Yes, it is me again and yes, we have Chinese School tomorrow.  Hope everyone enjoyed a wonderful Spring recess and welcome back!

As I mentioned in my week 6 email about May 5th, this is to confirm that we will NOT have school on May 5th due to a conflict with an event that the school is hosting.  So, we will be pushing our school calendar out one week.  This means our general meeting originally scheduled for May 5th will now be on May 12th.  Our last day of school is June 16th.  Please make a note on your calendar and plan accordingly.

Our board of directors and staff are always looking for ways to continue to enhance our school operations.  We rely on you to give us feedback so we can all work together to make this the best Chinese School for our students.  Your input is important and we ask you to take a few seconds to share your thoughts with us and … there is a chance to win a prize!  How cool is that? Winning something for speaking up!  :-)   Please look for the email from Lynn Winters, one of our board members, about 2 weeks ago.  The survey is available for the month of April.  If you did not receive the email, please let us know and we will forward it to you.   Thank you and good luck!

See you tomorrow!  Classes start at 9am sharp.  Please be on time.

Doesn’t it feel like we went through the 4 seasons (Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter) in just the past two weeks?  We went from 80 degrees to 20 degrees in a matter of a couple of days … The other day we even had a hail storm by us!  All these changes …

Speaking of changes, we were just informed by the hosting school that they are hosting the NYSMAA event on 5/5 and need to use the Middle School.  This means that we will need to change our schedule a little bit!  The board members and staff are working on the calendar changes and we will let you know as soon as possible … and yes, 4/7 is still off so don’t change your plans.

Also,I heard from another parent who I run into from time to time on Metro Norththat the Taconic Parkway will be closing one lane … which means those of us whotravel from the North to come to school may need to leave a bit earlier …

Just thought I would share a story with everyone … my cousin went to his fiancé’s house for dinner and his fiancé’s family was all conversing in their native language.  They tried to make conversation with my cousin so they asked him in English, “Dr. Shieh, do you know how to speak Chinese?”  My cousin replied “not really” … then added “I do know how to write my Chinese name…”.  That night, he came home, called my aunt and asked her “Why didn’t you take me to Chinese School when I was younger?”  My aunt said to him “Oh no, don’t you go there … I took you to the Chinese School and I had to fight with you every week about doing your Chinese homework and fight with you every weekend to get youto go to Chinese School. You wanted to quit, so we quit. Don’t you remember?”  My cousin said to her, “But I was only a kid and you were supposed to “force” me! You are the parent!”   Hmmmmmm, so I told the story to my twins …they rolled their eyes and said “Oh, mom, that is just wonderful!”   See, my twins agree!  :-)  Anyway, just thought I would share that story with the parents, so we can see some light (dim as it may be) at the end of the tunnel.  It will all be worth it … oneday!

See you tomorrow!  Classes start at 9am sharp.  Please be on time.

Happy Spring!  Yup, you know Spring is here when you see kids playing baseball on the fields or riding bicycles on the street, people playing with their dogs in the yard, some are even planting flowers … I read in the newspaper that this year is going to be bad for ticks.. so don’t forget to check your youngsters carefully.

Some parents, those of you who plan early, are already asking if I know of any summer camps for their children.   It just so happens that I was asking our 5B teacher and she shared with me of two summer camps in China that she just heard about.  One for K to the 12th grade; the other is for children who can enrolled with their parents.  Read the attachments for more details.  There are also summer camps in Taiwan. If anyone is interested, I can refer you to parents who have sent their children before, to share their experiences.

There were parents who were asking about a summer tutor as well.  If you are interested, please let me know asI am compiling a list, and will match those teachers/high school students who are interested in tutoring.

Last but not least, a parent asked me to share the following information about a Blood Drive@ St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, 669 Albany Post Road, Route 9, Scarborough.  Saturday, March 31, 2012 from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm.  Please call 914-941-3030 x13 or email info@stmarysscarborough.com to schedule your appointment.  And an advanced “thank you” for being sobrave and kind. 

A reminder,we do have school next Saturday, 3/31. We will have our Spring Recess on 4/7. So please plan accordingly!

See you tomorrow!  Classes start at 9am sharp.  Please be on time!

What abeautiful week we had! With the timechange, I almost didn’t know what to do with that extra daylight! Hope everyone had a chance to enjoy theoutdoors this week!

We had asuccessful and productive seminar last Saturday on how to prepare your childrenfor college, and more. Several parentscame out of the seminar panicking. Didyou know that colleges look at everything starting in the 8thgrade? Really, I thought I didn’t haveto start the college prep process until they were in the 11th grade… what a bummer! J I learned a lot from theseminar! We have 11 students signed upfor the pilot course, which consists of 10 sessions (Saturdays from 11am to 12pm). After this pilot, we will collect feedbackfrom the parents and students to evaluate the course for future sessions. The seminar also included information on awonderful opportunity for a summer program in China. Missed the seminar? No worries, check it out on our New and Improved website! nwcsny.org,under Recent News!

With all thatsun this week, my twins’ school sent home a note reminding/suggesting/demandingthat the kids (all 5th graders, not just my twins) practice properhygiene including the use of deodorants … I guess with the sun, comes thesweat! My twins asked “do we still haveto take a shower …”

One of ourboard members, Cindy Huang, will be introducing some healthy and delicioussummer shakes at the Breakfast club (good timing, who doesn’t need to shed somepounds before putting on those summer outfits). Please come visit and check it out! Proceeds go to NWCS, of course! J

Severalparents asked me about the school calendar because of the upcoming Springrecess. The calendar is posted on our New and Improved website, nwcsny.org (I know, I sound like abroken record, but being a mom gives me lots of practice). We plan our calendar based on the hostingschool’s calendar, so there will be no school on Saturday, April 7th. Please plan accordingly. Thank you!

See youtomorrow! Classes start at 9amsharp. Please be on time.

Happy March!

It was very nice to see everyone last Saturday although I know some of us are still getting used to the Saturday routine.

One of our students, Sarah Seissler, was selected (one of the 3 students in her regular school) to participate in the IBM workshops.  Her father, Peter, was concerned about her missing Chinese School.  I said to him that this is a great opportunity for Sarah and we are all very proud of her.  Our school has 14 sessions each semester and we allow up to 6 absences in each semester … Sounds very generous, right?!  We understand that our kids have a very busy schedule (they seem to have more events than us chauffeurs … I means us parents) and we try to accommodate our students’ busy schedules and help release some of the stress for the parents.  We do ask you to inform your teachers and work out make up homework and quiz arrangements.  Much like the regular school, perhaps reach out to other classmates to act as your “homework buddy”.

See you tomorrow!  Classes start at 9am sharp.  Please be on time.

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Hello Everyone!

Yes, the day that we have all been waiting for (yeah sure) has finally arrived!  We will have our first class of the Spring semester this Saturday, 2/25.  Hope everyone is as excited as I am! :-).

Much has happened since our last class in January … we welcomed the year of the dragon, we won the superbowl, and Linsanity has just been lincredible … One of my friends asked me if I would let my twins play basketball now. I said “but of course … as long as they go to Harvard”.

It seems like we skipped the winter and went straight to Spring …After the winter we had last year, believe me, I am NOT complaining. I hope that everyone enjoyed the break and is ready to return to learn Chinese.  I know that the teachers are ready. They met last Saturday to prepare for the new semester, so get ready and have a good night sleep (so you can get up early).

See you tomorrow!  Classes start at 9am sharp.  Please be on time!

Hello everyone!

No, no, we do not have Chinese School tomorrow.  Not yet anyway!  I just wanted to send a friendly reminder to everyone that NWCS classes will resume next Saturday, February 25th for our Spring semester, so hurry up and dig out that winter recess homework and start working on them.  J

For the teachers, board members and staff, the free Saturday mornings are over … we are meeting tomorrow at 9:30 am for our week 0 meetings. 

On another note, the Association of Chinese School (ACS) is also hosting a cultural dance demonstration event in our cafeteria.  Teachers, parents, and students are welcome!   The event starts at 10am and runs to 12 noon.  Hope to see you there!

各位家長：

一月七日十點至十一點，將有新唐人電視臺「熱點        互動」節目主持人橫河先生和「東方之旅」節目製作人Matt Gnaizda前來,主講「中華文明和神韻晚會」文化講座，內容涉及五千年中華文明的歷史文化傳承，體現「道        德」教育的威力，分享來自教育家們的對神韻晚會的好評，籍此給孩子們介紹一份受益一生的禮物。相信會給家長耳目一新的啟迪和收穫。中英雙語介紹。機會難得，歡迎家長踴躍參加。

When：10am-10:20am  Speaker: Matt Gnaizda  Executive Producer of Journey to the East of NTD Television

10:20am-11:00am Speaker: Heng He  Anchor of NTD Television “Focus Talk”

11:00am-        Q&A

On Saturday January 7th, from 10:00am to 11:00pm, a presentation titled “Chinese Civilization and Shen Yun” will be given in our     school, by guest speakers Mr. Heng He – anchor of NTD Television “Focus Talk”  and Mr. Matt Gnaizda – Executive Producer of “Journey to the East”.

The presentation will touch upon the 5,000-year heritage of Chinese culture and civilization, the power of virtue-oriented        education, and what experts in children’s education say about Shen Yun Performing Arts. To offer kids a Chinese New Year gift, to help parents and teachers with a refreshing and inspirational teaching aid, the bilingual presentation will provide a valuable opportunity which should not be missed.