Blue Jay News

Greenwood Students and Families:

Homecoming was a huge success – a big thanks to GPA, Booster Club, and our Student Council. The activities throughout the week, the Friday night Homecoming event, and the dance were all attended well and demonstrated school pride and spirit! A lot of work was put in this week by the Greenwood community, we thank you for those efforts!

The end of the 1st quarter is next Friday, October 13. Just as a reminder, the 1st quarter grade is important and a gauge to where the student is at this time – we do NOT use this grade for the Honor Day A/B award. However, the grades and points earned for the 1st quarter DO affect the final semester grade. Please be diligent in checking academic progress and maintaining communication with the classroom teacher.

Parent/teacher conferences will be held October 31 & November 1. The elementary and SECONDARY will NOT have classes for both of these days. This is a change from previous years due to our increased enrollment, we needed more time for teachers to connect with as many parents as possible during these two days. Be looking for a sign-up to schedule a conference with your child’s teacher.

Congratulations to our school for being named the #1 private school in the Springfield area by Niche.com! Niche is a commonly used website that families and individuals use to sort and compare schools. Go to https://www.niche.com/k12/search/best-schools/m/springfield-mo-area/ to view the list.

Next week will be a short week due to fall break October 12 & 13 – there will not be a newsletter for next week.

Go Blue Jays!

Ron & Jeni

Congratulations to the entire time for competing all season so well. We have two moving on to state! Anna McQueary earned All-District finishing 11th place and Eva Heidemann placed 15th. Anna and Eva will travel to Sedalia for state on October 16 and 17. Congratulations!!

This week's theme for GOTR was “words matter”. The lesson began with a fun exercise using toothpaste. The coaches squeezed the toothpaste on paper and asked the girls if they could get all the toothpaste back in the tube. They all realized it was impossible to do that.

That exercise guided them to our discussion that the toothpaste is like our words. Once we speak or write our words out to the world, we can’t take them back. The theme was revealed to girls through their 40 minute run as they learned “words matter”.

Greenwood Fall Senior Night is scheduled for the final home soccer game of the season on October 19. We would like to honor all of our fall senior athletes if they can make it. Please inform them the date and send us their names so we can reach out for further information. Kamile Schultz is the Booster Club Chair for all senior nights this year. Please include her in you emails as well.

Greenwood Picture Retake Day is Wednesday, October 11 in the morning in the cafeteria. If you received a picture packet but are unhappy with the results, please return the packet to the photographers when you have the retake made. Staff and students absent on picture day will need their picture taken on retake day. Ordering info is attached.

First Grade students are studying about plants. Today, students learned what a Botanist does and about the work of Baron Alexander von Humboldt. During science lab, students explored plant structures and function. Groups examined the different functions of stems using celery stems, water and food coloring. Students waited four hours, then observed the celery stems using their hand lens, made observations, illustrated their findings and recorded their data.

Our archery unit in the 5th and 6th grade PE classes will finish up Monday and Tuesday. For those interested in participating on the Greenwood Archery Team, if you did not attend the Parent/Student meeting this past Wednesday, please pick up a Consent Form from Mr. Jarvis in the Main Office or Mrs. Ewing in her office. Students must have the Consent Form turned into Coach Ewing before they may begin practice. Please give consent forms to Coach Ewing, Mr. Jarvis or Mrs. Ewing before Fall Break.

The first practice will be Monday, October 16, from 7:30-8:00 AM. We will practice Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 7:30-8:00 AM.

If you have any questions, please contact Coach Ewing by phone, text or email - 417-569-8698, j.e.ewing@att.net

We had a successful book fair! In every Scholastic book fair event, 50% of the proceeds come back to the school. Plus, this week we were able to provide the library with new books and fulfill teachers’ wish lists! Special thanks to Wendy and Courtney for their hard work!

This year's elementary holiday concert will be held on Wednesday, December 6th.

K,1,2 Penguins on Parade Musical 6:30 performance time/6:15 arrival time

The students need to wear ALL black.

3,4,5 Holiday Vibes Concert 7:15 performance time/7:00 arrival time

The students can wear something fun and festive!

On Fri-Sat. Nov. 4-5 the annual American Indian Center of Springfield-MSU powwow will be held in the Greenwood gym. It is free and open to the public. It will also have dancing, singing, arts and crafts vendors, food, etc.

Greenwood Parent Association is bringing back a classic!

For years, Greenwood put together a cookbook of favorite recipes and now it's your turn to add to the tradition. Please submit your favorite family recipes here. We will compile them into a cookbook that will be available for sale this school year. We look forward to starting up a much-loved tradition again. You are more than welcome to submit a recipe from a previous cookbook, if you have one!

Cookbooks will be spiral bound, with a color cover and black and white interior with student art. Cost will be between $25-35, depending on how many pages it has and how many are ordered.

Submit Recipes Here

Watch for weekly newsletter articles from Mrs. Ewing covering various topics such as student success and opportunities, college preparation, scholarships, and other related opportunities.

Upcoming CollegeRep Visits: Representatives from colleges/universities will be available in the Science Wing during lunch (12:37-1:27). They will be happy to provide information about their school and answer any questions you may have.

□ October 16 – EU □ October 23 – MSU □ October 26 - UMKC

Spring 24 PRE-COLLEGE REGISTRATION: Registration for MSU’s spring semester opens for Pre-college students on November 17. Students wishing to concurrently enroll in Pre-college courses at MSU must first make an appointment with Teresa Cunningham (Zoom or in person). Following that appointment, she will lift the hold on student accounts allowing students to then register. Follow one of the links to schedule your appointment with Teresa: To book an in person appointment; To book a Zoom appointment.

Teresa is our Pre-College Academic Advisor. You will love working with her! You will find her very responsive, positive, and sincere in her approach to assisting you in successfully navigating college classes.

The spring catalog is available to view now. You may open the spring catalog in your MyMissouriState account by finding the Registration card and clicking on “Add, Drop, or Search for Classes”. If you do not have a MyMissouriState account, you can use this link: Class Schedule - Missouri State.

ACT and SAT Reminders:

Register for the ACT at ACT | College and Career Readiness Solutions.

Register for the SAT at The SAT – SAT Suite | College Board.

Be sure to enter our School Code (CEEB) to identify with Greenwood: 263285. See the Greenwood Counseling Website for ACT/SAT tips Greenwood Laboratory School Counseling Department (greenwoodlabcounseling.com)

Many colleges/universities are test optional for admissions; even some scholarship programs are test optional. Check with the institutions you are interested in pursuing for their specific requirements.

Class101: Students and families will gain excellent 1:1 preparation through working with Laurie Goslee at Class101. Here are a few upcoming programs. Click the program links to for more information.

o Free ACT Practice Test; Saturday, October 7; 9am-12:30pm

Tell your friends! This practice test is open to any high school student who has not taken a practice test with us in the past 12 months. This is a great way to get a baseline score and a strengths and weaknesses report before going into an official test. Register Here

o Fall ACT Prep Class $399 (or included in our full college planning program)
Classes are open to all high school students. This 3-session prep course is to prepare for the October test. *Be sure to register through their website by Sept 22 at www.act.org.

Session 2 – Sunday, Oct 15, 3-6pm – Math

Session 3 – Sunday, Oct 22, 3-6pm – Reading & Science

Register Here

Club Z! In-Home Tutoring will be conducting a 3 1/2-hour interactive ACT Boot Camp on Sat, Oct 7 from 9:30 AM to 1:00 PM at Springfield Catholic HS. Register here: tinyurl.com/Oct2023ACT. Registration deadline: Oct 4.

PSAT Greenwood juniors (and sophomores who signed up) will be given the PSAT/NMSQT on Tuesday, October 24. They will be testing in the MSU Testing Center in Myer Library from 8:30-11:30am. Specific TEST DAY details will be shared as Oct 24 draws closer.

The PSAT will be in digital format this year. Students will use Bluebook, a custom-built testing app. University-managed devices will be provided at the Testing Center. The PSAT has two sections: 1) Reading and Writing and 2) Math with a scheduled break in between the two sections. You may learn more about the PSAT benefits at psat.org/whytake. Why Take a PSAT-Related Assessment? – SAT Suite (collegeboard.org) Bluebook has several built-in tools, including a Desmos calculator.

Parents of juniors (and sophomores taking the PSAT) received an email with additional information last week and will receive a follow-up email communicating further details by the middle of next week. Please contact Mrs. Ewing with any questions at CoyeatteEwing@MissouriState.edu or 417-836-5950.

Scholarhsip Opportunities

Bold.org is the largest independent scholarship provider in the US. Visit the links below to learn more about many scholarship opportunities:

• https://bold.org/scholarships/
• https://bold.org/scholarships/by-year/high-school/seniors/

Also check out www.scholarships.com and www.fastweb.com

We are a laboratory school for students in Kindergarten - 12th grades. We are part of the College of Education at Missouri State University.

Email: Greenwood@Missouristate.edu
Website: https://education.missouristate.edu/greenwood/
Location: 1024 East Harrison Street, Springfield, MO, USA
Phone: (417) 836-5124
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greenwoodlab

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/greenwoodlabschool/

Counseling Website: https://www.greenwood.missouristate.edu/page/counseling-department

Greenwood Blue Jays YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@greenwoodbluejays4814/featured