| A Note of Thanks  Thank you to ... Derek Carvotta!
We appreciate that you came to our Physics class and did an excellent show and tell. You brought guitars (acoustics and electric) and amplifiers, and showed how they work and alter the sounds, and also the effects of pedal. It was a very interactive session and the students enjoyed the Physics behind sound and music. Wow! What a terrific opportunity for the students to be able to learn from a music expert. Vaidehi and her Upper School Physics Class
Class of 2015  A big CONGRATULATIONS to the Jessica Lublin on her acceptance to Oxford College of Emory University!
Spring Break Schedule
EARLY DISMISSAL TODAY! Friday, April 3 SCHOOL CLOSED Monday, April 6 - Friday, April 10 Classes resume on Monday, April 13.
How Tall is that Tree?  Sam Adam's 1st period Trigonometry class applied the math knowledge they've learned this semester to measure the height of the tall tree standing between CommArts and PreUpper without ever leaving the ground. Trigonometry is the mathematical relationship of the shapes of right triangles, and by constructing an imaginary triangle along the height of the tree, the class was able to measure the tree. Each student took a separate measurement and by averaging the measurements the class found the tree to be 13.25 meters tall (43.5 feet)!
Johns Creek Bus Trial 
We will be testing a new bus route beginning Monday, April 13 - immediately after Spring Break. The Johns Creek bus will stop at the Regal 18 Theater on State Bridge near the 141/Medlock Bridge intersection. The bus will depart in the morning at 7:15am (please arrive 10 minutes early) and the afternoon drop off will be in the same location at approximately 4:10pm. If your student WILL BE riding the JOHNS CREEK BUS on April 13, please CLICK HERE and sign up today by providing a little bit of information so we know who will be on the bus. If your student CURRENTLY RIDES the bus, there is no additional fee (this does not include the LATE BUS). If your student is NOT CURRENTLY RIDING the bus, the cost for this service will be $275.00, which provides service through the end of the school year. You will receive a bill from MSA. This trial run will help us see if the route is viable for the upcoming school year. Any questions please contact Eddie Day, Sonshine Bus, at 404-328-8801.
Spring Break Survey Results 
The survey results are in from last weeks Spring Break survey. It looks like more of us are planning on really getting away. Here they are with last years results in parenthesis after so you can compare: -
Vacation - 75% (62%) -
Staycation - 17% (31%) -
Nothing - 8% (7%) Whatever you are doing I hope you have a wonderful week. If you think about it, take a moment and send me a picture and tell me a little about what you did. I'd love to share them with the community. SEND THEM TO ME BY CLICKING HERE.
Happy National Poetry Month  Each week in April, we will be featuring a poem or two in honor of National Poetry Month! Poems are a wonderful and creative way to read, and we have lots of great classic and children's poetry to share in our library. We hope that you will pick up something familiar or discover new poetry that inspires and tickles you!
From Bing Bang Boing by Douglas Florian: 
It's in the Mail  In MG's Composition class last week, we wrote business letters to various businesses, organizations, political figures, entities, organizations, and ... well ... you get the idea. This week, we said goodbye to them and left them in the hands of the United States Post Office with the hopes of receiving a response in the near future. Some of the highlights were letters written to Barak Obama, Coca-Cola, General Electric, and Sephora USA. Stay tuned for responses and here's to the power of the written word!
It's Open House Time Wednesday, April 15 9:00am Student Activity Center  Did you know that Word of Mouth is by far the largest way families find their way to a Public Open House at Mill Springs Academy? So if you know someone with a child that might benefit from attending MSA, please invite them to our Open House or better yet bring them. If you haven’t attended one, an Open House provides potential parents with an overview of the school, a Fine Arts presentation, a parent perspective and a student perspective, a tour of the school and a chance to speak with the principal. It’s a great opportunity for them to get a feel for what we are all about.
THANK YOU for sharing MSA!
We have Great News... 
...Both our Annual Fund and Capital Campaign totals and participation percentages are moving in the right direction. However, both drives must continue until we reach 100% parent participation in both efforts. A special thanks to every MSA family who has already supported both campaigns. For a list of current donors and stats on both campaigns, please click HERE. If you have not yet made your gift to either the Annual Fund or Capital Campaign, please consider participating today by clicking HERE to download a pledge form. Completed forms should be sent directly to the Development Office at Mill Springs. And remember, reaching 100% parent participation in BOTH the Annual Fund and Capital Campaign is very important to the ongoing success of our school. Please help us reach our goals by making a gift of any size to both efforts.
What's Cooking in Lower?  Jodi's 4th grade Science class made their own solar ovens with a pizza box (this one pictured Porter Heskett made at home). On Tuesday the students baked chocolate chip cookies and s'mores in the pizza box oven and in black covered shoe boxes outside in the sun. What fun!
Pictured left to right with a pizza box oven: Gito Nunez, Porter Heskett, Zach Burns, and Ryan Zant.
Book Fair Success! 
Last Friday, March 27th, we hosted another successful Barnes and Noble Book Fair. Thank you to all who came to support our school, you are much appreciated! The earnings will go toward new library books and audiobooks. Special thanks to the Super family for helping man the table, and thank you to the wonderful Fine Arts department for setting up the artwork and performance! The MSA Spamalot cast was incredible, you do not want to miss their upcoming shows on April 24th and 25th at 7pm! You can RESERVE YOUR SEATS HERE. Here is an awesome review of the Book Fair Spamalot performance by a Proud Parent: Thank you for a thoroughly entertaining, absolutely insane interlude this evening. To get teens to behave so unselfconsciously bespeaks their dedication to their art and your remarkable skill in drawing it out of them. I can't remember such a short time in which I've laughed so whole heartedly so much. I can't wait for the full show. I devoured the invitation by Sir Galahad to join in the finale song; That is clearly a get with it and stand up and shout moment. I will be standing and singing my heart out, but if nobody else does my wife will beat me black and blue; but I'll still be singing, "look on the bright side of life." I have so much more I could say, I hope thank you is enough.
17th Annual Golf Tournament Join us for MSA's 17th Annual Tee-off for Technology Golf Tournament.  Chances to win!
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Putting Contest -
Longest Drive -
Closest to Pin -
Great Raffle Prizes When: Where: -
Polo Golf and Country Club -
6300 Polo Club Drive, Cumming, GA 30040 -
(770) 887-7656 Cost: -
$250 – individual golfer -
$975 – foursome Fee Includes: For more information and to register CLICK HERE.
Shark Tank Comes to CommArts 
Be nice to the students in Taniah Jones’ Economics class. . . they may all be millionaires someday. To teach her kids how the economy works, she had them divide into teams, create a product, and be interviewed by other teachers to see if they could get approval for their ideas. Students Johnny Ray, Adam Oppmann, and Amy Lamp'l created an ice cream company named “Derpys”. Their delicious samples of two of their flavors, Maple Bacon and Mango Sherbet were quickly devoured by their interviewer, Kay Morrison, who equally quickly approved their product for further production. The students had to dress professionally for their presentations and create an advertising and marketing plan for their products. Students Garrett McCarthy and Rhen Averitt (pictured) represented “The 3-D Printing Nerds” Company. They printed 3-D products for children such as dragons, multi-colored octopi, and fish, and products with an adult target such as plastic bow ties and candlesticks.
Hams on the Streets 
Five of our student hams, Trey Reid, Megan Brown, Christian Kelm, Eli Musgrave, and Trevor Parkey, went with Martha Muir last Friday to present some sessions on amateur radio at the McGinnis Woods School. Together we presented sessions on three different aspects of ham radio, a total of seven times. Each 'aspect' had an adult leader that presented the session first with the one or two students working with that leader helping as a lab assistant. With subsequent sessions, the students took over more and more to the point they were leading the session. All of the students did a great job as they learned to connect with their audience and expertly field questions.
Bookshare  As you may know, Mill Springs Academy uses a resource called Bookshare (www.bookshare.org) to get accessible digital books and reading tools for school. This service is free through an award from the Office of Special Education Programs, US Department of Education. Members can also use Bookshare at home for free, getting access to hundreds of thousands of titles and free reading tools to assist with homework or independent pleasure reading.
This year we are enabling individual student memberships to Bookshare for all students. As virtually all our students are minors, parents are required to apply online or via mail and accept provisions of the membership. If you want to sign your child up for their own Bookshare account email Claire Christerson, cchristerson@millsprings.org, and she will send you an individualized form with activation ID for your student. For other questions, contact Paul Barkley, 770.360.1336 or pbarkley@millsprings.org. Do it now so you are ready for Summer Reading. ;)
Fab Friday in Lower
On Friday, March 27th, the Lower School students earned an Egg-cellent Fab Friday. First they started with a spring egg hunt, with eggs filled with special prizes. We followed that with an egg/spoon relay race. Some of the hard-boiled eggs got pretty banged up! The students also made egg maracas. It was a fun way to welcome in Spring.
News from the Oceans of MSA... 
Last week, our PreUpper Coral Lab participants did an overhaul on our lab: cleaning our 160-gallon marine habitat, testing water parameters, and last but not least, introducing a handful of new critters into the MSA Aquatic Community. We now have the privilege of housing some very beautiful and rare specimens such as a Mandarin Goby (pictured), and Indonesian Lionfish, a Bubble-tip anemone, a Green Wolf Eel, and two of the most beautiful and rarest corals we know of: Aussie Green Elegances. If you would like to learn more about our project, please contact Michael Griffeth.
Spread the Word  We want to spread the word - by that I mean the MSA Weekly News! If there is someone in your extended family that might be interested in receiving the Weekly News, I would love to add them to the distribution list. Grandparents love to see their grandchild "in the News". Or maybe Aunt Jane wants to know what her niece does at school. It could be a conversation starter for them. Possibly someone has a vested interest in MSA? If you send me their name and email address I will be glad to add them to the distribution list. Let's spread the word!
Immersion into Greek Food 
Chelsea Michelson's World History class recently concluded their Greek unit with a tasty tribute to the Mediterranean nation: a food day! Students spent weeks learning about Greek geography, philosophy, government, and art. It seemed fitting to round off the unit with some cultural immersion. Students researched and cooked several classic Greek dishes, including lemon-chicken soup, herbed cheese, tzatziki sauce, and sliced oranges with honey and cinnamon. Trevor Bush exclaimed, "I could eat these oranges every day! I can't believe how good they are! The recipe is so simple and healthy." Jacob Budwitz stated, "This food day bears no resemblance to a Greek tragedy - it is awesome!"
 This summer we are offering Summer School (for high school students), Sport Camps, and Mark Trail Camp. All of our programs are open to the general public and advertised outside of school as well. So don't wait to secure your spot and invite your friends.
If you need or know someone that needs Summer School (rising 9-12 grades), come to MSA this summer. We are offering core classes and certain electives under our Forward Thinking program. Look for SUMMER SCHOOL INFO HERE. We are offering a different sport camp each week over the course of the summer where students can practice or learn new skills. You can find the SUMMER SPORTS INFO HERE. Information on the MARK TRAIL CAMP is HERE. MTC is an activity based camp for 6-14 year olds. Any questions? Contact:
Community Cares & Concerns
Please keep the following from our Community in your thoughts and prayers. Unemployed Families Please email me at any time with individuals you would like to include on our list as their needs arise. For privacy, I will only list names and claim ignorance if you ask me for details.
Quote of the Week 
Better to keep yourself clean and bright; you are the window through which you must see the world. --George Bernard Shaw | 
We started the week in March and quietly moved into April. The week has been full of many things, but this week the biggest event on campus were the Senior Presentations. This is the culmination of a student's senior year, their final project. They choose a topic that they are passionate about and spend quality time researching that topic. They put together a PowerPoint presentation. One by one, the seniors get up in front of an audience of peers, parents and faculty to share that presentation. They come up to the podium and share what they have learned over the course of the project. Annually the topics vary greatly, this year from bullying to diets to whaling to Disney to television to sports to homeless. I had the opportunity to sit through a couple of these presentations, and I must say once again they did a fabulous job. If you were a stranger coming in the door, you would never know they don't do this every day. They were dressed in business attire, they were professional and serious about the task at hand, they were knowledgeable, and they were prepared! Well done Class of 2015!
