement
Madeline Freese
Payton Frischhertz
Kailee Gibson
Gigi Herberg
Jessica LeCoq
Eva Mace
David Miller
Jaclyn Murphy
Gabriel Rodriquez
Abigail Sims
Vennela Vellanki
Austin White
Daniel Zito

Congratulations to our students who qualified for participation in this highly selective search! Selection was based on the results of the CTP Standardized Testing Program that we administer to all of our students each spring. A score of 95% on one of the subtests in either the verbal section or the mathematics section of these tests is required for selection. Way to go Saints!!

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St. Martin's Middle School is so excited to learn that we will be receiving a grant in the amount of $5357 from the Joe W. and Dorothy Dorsett Brown Foundation Service Learning Program. Middle School submitted a proposal for funding of our various service learning projects including our work with coastal restoration through our Coastal Roots and Wetlands Education, cancer awareness with Race for the Cure, and hunger awareness with Second Harvest, Dragon Café and Agenda for Children. This grant enables us to continue our varied service learning opportunities through which both our students and our community benefit. Congratulations STM Saints!

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Middle School is looking forward to a wonderful Homecoming week of special spirit culminating with our Spirit Evening on Thursday, October 7th. Ask your Middle Schoolers about our theme days including heroes, wacky dress and class colors. On Thursday we will have a special fall sports Pep Rally before heading to the football field for the Middle School game! Go Saints!

From the Upper School... 

National Honor Society Selection:
What does it mean to be "tapped" into the National Honor Society?

St. Martin's is proud to have a chapter of the National Honor Society and complies with all of the national organization's regulations. Selection into the National Honor Society is one of the highest honors a student can receive at St. Martin's.

The NHS motto is Scholarship, Leadership, Service, Character. While some schools select (or "tap") members of the NHS based purely on grade point average (scholarship), the St. Martin's chapter holds its members to the highest standards as described in the NHS motto.

St. Martin's holds two tapping ceremonies per year: one in October and one in February. The process begins with a list of juniors and seniors with the required GPA for all work completed to date at St. Martin's: 3.3. Once the list has been gathered, we ask all teachers and coaches to provide us with comments on every student eligible for admission into the NHS and encourage them to address not only scholarship, but also leadership, service and character. Then the NHS Selection Committee, comprised of five faculty members, convenes. The Headmaster and Head of Upper School attend the meeting but do not vote. The committee reviews teacher comments and each student's resume, looking for evidence of leadership, service and character, and then votes.

The list of students who are accepted into NHS remains confidential until the morning of the tapping ceremony, so that the "tapping" is a surprise to the students.

After the ceremony, members of the Selection Committee are paired individually with each eligible student who was not selected. They discuss how and why the decision was made. In most cases, there will be another tapping ceremony before the student graduates, so the conversation centers on what he or she can do to earn a place in the National Honor Society in the future. Often, this conversation is a turning point in a student's high school career. We've seen many students rise to the occasion and heed the advice of the faculty member. Not only do many of these students eventually become members of the Honor Society, but they flourish in our community once they expand themselves.

Members of the NHS volunteer as tutors to other Upper School students in need of academic help, and they recently hosted a chapel service focused on the theme of honor. We're so proud of our NHS members.

For Middle School Parents and Students... 

ISAS Middle School Heads Speaker Series

"On-line Responsibility in a Connected World"

Mark your calendars for
Tuesday, Oct. 19
7:30-9:00 p.m.
Sacred Heart Nims Center
4301 St. Charles Avenue

Brian Mull
Director of Innovation, November Learning,
a nationally recognized teaching and learning center for technology in education

A discussion about safety is essential when we address the use of the Web, and yet many of us know little more than the horror stories we have seen on television. In this session we will discuss safety under the framework of responsibility, and provide families with simple steps to begin building a safer globally-connected online experience for kids.

Sponsored by the Middle School Heads of:
Academy of the Sacred Heart, Louise S. McGehee,
Metairie Park Country Day, Isidore Newman,
St. Andrew's Episcopal, St. George's Episcopal,
St. Martin's Episcopal, St. Paul's Episcopal,
Trinity Episcopal, Stuart Hall

Each student must be accompanied by his/her parent. Limited to Middle School students and parents.

An Evening for 9th Grade Parents... 

What do I have to know to be sure my child has a schedule that will meet his needs for high school graduation and college admission?

Where can my child and I turn for help with academic, emotional, psychological, and organizational concerns?

Are there any study tips that we can get to help us get on the right track?

Should we drop sports to focus on the academics?

2010 -11 Upper School Parenting Perspectives Series presents:

A Survival Guide for 9th Grade Parents:

-Navigating High School
-Developing a four-year plan
-College prep and graduation requirements
-Support systems to reduce stress
-Transition survival tips

By: Billie Andersson, Ph.D., LPC
Director of Teaching and Learning

Tuesday, October 5, 2010
7:00 p.m.
Peyton Center

Questions? Contact Dr. Bill Rosenbaum at 736-9937 or William.Rosenbaum@stmsaints.com

Please join us for a

P.E.P. Talk
(Professionals Educating Parents)

"Internet Safety: Working with Parents"

Initial presentation By:

Aimee Cahanin

Louisiana Attorney General's Office

Follow-up Questions and Answers By:

Michelle Snow

Director of Technology, STM

Who: Parents of STM Students

When: Wednesday, October 13, 2010

6:00 p.m.

Where: The Coatney Leadership Center

(Located next to the Headmaster's office)

For more information, please contact

Karen Daboval at 736-9938

Hope to see you there!!!