Check out this year's latest editions of Lower and Middle School News!

- LS Newsletter: Thursday, January 9: Rising Sixth Grade Parents: Let's Leap Together event, Coffee with the Counselor, January's Reader Reef Book Club, Imagination Playground and Cross the River in PE class, Spanish class, colorful sea turtles in first grade and much more +++

- VFTM: Thursday, January 9: (bi-weekly newsletter) Welcome to the Second Semester, Upper School Prep for Rising Ninth Grade Parents, Studio Art B class project, MS athletics and more +++

*Archives for all SES publications can be accessed by logging into mySTEDS and visiting the Pirate Publications resource board tile.

Reminder for upper school parents! There is a PA General Meeting with a focus on the Upper School on Tuesday, January 14, at 8:15 a.m. in the Peter B. Benedict Library. Join the PA to learn more about life in the Upper School.

Parents and students, report cards for all students will be released at 3:30 p.m. today online. To view report cards, log into your mySTEDS account. Select your child’s name from the upper left corner (if you only have one child, their name and picture will be visible). On the Progress tab of your child’s record, on the Performance tile, click the “Report Cards” link. Then click on the desired report, which will open in a new window as a pdf.

Students in Dr. Infanzón's AP Government class got a hands-on lesson in the election process today, featuring a special visit from representatives of the Supervisor of Elections. The session included insights into voter registration and a fun mock vote on Chick-fil-A menu items. Nuggets won by a close margin, proof that every vote counts!

TPRS READERS BERTO Y SUS BUENAS IDEAS

Join LS Counselor Kristi Schofield for the first Coffee with the Counselor of 2025 on Tuesday, January 28. Enjoy a cup of coffee alongside a conversation about confidence and self esteem. We look forward to seeing you in the Peter B. Benedict Library at 8:15 a.m.

After learning about Vero Beach's sea turtle nesting season, first graders created a mixed-media artwork. The students used glue for their line drawings of a sea turtle and added pops of color using chalk.

Kindergarten through fifth loved playing Cross the River this week.  Each group had to use teamwork, cooperation and communication to successfully cross the river with their team.

Little Pirates and PK4 had so much fun exploring and building with Imagination Playground Blocks this week! The children used their imaginations to design and construct incredible structures, showcasing their creativity and teamwork. It was amazing to see their ideas come to life as they worked together, problem-solved and played together with such enthusiasm.

On Wednesday, January 22, all eighth graders will participate in a longstanding Saint Edward's School tradition called "Bold & Gold." Students will spend the morning with upper school class leaders doing fun, team-based challenges and learning more about life in the Upper School. Later in the day, we invite you to join your student in the Waxlax Center for the Performing Arts for more activities, including a meet and greet with the College Counseling team, more interaction with upper school students and a chance to meet other families who are equally excited about the next big step in your child's educational journey. Rising ninth grade parents can click here to RSVP for this informational event.

Rising sixth grade parents, don't forget to RSVP for the special edition of Java Friday next Friday, January 17, featuring the Head of Middle School, Mr. Jason Dowdy, and other special guests. All parents of rising sixth graders are invited to learn more about the leap from fifth to sixth grade and new opportunities for students as they enter the Middle School.

Attention, Pirates! Please see below for practice start dates and tryout dates for our spring sports programs. As a reminder, all athletes need a valid EL-2 form (doctor physical) on file and a parent-created FHSAA Athletic Clearance Account for the 2024-25 school year in order to begin athletic participation. Students who are new to SES this year will also need to submit a GA-4 form before beginning spring sports participation if they have not already done so.

• Boys Weightlifting - Practice begins Monday, January 6
• Boys and Girls Tennis - Tryouts begin Monday, January 13
• Baseball - Practice begins Monday, January 13
• Boys and Girls Lacrosse - Practices begin Tuesday, January 21
• Track & Field - Practice begins Tuesday, January 21

• Track & Field - Practice begins Monday, February 10
• Boys and Girls Lacrosse - Practices begin Monday, February 10 

We look forward to a great spring season with our Pirate athletes!

Mrs. Michos’ Studio Art B class just finished a gridded project using acrylics. This is a collaboration with connecting pieces (16) that had to match up!

I hope all of you had a restful and enjoyable holiday break with family and friends. We are excited to have students back on campus and back into the routines and daily flow of school life. As the second semester gets started, we are asking students to reflect on their progress this year and set goals for themselves. Tomorrow during our Community Time at the end of the day, students will be working on goals for the semester with their advisor. Students will be given a form and asked to think about an academic goal and an extracurricular and/or personal goal. As a part of the process, students will be asked to come up with a specific and realistic goal, but also to outline steps to help them achieve that goal.

When students set goals that are challenging but realistic for them to achieve and include action steps to reach the goal, they are taking charge of their learning and growth, which can be a powerful tool for future success. Advisors will keep students' goals, and we will take time during the semester to review them and make adjustments as goals are achieved or action steps need to be changed. As an extra incentive to make this process fun, students are encouraged to bring their favorite candy to share with their homeroom classmates. We hope this will be an enjoyable and valuable work for our students.  

If you have a current fifth-grade student, next Friday, January 17, I encourage you to attend a special edition of Java Friday. The focus will be on our rising sixth-grade class, and we will share information about the transition to middle school and the exciting opportunities for students. Similarly, if you are a current eighth-grade parent, we invite you to join us on Wednesday, January 22, at 2:30 p.m. for an information session with our upper school team, to learn about the transition to upper school and the wonderful opportunities awaiting your student.

I wish you a great start to the new year!

We are so grateful for our 2024-25 Corporate Partners and Family Patrons. Thank you to Moulton Layne, P.L., for supporting Saint Edward's School! We appreciate all you do.

Check out all of our Corporate Partners and Family Patrons. #SESCorporatePartners2024

All college-bound students and families of Indian River County,
 
You are invited to College Night with the Deans on Monday, January 27, at 7 p.m. in the Waxlax Center for the Performing Arts. Our panelists will join us from Wake Forest, FAU, Ohio State and Sewanee. These institutions represent a variety of in-state and out-of-state private and public schools, to give you the opportunity to learn about different admissions programs. The admissions leaders will sit on a panel and will then open the floor for questions. Please come prepared with questions written down.
 
We would like to see everyone attend - this event is free and open to the public! Click here to add this event to your calendar.

This senior relay dream team is racing back to campus and leading the charge. We can’t wait to see everyone’s smiling faces tomorrow morning. Let’s kick off the new semester strong!

This week, the kindergarten classes wrapped up their show-and-tell writing unit. Each student chose their favorite writing piece from December and worked on editing and revising their pieces. Once they completed the publishing process, the kindergarteners went upstairs to the second-grade classrooms to share. They were so excited to read their work to the big kids! What a fun way to celebrate a huge success!

It may not have been a white Christmas this year, but Ms. Raymond's art students brought snowflakes to Vero Beach!

Marine science students continued their lagoon sampling days at new shoreline and spoil island locations as part of their lagoon research, funded by the Indian River Lagoon Council and National Estuary Program. Students traveled by boat in the early hours to begin their studies with dolphin mother-calf pairs traveling with the boat. Water quality parameters, seagrass coverage, sediment and biodiversity data were collected to compare lagoon sites. Click here to watch a video of the action.