Familes and friends gathered on Friday, May 1 to watch the 47th running of the Kindergarten Derby. It was a beautiful day as the Lower School marched in a parade themed "A World of Possibilities."

Congratulations to this year's Kindergarten Derby winners!
Win: Sophia Baser on "Denis of Cork"
Place: Kayla Jones on "Pyro"
Show: Jacob Scheinler on "Monba"

The ISACS (Independent Schools Association of the Central States) constituency survey is a tool Collegiate uses every year to receive feedback from its most valuable resources, the people who entrust the education of their children to the school, who have attended the school themselves, or who serve to promote the value of a Collegiate education for future generations. It is important that the school has a clear understanding of each participant's role at the school and his or her opinions, based on that role.

Each constituent will receive a link to the survey based on their role, or multiple roles, at the school. One person, therefore, may fill out the survey more than once. We also encourage responses from both parents in a household. For example, if you are an alumnus who also has two children (grades 2 and 7) in the school, you will need to complete the survey three times. Directions with the survey will ask you to complete the survey as an alumnus, a parent of a Lower School student and a parent of a Middle School student. While this may seem redundant, Collegiate values your input as you consider each child and his/her experiences, as well as, your role as a graduate.

Between May 5-19 please take the time to fill out the survey, based upon each constituency group you represent. The link will be sent to you via email later today.

Please join us for the Lower School Variety Show and Annual Art Show on Wednesday, May 14, 6:00-8:00 p.m.

Lower School students will be showcasing their various musical talents as well as artwork they have created.

6:00 p.m. Variety Show
6:30 p.m. Unveiling of Art Show,
7:15 p.m.Conclusion of Variety Show

Every student has a piece of artwork in the show, please come by and view their great work!

Fourth and fifth grade science students have been busy building LEGO robotics and planning for the future. Fourth graders are using the introductory LEGO Mindstorms robotics to learn some basic physics, engineering and programming skills and concepts. Fifth graders are building with more advanced LEGO Mindstorms program which teaches them to use a variety of sensors and computer programming. They are both great tools for hands-on learning and problem solving. These great materials were purchased with a generous grant from our Parents Association. More robotics courses will be offered through our Summer Options program. The robotics courses are always a hit!

In relation to their studies of robotics fifth-grade students are working with electrical devices to learn introductory physics of electricity concepts. Students do a great job working as a team. Have hope Thomas Edison, as some of these students will no doubt be helping design alternative, sustainable energy resources for our present and future needs!

These students also launched homemade parachutes outside one day and the next day used the Upper School balcony to control the effect of wind on their launches. Fourth-graders are studying weather, which always serves as a great reason to get outside on a spring day. It's also a great time to learn how to forecast the weather for spring break, baseball and lacrosse games and of course, Derby events.

Author and illustrator of over 40 children's books including Meteor, My Rotten Redheaded Older Brother, The Keeping Quilt, and Chicken Sunday, Ms. Polacco will present her vivid storytelling to K-5 students from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the school's library.

"Ms. Polacco is an amazing storyteller and artist," says librarian Frankie Moore. "Our students are very fortunate to have the opportunity to meet her and learn from her the art of using one's own life experience to tell a story."

Polacco is a Michigan native, born to parents of Russian and Irish descent. She did not learn to read until the age of 14, when a teacher recognized her dyslexia. She holds a master's degree in fine arts and a PhD in art history. Elements of her diverse background are found throughout her wildly popular children's books. To find out more about Ms. Polacco, go to her website.

Also don't forget that the LCS Library is open during the summer!

Once again our library will be open on Wednesdays from 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. in June and July. We will be hosting "Stories and More" for children ages 3-6 on the following dates:

June 25:"A trip around the Library" Join us to read some fun Library stories and learn where to find your favorite books.

July 9: "Colors" What is your favorite color? Can a crayon box really talk? We will read books about art and do an art activity.

July 16: "Pajama Day" Wear your favorite PJ's and comfy house shoes. We'll have soothing music and bedtime stories.

July 23: "Hickory, Dickory Dock" The mouse isn't the only thing that ran up the clock! Come hear the rest of the story and explore other embellished nursery rhymes.

July 30: "Dogs and Cats" Which is your favorite "4-legged" friend? Come listen to fun pet stories, and learn to draw your favorite.

With the end of the school year quickly approaching, we would like to extend our sincerest gratitude to the faculty and staff of Collegiate. A celebration is planned for May 23 at the Louisville Slugger Museum.

Please show your appreciation by donating gift cards and specialty items to be used for raffles and door prizes. Great examples of gift cards: bookstores, Summit/mall gift certificates, coffee gift cards, spa services, Target, restaurants, fast food and ice cream parlors among others.

If you don't have time to shop, a monetary donation will help us provide gifts for all. Please make checks payable to "LCS" and write "End of Year Party" in the memo section. Direct your items/envelopes to the attention of Sharon Ellis/front office marked "faculty end-of-year party." For planning purposes, it would be greatly appreciated if donations were received in the main office by Tuesday, May 20.

Thank you for supporting our fabulous faculty and staff!

In this year's AATG (American Association of Teachers of German) German National Exam our 12 German students of the Upper School scored on or above the 85th percentile among the 26,000 participants in the US. In level II, freshman Danielle Bosscher scored above the 90th percentile, as did sophomores Mary Nancy Walter, Charles Edwards and Mitch Mattox in level III. It is worth mentioning that Mary Nancy placed first with only one mistake and Charles Edwards placed second with two mistakes in the state of Kentucky.

Besides that, three German students participated in the KWLA (Kentucky World Language Association) Foreign Language Festival, which was held at Saint Xavier High School on March 29. In level III, Mary Nancy Walter placed first in reading proficiency, in level IV, junior Alex Duncan placed first in listening and reading proficiency and second in writing, and junior Rebecca Allen placed first in writing and second in listening. Thus, all three of them qualified to compete at the state festival on May 10 in Lexington.

We can be proud of our students so please congratulate them on their outstanding achievements. Herzlichen Glückwunsch!

Also, congratulations to Olivia Hamel and Harvey Kim for qualifying to compete in the state festival for French!

Olivia placed 1st in listening, reading (with a perfect score), and oral proficiency. Harvey placed 1st in Oral Proficiency and 1st in writing.

After a long tiring day on Saturday, April 26, where much brain power (and doughnuts) were utilized, the Collegiate Science Olympiad Team finished 4th - 7 points adrift of 3rd place, which is our best result in Collegiate history. This year, out of the sixty-two teams who competed in Kentucky's regional and State finals this placing of 4th is impressive for a predominantly young team! A terrific performance.

Collegiate hauled in gold medals in four events, silver in two, and bronze in four. As a whole, we shut out two tough Manual teams and came in fourth place out of twenty-three. The Science Club has brought glory to the school with one of the best Collegiate finishes ever.

Final tally: 1st place: Physics Lab- Jessica Tingle and Noah Hoodwink; Circuit Lab- Matthew Kubicki and Noah Horowitz; Oceanography- Jeananne Baldwin and Danielle Bosscher; Electric Vehicle- Trevor Slaton and Max Slaton

2nd place: Forensics- Allison Schaffer and Whitten Montgomery; Chemistry Lab- Noah Horowitz and Hao Li

3rd place: Fermi Questions- Matthew Kubicki and Griffin Asher; Food Science- Hao Li and Allison Schaffer; Cell Biology- Ellen Bruenderman and Allison Schaffer; Five Star Science- Matthew Kubicki and Ellen Bruenderman.

The Kindergarten Students Surpass Their Goal!!!

Kindergarten students know how to count in Spanish from 0 (cero) to 59 (cincuenta y nueve). We passed our goal!! It is so amazing how the students identify each number and know what number is next. We are using flash cards, songs, games and different things for the counting activities.The students put together numbers, colors and classroom objects. They are very proud of their progress. Way to go Kindergartens!!

First Grade Learn about Different Spanish Countries

The first graders learned about money in their regular classroom. To integrate the curriculum, in Spanish class, the students learned some of the Spanish speaking countries: Mexico, Ecuador, Colombia, Paraguay and Argentina. They know where these countries are located on the map and their capitals. They also learned what the flags of these countries are. The students talk about similarities and differences between the flags of these different countries. The first graders also learned about the monetary units of these countries. The students have the money from each country and they discuss numbers, colors, shapes and the similarities and differences between United States money. The students draw the money and they shop in the store (La tienda). In the classroom we projected websites from the Internet about the countries we studied to take an "imaginary and fun trip". The first graders love the opportunity to learn about other countries, different monetary units and culture.