On a recent morning, 6th grade teachers Brad Kirsch and Kristie Slattengren were in their classrooms engaging their students over MS Teams with stories, writing assignments, and science project reports.  See a Photo Gallery of their classes from the teacher's perspective.

On a recent afternoon, four Upper School teachers were leading their classes over MS Teams as they explained an art assignment, went over physics problems, reviewed Central American history, and practiced the Spanish words for members of their families.  See a Photo Gallery of Judi Morgan, Rick DeFord, Cassey Buchmann, and Jamie Billings teaching their students through Distance Learning.

Each year, Saint George's offers the PSAT test to all SGS students in grades 8-11 to provide families with a tool to track student learning and progress as they move through the Middle School and Upper School curriculum.  It also gives students practice with standardized tests.  Typically, the test is held on a single date throughout the country during the second Wednesday of October, but this year the College Board has created a second test date in January to accommodate schools doing distance learning.  SGS has decided to forego the October testing date and instead offer the test on Tuesday, January 26, in the hope that by then the school will have been able to resume operation in a hybrid or fully in-person model. 
 
The opportunity is especially important for juniors, since the National Merit Scholarship is based on their performance on the test taken during junior year.  This also provides one final chance to prepare for the SAT test that many juniors will take later in the school year and during the fall of their senior year.  Contact Kerry Clark with any questions.

Congratulations to SGS Debaters Gabi Cunningham (senior) and Tariq Ravasia (junior).  Over the last two weekends, Gabi and Tariq reached the Sweet Sixteen not once, but twice, at national circuit tournaments.  The Grapevine Tournament (Texas) and the Jack Howe Tournament (California) both draw hundreds of policy teams from a national pool of talent.  Competing virtually, Gabi and Tariq beat out contenders from all across the nation to reach the octafinals at both events.  Go Dragons!

Twenty members of the Class of 2020 have earned the International Baccalaureate Diploma based on their scores in IB subject tests.  The average score of those who received the IB Diploma was 30, while the highest IB Diploma score by an SGS student was 38.  These 20, and many of their classmates, earned academic credit at colleges across the country with their IB test scores.  Congratulations to all 20 for successfully completing the most rigorous high school diploma program in the world!

Good Afternoon, 

This announcement pertains to the Air Quality Index issues related to the smoke in the area this weekend. At this time, the AQI is still in the hazardous range but is forecasted to improve tomorrow. On Monday, September 14th, SGS will plan to hold classes on campus for grades K-2 in the hybrid model established last week. Students will remain inside during the day and we will utilize the three gyms on campus for recess. If students have underlying health conditions related to the poor air quality, they may choose to stay home. 

Grades 3-12 will continue with Distance Learning as scheduled. 

Thank you,

Jamie Tender
Head of School

Monday, August 31 through Thursday, Sept. 3 was Orientation Week for the Upper School, with students from each grade coming on a different day to meet their teachers, learn how to submit assignments, and generally prepare for Distance Learning this fall.  See photo galleries of the 12th Graders, the 11th Graders, the 10th Graders, and the 9th Graders in a variety of classes, locations and activities throughout their Orientation Days. 

Members of the Class of 2020 received a number of departmental senior awards and honors this summer.  These included:

The Gertrude W. Cadzow Music Award: Bennett Clark
The Corlin I. Cullen World Languages Award: Callie Gee
The Elisabeth H. Gemberling English Award: Miya Jacobs
The Clare W. Gilbert Art Award: Yue (Krystal) Huang
The John A. Hern Jr. Mathematics Award: Sarah Wu
The Hannah L. Joss Social Studies Award: Marshall Roll
The Alexander R. MacKay Jr. Science Award: Sydney Lennemann
The Patrick R. Neils Drama Award: Rongyi (Caroline) He
The Jonathan McClain Die Hard Awards: Mary Bade & Maria Madero
World Language Honorable Mention: Caleb Flegel
Kindness Award: Grace Harrill
Athletes of the Year: Lydia Bergquist, Grace Harrill & Daniel Rigsby

In addition, two honors announced at Graduation were the Head of School Cup to Marshall Roll and the Alumni Asssociation Service Award to Lucy Yan.  See all of the graduating seniors' awards and honors, as well as the colleges and universities they are headed to, in the 2020 Graduation Program on the website.