March 31, 2011

For the past two and a half days, Magnolia Heights hosted a Peer Review Team from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) and the Southern Association of Independent Schools (SAIS) as part of the school’s re-accreditation process. The visiting team, comprised of teachers and administrators from Mississippi, Tennessee, and North Carolina, toured the campus, visited classrooms, interviewed students, faculty, trustees, and parents, checked the school’s compliance with standards, and validated the school’s 5-Year School Improvement Plan.

The committee unanimously recommended re-accreditation and left very favorably impressed with Magnolia Heights, its students and faculty, and the level of educational excellence fostered at the school.

SAIS has 338 member schools from 11 southeastern states, the Caribbean, and Latin America, making SAIS one of the largest regional independent school associations in the country.  SAIS represents over 180,000 students. SACS is part of AdvancED. AdvancED is the world’s largest education community, serving more than 27,000 public and private schools and districts across the United States and in 69 countries that educate over 15 million students.

This validates what we already know: that our students are receiving an outstanding college preparatory education that will indeed prepare them for the rigors of college and life beyond, and is recognized by peer educators from schools across the region as such. I want to thank everyone who participated in the process and particularly to thank Allison Burris and her School Improvement Committee.

Well Done!!

March 23, 2011

Once again I have the privilege of bringing you up to date and congratulating our students and faculty on their outstanding accomplishments.

Mr. Bob Dees and Mrs. Jennifer Williams took 26 MAIS District Science Fair winners from Magnolia Heights (only Class IV and V, grades 9-12) to the International Science Fair Competition at Ole Miss yesterday. MHS was the only private school represented. Among the public schools participating were Oxford High School, Southaven High School, South Panola High School, as well as several DeSoto County Schools and many other public schools across North Mississippi. At the awards ceremony 23 of the 26 MHS projects placed and were awarded medals. Of the 23 projects receiving an award, 13 were invited to participate in the state-wide public school competition next week in Starkville. Jake Austin Smith’s project, “Expired Pharmaceuticals: Fact or Fallacy” was selected as one of the “Best of Fair” projects and is an alternate to attend the International Science Fair in Los Angeles this summer, and Zach Shackelford won $200 from Intel for his project’s excellence in computer science!

One of our secondary faculty members, Mr. Barry Coleman, was honored last night as “Tate County Educator of the Year” by The Tate County Economic Development Foundation. Mr. Coleman has taught history and economics at MHS for the last 9 years. He is the first MHS teacher to achieve “Master Teacher” certification from the state of Mississippi. He has written for the AP Economics exam and was instrumental in the development of the state-wide economic curriculum. He is currently developing a personal finance course that will be required of all MHS 10th graders beginning next fall. As a testament to his dedication and excellence in the classroom, the MHS Seniors of 08, 09, and 10 chose him as the teacher that most influenced them at Magnolia Heights. Way to go Coach Coleman!

It’s always great to see our students and faculty receive the credit they so richly deserve for the job they do day in and day out. Way to Go Chiefs!

March 7, 2011

It’s amazing how fast the school year is passing. We are already quickly approaching spring break. Registration for next year is well underway with alumni registering this week and new students beginning March 21. Where does the time go? The spring sports are well underway; achievement tests are just around the corner; everyone is so busy; and yet MHS students continue to make headlines with their achievement.

In District Science Fair competition at Kirk Academy last week, MHS students dominated the awards ceremonies with 37 ribbons out of a possible 54. These students will now advance to the International Science Fair at Ole Miss March 22 and the MAIS State Science Fair April 6. Congratulations go to Mr. Dees, Mrs. Goodwin, Coach Carie, and Mrs. Williams and all the MHS students who have worked so hard on their projects. Good luck at the State and International Fairs!!

Spiritual Emphasis week is underway this week. Today Jason Cook, former Ole Miss football player and Campus FCA Director at Ole Miss spoke. Tomorrow, Alan Williams of Teammates First will speak. Alan’s book Walk-On: Life from the End of the Bench is his personal story of life as a walk on basketball player at Wake Forrest University. The message of his book, fighting for something greater than self, has led him to a career in motivational speaking.  Wayne Hill of the Senatobia First United Methodist Church will speak Wednesday and John Ingstrom, North Mississippi FCA Director, will conclude on Thursday. As always you are certainly welcome to attend any or all of the sessions. We begin at 8:15 and are usually done by 8:45.

Although the students will begin their spring break after classes on Thursday, our teachers will meet with over 250 other teachers from all over MAIS District 1 on Friday at MHS. Alan Williams will deliver the keynote address. He will be followed by Neill Hitchcock of Apple Computers who will demonstrate the educational opportunities of using Apple’s I-Pad in the classroom.

I hope everyone has a safe and restful spring break!

February 22, 2011

Service and Achievement

Over the last couple of weeks MHS students have demonstrated once again not only how academically gifted they are, but also how willing they are to give back to the school and community.

Each year the MAIS (Mississippi Association of Independent Schools) sponsors among many activities, a state spelling bee, art contest, and science fairs.

Last week the local winners of the MHS spelling bee participated in the district spelling bee at Oxford University School. Lindsey Axthelm won 1st place in the 4th grade and Zach Hollingsworth won 3rd place in the 5th grade at the MAIS District I Spelling Bee. Elementary art contest winners were also posted and MHS had many district and state winners (names will be released at a later date).

As an example of service, the Interact Club helped with the State AAA basketball tournament and all our varsity and junior high players served as team host. Our Broadcast Journalism class helped WI-FI Sports broadcast all the games live on the Internet. Five members of the Interact club helped the Senatobia Rotary Club with their quarterly Blood Drive. Talk about sacrificial giving!

Even our alumni are making news. Sam Hong, a 2007 MHS graduate who lived as an exchange student with MHS faculty member Mrs. Fay Hurt, received early admission to Emory Medical School in Atlanta. Emory Medical School is one of the top medical schools in the United States. Sam turned down offers from other schools including Vanderbilt Medical School to remain at Emory where he has been working in their cancer research center as an undergrad.

When you think about service, you can’t help but also remember the scores of parent volunteers that help make our school what it is today. This past Thursday evening a great time was had by all and thousands of dollars were raised for Magnolia Heights. The Parents' Club under the leadership this year of April Lipscomb, hosted “Catfish in Como.” Lori Puryear Barrett chaired this year’s event and, along with her committee, provided a fun night for all in attendance. The auction and dinner will provide needed funds for those extra items not in each school budget. Over the years the Parents’ Club has donated funds for technology purchases and upgrades, classroom supplies, teacher start-up money, helped with major purchases such as school buses, and provided delicious food and snacks for teacher appreciation and other meetings hosted by the school. We are forever indebted to our Parents’ Club and the numerous ways they serve the teachers and students of MHS each day.

Service and achievement – integral parts of the tradition of excellence at Magnolia Heights School. Way to go!

February 8, 2011

Yesterday was a great day for MHS seniors Margaret Ellen Ruhl and Colby Ruth Holden. They received notification that they were named National Merit Finalist!

Of the 1.5 million entrants, some 50,000 with the highest PSAT/NMSQT® Selection Index scores (critical reading + mathematics + writing skills scores) qualify for recognition in the National Merit® Scholarship Program. Of those, 16,000 are chosen as National Merit Semi-Finalist. From those 16,000, the top students are named finalist. All of us at MHS are so proud of Colby and Margaret Ellen and wish them both well as they move on to the next stage of their lives.

Also congratulations are in order for MHS senior Mac McDonald. Mac signed with Coach Ricky Woods and Northwest Mississippi Community College on national signing day. Mac played quarterback and safety for Coach Cliff Young’s Chiefs. He was named first team all North AAA Conference and selected to play in the MAIS All-Star game where he was selected as the MVP on offense for the North team.

This is an exciting week for MHS. We will be hosting the State AAA Division 2 basketball championships. Games will begin Tuesday and Wednesday at 4:00PM, with the semi-finals and championships on Friday and Saturday. The girls’ semi-final and championship games will begin at 1:00PM, and the boys’ at 6:00PM.

The teams involved will include MHS, Lee Academy from Clarksdale, Pillow Academy from Greenwood, Washington School from Greenville, Heritage Academy from Columbus, East Rankin Academy from Pelahatchie, Copiah Academy from Gallman, and Oak Forrest Academy from Amite, Louisiana. I hope that you will make plans to come out and see some great basketball. Also a first, all games will be broadcast live via the internet. You can catch the games by clicking the following link http://www.wfsports.com/?page_id=767.

I hope you get a chance to see the elementary artwork displayed in the Baker Hall corridors. Artwork form Mrs. Andrea Ludwig’s elementary art classes are on display. I know you will enjoy it as much as I have!

Please don’t forget our Spring Fund Raiser, “Catfish in Como.” Tickets are still available in the elementary office. Please help our Parents’ Club as they raise funds to support MHS and its students.

Finally, thanks to all of you who participated in the annual MHS magazine drive. Magnolia Heights will receive 40% of all sales. Even though the drive is over, you can still order or renew your magazines online and the school will still receive credit. Just follow this link http://www.gafundraising.com and enter our account number 1263383, the student’s name and begin shopping.

February 2, 2011

This past Monday night I was reminded again how special our school is.

As evidence of this, the Board Development Committee allocated some $4000 toward the purchase of classroom extras. These are items that we might not be able to purchase out of regular tuition funds. The items ranged from enrichment software to help kindergarten students who are sight-based readers augment their reading fundamentals, technology for classrooms (projectors, screens, etc.), digital protractors for math, to dry-erase geometric marker boards, as well as many other items. These supplies were purchased by your gifts and my gifts to the Annual Fund. In the past 4 years well over $100,000 has been raised by Allison Burris and the school’s development office. Even though this is significant, even more significant is the fact that 40 cents of every dollar raised goes towards the school’s growing endowment which is now over $100,000. This endowment will be used to supplement the school’s educational goals when it reaches maturity in the not too distant future. Although the endowment’s principal cannot ever be spent, interest on the account can and will be when funds in the account reach guidelines set by the Board of Trustees and the Board Development Committee.

I was also reminded of this by the planning efforts of our Parents’ Club. On Thursday, February 17, they will host Catfish in Como. This will be a live and silent auction devoted solely toward raising money for the school. The Parents’ Club over the years has been so faithful, raising hundreds of thousands of dollars to purchase needed items for the school. For the past 15 years they have been responsible for the purchase of computers for our computer labs ensuring that the elementary and secondary labs get new computers every three years. Over the years they have helped with the purchase of school busses, new curriculums, as well as providing each teacher with start-up money each August toward the purchase of classroom enhancements.

Without lifelines like these and the many volunteers that who them work, we could not offer what we have today. When you see Allison Burris and Sheila Brownlee from the MHS Advancement Office, thank them for their work with the Annual Fund and when you see April Lipscomb, this years’ Parents’ Club President, Lori Puryear Barrett, Chair of the Catfish in Como fund raiser, or any of the other officers and committee chairs of the Parents’ Club, tell them thanks and that you appreciate their time and effort. Or better yet get involved – give to the Annual Fund and support and attend Catfish in Como. I know I will…

January 31, 2011

In my first blog, I told you that one of the goals of my Blog was to promote what’s going on at MHS. Our teachers are always on the lookout for ways to help reinforce the principles taught in the regular classroom.

Last week Barry Coleman, senior high history and economics teacher at Magnolia Heights, was invited to attend the International Economics Summit hosted by Mississippi College in Clinton. The two day workshop focused on an upcoming state-wide economics competition involving public and private schools across the state. According to Coach Coleman there will be more than 50 teams participating in this event.

To prepare for the summit, the teams will be learning about fundamentals of free enterprise, global resources, trade barriers, tariffs, geography, and many other topics as they relate to international economics. Each school will have three teams which in turn will represent three countries – one wealthy, one poor, and one developing. The students will formulate economic policy for each country and then compete on a global stage with other schools across the state. The heart of the summit is trading among nations. Each nation will seek trade partners, form alliances, work through trade barriers, and help poor and developing nations as they develop their economies.

The project began as a university project at Boise State University (http://www.econsummit.org) and is currently in many states nationwide.

In addition, Coach Coleman is currently working on developing a curriculum on principles of personal finance that may be incorporated into the MHS curriculum in the very near future. There continues to be a great need for education in this area particularly as it relates to developing a budget, living within your means, giving and saving. We are preparing our students for the rigors of college life and beyond, but curricula in all schools seems to be lacking with regard to personal finance. In this day and time it’s almost a matter of national security that we get our personal finances in order so that we can get our nation’s finances back on track as well.

Our students will soon be adult citizens of a global economy. It is our hope that programs such as the International Summit and studying principles of personal finance will give them an advantage as they take the mantle of leadership in our community, state and nation.

Congratulations and thank you, Coach Coleman, on a job well done!