Expeditions Updates: Check the Expeditions & Community Service Lounge
This is Expeditions Week! Please check the Expeditions & Community Service Lounge on Gradescape for Expeditions updates, which can be accessed under the "Discussions" tab when you are logged into your Gradescape account. We will post updates as we receive them. Please note that it is much easier for some trips to share updates as compared to other trips where the internet is less reliable. These Expeditions are a wonderful way for your children to begin to develop their independence and resourcefulness skills away from home. If you do not hear from them, please be assured that no news is good news (though we will post updates when we receive them). Please remember that the goal of our Expeditions program is for our faculty and students to disconnect from their normal daily routine, explore nature, and forge strong connections.
No School: Monday, May 1
Please note that there are no classes next Monday, May 1. We will be hosting an all faculty workshop day here on campus, featuring professional development workshops, collaboration on departmental goals, and expedition team debriefing. Hopefully, this will also be a great opportunity for our students to sleep in, rest, unpack, and recover from the previous week’s expeditions. Classes will resume on Tuesday, May 2 with a 7-Period Day.
Parent Association Meeting: May 2
The next and final Parent Association meeting of the school year will take place next Tuesday, May 2 at 9:00am. This will be a fun and casual morning to recap our year, meet new-to-Grauer families, and brainstorm for the 2023-2024 school year. We will meet outdoors, weather permitting, and coffee and breakfast treats will be provided. Questions? Please email PA Co-Presidents Julie Silvaor Diane Zeps for more information.
Fall 2023 Kenya Expedition: Parent Information Meeting ~ May 2
The Fall 2023 Expedition lineup will include an expedition for High School students to visit Daraja Academy, an all-girls boarding school in Kenya, Africa with a close connection with the Grauer Girl Rising Club. Parents of students who are interested in joining the Daraja Academy Expedition in the Fall are invited to join Shelley Joslin and Alicia Tembi at a Parent Information Meeting next Tuesday, May 2, at 5:00-6:00pm in Alicia's Room #421. Parents will be able to learn about the focus of the trip, review the itinerary, understand the general cost and have a chance to ask questions. Contact Shelley or Alicia with any questions.
High School Football Information Session: Monday, May 8
High School students, are you interested in playing 8-man tackle football for the 2023-2024 school year? Our CIF-partner school, Horizon Prep, will be hosting a meeting for all students and parents interested in participating in football next fall on Monday, May 8 at 5:00pm in Horizon Prep's Lions Den. They will be discussing information about the league, season expectations, summer conditioning, and answering any questions regarding contact sports and/or concussion prevention. Please reach out to Trevor Olson, our Athletic Director, for more information about Grauer's CIF-sports relationship with Horizon Prep and the season commitment.
The High School ASB Presents Prom: Let’s Cruise—Saturday, May 13
The High School ASB/Leadership class is pleased to announce that this year’s Prom will be held on Saturday, May 13 from 7:00-10:00pm at the Maritime Museum downtown and the theme is Let’s Cruise. This is the fourth time that The Grauer School has hosted Prom on this historic ship, and it is always one of our most popular venues. Because The Grauer School is a small school, our Prom is open to all students in grades 9-12 and each student may bring a guest if they would like (please submit a guest form prior to the event); we strongly encourage students to attend with groups of their friends. This will be a fun, memorable night with dancing (music provided by a professional DJ), food, activities, beautiful views of the city, and a photo booth—we encourage all High School students to attend. If you have any questions, please contact ASB President Andi W. '23.
Graduation 2023: Friday, June 9
Graduation will be held at the Seaside Center for Spiritual Living on Friday, June 9. Our 8th grade ceremony will be held at 11:00am and our 12th grade ceremony will be held at 2:00pm. We have never limited the number of attendees each graduate can invite (which is why we host our ceremonies off campus); please note that we do not offer any reserved seating for these ceremonies.
Order Your Yearbook Now!
Grauer students - Don't be left out on Yearbook Day (at the end of the school year)! If you haven't already purchased a yearbook, you can click here to order your Grauer yearbook for $80 per copy. Email yearbook@grauerschool.com if you're not sure whether you already ordered a yearbook.
Academic Calendar for 2023-2024
We are excited to begin our 33rd year in 2023-2024 and are looking forward to implementing a holistic educational program that balances college preparation with expeditionary learning for all of our students. As we plan ahead for next year, we have recently finished our academic calendar and are sharing some dates with you so that you can plan accordingly; comprehensive copies of the calendar will run in an upcoming newsletter and we're still solidifying some admissions and Parent Association dates. Please note the following important dates:
Tuesday, August 22, 2023~ Opening Day of School for the 2023-2024 School Year
Monday, October 2-Friday, October 6~ Fall Expeditions Week
Wednesday, November 22-Friday, November 24~ Thanksgiving Holiday Vacation
Friday, December 22-Monday, January 8, 2024~ Winter Holiday Vacation (return to school on Tuesday, January 9)
Monday, February 19-Friday, February 23, 2024~ Ski Week
Monday, March 25-Monday, April 1, 2024~ Spring Break
Monday, April 15-Friday, April 19, 2024~ Spring Expeditions Week
Friday, June 7, 2024~ Graduation
CALENDAR
View the 2022-2023 Grauer Academic Calendar Overview: Click here
View the Grauer Public Calendar on our website: Click here
Add the Grauer Public Google Calendar to your calendar system: Click here
Monday, April 24-Friday, April 28
~ Spring Expeditions Week Friday, April 28
~ Parent Association presents Annie's Canyon Nature Hike, 9:00am (San Elijo Lagoon Nature Center) Saturday, April 29
~ Archery Team Competing in OAS National Championships (Easton Archery Center of Excellence) Monday, May 1
~ No School (Faculty Workshops) Tuesday, May 2
~ 7-Period Day
~ Parent Association Meeting, 9:00am Saturday, May 6
~ Annual Grauer Gala, 6:00-10:00pm (Grauer Campus) Monday, May 8-Friday, May 12
~ Senior Graduation Defense presentations, 9:00am-noon (Meyer Hall) Saturday, May 13
~ High School Prom, 7:00-10:00pm (Maritime Museum) Friday, May 19
~ Grauerpalooza Arts Festival, 4:00-7:00pm Thursday, May 25 & Friday, May 26
~ High School Theatre Arts Department presents "The Outsiders", 7:00pm Friday, June 9
~ Graduation 2023: 8th Grade at 11:00am, 12th Grade at 2:00pm (Seaside Center for Spiritual Living)
IMPORTANT LINKS
~ Attendance Office: attendance@grauerschool.com, 760-944-6777 option 5 - refer to the Parent Portal on the school's website for detailed Attendance Policy information
~ Daily Lunch Program:Ki's School Lunches
~ Yearbook Orders:Jostens Store
Grauer Parents: While your kids are away on their expeditions, join us outdoors for a hike through Annie's Canyon. All interested parents should meet at the San Elijo Lagoon Nature Center (2710 Manchester Avenue, Cardiff) on Friday, April 28, at 9:00am. The hike around the lagoon is mostly flat, and roughly 3 miles. Click on the button below to sign up for the hike!
Courage. Creativity. Joy. Learn By Discovery® this summer at The Grauer School! Summer programs at The Grauer School are engaging, educational, and fun! Grauer's Enrichment Camps focus on exploring creativity and new interests, fine-tuning specific skill sets, and building confidence for the upcoming academic year. We're highlighting some of our fun Enrichment Camps below.
Mystery Camp: The Grauer Gang Crime Solving Unit (Middle School) -
June 26-30
Explore Young Adult mystery novels and solve mysteries on The Grauer School's campus with Dominique Bartoughian! Students will read classic mystery stories such as The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew, and investigate clues and puzzles hidden at the school to solve crimes and mysteries. Students will have fun collaborating with their team, developing their analytical skills and racing to be the first to solve the mystery. If you love solving puzzles and investigating crimes, this is the camp for you!
Culinary Camp: Adventures in Cultures of the World (Middle & High School) - July 10-14
Have you ever wanted to learn a new dish, or dive into a different culture and explore their recipes? Join Dominique Bartoughian this summer to learn how to prepare Armenian, Mexican, Italian, French, Persian and American dishes. Each day, we will learn about the culture of a new country and prepare an appetizer, main course, desert and drink. By the end of the week, you will have many recipes to share with your own family. No cooking experience is necessary!
STEM Camp: Introduction to 3D Design and Electronics (Middle School) - July 17-21
Join Ryan Stevens for a fun-filled week of state-of-the-art technology! The week will start with learning how to create 3D models and scenes. Students will also learn how to use the school’s 3D printers and will print their designs to bring home with them. You'll also learn all about the basics of electricity, as well as how to build your own circuits. The class will start with simple circuits and move on to using the Arduino electronics platform to make interactive projects controlling lights, sounds, and motors. By the end of the week, students will have the skills to build anything they can think of!
We also offer For-Credit Academic Classes for Grauer students who want to get ahead or get caught up during the summer. We are excited to announce that, in addition to our Grauer camps, we will be hosting the Loly Lutti Pottery Camp and Snapology Technology Camps for younger campers this summer.
We invite you to take some time to browse through all of our exciting and enriching Summer School programs on The Grauer School's website. Tell your family and friends - Grauer's Enrichment Camps are open to all Middle School & High School students throughout San Diego county. Click on the button below to start browsing!
We strongly believe that The Grauer School is among the best in the world at balancing college preparation with Expeditionary Learning. The school was founded on the idea of “learning by discovery” and provides students with the worldwide experience to become compassionate, service-minded citizens. As a UNESCO Affiliate School, we are widely lauded for our humanitarian and ecological service in places of greatest need—we build schools, construct homes and gardens, and serve others. Expeditionary learning is not just one of our six Core Features—it’s something we believe in so strongly that we cancel classes two full weeks each year in order to engage our students in humanitarian and ecological service.
This week, we are grateful to have our students out on seven unique expeditions:
—Our France and Switzerland Expedition departed last Wednesday, April 19. Frida LeBreton, Jessi Brown, and Dr. Stuart Grauer are immersing students in a centuries-old culture, education, and lifestyle that values depth, history, and authenticity. The students will be changing lodging locations four times during this expedition, beginning in Paris with a river cruise, a picnic by the Eiffel Tower, and a visit to the Musée d’Orsay. From Paris, the students traveled by train to Chamonix, a city at the base of the Mont Blanc. Here, the students explored the famous Mer de Glace, a disappearing glacier that is tragically being affected by climate change. The students are currently in Annecy at the Ecole Bilingue Internationale de Haute Savoie; here, the students are attending classes and staying with host families. For the rest of the week, the students will visit an urban farm as well as a cheese making farm, and will participate in a hands-on chocolate making workshop. Finally, students will travel to Switzerland for sightseeing and a tour of the International Museum of the Red Cross prior to departing for San Diego.
—Last Friday, members of our Class of 2023 departed for Kauai with Nick Scacco, Dr. Paulina Davis-Fisher, and Louise Hyland. These students have been developing this proposal for a marine eco-stewardship intensive for the past year. The students will be staying at two beautiful places on the island: Poipu and Princeville. While there, students will be sailing and hiking parts of the Napali coast, kayaking up a fern grotto to picnic besides waterfalls, learning about local flora at botanical gardens, working in taro fields and learning from local farmers about traditional Hawaiian farming practices, hiking through rainforest, swamps, and Waimea Canyon, and snorkeling all over the island.
—On Sunday, our New Orleans Expedition departed for a week filled with music, history, food, and the arts with Isaac Langen, Erin Langen, and Tom Hopper. They will be staying in the heart of the French Quarter while sampling its music, arts scene, cuisine, colleges, surrounding swamp lands, and the one-of-a-kind New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. Some of the trip highlights include a visit to the Voodoo Museum, a Historic Ghost Tour at night (one of the groups reported they saw paranormal activity), a swamp tour in the Jean Lafitte National Historic Park and Preserve, tours of Loyola and Tulane Universities, riding a streetcar down the famous Mardi Gras parade route, a riverboat jazz dinner cruise on the Mississippi River, and attending the world-famous New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.
—Trevor Olson, Simon Checa, and Alicia Tembi are giving our students an opportunity to get Back to Our Roots, spending a week learning to live off of the land, practicing and engaging in outdoor skills such as fire making, flora and fauna recognition, knife handling and sharpening, shooting and firearm instruction, hunting skills, and even being an intimate part of harvesting wild game. Students will be staying at a private ranch located in the hills surrounding Lake Nacimiento developing an innate connection with Mother Nature, practicing mindfulness, enjoying nightly campfires, and doing their best to develop the outdoor survival skills necessary to better understand where their food comes from.
—Although we were worried that this year’s record-setting snowfall would force us to pivot from offering one of our favorite destination trips: YosemiteNational Park, our lodging location gratefully opened for the season last Friday. Following in the footsteps of Chief Tenaya of the Ahwahneechee and John Muir, Clayton Payne, Patricia Young, Dr. Peter Mannisto, Johnny King, and Dr. Paige Prindle will take our students on an adventure to see Half Dome, El Capitan, some of North America’s tallest waterfalls, and the Merced River. The spirit of this expedition is to slow down, taking the time to let the beauty of nature inspire each individual’s creativity as students enjoy a technology-free week to work on individual and group projects of their own design throughout the week (painting, drawing, songwriting, sewing, crocheting, writing, and more creative endeavors).
—Our middle school students traveled to the Bay Area with Shelley Joslin, Mimi Robinson, Paul-Michael Ogburn, and Ryan Steven to NatureBridge’s Golden Gate campus which lies just north of the Golden Gate Bridge in the Marin Headlands. The historic WWII military campus is surrounded by miles of trails along unique rock formations, through wildflowers, with scenic views of the beach and coastline. Here, students will study environmental science, where the program strives to connect students with the wonder and science of the natural world, igniting self-discovery and inspiring stewardship of our planet.
—We recognize that some of our students are unable to travel for a week due to outside commitments, so Kara Chine, Fupen Huang, Dina Treibel, and Liam Murphy will be offering our Local Expedition: Connecting at the Core. Students will be engaging in a co-created itinerary, including a day at Moonlight Beach, ice skating at UTC, a movie at Cinepolis, a scenic hike at Mission Gorge, fun at Belmont Park in Mission Beach, and a Chinese cooking lesson making Bao. This is a great opportunity for our students to connect and find shared interests across grade-levels.
Our Expeditions program is not only a great way for our students to “learn by discovery,” but to unplug, foster new relationships, practice resourcefulness, and to challenge themselves beyond their comfort levels. It is really quite miraculous that we are able to organize and plan seven such incredibly diverse trips that can accommodate over 150 students. We are grateful to Patricia Young, our Expeditions Program Director, and to all of our Expedition Trip Leads and chaperones for all of the time, energy, and love they have put into these incredible trips. We hope that your children bring home beautiful memories that they’ll still think of fondly when they are thirty.
Deans' View
Expedition Expectations
This week is a fun week of school, and that’s exactly what it is: a week of school. How lucky are we! We expect you all to abide by our Core Values every day of your expedition.
Show Compassionfor your peers, your chaperones, and everything around you. Whether it be the city, the mountains, your van, or your room…show Compassion.
Resourcefulness is key during expeditions. Focus on what is around you and find creative solutions to help the group.
Intellectual Curiositycan be modeled by enriching others, and embracing new ideas of others and sharing your own.
Perseverancecan be shown through your actions. Adapt to new situations with flexibility, and persevere to do things that are fun and outside of your comfort zone. You got this!
Self-Advocacy can also be shown through your actions by your courage and standing up for what you see is right. Taking appropriate action when it is needed.
Lastly and important is to be Accountable. Please know that you’re responsible for your actions. Be kind, be respectful, and understand if you are not, then there will be consequences.
Make us proud, be safe, and be happy on your expedition adventures. Don't forget to be in the moment, be grateful for our exceptional opportunities, and bring home new inspirations and stronger friendships!
Click here if you'd like to subscribe to Dr. Grauer's weekly column!
A Hero Turns 100
This week's column is a tribute to educational legend John Holt, one of Dr. Grauer's heroes. No modern educator has challenged us more in making student voice and imagination the central focus of teaching and learning.
We want to share our sincerest thanks to the thousands of readers of this column who are sharing it with friends and families. It means the world to us. Please keep writing us with your comments.
Archery Program
The Middle School and High School Archery teams are gearing up for the OAS National Championships at the Easton Archery Center of Excellence in Chula Vista on Saturday, April 29. Go, Gorillas!
High School CIF-Spring Sports Congratulations to our student-athletes that are on the Spring Sports rosters through our CIF-Sanctioned partnership with Horizon Prep, on these teams:
Coed Golf
Girls Beach Volleyball
Coed Track & Field
High School Coed Soccer
High School Coed Soccer with Coach Morgan Brown has practices on Mondays at 3:15-4:30pm and Fridays at 1:30-3:00pm (unless there is a game). The team's next game will be on Friday, May 5, at 4:00-5:00pm. Family and friends are invited to come and cheer for the Grauer team at the Magdalena Ecke Family YMCA in Encinitas!
Middle School Spring Sports
Here are the Middle School sports we are offering this Spring season:
Girls Basketball with Coach Johnny King - click here to view an updated season schedule. The team will have practices on Thursday and Friday this week, and their next game is on Thursday, May 4, at Cambridge Classical School at 3:30pm.
Boys Soccer with Coach Paulina Davis-Fisher - click here to view the season schedule. The team's next game is on Friday, May 5, vs. Encinitas Country Day School at Stagecoach Park at 1:45pm.
CIF High School Boys Basketball Team Awarded "All Academic Team" Honor
Congratulations to Sean F. '24 and the Horizon Prep Boys Basketball Team for being awarded the All Academic Team in the San Diego CIF-Section Frontier Conference this winter! Sean will receive a commemorative patch as the Scholar Captain for his team.
In The Garden Stephanie Murphy and Sally Grauer will be working in the garden on Wednesdays and Saturdaysfrom 8:00am to 11:00am, unless a garden event is happening at that time and if the weather permits. Volunteers are welcome to join them in the garden, but please be sure to contact Stephanie if you're planning on joining them.
Please Note: Stephanie will be working in the garden until 9:30am only this Saturday.
Sally Grauer and Lori H. harvested a plethora of flowers last week. We are inundated with the overwhelmingly fragrant sweet peas and colorful ranunculus flowers. Sally made several stunning bouquets and shared them with Grauer staff. We also worked on shaping the apple trees, removing excessive growth in order to leave enough space for future branches and developing fruit.
While returning garden tubs to the garden and feeding the turtle, Nanea B. '28 and Catalina B. '28 took a moment for a small impromptu carrot harvest. We're delighted to have students so enthusiastic about the garden and garden animals. Molly Halterman uses these tubs to hold plant material while cleaning Michaelangelary the turtle's pond which, so happened to be on the same day. We were a little late with animal care this month but the pond looks very nice now. Thanks, Molly! Regarding the chickens, Grom received her beak trim and Philip her bang trim. Pepper looked on, and all three chickens are healthy and happy. Lulu, the tortoise, very much loves the warm and sunny weather, and especially her adventures outdoors. While weeds are not her favorite to walk on or eat, she is shown in a bed of weeds in the photo below. She snacked on a few while roaming, but much prefers the lettuce, cabbage and kale from the school garden.
Last weekend in the garden was exhilarating. We spent two days working on spring cleaning, and everything is starting to look very nice and tidy. The weather was beautiful, so the work seemed effortless. We spent quite a bit of time weeding and raking up debris which had accumulated over the winter around the main garden and rose garden. We apparently did not remove all the perennials from the rose garden before planting the roses, and some of them started growing back so we transplanted those plants into pots. We also used one tray of worm castings from our worm bin to make worm compost tea, and spread it around the garden as a fertilizer, or natural nourishment, for our plants. Worms break down the organic matter we place in their bin and we recycle the castings, mixed with water, as fertilizer.
We'll be working on the butterfly and chicken run gardens this week, as well as tidying up the shed, inside and out. This should round out our spring cleaning and set us up for planting of our summer crops. We have sweet potatoes and cowpeas to plant for Nick Scacco's Environmental Science class, as well as tomatoes, peppers, basil, squash, cucumbers, eggplant and more planned to be planted! If there are any summer vegetables or special varieties that you'd love to see us grow, please let Stephanie know.
Events & Activities at The Grauer School
Middle School Theatre Program Presents "Little Shop Of Horrors" Musical
From Erin Langen, Theatre Teacher:
The Middle School Theatre Arts program presented "Little Shop of Horrors" on Friday, April 21, in Meyer Hall. Congratulations to the students who performed in this musical, including Wyatt T. '27 (Seymour), Chloe M. '27 (Audrey), Inder C. '27 (Orin the Dentist & Mr. Mushnik), Charlotte J. '27 (Chiffon), Nalani C. '27 (Crystal), Nina R. '27 (Ronnette), and Lucy B. '27 (Audrey II the Plant), plus our special guest performer, Fariba Farah (Customer). For many of these students, this was their first time performing in a musical, and it takes so much courage to get on stage and sing with such confidence and talent. Everything was spectacular, from the cast and set design, to the puppets, music, costumes, and staging.
Thank you to the Crew who assisted with this performance, including Melissa R. '23 (Assistant Student Director); Tom Hopper & Isaac Langen (Sound and Music); Tom Hopper & Simon Checa (Lights); Simon Checa (Construction Lead); Finn C. '25 (Lead Set Design); Jonas D. '25, Charlie M. 25, Adrien C. '23, and Jonah L. '26 (Design Assistants); Samara D. '25 (Makeup Design); Dina Treibel, John John G. '26, and Luke W. 26 (Film Crew); Ava M. '27 (Flyer and Program Artist), and Peggy Gardner (Program and Publicity).
It was a pleasure working with this group of actors and students. Every day, they worked with each other, cheered each other on, and truly embraced this craft. We could not have done any of this without our amazing supportive community. I would like to thank all my students in middle school and high school who helped us with their “yes, I’ll do that for you” attitude! Special thanks to Tracy Ahrens, Sandi Weir, MJ C. '26, Ann Chhokar, Erika Laidemitt, Erin W. '25, Ronin M. '25, and our administration and teachers for their sincere support. We would also like to thank all of the Grauer students and families who came to this performance in support of our talented Middle School actors!
Physics Class Uses Soldering Irons To Make Jitterbugs
From Morgan Brown, Physics Teacher:
Physics students are learning about series and parallel circuits, as well as voltage, current, and resistance. Using project-based learning to make these lessons more understandable, the students learned how to use soldering irons to solder the connections on their own circuit board and create a fun "Jitterbug" mechanical bug with lighted eyes and a vibrating body that dances around on the tabletop. This hands-on approach allowed the students to actually use resistors, motors, and LED lights, and see how they interact to create a simple device.
11th Grade English Class Presents Gatsby Supper Club
From Kara Chine, English Teacher:
The 11th Grade English class celebrated the themes of F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic novel The Great Gatsby by performing a series of creative interpretations at a culminating presentation called "Gatsby Supper Club". Some of the performances on the menu included the trial of Jay Gatsby for manslaughter; songs and poetry written from the main characters’ point of view; a completely different more modern ending of the story read aloud; character interpretations through the lens of modern day social media; graphic novel drawings; and video depictions of the characters, to name a few. Each student or group of students chose a project that spoke to them, and they were challenged to demonstrate their knowledge of the novel and Fitzgerald’s themes around his “lost generation.” We had a lot of fun, and feel like we lived briefly in Gatsby's era of the 1920's!
Faculty & Staff Appreciation Luncheon: 7th Grade
The Grauer School faculty and staff would like to extend our deepest gratitude to our wonderful 7th grade parents! On Thursday, April 20, the 7th grade families treated us to a delicious lunch featuring different types of salads, along with a cheese and charcuterie board and yummy desserts. Thank you to all of the families who were involved, and special thanks to Room Parents Meredith Emory and Meredith Garner for organizing, and to Jenny Hong, Erica Ratner, and Betsy Wilkinson for helping with the setup and cleanup.
Our faculty and staff thoroughly enjoyed the lunch, and felt sincerely appreciated:
~ "Thank you, 7th grade families! It was a beautiful salad spread. I enjoyed every bite."
~ "That gave a new meaning to the word 'salad' in the best way possible! Thank you!"
~ "The array of salads were delicious and I really enjoyed the cheese platter. What a feast!"
~ "So much gratitude being sent in the direction of our families!"
~ "What a great lunch, thank you!"
Counselor's Corner
From Shelley Joslin, Director of Counseling:
Summer Programs
Summer programs are accepting applicants - click here to learn about many offerings for the summer of 2023, from domestic programs in the United States to programs where you can travel abroad, including both academic and service program options. Many of the programs have deadlines for applications and financial aid coming up soon, so be sure to check the deadlines so you can get your applications in on time. Please reach out to Shelley with any questions.
Democracy Summer Fellowship Program
Students can apply for an internship with the Democracy Summer project to work with Congressman Mike Levin's office, representing the 49th district in California. This program teaches high school students state-of-the-art tactics in voter registration and political organizing, the dynamic history of political and social change in our country, and essential lessons for political leadership. This six-week program will take place from June 26 through August 7, with a 20-25 hour required commitment. Students will receive a $500 stipend for the successful completion of the program. Click here to view a flyer with more information about the program, and click here to see information on the website. Applications must be received by this Sunday, April 30 - click here to apply.
Qualia Global Scholars Summer Mentorship Program
Qualia Global Scholars is a 4-week virtual summer mentorship program matching talented students in grades 6-12 with mentors from Stanford University. The program features personalized mentorship, interdisciplinary research, project-based learning, and guidance on college applications. The program aims to empower students to become future global leaders by teaching them about leadership & problem solving, emerging areas in STEM & liberal arts, critical thinking & communication skills, and real-world impact through research & innovation. Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis. Need-based financial aid is available for the program. Click here to view a flyer, and click here to learn more on the website.
Community Service
From Jessi Brown, Humanitarian Service Coordinator:
Community Service Reminder - Log Your Hours! Jessi Brown, Grauer's Humanitarian Service Coordinator, would like to remind all of our students to log your service hours using your MobileServe account. Click here to learn how to log your hours in MobileServe, if you haven't done it yet.
Grauer Service Project: Hygiene Kit Collection For Third Avenue Charitable Organization: Extended to May 12
Homelessness is on the rise across the nation. It’s estimated that there are around 2,000 unsheltered people just in downtown San Diego. The Grauer Community Service Club invites you to help those in need by donating hygiene items. We're working with the Third Avenue Charitable Organization (TACO), whose mission is “a community drawn together to support the dignity, health and well-being of people among us experiencing homelessness and poverty." Collection bins will be located in Meyer Hall this week, ending on Friday, May 12 (extended deadline). Items needed include toothbrushes, toothpaste, bars of soap, shampoo, conditioner, body lotion, shave gel, deodorant, combs, razors, lip balm, facecloths, bandages, hand sanitizer, tissues, nail clippers, hair ties, and especially feminine hygiene products (tampons and pads). Please note that students do not earn community service hours for donating items.
Upcoming related events where students can earn community service hours: There will be a Hygiene Kit Assembly activity at lunchtime in Jessi's room, and an opportunity to volunteer at TACO serving meals. More information to come.
Middle School Fridays
From Patricia Young, Expeditionary Learning Program Director:
There are no Middle School Friday electives this week, due to Spring Expeditions.
MS Friday Spring Elective Cycle
4/28 - Spring Expeditions
5/5 - Mini-elective session #6 and sports practices
5/12 - Mini-elective session #7 and sports practices
Pure Fun! Activity: Mandala Rock Painting From Paige Prindle: Last week's Pure Fun activity on Friday, April 21, allowed students to try their hand at Mandala Rock Painting. The students learned how to create intricate, detailed mandalas on beach rocks using paint and a few simple tools. The process was fun and creative, yet calming and meditative!
Student Spotlight
Parents, please let us know if your child is doing something newsworthy, so we can congratulate them in our Student Spotlight section! Please send submissions to newsletter@grauerschool.com.
Women in STEM Guest Speaker at Girl Rising: Laety Cousin
On Thursday, April 20, The Girl Rising Club was thrilled to welcome their final guest speaker in their "Women in STEM" series, Laety Cousin. Laety, a current Grauer parent, started by sharing her story of going to college in France, and then transferring to the U.S. for her final two years. After finishing school in Florida, she stayed in the U.S. and began work for a medical device company. Laety carved out a niche area where she was able to combine her strength and passion for reading and writing while still staying in the medical environment! In addition to discussing the technical components of the products and the role she played with FDA approvals, Laety also shared advice on what it means to lead a team, what to look for in a company culture, and to travel and live abroad, if you are able. Thank you to Laety for showing our students that there are many paths towards working in the STEM field.
Grauer Student Athletes
Congratulations to Liana R. '27 and Isabella M. '27 for winning the 2023 SOCAL State Cup Soccer Championship as members of their RSF Attack Girls 2009 Team. The team won the championship after competing in multiple weekends of play against 32 other teams from throughout Southern California. The team advanced through bracket play without losing a game to make it to the finals, and beat the Vista Storm team in a 5-0 shutout in the finals.
Happy Birthday!
Adele F. '25 - April 27
Alex V. '24 - April 27
Eli D. '24 - April 28
Nicholas H. '24 - May 3
Raina N. '26 - May 3
