Newsletter #16 2020-2021
Peace • Love • Park Maitland
#Empathy
Beginning this month, we will provide an updated COVID count at Park Maitland School this number will be updated at the beginning of each month.

December 2020; 6 cases
December 21- January 4: Winter Break
January 4: Student Holiday/Teacher Workday
January 5: Empathy T-Shirt Day
January 11: Re-enrollment Begins
January 18: MLK Jr. Holiday - No School
January 20-22: KoPixMo Portraits



12/18/20

Dear Parents,

2020 has been a roller coaster of a year. Who could possibly have imagined this back in January? It’s hard to believe 9 months ago, in March, our lives changed so dramatically. Despite everything, the year has absolutely flown by! I look forward to 2021, not just for a fresh start, but also because I am excited to see a time when we can once again allow parents back on campus and a return to many of our Park Maitland traditions. Although 2020 brought lots of challenges our way, there have been some wonderful changes that we have been able to implement, many of which I hope will remain with us long after this year. These include video assemblies that can be shared with our entire school community, the new Weekly Rewind showcasing all the fun learning happening on campus, Teacher Tuesdays, live streaming and professional video recordings of special events, and a new and improved social media presence.

I thank every family for sticking with us through a sea of changes this fall. We now find ourselves in a remarkable place--staff morale is high, teachers are engaged and students are thriving in this environment. Best of all, our campus community has remained healthy and happy! I am looking forward to a promise of more “normalcy” this spring semester. Catered lunch with Bagel King is coming back; we are bringing back more of our online students to campus; we have new families enrolling; Glee is beginning; and we even hope to have spring sports! This is the Park Maitland we know and love. It just goes to show that the Park Maitland community is resilient and strong. After 24 years of experience with Park Maitland, I know this to be true.

I can’t wait to share my New Year’s resolutions with you in January, and you can help keep me accountable. You will also be hearing from me about our vision for the future at re-enrollment time (which is just around the corner beginning on January 11). I have thoroughly enjoyed every moment of my new position so far. I feel very blessed and I cannot wait to have the chance to dig in even more in a non-Covid world to support our school, or families, and our sweet, sweet children.

I wish you all a Happy Holidays and a safe and relaxing Winter Break! Welcome, 2021!

All my love,
Davina Spillmann
Thank you to all who participated in our Toys for Tots toy drive. Students collected over 1,533 Toys and earned a dress down day.

Please enjoy our holiday assembly Park Maitland Toys for Tots Toy Drive and Holidays around the World. Happy Holidays!
VIRTUAL THEATER EVENT
Sixth grade students last night enjoyed the evening in a virtual theater event, "The Trials of Ebenezer Scrooge". Students enjoyed delicious hot chocolate with friends before winter break.
JFF
Our December JFF Holiday tradition was a memorable one. Sixth and first graders wished each other Happy Holidays, and connected in a festive activity together in which they made a reindeer hat.
SUPERSTAR TEACHER OF THE WEEK
Ellie Higgs, 4th Grade Science and Social Studies Teacher 

This is my 5th year teaching 4th grade science and social studies. I have been a part of the Park Maitland family since attending as a child. I started in K-5 and went all the way through to the 6th grade.

One of my favorite memories is a recent one. Last week, I had a blast filming the 4 yellow class's dance for an upcoming virtual assembly. I love seeing students work and create together. Everyone was laughing and just having an all around great time!

In my free time I enjoy cooking, running, practicing yoga, and hanging out with my cat, Rooster. He keeps Mr. Higgs and I busy throughout the holiday season with his endless attempts to destroy our Christmas tree.


"Mrs. Higgs is the best teacher in the world. She helps the kids with homework, and always make sure everybody understands it."

"Mrs. Higgs, you are the best teacher ever. I enjoyed having you in homeroom last year!!!"

"Helped me with the solar system and had a great time every time I stepped into her refreshing room!" Teagan
Exciting News!

Sixth grade students participated in a series of challenges to find out who would announce the 6th grade show for 2020-2021. Are you ready for the 6th grade show big reveal? Please click here to find out!
Spelling Bee News

The 2020 Park Maitland School Spelling Bee results are in! After 27 students from across fourth, fifth, and sixth grade competed with an online assessment, we had a tie-breaker to contend with. Three very talented spellers, Ashwin Anand, Luke Kang, and Julia Wu scored perfectly on the assessment! We challenged them with a tie-breaker test, and here are the final results! 

First Place- Luke Kang
Second Place- Ashwin Anand
Third Place- Julia Wu

Congratulations to all of our talented spellers! You are amazing! 
Celebrate your Super Senior by purchasing a yearbook dedication! Ads can be purchased and designed directly through Balfour's yearbook ad maker.

We are partnering with Balfour to offer an exclusive 5% discount on Full Page ads for all grades! This special deal is available now until December 31st!

Please call 1-800-BALFOUR if anyone is needing any help with their ads or having any ordering issues.


Click HERE to access the Read to Lead page. For your convenience, you can also access the Read to Lead page through the Grade Level Pages on our website.
Let's stay connected! We are eager to have every Park Maitland Family follow us on social media. Sign up through Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube for your class to win.

The class with the most connected through social media will receive a dress down day on Thursday, December 17th.
New photos are updated in SmugMug!
You can view the latest photos around school.
Click SmugMug to visit the page.
The password to access is: empathy2021.
GRADE LEVEL LINKS
(Please note: Teacher uppages are not updated for
the following week until Sunday at 4:00 p.m.)
Let's get social! Follow us on social Media today!