On Thursday, March 22, 2012, Morning Star School in Tampa will present "Walkin' On Sunshine", an uplifting Gala performance featuring the Morning Star Sensations Children's Choir. The Gala will be held at the Bethany Center beginning at 6:15 PM with a cocktail reception, followed by a seated dinner at 7:30 PM. Please call to make your reservations! The RSVP date is March 8, 2012.
News
On January 18th, Ms. Ana Swiger and Ms. Ashlie Banks of HR Tampa presented Ms. Eileen Daly and Mr. Paul Reed of Morning Star School with the 2011 HR Tampa Diversity Award. This recognition took place at the January meeting of the HR Tampa organization.
HR Tampa is the local chapter of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) with members from many organizations in the Tampa Bay area who specialize in Human Resource Management and Consulting. HR Tampa is the premier professional association for human resource professionals in Tampa Bay and one of Florida's largest and most active chapters.
HR Tampa selected Morning Star School - Tampa as their 2011 Diversity Award winner due to Morning Star's commitment to serving a diverse population of children with learning disabilities and related learning challenges. In addition, the members of HR Tampa are impressed with Morning Star School's team approach that includes parents and professionals with diverse skill sets - all with the same goal of helping the students at Morning Star School achieve greater success in life.
Congratulations to the Morning Star School Family for being honored with this very special recognition.
Read to find out the successes of our first semester and plans for the second semester...
Dear Parents,
Welcome back for the second semester of 2011-2012 school year!
The first semester was a busy and successful one. I applaud the Parent Group for their wonderful hospitality at the school picnic and the Christmas Play. The Parent Group also helped the school purchase classroom sets of alpha smarts; portable keyboards for language arts classes. With your support, the Morning Star Golf Classic was the most successful tournament ever! Mrs. Twachtmann and Mr. Reed truly thank parents for their participation, donations and volunteer efforts this year. We look forward to similar success with Morning Star Sundays and with the Tennis Tournament in April at Emerald Greens.
These fundraisers and generous support from the Morning Star School Advisory Board assist the school with scholarships and improvements in technology. We are pleased to report that this year each classroom has an interactive white board that enhances instruction and promotes student engagement with multisensory and hands-on learning. Efforts continue to investigate how technology can support student learning.
The first semester provided many interesting learning opportunities. There was the second planting of the Unity Garden. American Stage performed an adaptation of Stuart Little for all students. The Great American Teach-In was a huge success with visits from Pam Bondi, Florida’s Attorney General, Leigh Spann, Channel 8 News Meteorologist, Judy Gray, member of our Advisory Board and of the Coast Guard, as well as two parent volunteers, Dr. Ralph Fehr and Jill Dominguez sharing about their careers.
We look forward to another full semester. Planning for a visit from astronaut, Nicole Stott is in the works. Intermediate, Junior High Prep and Junior High students will be participating in the Modern Woodman Speech Contest; researching, writing and presenting a speech about a time a volunteer made a difference. The entire school will be going on a field trip to LEGOLAND on February 16th. Spring Testing and the Morning Star Gala 2012 will be held in March. We look forward to the 3rdedition of our school newspaper, The Constellation, in May.
Our next parent meeting is on January 26th. Parents can drop by your student’s class beginning at 7PM. The meeting will begin promptly at 7:30PM. Our speaker, an Occupational Therapist, will discuss childhood anxiety. Report Cards will be distributed after the meeting. In early February, a detailed academic report will be mailed home. This report will document your student’s grade level and progress on the skills in each subject area.
HR Tampa, the professional association for human resource professionals in Tampa Bay, is presenting Morning Star School with its 2011 HR Tampa Diversity Award. Morning Star School was selected for the diversified population of children that we serve and for our commitment to celebrate diversity. Additional thanks to you all for helping to market our school. Inquiries and applications for next year continue to flow in.
Thank you for your participation on the surveys presented at our October meeting. Your insightful comments assisted the school in preparing its Third Year Report on progress of our School Improvement Action Plan. Ms. Lopez and I will be sharing this report with the Florida Catholic Conference representatives and our Superintendent next week.
God’s grace continues to shine on our school. Your prayers and volunteer efforts make it all happen and we are forever grateful. All of us at Morning Star School wish you will know the peace of Christ and His many blessings in the upcoming year.
Eileen Daly
Principal, Morning Star School
