Back-to-School Night - Sept. 21 from 5-7pm

Back-to-School Night is when caregivers get to meet their students’ teachers and hear a bit more about what’s on tap for the year. There will be two identical classroom sessions, so caregivers can attend multiple presentations (including specials!), followed by a welcome from Principal Jenkins in the auditorium. Students do not attend the classroom presentation, but Friends of Adaire (FoA) will be sponsoring onsite childcare in the schoolyard provided by NoLibs Nannies. Please sign-up for childcare in advance here so we know how many children to expect.

• Classroom Session 1: 5:00 - 5:30pm (Classrooms) 
• Classroom Session 2: 5:30 - 6:00pm (Classrooms) 
• Principal’s Welcome: 6:00 - 6:30pm (Auditorium)
• Questions/Mingle & Room Parent Orientation: 6:30 - 7:00pm (Auditorium)

Middle School Info Session - Sept. 28th

The 5th through 8th grade teachers and specialists will be hosting a virtual open house on Thursday, Sept. 28th from 5:00-6:00 pm! We will be giving brief introductions to curricular materials, class highlights and organized school activities offered here at Adaire for upper grade students! If you have interest in learning more or just curious about what students are doing in the middle grades feel free to join and learn more! Use the Zoom Meeting Link or meeting ID/passcode to log-in. Meeting ID: 739 1463 4914 Passcode: 5FK4JG

Updates on Kinder/2nd Grade Staffing

We have a few important staffing updates which were also discussed at Tuesday’s SAC meeting. As many know, Mrs. Maguire (103) will be out on leave until November. We have decided to ask Ms. Stoudt (a certified teacher/our math interventionist) to fill in for room 103 until November, as the substitute position has been hard to fill. This will give the students some consistency until Mrs. Maguire returns. Ms. Stoudt is working in close coordination with Mrs. Choi to ensure consistency between the 2nd grade classrooms.

In kindergarten, we’ve had an increase in enrollment numbers for kindergarten (currently 65!). Mr. Rowley with support from Ms. Ritzheimer has 32 students. Ms. Rivera with support from a daily substitute has 33 students. When district leveling happens in late September/October, we expect to have another teacher assigned for kindergarten, who would come from another school with low enrollment. We are exploring different team-teaching configurations and once a third teacher has been assigned, we’ll provide parents with an update. If you have any questions please contact Principal Jenkins.

Friends of Adaire Mural Celebration Party Thursday, October 5th at Craft Hall

The students will be celebrating the mural unveiling during the school day (2-3pm) but why stop there!? Please join us at Craft Hall to celebrate the official unveiling of our mural! This event is free, food and drinks are on us, but we do need you to reserve tickets as space is limited.  

Girls on The Run - Sign up by Sept. 27

Girls on the Run is a running program open to girls and gender-nonconforming kids in grades 5th-8th.  We'll gather in Room 201 on Wednesdays and Thursdays 3:10 - 4:45. Ms. Olavage will be running it jointly with two other volunteer coaches, Jennifer Lewis and Grace Cole. It combines social-emotional learning with physical fitness, and we run a celebratory 5k in December.  Financial assistance is available to those who need it. Here is the link to sign up or you can contact Ms. Olavage with questions. 

Playworks Training for Volunteers - Oct. 3 & 4

Playworks is back at Adaire this year and for those who aren’t familiar they help kids stay active and build life skills through play. Coach Bridget has already been sharing her knowledge with the Adaire staff and now she’s extending the invite to caregivers as well! She’ll be offering two training sessions: Tuesday, October 3 and Wednesday, Oct 4th from 9:15 to 9:45am behind the auditorium. It will focus on playground game facilitation and group management strategies.This training is focused on recess volunteers, but will be valuable to any Adaire caregivers that regularly need to wrangle or engage groups of kids (classroom volunteers, club leaders, field trip volunteers, coaches, scout leaders, etc.). It is sure to be a fun time. Please RSVP to Coach Bridget at bridget.poisel@playworks.org so she knows how many to expect.

Instrumental Music

This last week our instrumental music teachers presented about opportunities to learn either string or wind/percussion (band) instruments. Band will take place on Tuesdays for grades 4th through 8th. Strings will take place on Wednesdays for grades 3rd through 8th; both take place during the school day. Instruments are provided at no cost to families (with support from Friends of Adaire). If your child is interested but did not receive an interest form, please contact the Adaire office.

SAC Meeting Recap

The first School Advisory Council (SAC) meeting of the year took place on Sept 12th. We had a great turnout from families, staff, and community members. Notes from the meeting are available here. The next SAC meeting will be October 24th. You can register here.  Questions about SAC? Contact Shana Dodge (Parent/Facilitator) at AdaireSchoolAdvisoryCouncil@gmail.com. 

PlayArts Still Enrolling

A very limited number of slots have opened in the PlayArts after-school program which is a fee-based program offered on site. This program provides aftercare from 3-6pm for students in K-5th grade. If you are in need of aftercare, you can apply & pay a deposit to reserve your spot here. PlayArts also offers camps on school closure days and half-days. You do not need to be a regular program participant to sign-up for camps, but spots are limited.

Wedding Band Found in the Schoolyard

If you lost a wedding ring/band in the schoolyard it is being held in the office. The inscription reads “VLP to RBW” and a date. Please be prepared to provide the date to claim.  

SAC DEI Committee - 1st Meeting Sept. 20

The School Advisory Council’s DEI Committee will be holding its first meeting of 23-24 at 1:00pm on Wednesday, Sept. 20th via Zoom. SAC-DEI Committee works to make Adaire a welcoming place for all families and staff. For example, we may try to change policies or practices that might make groups of people feel excluded. Anyone with an interest is welcome. Contact Jonny Rashid at AdaireSAC.DEI@gmail.com.com to get involved.

SAC Facilities & Safety Committee - 1st Meeting Sept. 28

The School Advisory Council’s Facilities Committee will be holding its first meeting of 23-24 at 9:30am on Thursday 9/28 via Zoom. Our committee helps ensure our school environment meets the needs of students, staff, and families. That means we work on projects related to building upgrades, equipment, safety, beautification, and more! We are looking for new members. Anyone with an interest is welcome and folks with specialized knowledge (building trades, electronics, etc.) are especially welcome. Contact John Casella at AdaireSAC.Facilities@gmail.com to get involved.

SAC Middle School Committee - Meetings Start in October

The School Advisory Council’s Middle School Committee will be holding their first meeting of 23-24 on Monday, October 2nd, and then the first Monday of each month after that. Meetings will be in the evening, likely 7pm.  The SAC Middle School Committee gives special attention to the oldest students at Adaire. Our mission is 1) to help create a distinct middle school experience that provides students with all the skills and experiences they need to be successful at whatever high school they choose and 2) to educate Adaire’s elementary families about the benefits of an Adaire middle school experience. Anyone with an interest is welcome - you don’t need to have a middle school student. Contact Ellyn Dvorin at AdaireSAC.6th8th@gmail.com to get involved.

O-FISH-ALLY Back to School

In case you missed it, SAC hosted Adaire’s first-ever back-to-school party in the schoolyard on Friday. It was a chance to meet new friends and build community. Huge thanks to Friends of Adaire for sponsoring the event and to all the volunteers and staff who helped make it happen. We also want to thank our community partners for their generous donations: Riverwards Produce (apples), Loco Pez (chips & salsa), PlayArts (face painting), Playworks (games), and the Free Library (giveaways). We hope everyone had fun and that we can do it again next year.

Jeff Meile, Gym/Health
Mr. Meile begins his 15th year of teaching this fall, and his 12th at Adaire. This will come as a surprise to you all that Mr. Meile and his family enjoy being active and playing games like baseball, soccer, board games, and most recently rock climbing. His favorite thing about Adaire is the camaraderie and the community aspect. He also loves the willingness to change not for the sake of it, but for the betterment of the school. People are willing to try new things as long as it helps the students. 

Dan Peterson, Music
Mr. Peterson is new to Adaire this year and brings a wealth of experience having taught music at St. Peter’s School, Music & Arts, St. Mary’s Interparochial School, Settlement Music School, and St. Martha’s School. He and his daughter had a wonderful summer with trips to Montauk and Taconic, NY with lots of great food, nature, boating, fishing, and swimming. His favorite thing about Adaire (so far) has been walking up to the schoolyard (with the new mural and green space) and feeling immediately welcome and excited to be here.

William Klotsas, Band
Mr. Klotsas is starting his second year at Adaire this fall. He teaches all of the band instruments at Adaire, specializing in woodwind instruments. Over the summer, he went on an 18-mile hike at Grand Teton National Park. His favorite thing about Adaire is how all of his students are so excited to learn new things, even if they are difficult at first.

Ardath Belzer, Strings
Mrs. Belzer has been teaching at Adaire for 7 years (and it’s one of her favorite schools) and in the district since 2008. Before that, she and her husband (an Oboist) were both full-time musicians. Mrs. Belzer was the Principal Viola of the Kennett, Lancaster, and Reading Symphonies and the Assistant Principal Viola in the Delaware Symphony. Her favorite thing about Adaire is the kids (and the families as well). 

Michelle Jones, Art
Mrs. Jones is in her second year teaching at Art at Adaire. Her favorite mediums are drawing and textiles, especially rug making. What she loves about Adaire is that she feels supported by the administration as well as the community and that makes Adaire a very special place. 

Adam Lewis, Technology
This is Mr. Lewis’ 5th year at Adaire. Prior to that, he taught in New York City for 11 years. He enjoys running, biking and spending time with his wife and 16-month-old daughter. As a specialist at Adaire, he loves getting to teach every student and watching them grow from year to year.

Je’re Cherry, Computer Support Specialist
Ms. Cherry is a first-year apprentice with the Urban Technology Project and is brand new to the Adaire community. Her job is to help keep our Chromebooks, smartboards, and other technology in tip-top shape. Ms. Cherry is into anime (her favorite is Naruto) and considers herself a gamer. She is looking forward to getting to know Adaire and being a great support for the school year. 

Download the PBIS Family App

A reminder that a letter should have been sent in your student’s take-home folder explaining PBIS in more detail and how to download the PBIS app. Make sure you download the PBIS FAMILY App in order to scan the QR code on the letter. The App can be used to communicate with teachers, just as Remind does. The goal will be to slowly phase out Remind and use the PBIS app exclusively. For more information about PBIS and the app, please click here. You can also contact Mr. F at jfrangipani@philasd.org with any questions.

Casting Call: Sign up for Adaire Drama Club Wizard of Oz Auditions 

Students are invited to sign up to audition for the Wizard of Oz, a youth musical production for grades 1*-8! Students will audition in micro-scenes with fellow actors, participate in light movement instruction, and perform a vocal audition based on music from the production (which will be shared in advance). Students may also prepare a song of their choosing for their auditions.

Important Dates:

• Thursday, Sept. 28 @ 8pm: Pre-Audition Zoom Meeting. Register and ask any advance questions here (we will send out recap) 
• Wednesday, Oct. 4 auditions for grades 2-4 (auditorium, after school)
• Thursday, Oct 5 auditions for grades 5-8 (auditorium,after school)
• Friday, Oct 13: Casting decisions announced (virtual, email)
• Thursday, Oct 19 First Full Cast Rehearsal (auditorium, after school) 

*Note: we are not auditioning 1st graders and will have limited (singing only) company roles available for this age group, based on participation last year and a small lottery for any additional available slots. 

Rehearsals will take place on Thursdays and are limited to specific scenes each week so students will not be expected to attend every rehearsal (a full schedule will be shared with participants once casting decisions are made).

The performance is expected in mid-April but parents will be given confirmation of the date(s) once this has been finalized with the administration.

School Selection for 2024-2025 Now Open

Although this school year is just beginning, the district is already looking ahead to next year. Students who are interested in attending a school other than their catchment school need to participate in the School Selection process. All of the details including deadlines and criteria can be found on the district website. The district is sponsoring assistance labs throughout the City. Deadline to participate is October 27th. You can also visit Mr. Frangipani’s virtual office for a one-stop school selection information resource. More resources in the office will be available as they are released. 

First Class Learning Academy - Now Offering Adaire Pick-Up

If you are still looking for aftercare, childcare provider First Class Learning Academy is offering transportation to/from Adaire for before/aftercare. Contact them directly at (267) 758-8886 or firstclasscumberland@gmail.com.