October 2013 news line

Stallion October2013

news line

A Publication for American Heritage School of Boca/Delray Parents

Message From The Headmaster...

On behalf of Mr. William Laurie, President; Dr. Douglas Laurie, Vice President; and myself, I welcome everyone to our 20th school year. I am happy to announce that our enrollment is over 1130 students.

Note: (S) represents Semi-finalists; (C) indicates Commended (Back) Edward Dalidowicz (C), Martin Jakos (C), Christian Hunt (C), Hannah Coy (National Achievement Scholar), Thomas Wotherspoon (S), Brendan Haggerty (S), Max Himmelrich (C),(Front) Jacob Berkowitz (C), Ryan Meyer (S), Talia Statsky-Frank (C), Cynthia Metzger (S), Jake Becker (S),

Dylan Cahill (S)

Everyone is very excited about the opening of our new threestory multipurpose Lower/Middle School building. The building accommodates Lower School students for arts and technology on the first floor, and Middle School classrooms are located on floors two and three. In addition, we are very proud of our beautiful, new Lower School butterfly park. We have plans for many interactive programs through the Lower School labs to utilize the area.

The beginning of a new school year, as always, is an excellent time for students to get involved with any of the multitude of extracurricular activities and programs available to students of all ages.

Congratulations to Our 13 Nationally Recognized Students

Most National Merit Scholars in Palm Beach County Private Schools

American Heritage is proud of the 12 members of the Class of 2014 who have been named to the 2014 National Merit Scholarship Program and the one student who was named a National Achievement Scholar . These students are among the 50,000 highest-scoring participants of 1.5 million program entrants. Heritage has claim to the largest number of Merit Semi-finalists in Palm Beach County private schools. Students who reach Finalist status in February of next year are eligible for college scholarships offered by Merit Scholarship, corporations and colleges.

Recognition is based on the scores earned on the PSAT, which students are required to take as juniors. In addition, qualified students are named National Hispanic Scholars or National Achievement Scholars based on the same test. We congratulate all of them on their accomplishments.

To all of our school families, this is a perfect opportunity for you to direct your friends and neighbors to our Admissions Office for a personal tour of our campus. Seeing our school in action is the best way for new, prospective families to form a positive impression of American Heritage.

Robert Stone, Headmaster

Heritage and Academy parents! You're invited to attend...

October 15 Evening with an Expert...

Featuring: Dr. Gisell Vina "Empowering your Child to Overcome Test Anxieties"

7:00 - 8:00 p.m. in Dining Hall Hope to see you there!

See inside for other scheduled Guidance events.

AHS Welcomes The George Washington University

to Campus!

In early September, Assistant Director of Admissions Nadine Saint visited AHS to provide an overview of student life at The George Washington University. AHS students heard first-hand information about GW's academic programs, campus life, extracurricular activities, and admissions criteria. AHS students were eager and excited to learn about the wide range of opportunities that GW offers, as well as life in Washington, DC. GW provides students with the opportunity to explore six undergraduate schools, 70 majors, countless internship opportunities, research and community service opportunities, and more!

The George Washington University is located in the heart of Washington, D.C. where the worlds of politics, business, technology, media, and the arts come together.

October Guidance Events

Oct. 8 Seniors & Parents: "College Pete" (AHS college funding specialist) will hold a workshop on completing the CSS Profile, 7:00 p.m. in the Media Center

Oct. 14 Grades 9-12 Athletes & Parents: "Athletic Recruiting & Core Course GPA" 7:30 p.m. in the Dining Hall

Oct. 19 PSAT 2013, Mandatory for grades 9-11, replaces Stanford Achievement Test, high school, only

Oct. 24 Juniors & Parents: "Junior College Workshop Part I" 7:00 p.m. in the Dining Hall

Oct. 28 Eighth Grade Parents: "Charting Your Course" an introduction to American Heritage High School, 7:00 p.m. in the Media Center

Oct. 29 Junior Athletes & Parents: Athletic Recruiting Lab with Mr. Steve Kahn 6:30 p.m. in Lab 702 of the Media Center

Student Organizations...

The Key Club and Builder's Club are offshoots of Kiwanis, providing many enriching activities for the community. The Heritage Chapter of Key Club meets every Tuesday morning at 7:30 in the gym. It's never too late for students to join. Stop by and get an application from Mr. Marazita in room 606, or come to observe one of the meetings. Builder's Club meets at lunchtime with Co-advisers, Mrs. Cavallo and Mrs. Benedetto. Presently, students are collecting school supplies for "sister school," Plumosa Elementary; collecting plastic caps for Caps of Love; and supporting local beach clean ups.

On Saturday, September 7, students participated in the Boyton Beach replanting garden event. Kellie McCourt, and Allegra Nolan, showed the community the American Heritage Spirit. In the near future,the group kicks off a shoe drive and work with The Achievement Center. These events are also in the portal under Key Club and National Honor Society in High School, and Middle School for National Junior Honor Society and Builder's Club.

Two days before AHS Delray's varsity football game versus AHS Plantation, students accepted a challenge from AHS Plantation to see which school could bring in the most non-perishable food items by game time that Friday. Word got out and AHS Boca/Delray turned in over 1,000 cans, defeating Plantation to win the Heritage Cares Trophy. Thanks to all the families that participated on short notice. All of the food was given to the South Florida Food Bank. It was a fun challenge for a great cause!

Heritage Delray Takes Home the Heritage Cares Trophy!

COLLEGE FAIR

Thursday, October 3 10:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

Parents of 10th , 11th, & 12th graders are welcome to attend. Please park at the church across Broward Blvd. from our school. 10th, 11th & 12th graders will attend with their classes. Colleges attending the Annual College Fair (as of 9/20)

Adelphi University Appalachian State University The Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale Barry University Baylor University Brandeis University Colgate University College of William and Mary Columbia College Chicago The Cooper Union Cornell University Curry College Davidson College Earlham College Elon University Embry-Riddle Aeronautical

University Emmanuel College Emory University FIDM/Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising Florida Atlantic University Florida Gulf Coast University Florida Institute Technology Florida International University Florida Polytechnic University Florida Southern College Florida State University Franklin College Switzerland Guilford College Hamilton College High Point University Hofstra University John Cabot University Johnson & Wales University Jose Maria Vargas University Louisiana State University Loyola University New Orleans Lynn University Marist College Mercer University Miami University of Ohio Monmouth University New College of Florida New York University Nova Southeastern University Oglethorpe University Pace University Palm Beach Atlantic University Rice University Ringling College of Art and Design Rochester Institute of Technology

Rollins College Rutgers University Saint Leo University Savannah College of Art and Design Smith College St. Johns University St. Thomas University Stony Brook University Suffolk University Syracuse University Temple University Texas Christian University Tulane University United States Air Force Academy United States Naval Academy University of Alabama University of California, Los Angeles

(UCLA) University of California, San Diego University of Central Florida University of Chicago University of Colorado-Boulder University of Connecticut University of Florida University of Illinois at

Urbana-Champaign University of Maryland University of Massachusetts-

Amherst University of Miami University of Michigan University of North Carolina-

Asheville University of North Carolina at

Chapel Hill University of North Carolina-

Greensboro University of North Florida University of South Carolina University of South Florida-

St. Petersburg University of South Florida-Tampa University of South Florida-INTO The University of Tampa Vanderbilt University Villanova University Wake Forest University Washington University in St. Louis Wellesley College Wittenberg University Yale University

Young Harris College

New Management Team at the School's Health Clinic

Nurses Melissa Alarcon and Hayat Nesheiwat

Hayat Nesheiwat, RN, has been assigned as Director of Nursing in the school's clinic. She has over 40 years of pediatrics, emergency room, and orthopedic experience. Hayat has an academic and clinical background from Johns Hopkins Hospital, is trilingual, and proud of her student family at AHS, JonPaul, Jagger, Milan, and Daniel. With an extensive background of emergency room, ICU and homecare experience,Melissa Alarcon, RN, has also joined the school's clinic team. She is also the proud soccer mom to Breanna, Alexis, and Ciara, all new to American Heritage. Both nurses look forward to serving students, staff, and faculty with a focus on prevention and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. They extend a huge thanks to all for the effort and support with the new Magnus, on line Student Medical Record system that will provide easy access to the student's information. Meanwhile, with flu season ahead, Hayat and Melissa stress good "hand washing, eating healthy, rest. A word of advice, sneezing, coughing, runny noses? Chicken soup, TLC and ...stay home!" Stay tuned with future health tips in a new feature, "Nurse Notes!"

Kindergarten students searched for Humpty Dumpty whose pieces were scattered due to a fall. Luckily, the "King" helped the concerned students put him back together, again!

? First graders are adjusting so nicely this year! They are excited to have their own work space, and they love being able to go to the "big playground" and field during recess. Students are writing in their journals and are learning how to write the date in different ways.

? Second graders are off to a great start! In science, they are learning about living and nonliving things and their needs. In Social Studies, students are learning about where they live and are comparing different communities and how people work together in their community. They are enjoying getting to know their new friends and adjusting well to their new schedules. Second graders are looking forward to a wonderful year.

? Third grade is soaring into a fabulous new year. They have been learning about themselves and each other. Much creativity can be seen in their descriptive writing and amazing self portraits. In social studies students are comparing their communities with communities in different parts of the country. It was wonderful meeting all of their third grade families at Curriculum Night. Third graders look forward to their journey into their family history over the next few months.

? Fifth grade Heritage and Academy students are hard at work after completing beginning of the year assessments. Students have been introduced to all curriculum and are doing a terrific job in adhering to fifth grade expectations.

Fifth graders have met for a "town meeting" in which upcoming events, expectations, and character traits were discussed. Students will be assigned a character trait in which they will perform short skits demonstrating that trait. September's character trait was

First graders performed a fascinating experiment. They wondered if they could create a square bubble using a square-shaped wand (made using straws and string). You really need to try this experiment because you won't believe what happens!

"responsibility" which focused on trust and dependability.

Welcome new students and assistants to the fIfth grade American Heritage family: Mrs. Shinder, Mrs. Fenton, Ms. Ben-Ezeer, Tyler Avery, Maurice McFarlane, Ethan Bostwick, Christian Fashaw, John Auten, Nicolas DeMartinis, and Nicholas Estrada.

As a reminder, students should be reading for the Accelerated Reader Program. Accelerated Reader is designed to promote comprehension with goals set quarterly, and students are expected to meet their goal. This program is incorporated into the quarterly reading grade. Those students who wish to be on the Headmaster's List must meet their Accelerated Reader goal. Wishing all students a wonderful and successful year!

Calling All Fifth Graders to Student Government

Academy and Heritage fourth and fifth graders attended an introductory Student Government meeting. Student Government is an outreach program which concentrates on volunteer opportunities.

If a student is interested in becoming a part of this program, please see, or write a note, to Ms. Sabato.

New $8 million elementary/ middle school building has

been a great success with students and teachers. The ground level for elementary students includes a high tech library that delights students' imaginations. A forest of artificial trees extends upward to the 15' vaulted ceiling in the center of the library.

Student Government Events

On Friday, August 23, Student Government (SGA) hosted freshmen orientation. Incoming freshmen explored the many clubs and organizations American Heritage has to offer and signed up for clubs in their areas of interest.

The one-day ticket sale for the Homecoming Dance is October 4 at a cost of $45.

Come out on October 27 and support SGA at the annual Trunk n' Treat event. Children will trunk n' treat and enjoy the bounce houses, games, arts and crafts and more!

A story time area features a cavelike grotto with an underwater theme.

The complex includes three interactive technology labs equipped with Promethium smart boards. A well- equipped Lower School TV broadcast center with green screen technology allows students to broadcast from "anywhere."

A Black Box Theatre has been added for elementary school productions. A new, dedicated drama teacher has been hired to develop weekly Lower School productions.

Below are the dates for upcoming SGA events: o Homecoming week (November 4-9) o Character Breakfast (February 8) o Songs of a New World (May 15) Senior Showcase

OPEN HOUSE DATES

FOR 2013-2014

November 2 February 1 Both scheduled for 10:00 a.m.

These will be perfect opportunities to encourage your friends to visit American Heritage and see all that is offered by the school .

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