Highlights
Save the Dates
May 25: Celebration of Brad Moore, 4-8pm, Ath Ctr.
May 27: No School / Memorial Day
May 29: Used Textbook Buyback, 8am - 3:30pm, Library
May 29-31: Final Exams
May 30: Fourth Grade Moving Up Ceremony, 8:30am, JRT
May 31: Last Day - Noon Dismissal (EC-Gr 8)
Congratulations to the Class of 2013!
Read about Baccalaureate, Commencement and more details of how the year ended for the Class of 2013 on the Upper Division page of E-Bytes.
Summer Violin Lessons with Liesel Soley
Liesel Soley is a graduate of Juilliard School of Music and won a Fulbright Grant to study in Paris. She has been teaching violin here at Shorecrest for the last three years. Lessons will be offered to Lower Division and Middle Division ages at Shorecrest this summer, and she is available in her home in Clearwater if that is more convenient.
New students: lessons will be available for an individual student or you can bring a buddy and share a lesson. This arrangement for two students at the same time would be for the summer only. If you continue lessons in the fall, they would be on an individual basis.
Please contact Liesel Soley if interested: 727-532 4016.
Used Textbook Buyback
We have rescinded our contract with MBS Direct and changed our textbook provider for grades 5–12 for the 2013 – 2014 school year to ClassBook.com. The choice was made in order to better prepare for the increased use of digital books and to facilitate student access to the digital materials. More information will be coming soon.
As a result of this change, the options for the used book buyback this year also have changed.
Representatives of ClassBook.com will be in the classroom area of the Library on Wednesday, May 29 from 8:00 am to 3:30 pm to accept books for buyback. Parents/students only need to bring the books they wish to sell along with the name and address of the person who should receive payment. Checks for the buyback amount will be sent approximately three weeks later.
The second option is an online buyback. Go to www.classbook.com/shore.asp and click the ‘Sell Books’ button and follow the instructions. The link will be live after May 29. ClassBook.com covers all shipping costs. The system will generate a prepaid UPS label once the buyback process is complete. Books should be neatly packaged in a box and dropped off at the nearest UPS location.
Using iPads Daily in 2013-2014
Frequently Asked Questions: https://www.shorecrest.org/?iPad_FAQ
Required and Recommended Apps: https://www.shorecrest.org/?iPad_AppsList
The 2013-2014 school year at Shorecrest will be an exciting one for learning! As we prepare out students for participation in a global society, we challenge our teachers to provide students with opportunities to practice 21st century skills - critical thinking and problem solving, creativity and innovation, communication and collaboration, visual literacy, and technological literacy. Each of our students in grades 5-12 will be using iPads daily as a personalized learning tool, and we are excited about the expanded access to information these mobile devices will afford students and teachers.
Over the last two years, Shorecrest has invested time and monies to expand our computer network and bandwidth, provided professional development opportunities for the faculty, and experimented with productivity and content-specific applications to get ready for our iPad launching. The members of the faculty have participated in training with Apple educators as well provided in-house training to each other, and faculty have also attended iPad-specific sessions at state and national conferences. Faculty have taken advantage of this pilot year to explore new modes of instruction too.
Beginning in August, each student, along with at least one parent, will be asked to attend an orientation meeting. At this meeting, we will connect student iPads to our network, help students download key productivity applications purchased on their behalf, setup school email accounts, discuss guidelines specific to iPad use, and review the school's Responsible Use Policy. In addition, once the school year begins, training on how to use basic applications such as Notability (note taking), Pocket Scheduler (agenda), and Pages (word processor) will be provided in the classroom, through training sessions offered before and after school, during free periods and other student breaks.
If you have any questions about the program, please contact Anna Baralt, Director of Educational Technology, at abaralt@shorecrest.org.
Welcome Tiffany Meertins, New Director of College Counseling
Shorecrest is proud to announce the arrival of Tiffany Meertins as the new Director of College Counseling. Ms. Meertins has an array of experiences in college admissions that will help continue to strengthen the college counseling process.
Ms. Meertins grew up in central Florida and earned both her B.A. and M.A. in Counseling from the University of Virginia. While earning her degrees at Virginia, she also worked in the Undergraduate Admission office, where she helped to unveil the AccessUVa campaign. Wanting to give snow a try, her professional career led to her to Colgate University in New York where she spent two years as the Coordinator of Multicultural Recruitment. During this time, she was fortunate to be in charge of interviews and applications for Florida, introducing her to many Florida private schools, including Shorecrest. Ms. Meertins then joined the admissions team at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, working closely with students with special talents before most recently entering the independent school environment as an Associate Director of College Counseling at the Pine Crest School in Fort Lauderdale, FL.
Ms. Meertins brings a wealth of knowledge about the world of highly selective admissions, athletic recruitment, special academic programs, and artistic portfolios. Ms. Meertins is excited to lead our experienced college counseling team of Betty Huck (who will continue to serve as a part-time counselor), Chris Powers and Meghan Schneider as they guide our Shorecrest students in the college search process.
Can you host a student?
Shorecrest is looking for families with an interest in reaching out to students from around the world and welcoming them into their home for the fall semester. Interested families would provide housing and transportation for the student. Compensation is provided to meet the basic living expenses of the student. If you are interested or have any questions, please contact Jonathan Davis, International Student Coordinator at 727.456.7526 or jdavis@shorecrest.org.
Junior Wins Intel International Science Fair
