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Jacque’s Note 2 Community News 3-5 HS News 5 Senior News 6

December 17, 2014

Wednesday Packet

Important Dates/Information *January After School Program begins immediately after the Winter Holiday. Be sure to submit your payment online or directly to the Business Office. HIGH SCHOOL EXAMS – Noon Dismissal HS Tuesday-Thursday, December 16-18 MIDDLE SCHOOL TEACHER WORK DAY Thursday, December 18 No School for MS Only WINTER HOLIDAY December 19-January 2 No School TCS Offices Closed December 24-January 1 SECOND SEMESTER BEGINS January 5, 2015 PAC MEETING Thursday, January 8 8:00am In Conf. Room B HOMECOMING PLANNING MEETING (Following the PAC Meeting)

Thursday, January 8 10:00 am In Conf. Room B HOMECOMING Thursday-Saturday, January 15-17 See Advancement Angle for Event Schedule

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As we leave school and begin our winter break, we will all be attending to families and friends we love so dearly! We will be enjoying our family traditions that celebrate our values and our beliefs. Some of you may be trying new holiday experiences this year. Whatever you have planned, enjoy the time together to the fullest! I have recently been reminded that we cannot get our time together back and when we spend it lost in petty thoughts or disagreements, or organizing little things that do not matter; we have missed an opportunity to share the love, respect and memories that are so precious. Our students have worked very hard this semester and the progress is obvious. The lessons learned, the social bonds that have been forged and the confidence that is beginning to emerge are manifested in the positive energy and smiles that fill our campus every day. Our horticulture class enjoyed eating the collard greens they had grown this fall. The archery class held its first tournament. The middle school and high school drama performances kept us in stitches. Basketball games fill our calendar and our cheerleaders proudly donned their new uniforms! Middle School and High School have collected coats and toys for those in need. There is no end to the exciting experiences and new found talents that fill our campus every day. Thank you for the kind cards and expressions of holiday wishes this week! We love our job. Hearing from you that what we do each day has a positive impact on your teen and your family makes our job even more rewarding! Thank you, also, for respecting our tradition of creating an environment of equity and respect. We are a very diverse community and we choose to by-pass some of the societal “expectations” that, although well intentioned, introduce unnecessary stress and negativity to the season. This is the time of year we hear from our alumni. We have Homecoming in January and it is great to get in touch early. Scott Bagwill (‘10) graduates from Kennesaw State in Sports Communication this month. Ashley Edwards (‘10) will graduate from Ole Miss this month with a degree in audiology and speech pathology. Kayla Foley (‘09) graduates from Georgia State with a BA in International Studies. Alex Mincey (‘11) is a sound engineer and loving his job! Andrew Buchman joined us on LinkedIn as the Director of Technical Operations at MFG, Inc. We never tire of hearing from our students and learning how they continue the successes they began at TCS. When we return in January look for the pace to quicken! With Homecoming, Glitter, the Azalea Festival and year end festivities, we will be partying all the time! However, we have not forgotten our primary mission. TCS teaching staff has been busy planning for next semester, recruiting speakers and programs, introducing new courses and generally pumping up the volume as our students demonstrate more self- discipline and gain new skills every day! Since education is not a finite science, much of what we do depends on where our students are at any moment. Your communication is essential in helping us determine which direction to go and what we need to emphasize. Thank you for your partnership this semester and we look forward to continuing the dialogue through May.

Happy New Year!

December 17, 2014

Jacque’s Note

Advancement Angle

News you can use to help raise money for The Cottage School

Don’t wait till the last minute to make

your

contribution to the Key Annual Fund!

Donate today: http://

www.cottageschool.org/donate-now/

Remember- Donations to TCS postmarked by December 31st are deductible on this year’s tax return.

During the holidays, the Advancement Office will be available for gift processing. If you

are planning to make a gift by December 31st, please go online to www.cottageschool.org/

donate-now/ before midnight on the 31st, postmark your envelope by the 31st, or call

Tracy Ballot at 678-250-5103.

HOMECOMING 2015

WEEKEND

HOMECOMING SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

THURSDAY, PEP RALLY– 1:30PM, MIDDLE SCHOOL GAME - 4:00PM,

JV BASKETBALL GAME - 5:00PM, VARSITY BOYS - 6:30PM

FRIDAY, ALUMNI AND FACULTY RECEPTION 6:30PM

SATURDAY, PREGAME TAILGATE, 1:00PM (FOOD AND FUN FOR THE ENTIRE FAMILY)

JV GAME 2:00PM, VARSITY GIRLS 3:00PM, VARSITY BOYS 4:30PM,

ALUMNI/FACULTY GAME 6:00PM

January 15-17, 2015

Connecting Students, Families, & Alumni

PAC PICKS THIS WEEK

MANY thanks for the generous contributions from our parents toward our holiday staff gifts! Thank you, all! The PAC will be delivering the gifts to the staff during their Friday meeting this week. We have decided to give cash this year in lieu of gift cards...something we know can be used by all!...but they don't know yet! Shhh! As the first semester comes to an end, we would like to extend our sincere thanks for your support as the new PAC Board learned the ropes. We feel incredibly fortunate to have had such a fabulous group of parents volunteer to make up the 2014-15 board - and thank them for ALL of their dedication and hard work so far. There are great things on the horizon! It is our hope to do our best to help make TCS the absolute best place it can be… not only for our children, but for our

families and the entire TCS staff. We welcome each of you to jump in and help where you can, when you can! We have great fun...and would love to have you join us! The more hands and hearts we have...the more we can accomplish! Please feel free to contact us with any wishes, wants...or worries! We're always happy to do anything we can. PLEASE JOIN US for the next PAC meeting on Thursday at 8am in TCS Conference Room B, as we kick off the New Year! EVERYONE is always welcome! Best wishes for a happy, healthy, rejuvenating holiday season! Brenda Hall and Becky Thelen PAC Co-Presidents brendahall1@msn.com beckythelen@hotmail.com

We’ve got spirit, yes we do. We’ve

got spirit, how ‘bout you?

Looking for a way to get involved…join the

planning committee for the TCS homecoming

tailgate. This is going to be a fun event on Saturday

January 17. Our first meeting is on Thursday January 8 at 10am (following

the PAC meeting) in the TCS conference room. Email

Tangelam@cottageschool.org with questions. We hope to see you there!

Check out Zak Kitzler’s

Eagle Project at the Gazebo!

Great improvement!

Thank you, Zak and volunteers! ___________________________________________________

SAT REGISTRATION

Deadline DECEMBER 29, 2014

Visit this link to register for the January 24th, 2015

test held on our CAMPUS.

Please select our test center, 11598.

Please contact Abby Blackwell

at Abbyb@cottageschool.org for more information.

Congratulations to the Class of 2015

on their acceptances and scholarship awards to the following

post-secondary programs!

Courtney Connell: Kennesaw State University, The University of Alabama, Columbus State University,

University of North Georgia & Georgia Southern University.

Zak Kitzler: Hood College- $60,000 Scholarship, Young Harris University- $52,000 scholarship & Eckerd

College

Alex Lee: Reinhardt University, Wingate University- $64,000 presidential scholarship & Southern

Polytechnic State University

KJ Powell: Piedmont College- $36,000 Piedmont Pride Scholarship & $2,800 Georgia Tuition Grant

Noah Storm: Green Mountain College & Colorado Mountain College

Joseph Thompson: Capstone Program

Will Hall: University of West Georgia, University of Mississippi- $6,000 scholarship, Louisiana State

University, Georgia Southern University, University of Alabama, Valdosta State University & Auburn

University

Ethan Menaker: George Mason University - $32,000 scholarship & High Point University - $40,000

scholarship