CALENDAR OF EVENTS     

Madame Geiger Invited to Perform at Peace Expo in Japan
Sheena Geiger, our MS/US French teacher, is heavily involved not only here at DDS, but also outside of school where she is a professional cheerleader, choreographer and figure skater. This array of talent led her to be chosen to represent North America at the Peace Expo in Osaka, Japan next month. The Peace Expo is being held there as a tribute to the 40th anniversary of the World Expo taking place in Shanghai, China this year. Mrs. Geiger is one of 10 cultural representatives chosen worldwide to represent their geographic region. Thousands of spectators will watch her sing and dance during the closing ceremonies.

She will be spending the entire Spring Break at this special event performing. If you would like to sponsor Mrs. Geiger for this amazing opportunity, please contact her directly at sgeiger@davidsonday.org. Congratulations, Sheena on this wonderful accomplishment!

2010-2011 Re-Enrollment and New Enrollments
Thank you to all who have returned their re-enrollment contracts. If you have not yet done so, please remember to send your contracts in before Monday, March 1st. We will begin to mail letters of acceptance and enrollment contracts to new applicants on Monday, March 1st, we do not want you to lose your child’s spot at Davidson Day School. If you have extenuating circumstances, please contact the Admissions Office before Monday, March 1st.  There has been tremendous interest in DDS. We have had a record number of applicants, inquiries and tours. We are currently averaging seven families visiting our campus each day with our inquiries topping well over 200 since October! Please note for Middle and Upper School students: once re-enrolled, you will begin to choose your electives and formulate your schedule for next year.

Fine Arts Week Starts Monday
Early Childhood and Lower School will be holding their Art Show and sale in the Commons on Wednesday, February 24th from 3:00-6:30 pm. There will be an Art Show and reception in the Commons with accompanying music performances Friday, February 26th, beginning at 3:30 pm. At 4:30 pm, a unique and spontaneous theatre performance will begin inside the gallery. We look forward to seeing everyone there!

Davidson College's College Life 101 Attracts Local Media Attention
On February 12th, Davidson College and Davidson Day School joined forces to present College Life 101. This event consisted of five Davidson College students giving great advice to our juniors and seniors on the biggest transition they will make as a teenager: adjusting to college life. Writers from the Charlotte Observer, Herald Weekly and DavidsonNews.net were all on hand to cover the event. Special thanks to Davidson College for making this possible. Please click each publication to view the articles.

8th Annual Tee It Up for Davidson Day School Golf Tournament
The weather is warming up so grab your clubs and join us for the 8th Annual Tee It Up for Davidson Day School Golf Tournament on Monday, April 19th, 2010.  Enjoy 18 holes of golf at beautiful River Run Country Club. Lunch, dinner, fabulous golfer gifts and prizes will all be provided!  DDS would like to thank L.Gordon Iron and Metal Company for their support as an Eagle sponsor. For more information regarding sponsorship or registration, please contact Megan Lynch at MeganML65@aol.com or Sheila Brady at lmbsmom@bellsouth.net or visit our online registration at http://www.davidsonday.org/golf-tournament.

New Lunch eForms are Available
This week, we are launching our new electronic lunch order form in an effort to streamline our lunch pre-order process. This new form will allow you to fill out, save, and submit the form electronically. You will however, need 3 key pieces of information to save/submit the order: student's name, student's ID, and their grade.

By the end of the day today, you will receive a separate email with this information. If you don't, your student's classroom teacher (Pre-K to 4th grade) or advisor (5th to 12th grade) will also have this information should you need it. Simply enter your child’s information, make your menu choices, and click the "submit" button. You will have a record of exactly what was ordered and how much you will be billed. Download your lunch menu(s) by clicking the links below:

Early Childhood Lunch Menu
LS/MS/US Lunch Menu

One-Bedroom Apartment Needed Immediately
Our new Director of Development is moving in from Wisconsin and is need of a reasonably-priced, one-bedroom apartment for herself and her small dog. If you know of such a place that is available immediately, please email Denise Koeth at dkoeth@davidsonday.org as soon as possible. Thank you for your help.

Upper School News

Senior Wesley King Featured in Davidson News
Senior and Eagle Scout Wesley King has been featured in DavidsonNews.net for earning an Eagle, the highest award in Scouting. In addition to Wesley’s high honor, the Mecklenburg Council of the Boy Scouts confirmed for Davidson News that Wesley was the first Boy Scout to receive an Eagle for 2010. Congratulations Wesley on this outstanding achievement.

To Piaget or not to Piaget
The AP Psychology class recently paired with students in the toddlers through 2nd grade to conduct Piaget’s Conversion of Liquid and Conversion of Numbers experiment.  Students learned that from ages 2-7 children are in the pre-conventional stage and do not understand the conversion of liquid or numbers.  The AP students asked the little ones a series of questions modeled after Piaget’s experiment.  They found that Piaget was correct in his hypothesis and Davidson Day students are developmentally perfect.

College Counseling News

9th and 10th Grade College Planning Program
On Wednesday, March 10th, we will be hosting a parent program for parents of 9th and 10th graders at 6:30 pm in the auditorium.  Topics that will be covered include researching and visiting colleges, standardized test information, and general admissions and financial aid processes.  Please contact Ms. Rand at mrand@davidsonday.org or at (704) 237-5222 for more information. 

2010 Mini Camp College at UNC-Charlotte
On Saturday, March 20th, there will be a college planning program at UNC-Charlotte to help assist students and parents through the college application process.  Sponsored by the Southern Association of College Admission Counseling, this program is a great way to learn more about the college search process, college fairs, and the financial aid process.  To register, please follow this link: www.sacac.org and click on “Mini Camp Colleges.”

NACAC National College Fair
On Sunday, March 21st from 12:00-4:00 p.m., the NACAC college fair will be held at The Park (located at 2500 E. Independence Blvd.).  There will be hundreds of colleges from all regions of the United States coming to this fair.  Since so many colleges will be in attendance, there are several things you can do to prepare and save time, such as pre-printing name and address labels to use to get on the colleges’ mailing list, and viewing the list of colleges who will be in attendance ahead of time so you can plan to visit their booth.  For more information, please view the NACAC website at www.nacacnet.org.

Middle School News

Middle School Digs in for Haiti
The 7th and 8th grade Green Science class is digging in the dirt and raising money for Haiti. The class is busy planting seeds of all types in order to compare organic and chemical methods of gardening.  We are also welcoming 2000 new additions to our classroom this week - WORMS! We are building a worm compost bin in our classroom. These worms will eat 15 pounds of kitchen waste each week; turning it into fabulous organic fertilizer for all parts of a lawn or garden. Come spring, we will be having a seedling and worm casting sale with all proceeds to be donated to Partners in Health and H.O.P.E (Helping Other People Everywhere).  Please keep us in mind as you are planting your vegetable garden in April.

Math Olympiad News
Our Math Olympiad team demonstrated some terrific problem-solving skills during the third competition. The high scorers in the 4th-6th grade division were: Jordan Graham, Jakob Schall, and Austin Noe. In the 7th and 8th grade division, the high scorer was Jake Bringewatt.
Recently, the students competed for the fourth time this year, and seven of the competitors in 4th-6th grade solved all but one of the problems correctly. Those high scorers were: Jake Buechler, Nell Buechler, Nikhil Gavini, Jordan Graham, Jairus Hamilton, Laura Phillips, and Tori Whaley. On the 7th/8th grade team, Jake Bringewatt and James Rees had perfect scores. Way to go, team! The final competition for the year will be held on Wednesday, March 10th.

MS Students Put Algebra in Proportion 
In the MS PrePre-Algebra class, students learned about scale and proportion. In conjunction with this, Chris Graham, the Facilities Manager, visited the class to explain the role of an architect. Construction documents were viewed on ACAD, and the students examined the plans for the Middle School wing at Davidson Day School. Each student made a graphic scale and used it to determine distances on the floor plans of the school. They learned the importance of accuracy as they competed against other teams during this challenging activity

Lower School News

2nd Graders to Learn about Dental Health and Clean Teeth
On Monday, February 22nd at 8:15 am, Dr. Sal Zammitti will be speaking to 2nd graders about the importance of dental health and having clean teeth. Dr. Zammitti is an orthodontist that will be presenting an American Dental Association video, a brushing and flossing demonstration using volunteers from the class, a mini-play, and even a magic trick or two. At the end of the presentation, "Dudley the Dinosaur", will give the kids an oral care package and take a picture with the class.

Early Childhood News

TK Celebrates Chinese New Year
Ms. Dana's TK class celebrated Chinese New Year, which began this weekend on February 14th. The children made lanterns and had a lantern parade as they learned about the significance of lanterns, dragons and fire crackers in this Chinese celebration. They also learned a lot about the traditions that are brought on this time of year for the Chinese culture. Such traditions as cleaning their house, buying a new outfit and even getting hair cuts as a way to rid themselves of bad luck from the previous year and welcoming in good luck from the upcoming year. As they follow the lunar calendar, animals are also used to represent each year and this year is the year of the Tiger.

Happiness and Prosperity to all! Gong Hei Fat Choi!

Ms. Dana's Quote Corner
Kids say the darndest things. Check out this week's zingers:

While working with a child on number recognition, "Ms. Ann-Marie, this is too hard!  I'll work on it when I get big enough to drive." Three-year-old, Will

Three-year-old holding up one finger on one hand, and two fingers on the other hand said "Hey, I can count, see, one, twenty-ten, ninety"

Sports News

Girls Varsity Basketball Team Featured in the Charlotte Observer
Congratulations to the Girls Varsity Basketball team on being featured in the Charlotte Observer for their promising season and playing such a vital part to DDS athletics. After going winless last season, they finished this season with two wins under their belt and a future that looks very bright.

Boys Varsity Basketball Advance to SPAA Championship in Dramatic Fashion
In a game mixed with so many twists and turns, the DDS Boys Varsity Basketball team advanced to the SPAA Championship game by beating Victory Christian last night in double overtime by a score of 83-76. Gabe Mercer and Rashun Davis both poured in 20 points. Come watch the drama unfold and support your Patriots tonight as we play United Faith for the SPAA Championship. The game will be played at Victory Christian. Tipoff is at 8:00 pm! Click here for directions.

Parent Council Corner

Box Tops Collection Time!
Box Tops will be collected from all classrooms next Wednesday, February 24th at 8:30 am. Now is the time for that last push to secure additional Box Tops for your class.  Remember, the winning classroom will have a free dress down week along with a pizza party!!  Be sure to check out the specials at http://www.boxtops4education.com/earn/clip/Default.aspx.  Thanks for all your efforts with Box Tops this collection period!  Please e-mail Sharon Cantey at sharoncantey@yahoo.com with any questions you may have concerning this collection. 


Book Fair Just Around the Corner
Mark your calendars for our book fair which is scheduled for the first week in March. This is a great opportunity to update your family libraries and help support your school. We hope to see you there.

Volunteers are still needed to help make this book fair our best ever! For more information or to volunteer, please contact Jenny Bull at jenmcc13@yahoo.com.