Congratulations to our 36 Lower and Middle School students who participated in the Private Schools Interscholastic Association (PSIA) Academic District Meet on March 7! Not only did all of our participating students place in the competition, but seven students are now headed to the PSIA Academic State Meet on April 25. St. Andrew's students were top competitors in 35 contest categories spanning math, science, language arts, speech, social studies, and fine arts.   

St. Andrew's parent Swapna Mutyala remarks, "It was a great and highly enriching experience for my daughter Jiya." Second-grader Jiya, along with first-grader James Graham, took first place in their Creative Writing contests, earning them a spot at the State competition. Michelle Natinsky, whose son Joshua placed fifth for Number Sense, remarks, "These students worked so hard to represent our school!" Colleen Kell, who coordinated St. Andrew's participation in the event, adds to the accolades, "Our students were impressive, and we're all so very proud of them." Click here to read the full article and list of participants.  

Middle School is just around the corner for our sixth-graders! Please join us for an information and course selection event on Wednesday, April 1 for both students and parents.   

When: Wednesday, April 1

Time: 6:00-7:30 p.m.

Where: McGhee Commons in the Middle School

You will have a chance to learn about the culture of the Middle School, to meet Middle School faculty and administration, then learn about our engaging curriculum, our foreign language and fine arts choices, and our athletics options. Students will be completing their choice sheets as part of the evening's events, too, to help them plan for next year!

If you have not yet RSVP'd, please do so that we can anticipate your arrival! 

Middle School Dean of Students Tim Moore led seventh-graders in leadership activities on March 12-13, in preparation for their role as the oldest students on the Lower and Middle School campus next year. As Tim says, "With this comes a certain sense of responsibility and new opportunities. One great thing about going to school here is that there are so many ways students can get involved in a leadership role at the school." Various roles students can sign up for include House Captain (organize weekly student activities), Student Council (organize class parties and dances), and Ambassadors (showcasing the school to visitors). To explore their ideas of what makes good leaders, students used sticky notes to quietly list and group leadership characteristics. Then they put their leadership skills to the test with a House challenge. Using dried spaghetti and marshmallows, teams raced to build the tallest, structurally-sound castle capable of balancing a plastic cup. It was a fun way to get excited for next year's responsibilities! 

Summer camp isn't just for kids, at least not at St. Andrew's! Fifteen new art classes are being offered this summer in the fabulous Upper School art studios in the Dell Fine Arts Center. Students from all over Austin in grades 6 and above are welcome to join the Upper School Art camps for a variety of intense art experiences.

These week-long classes provide in-depth experience in each of these studios:  Hot Glass Beads, Japanese Furniture Design and Building, and Architectural Projects in the Sculpture Studio; Drawing Intensive and Oil Painting in the Drawing Studio; Digital Photography, Graphic Design Projects, and Photoshop in the Digital Media Lab; and Film Photography and Darkroom Skills in the new "old school" Darkroom.  

US Art teacher Susan Kemner-Reed says, "We are thrilled to open the new art studios to the community for summer classes.  St. Andrew's students and students from other schools are welcome to join us on this exciting new venture.  This is the first year that the Upper School art studios will be open in the summer and we know that each student will enjoy the new facilities and the top-notch artists involved in this project!"  

If you want to flex your athletic skills too, our Basketball and Volleyball camps are a great fit for athletes of various age levels and skills. US Athletics Director Jeff McCrary says, "We are excited to offer campers small class sizes to allow for excellent individual instruction from our Varsity coaches." Read more about our camps for all ages and register online here.