Category Archives: Uncategorized

Authored by Michelle Portera It’s almost here! Fun, exciting, leisurely times ahead, a break from being pulled in all directions. Maybe there are plans to travel, or plans to read that stack of books on the nightstand. It’s a hopeful time.  And yet.  As much as I resist it, the sudden slow down in paceContinue reading “Patterns”

Authored by Kim Sewell I wish you this summer… Waking up to birds chirping instead of an alarm buzzingNovels to get lost inDrool-induced naps on couches and hammocksNandy’s candy’s snowballs with creamMany dips in a cool poolFood off a grillFresh cut flowers A ‘getaway’ whether a quick weekend or a week-long tripA fun new hobbyLighting bugsContinue reading “A Benediction”

Is this blog blast about the ends of things or the beginnings of things? Is this season a bit like being on the landline phone with your high school boyfriend in the 1990’s in that extended mating dance of trying to say goodnight but wanting to have the last word of “I love you more”?Continue reading “Summer Send-off: A Mash Up of Goodbyes and Hellos”

Authored by Mary B. Sellers Here I go quoting Rumi again, but we all have those teachers we circle back to, don’t we? Rumi is one of those teachers for me. Another is (are) children. I started paying attention differently this year, and it’s amazing just how many of my students’ daily trials and triumphsContinue reading “The Wound is the Place Where the Light Enters You”

Authored by Buck Cooper. In 1960, The New Yorker published what I believe to be one of the most beautiful pieces of baseball writing ever written, John Updike’s Hub Fans Bid Kid Adieu. If you have a soul, which means you probably love baseball, but even if you don’t (love baseball), which means your ensoulednessContinue reading “Kid Bids Hub Fans Adieu”

Are you the kind of skeptic that’s been around enough that every time an administrator launches a new “initiative” you’re like “okay I’ll just hang on a month or year and it will be gone by then anyway.” Well if you felt that way about the blog THE JOKE’S ON YOU BECAUSE SHE’S BEEN GOINGContinue reading “Blasts from the Past: Did you Know our Blog will Turn 4 This September?!”

Running in the sprinkler.  Ice cream trucks.  Slower morning starts.  Late night fun. Bug spray, sunscreen, and entire days at the pool.  Beach reads.  Taking a breath and re-setting for the upcoming year.   When you say the word “summer” to most faculty members at St. Andrew’s, many many things come to mind.  But forContinue reading “The Many Faces of Summer: Featuring Foundations!”

I accidentally took my three children to Book of Mormon a month or so ago, and by accidentally I mean I did it very much on purpose without realizing how incredibly brash the show was.  I knew the mistake the moment we drove up to the parking garage, raindrops studding our window frame, people streamingContinue reading “I Accidentally Took My Kids to See “Book of Mormon”: The Dance of the Sacred and Profane”

Sure, we’re diving into summer. But before we do, it’s worth commemorating all that makes May special at St. Andrew’s. I kept my eyes peeled the last few weeks for moments that either got me laughing or got me feeling, as the kids say “some type of way.” I didn’t have to look hard toContinue reading “May @ SA: A Story in Ten Snapshots”

It’s a well-known truism that the end of the school year brings out the crazy, the absurd, the unpredictable.  But there’s something else, less widely acknowledged, that coming-to-the-end-of-things can stir up: gratitude.  Something about that last stretch makes us see our classrooms, our teachers, our students with a slightly different tint, one that can sometimesContinue reading “WHY SA STUDENTS LOVE SA TEACHERS: A Very Scientific Post It Note Analysis”

Sometimes you read a book or watch a movie that is so chock-full of hyperbole you just roll your eyes and lean into it for entertainment value.  Sometimes that very same book or movie magically transforms before your very eyes into the truest representation of life you have ever seen. Roald Dahl’s (1988) novel, MatildaContinue reading “(Season 6, Ep. 5) Motion Pictures Meets Reality: Education through the Eyes of Matilda”

As we discovered in the first three episodes of this series, the world of motion pictures depicting educational realities isn’t all bad.  In fact, Mr Rogers, 8th Grade, and Abbott Elementary are so well-done, they strike more chords that resonate than outright clash with our realities. But we are going to end our season withContinue reading “(Episode 4 Drop) Motion Pictures Meets Reality: Lessons Learned from School of Rock”

Spring has sprung, and while both of our feet are still solidly in this spring 2023 semester, our eyes are beginning to look toward next summer and the 2023-24 school year.  Summer of excellence proposals will be going out shortly, my brain is beginning to spin thinking of new systems we can begin to co-devise,Continue reading “Top 5 Reasons to Apply for 2023-24 TEAM”

Spring, in north campus anyway, means course registration and scheduling and imagining that somehow we will come through this frenzied spring semester into a summer and then start it all again next fall.  But this year more than any year I’ve been at the school, I felt a refreshing sense of creative energy abound aroundContinue reading “New Courses Blooming!”

Light streams into the gym, splattering sunshine-glitter across the light wood hatchery floor.  Soaring violin ushers in lines of short humans.  Smiling adults accompany them, some (including me) clutching tightly to travel coffee mugs. It’s the preface to Thursday morning chapel for our Early Childhood Center, and depending on where you work on campus, youContinue reading “A Glimpse into ECC Chapel”

I kid you not. It’s as if it was staged.  About five minutes into my chat with the very-busy Jessie Humble, our very own Annie Elliott walked in as a walking-breathing illustration of exactly the kind of friendly-negotiation that is partnership.  Not wanting to interrupt what seemed like a formal interview, she handed Jessie aContinue reading “New Faculty Leading the Way Part 2: Fostering Partnerships with Jessie Humble”

When you think about being a first year faculty at St. Andrew’s, you generally imagine a year of all the questions.  Where is the printer? How do parents expect us to communicate with them? What level of rigor are these students used to? How long will it take us to get through this particular unit? Continue reading “New Faculty Leading the Way Part 1: Fostering Partnerships with David Kelly”

This post was authored by Hollie Marjanovic. In 2018, survivors from the school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School came to visit Jackson, Mississippi to talk about the importance of standing up to gun violence.  What struck me most was that these students (most between the ages of 16-18) said that there has notContinue reading “Spring Has Sprung, Yet So Many Have Fallen”

This post was contributed by Michelle Portera. Lower school chapel, where have you been all my life? I went to Sunday school, VBS, and summer camp from childhood to adolescence and I can tell you honestly- I’ve learned as much or more from 1 + years of Friday chapels. I think we all agree, RevContinue reading “Chapel Just Blew My Mind”

This (incredibly delightful) post was compiled by Michelle Portera.