the Link – May/June 2013

Announcements

• International Programs (Trips) for 2013-14

  

  Director of International Programs Dion Crushshon is excited to announce the Blake international trips for the school year 2013-14.

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• Textbook Buyback

  Blake will be facilitating the MBS textbook buyback for families at both the Middle and Upper Schools again this spring. For dates and details click here (text readers here http://bit.ly/13BqU3i). To our families using financial aid: please be sure to follow the instructions provided in the May email from Director of Financial Aid Cheryl Boyd.

• Summer Options

  

  Upper School summer camps and courses are filling fast! Register now for Summer at Blake offerings in academics, arts and athletics. Develop as a writer through Writer's Workshop with Marie Michael. Accelerate in mathematics in Honors Pre-Calculus with Bruce Archibald or Algebra II Advanced Topics with Christina Colvin. Prep for the ACT at Blake and/or take the classroom hours of Driver's Ed. Check out all of our graduation credit options in our academics offerings. Drums? Electric Bass? All that Jazz? Check out the arts this summer!

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• Invitation: Farewell to Julie Vang

  

  The Blake Lower School will host a continental breakfast reception for retiree Julie Vang on Thursday, June 6 from 8 to 10 a.m. at the Highcroft (Wayzata) campus for parents, former parents, alumni and former and current faculty and staff who want to drop by. Please join us to send Julie off and thank her for her many years of devoted service to Blake!

• Arts Department Applause and Thanks

  The Upper School Arts Department applauds all students on a fine run of spring performances, speech/debate competitions and art exhibits. Highlights of the season included:
  - "Guys and Dolls" cast and crew honored in this year's Spotlight Awards
  - professional actor readings of final Playwriting class productions
  - outstanding spring concerts and successful tours for our US music ensembles
  - Blake leadership at the Minnesota State (4A) Visual Arts Festival
  - winning seasons for Blake speech and debate teams
  - Blake students featured in Art4Service
  - Celebration of Community performances by STEPPS, Blaker's Dozen, Blakers in Treble and Jazz Express
  - student-directed plays
  - student participation in Tri-Metro Honors Music Festivals.

  We also offer a heartfelt thank you to interim theater directors Beth Gilleland and Sari Ketter for their hard work on behalf of Diane Landis. Thank you and have a great summer!

• Interested in Hosting an International Student?

  We are excited to introduce our 2013-14 ASSIST Scholars: Omer Akgun from Turkey and Viola Schön of Switzerland.

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• 2013-14 Student Directory

  Beginning with the 2013-14 school year, we are pleased to announce that the Blake printed school directory will include photo pages of all students and employees. We believe this will help families and employees feel an even stronger sense of community across the campuses and make it easier to welcome and get to know one another. The photos will also be integrated into the online directory (which is password-protected) in BlakeNet. We will be taking photos for the 2013-14 directory yet this spring, working to be as non-intrusive as possible to divisional schedules. We will be taking individual photos of all new students and employees over the course of the summer months. Keep in mind we will also continue to have our fall photo days, which is when families can order a variety of photo packages. We have contracted with a new photographer, Enstrom Studios, and are excited for families to experience their online ordering system and improved pricing across the package options. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Cathy McLane, Director of Communications.

• LearningWorks Summer Visitors' Day

  

  As the school year winds down, LearningWorks staff is cranking things up for our 14th summer of academic enrichment and artistic expression. We invite all Blake families, students and staff to come see LW in action! Experience our famous "All School Meeting," meet our inspiring teachers and observe our engaging classes.

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