December 19, 2014 | Volume 8, Number 18

 
Mill Springs Academy

MSA Weekly News

         
 

My Favorite Decorations

Well activities are wrapping up for the semester. Final exams are complete and end of the grading period assignments are finished. Report cards will soon be available. The students are gone and many of the teachers are too. It's kinda quiet here. Everyone is ready for the winter break, me included.

At my house we say, "Merry Christmas". So with Christmas comes all the lights and colorful decorations. I love color so there would be no white lights on my tree! I love the variety in the decorations that we find in the winter season. But I think overall my favorite decoration would be the inflatable kind. I truly don't have any, but I love to see them in other yards along the road when we go out. Something I find interesting is that it is a rare yard that will have just one. Usually if they have one, they have several. So while YOU are out and about, watch out for me! I'm probably rubbernecking as I gwak at the adorned homes and yards.

Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. See you January 5th!

 
 
 
         
 

Quicklinks

MSA Home Page

School Calendar

Athletics Schedule

Parent Volunteer Assn

Current News

 

Upcoming Events

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 19

» Early Dismissal
12:15p L/M Carpool, 12:30pm PU/CA/U Carpool, 12:45p Buses Depart

SUNDAY, JANUARY 4

» AZ Ranch Trip Departs

MONDAY, JANUARY 5

» Winter Learning Begins
PU/CA/U

» Classes Resume for L/M

» Chick-fil-A Day L/M ONLY

TUESDAY, JANUARY 6

» Spain Trip Departs

SATURDAY, JANUARY 10

» Puerto Rico Trip Departs

 

Social Media


 

 A Note of Thanks

Thank you to ... Jinjie Cicco and Chrissie Reed

Thank you for tirelessly working on the Communication Arts Appalachia festival. You shopped for weeks gathering all the food items needed for the event, then put in a long, hard day serving the food and overseeing the clean up. You were a huge part of the success of our festival. Chelsea and I couldn't have managed without you!

Kay Morrison - Principal, Communication Arts

(There are several 'Notes of Thanks' sprinkled throughout the MSA Weekly News watch for them!)


SCHOOL CLOSED

Winter Holiday 

Monday, December 22, 2014

thru

Friday, January 2, 2015

 


Artwork of the Week

 

"Abstract Rainbow

Color is the name of the game in this brightly colored rainbow painting by PreUpper Art student, Nya Lewis.

Beautifully done Nya - Wonderful!


Appreciation Breakfast

Volunteer Appreciation Breakfast

This event is for anyone who volunteers at our school in any way (PVA, Arts Alliance, Level Reps, Grandparents' Day, etc.). We hope you can join us for a hot, delicious, catered breakfast as a small token of our appreciation for all YOU do for Mill Springs.

January 15, 2015

8:30 - 10:00 am

PreUpper Great Room

Please RSVP HERE so we know how many for Breakfast - Thanks!


Snowmen in the Library?

During library story time this week, Lower school turned the library into a winter wonderland!

After reading Snowmen at Night by Caralyn Buehner, we played Snowmen games and even made our very own snowmen. We hope you have a safe Winter Break, happy reading this holiday season!

Pictured L-R: (top) Alex Agcaoili, Kevan Thieriot, Charlotte Christerson, Luisa Gorgoll, Sam Franco, Warner Jones, (bottom) Sam Franco, Adriano Hagedorn, Alex Agcaoili, and Zach Schneiderman.


 Ugly Christmas Sweater Party

The staff/faculty held an Ugly Christmas Sweater Party on Wednesday since it was the same day as the PVA Staff/Faculty Luncheon. Which by the way was very yummy and everyone loved it - Thank you to the PVA. We posted several pictures on Facebook earlier in the week - you can see them here - but we thought we would share a few more.

 < -- Cindy Thorne, Shannon Koch and Carissa Nelson


 Branigan Hughes and Jodi Easter-Smith -- >

 


< -- Brian Buxton


         Gretchen Beck -- >



 Everyone was very festive, maybe next year even more will dress for the ocassion! 


 Eagle Scout Project

Guest Journalist, Paul Bain - Upper

In Boy Scouts, in order to obtain the highest rank, the Eagle Scout, a Life Scout must plan, develop, and give eadership to others in a service project helpful to any religious institution, any school, or your community, and must benefit an organization other than Boy Scouting.

For my project, I wanted to help out the school because it gave so much potentioal for me to grow that I felt that I had to give something back to them, to leave my mark.  READ MORE ...


Holiday Traditions

The students in Ms. Branigan's homeroom have finished reading "Horrible Harry and the Holidaze," by Suzy Kline. This is such a fun book to read. It discusses five different winter holidays; Three Kings' Day, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, Korean New Year, and Christmas. After reading about each holiday, we had a party to celebrate. The students had so much fun learning about the different holidays. The class was visited by the Three Kings and made crowns for Three Kings' Day. For Kwanzaa, the class ate sweet potato pie. The class played dreidel and ate latkes for Hanukkah. For Korean New Year, the students ate rice cakes and made silly resolutions. For the Christmas celebration, the class ate cookies, decorated the Christmas tree, and had a Secret Santa gift exchange. We had so much fun. By the end of the book, we were all in a "holidaze".


Mustang Invitational Swim Meet

This past weekend the Mustang swim team competed in the first annual Mustang Invitational, and the coaching staff could not be more proud of how well the team performed!!!  The Mustangs welcomed the Howard School and Brandon Hall for the meet, and this was the first time the Mustangs had an opportunity to compete against other schools this season.  The Mustangs took full advantage of this opportunity, and truly rocked the pool!  When all was said and done, the Mustangs walked away with plenty of personal best times and first place finishes.  Most importantly, the Mustangs captured overall team victories on both the men’s and women’s sides for the Junior Varsity and Varsity events.  The Mustangs will next be in action when they travel to the Olympic pool at Georgia Tech for the Atlanta Girls School Invitational Saturday, January 10.


A Note of Thanks

Thank you to ... Parent Volunteer Association

I would like to thank the PVA for the terrific Holiday Market this year! It is so terrific for our students to think of someone else and to give to others especially during this season. Thank you for providing a platform where our students can feel independent and giving. Happy Holidays to all!

Margaret Brito - Principal, Middle School


Appalachia Comes to MSA

The hallways of Mill Springs were filled with the sound of banjos strumming and folk singers singing as Communication Arts presented their festival celebrating the art, music, and culture of Appalachia. Seventh and eighth grade social studies students dressed as famous characters from the mountains, such as Johnny Cash and a snake-handling preacher. They also created a poster, and brought an Appalachian food for the event. For weeks before, CommArts students had studied the art of quilt making, led by Laura Davenport, mother of 10th grade student, Corinne Davenport. Laura shared her large collection of quilts, and their intricate and colorful designs make a perfect backdrop for the festival celebrating ... READ MORE.


 

All of the staff and faculty would like to thank all of the parents for the wonderful Holiday Check we received this week. It is appreciated more than you will ever know. We are blessed to have a very generous Mill Springs Academy Community. We are thankful for our Parent Volunteer Association and everything they do for us.

T H A N K   Y O U !


Lower Level L/R Trip

This Tuesday, the Lower School Level L's and R's went bowling at Brunswick Zone in Roswell. The students had a blast cheering each other on and some even came close to getting a strike! They started off with bowling, had lunch, and then played games in the arcade. They did an excellent job representing Mill Springs! Pictured: Matthew Carlson (only Level L student), Sam Benton, Zach Burns, Sam Franco and Josh Nanney (standing).


Mustangs Run Back to the Black

After persevering from a season that has had more ups and downs than Wall Street, The Mustangs ran their record to 4-3 with a resounding 62-38 victory over Academe of the Oaks. "We have been a little shaky as of late; but with the addition of a few new parts combined with a good nucleus, we showed some signs of promise tonight. Eric Siegel, Wesley Site, and Russell Jones have definitely bolstered our backcourt and improved the overall balance of the club."

The first ten minutes of the game was a back and forth defensive contest with both teams failing to capitalize on scoring opportunities; but once the new look Mustangs began to find their footing, they were off to the races. "Our overall team communication, energy on defense, attention to ball security, ball distribution, and a passion to rebound and run were the keys to our success." The Mustang Defense was definitely the story of day. READ MORE


What did  YOU do Friday Night?

The MSA BAND made awesome music and entertained the masses!  We opened the concert in complete darkness with an eeire organ intro for Where the Streets Have No Name by U2. Lux Aeterna by Clint Mansell followed, with a haunting low brass and string soli.  Immediately after, Don’t Fear the Reaper by Blue Oyster Cult filled the auditorium, along with 40 cowbells, at one point. Then we heard Survivor’s Eye of the Tiger, just before the concert closed with Requiem the Fifth by Trans-Siberian Orchestra.  If you missed it, you missed something SPECTACULAR!  Luckily, the DVD is available for $20.  Please email Elizabeth ASAP! eregas@millsprings.org

Many of these students will be participating in the Rock Band WLP, and they will perform at Steve’s Live Music (234 Hilderbrand Drive, Sandy Springs) at 6:30pm on January 9, 2015. It’s non-smoking and all-ages! Don’t miss it!! (Pictured: Mac Morris and Devin Orkin)

A Note of Thanks

Thank you to ... Laura Davenport

I wouldl like to thank Laura Davenport as a Mom who helped so much during the CommArts Festival. She taught the kids to quilt, brought in her huge collection of quilts for the festival, set up a quilting demonstration for the Appalachia Festival, and is piecing together all the quilt squares that the students made. She's Amazing!

Kay Morrison - Principal, Communication Arts School


Cross Country Congratulations

Please congratulate the Mill Springs Academy cross country team as it wraps up a super successful season with a trip to the USATF Junior Olympic National Championship in Myrtle Beach. 

  • Mustang XC 2014
  • AAC League Champions
  • GISA Region 1AA Champions
  • GISA State Champions AA
  • USATF JO National Qualifiers (6)

Be on the lookout soon for information about joining the track and field program. Practices begin in February.


Let's be Social!

Wanna know what’s happening on campus during the week?  Join us on the Social Scene. We have a few Pinterest boards with helpful and/or interesting information for parents, students and teachers. You can also follow us on Twitter (@millspringsacad) or Like us on FaceBook (Mill Springs Academy). We’ll post some things through the week that might be interesting, things you might not even see in the MSA Weekly News! So let’s get together on the Social Scene! 


Order your 2015 Yearbook

DEADLINE IS FAST APPROACHING!

Order your yearbook online! The cost of this year's yearbook is $70.00, which includes the name of the student imprinted on the book, if you order before January 23rd

CLICK HEREand then choose "2015 Yearbook". 


2015 Dimensions of Dyslexia

Click HERE FOR TICKETS 


 Community Cares & Concerns

Please keep the following from our Community in your thoughts and prayers.

The Connell Family

The Skinner Family

The Wolff Family

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.


 Character Quote of the Week

 

 

All serious daring starts from within.

--Eudora Welty 

 

 



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