Back to School Night is tonight, September 13, at 6:30. We will gather in the Sanctuary and then head to the classrooms. This is a parent only event. We hope to see you all there!

One of the hallmarks of Episcopal schools throughout the country is the commitment to community service and helping those in need. At St. Matthew’s, we support El Buen Samaritano Episcopal Mission with our birthday coins and canned good collections at chapel. We also join with St. Matthew’s Church to collect food for the annual Thanksgiving baskets for El Buen Samaritano and to collect coins to fill our arks for Heifer International.

This year we are hoping to expand our reach and come up with opportunities to serve others that have meaning to our very young students. In fact, we are planning a focused Lenten service program in the spring and are excited about the many possibilities this will present.

To kick off this year of service, St. Matthew’s will collect “back to school” supplies for our fellow Episcopal school, St. James. St. James is an excellent Episcopal pre-school in East Austin. A high percentage of their student population receives financial assistance, and with the current economic situation, they are finding themselves having to respond to even greater requests for aid. They have reached out to the Austin Episcopal community to help them in a variety of ways, and when their Head of School asked if we would collect some basic classroom supplies for them, I said, “Of course!” I knew our wonderful community would be happy to help these friends in need!

I will tell the children all about St. James in chapel, and we will have collection boxes out starting tomorrow. On September 28, our Kindergarteners will deliver the supplies we collect and enjoy a playdate with the St. James Kindergarten on their playground. What a wonderful chance for our students to see the “fruits of their labor” and to make some new friends!

St. James has requested the following items and we have divided them up by class to make sure we get even amounts:

2′s – Please bring Pull-ups (medium and large size) and Play-doh
3′s – watercolors and watercolor paper
Pre-K – Kleenex and Legos/ Duplos
Kindergarten – Paper towels and Journals (black lab book, wide ruled)

Thank you so much for supporting this opportunity to share God’s love with others!

Also – Don’t forget to register online for Safeguarding God’s Children for classes on either the 20th or 30th at 9:15. The link is http://www.epicenter.org/sgc/.

Kindergarten stars!

Well, we are off and running here at St. Matthew’s! We had a great first day and are all so happy to have our angels back! It was so fun to see so many of you and hear about your summer adventures.

Today, I spent some time with some of our Kindergarteners (Kindergarteners are the stars of our school, you know, since they are our biggest kids), and we talked about what they discovered on their first day of school. I thought I’d share with you some of the things I discovered as I popped in and out of our classrooms:

I discovered that all of children in Mrs. Carothers’ class chose a hug as their morning greeting; that our Kindergarteners are stars – and said so in writing on their beautifully decorated stars that are now hanging in their classrooms; that Mrs. Pape’s class could already name many of their new friends as we sang a fun welcome song. I saw two little Pre-k girls enjoy a sweet reunion on the playground, giving each other a big hug and telling each other all about their new classes; Mrs. Stojanik’s class busily enjoying exploring their Monday room and showing off their “kissing hands”; Mrs. Cole’s class coming up with the most creative designs with pattern blocks and sharing their ideas for important classroom rules; Mrs. Prchlik’s class lining up “belly to back” on the very first try!; Mrs. Loftin’s class mesmerized as she read to them on the carpet; Mrs. Race’s class excitedly heading to the monkey bars, tire swing, big trucks, and other playground favorites; Mrs. Evans’ class looking for their shape on the carpet for their very first circle time in their brand new classroom.

Wow! That’s just Day One!! I’m so excited to see what I will discover tomorrow – and each and every school day all year long.

I hope all of you have September 13 at 6:30 marked on your calendars. That is our Back to School Night and it promises to be a very informative evening – and lots of fun, too!

Lunch/ pizza orders are due Thursday. We’ve got extra forms in the office if you need them. We also have the forms to register for after-school programs.

Again, welcome back. We’ve had a great first day and we can’t wait for tomorrow!

Welcome to the 2011-2012 school year! We are so thrilled to welcome all of our little angels! “Meet the Teacher” classroom visits are in full swing and school begins Monday, August 29. See you all then!

Hope everyone is having a great summer! It is hard to believe that school is just around the corner. The office reopens on August 1 and you should all be receiving your back-to-school packets the second week in August.

Here are some key back-to-school dates:

August 18 – Faculty return
August 24, 25, 26 – Meet the Teacher. Your child’s teacher will contact you about your day and time.
August 29 – First Day of School – Noon dismissal the entire first week of school.
September 5 – Labor Day Holiday
September 6 – School resumes, regular dismissal schedule.
September 13 – Back to School Night and classroom visits for all parents.

Looking forward to seeing everyone soon!

Thank you all for making this such a wonderful school year at St. Matthew’s Episcopal Day School. We miss all of our little angels already and look forward to seeing many of them at Summer Fun!

The Summer Fun! dates are:
Week 1 – June 6-10
Week 2 – June 13-17
Week 3 – June 20-24
Drop off and pick up on the playground each day. The day goes from 9:00-1:00.

We wish you all a safe, happy summer – full of adventure, family time, and some well deserved rest. We will see you back at St. Matthew’s on the first day of school, August 29!

Join us on Tuesday, May 3 at Waterloo Ice House on 360 for St. Matthew’s Night. We will be there from 4:30-7:30……….so stop by for an after school snack or bring the family for dinner! Nate the Great, Balloon Artist Extraordinaire, will be on hand to add to the fun. 10% of St. Matthew’s proceeds from the night go to the school, but the main purpose of the event is to enjoy a beautiful Texas spring evening with our St. Matthew’s friends.

Send your children to school that day in their St. Matthew’s t-shirts and then join us at Waterloo that night!

See you there!

Last week was another special week full of fun here at St. Matthew’s! Our halls
were filled with cowboys and their stick horses for the Pre-K rodeo,
Kindergarten “cookies” fixin’ a mighty delicious chuckwagon cookout any Texan
would be proud of, and the firelane was transformed into a speedway complete
with a carwash, rest stop, and gas station for the 3′s road ralley. Just another week of learning, growing, and having a LOT of fun at the truly special place we
call St. Matthew’s!!

We have several special happenings this Spring that you’ll want to put on your
calendars:

- April 15 at 11:30 is the Kindergarten musical “In the Jungle”. Broadway, watch
out!!

-April 21 we dismiss at noon for the Easter holidays and return Tuesday, April
26.

- April 27 is VIP Day/ Flowering of the Cross. Be on the lookout for your
invitation. Each child in the MWF 3′s, all Pre-Ks, and Kindergarten will welcome
a special guest to school that day – usually a grandparent, but it can be a
neighbor, aunt, babysitter, etc. Guests arrive at 10:15, at 11:00 we will gather
in the sanctuary for our beautiful Flowering of the Cross service (parents are
welcome), followed by a reception in the church courtyard. ALL CLASSES WILL
DISMISS AT NOON that day.

-May 3 is Spirit Night at Waterloo Ice House at 360 and 2222. A percentage of
all St. Matthew’s orders that night will go to the School, so plan on a night
out with all your St. Matthew’s friends and enjoy a beautiful spring evening at
Waterloo! Details to follow.

-May 5 and 6 are Parent/ Teacher conference days.

-May 20 is Kindergarten Graduation and the last day of school.

Wow!!! What a whirlwind this Spring will be. I’m looking forward to seeing you
at these special community events – and every day in the halls. It seems that
every day is a special event at St. Matthew’s!!

Dust off your boots, get your blue jeans on, and get ready for a night of good ole’ Texas fun! La Noche 2011, “Round Up!”, is just around the corner. I hope y’all plan to be at the UT Alumni Center on Friday, March 4 for this awesome event!

Highlights include:

Class Projects, Live and Silent Auctions, Bull Riding, Wine Toss, Mystery Flags, Slideshow, Teacher Treats, Cocktails and Dinner

It is an evening not to be missed! Tickets are on sale now. Be sure to stop by the auction preview tables on Thursday and Friday to check out some of the great items and get your tickets.

A big Yeehaw!!! our Event Sponsors:

The Casaubon Family, UCS/ Leslie & Ben Wells, Nick and Genevieve Mounce, The Price Family, The Fason Family, The Herndon Family, Inviting Affairs/ The Esaias Family, The McCall Family, The Dennis Family,  Laurel & Dudley Simmons, The Webb Family, St. Matthew’s Board of Trustees, Ben & Nancy Wells, The Jud Anderson Family, Adrian & Jordan Bean, Marjann Cooper/ Amelia Bullock Realtors, The Cuellar Family, Julie & Ron Franklin, In Honor of Johanna & Grayson Gunter, Lucy & Phil Nazro, The Nield Family, The Northway Family, The Pitts Family, The Robertson Family, Francie & Trent Thurman, Old Settlers Dental PA/ The Zavala Family

See y’all there!

St. Matthew’s follows  AISD with regard to school closure due to weather . If AISD is closed, we are closed.

However, if AISD has a two hour delayed start, we will be CLOSED.

Check back here for updates.