<p>Another clue!!</p>
<p>Happy Cricket holiday to the SPS students and faculty! Hope you enjoyed the gorgeous weather!</p>
<p>Yes, daughter enjoyed Cricket holiday. Am going up on Oct 3rd. Can’t wait!</p>
<p>Cricket holiday was so early. I wish it was later when we had some actual schoolwork and when we’d actually need a day off.</p>
<p>If you have free time howz about spending it with my S avec le francais?</p>
<p>Very unusual to have ‘the children playing in the streets of Jerusalem’ this early! I would have expected another couple of weeks from now. As you may all know, the reading aloud of that prayer is how it is traditionally announced (hope it is still true). I can only assume that the Rector decided that the weather was right and the kids needed an unusually early break to recharge. There is a posting with 10 photos from yesterday: <a href=“https://www.sps.edu/podium/default.aspx?t=6183[/url]”>https://www.sps.edu/podium/default.aspx?t=6183</a> The Tibetan monks are pretty interesting too: <a href=“https://www.sps.edu/ftpimages/36/news/zoom_news503217_387057.jpg[/url]”>https://www.sps.edu/ftpimages/36/news/zoom_news503217_387057.jpg</a></p>
![https://www.sps.edu/ftpimages/36/news/zoom_news503217_387057.jpg[/url]](https://www.sps.edu/ftpimages/36/news/zoom_news503217_387057.jpg%5B/url%5D){kind=link}
<p>My guess is the early Cricket holiday had to do with H1N1 and other illness hitting the school population. I think many folks needed a day off even though school has been in session for only 2 weeks. The downside to early Cricket? Students did not have the pleasure of pranks and other shinanigans to get the Rector to declare a Cricket holiday. </p>
<p>Speaking of Swine, here’s an article form the online Pelican, which can be accessed at <a href=“http://spspelican.com/:[/url]”>http://spspelican.com/:</a>
Season for Swine
by Sam Miller '11</p>
<p>September 22, 2009 - News</p>
<p>In the past two weeks the St. Paul’s community has returned from summer vacation with school gear, furniture and myriad other living supplies in tow. In addition—and as expected by the staff at Clark House—billions of influenza germs have returned to the campus as well. These microorganisms are already spreading quickly. As of September 17th, four people have reported to Clark House and tested positive for the H1N1 virus, a.k.a. Swine Flu. </p>
<p>In the average sneeze or cough, millions of germs are rocketed into the air at a speed of roughly 150km/h. These microbes will fly into a space two to three square meters in front of the person’s face, effectively spreading themselves throughout the air. Living in a close-quarters environment with over eight hundred of community members, the cubic meters of infected air add up very quickly. Consequently, Clark House could soon be running out of space for sick students.</p>
<p>Dr. Bassi, the medical director at Clark House, explained that, considering the limited amount of beds in Clark House, the school is preparing to create a quarantine zone in the Athletic and Fitness Center. When Clark House reaches its full capacity, students with the H1N1 virus will be moved to the Stovell Indoor Tennis courts, where beds are currently being prepared.</p>
<p>If the virus becomes more serious for those who live relatively close to St. Paul’s, students will be sent home until they recover. This will save bed space and prevent further spreading of the flu. Of course, one of the most infuriating characteristics of the H1N1 virus is that a person is contagious for generally one to four days, which usually occurs before symptoms appear. Thus, those who are contagious are often unaware that they are already sick and can hence infect others.</p>
<p>In the meantime, the St. Paul’s community should continue to utilize preventative measures against the influenza. These techniques range from coughing into the crook of an arm (rather than a hand) to using hand sanitizer before every meal. Unfortunately, the only true way to prevent swine flu is the coveted vaccine, which has yet to be administered here in Millville. The vaccine, an optional dose this year for students, will arrive later in the year, which, sadly, may be too late for some students. Thankfully, it’s only possible to get the same strain of H1N1 once. Until that vaccine, however, it’s just a cat-and-mouse game between the students and those influenza germs.</p>
<p>Wow…that must be unprecedented…having to use the indoor tennis courts as an infirmary. I wonder if it will come down to that at other schools as well.</p>
<p>To my knowledge they haven’t resorted to it yet but it’s preparations just in case. My guess is other schools have developed similar plans because school health centers just cannot accomodate more than 5% or so of their population. In fact, I think SPS’s health center is bigger than most given the size of the student body.</p>
<p>Examples:
Andover- 18 overnight beds
Exeter - 14 overnight beds</p>
<p>The beds in the tennis courts have actually been removed. I think everything is starting to settle down. To the best of my knowledge, they never had to resort to those beds. I spoke with the nurses in the health center and they have had close to 30 cases of “the flu or H1N1” They tested the first 6 students. 5 of the 6 students came back positive. H1N1 is treated the same way as the flu so there was no reason to treat any more than the first 6.</p>
<p>Sorry, I meant test the first 6.</p>
<p>Just got my issue of the pelican, and I’m quite surprised to see I’m not the only one who doesn’t like A Thousand Splendid Suns. The article was hilarious.</p>
<p>Is the Pelican mailed to parent?</p>
<p>Pelican is mailed to parents, but not immediately, at least that has been our experience.</p>
<p>Visit [St</a>. Paul’s School ~ News Portal](<a href=“http://www.sps.edu/podium/default.aspx?t=6183]St”>http://www.sps.edu/podium/default.aspx?t=6183) to see photos.</p>
<p>Tibetan Monks Offer Symbol of Compassion on Visit to SPS
9/29/2009</p>
<p>Six Tibetan monks from Drepung Gomang Monastery in Southern India – and their U.S.-based translator – visited St. Paul’s School from September 18 to 24.</p>
<p>During their stay as Dickey Visitors, the monks visited humanities classes, performed their polyphonic chanting for SPS and Concord community members, held informal discussions about their lives as monks, and constructed, dedicated, and dismantled a colorful three-dimensional sand painting of compassion to St. Paul’s.</p>
<p>The last time a group of monks visited the School for a similar purpose was in the fall of 2004, when nine monks from Gaden Jangtse Tsawa Khangtsen Monastery stayed at the School for several days. The Drepung Gomang monks are on the final leg of a 15-month American tour that has included visits to schools and other institutions all over the country.</p>
<p>In The Reverend Michael Spencer’s September 23 Brahma to Buddha class, Namgyal Tsondu translated for monk Geshe Lobzang Samdup, explaining that the true purpose of their life at the monastery is “love and compassion and kindness.”</p>
<p>“We don’t rely on anyone else – we have it inside us,” said Mr. Samdup through the eloquent translation of Mr. Tsondu. “When we are born, we are introduced to love, compassion, and kindness by our parents. When we become adults, there is a danger of losing that connection. Who helps us? The different traditions and religions of the world. It’s very important to always nurture your love, compassion, and kindness. That, with your education, will help produce a meaningful life.”</p>
<p>The visitors answered student questions about daily life at the monastery, about Buddhism in general, and about the inherent nature of human beings. Students were told that the monks split their days between attending classes and debating about what they have learned. Traditional debates are physical and heated, though good-natured.</p>
<p>“What strikes me most about what [Mr. Samdup] had to say in class was that as he was speaking about the essence of the human person as love, compassion, and kindness, I thought that this is exactly the purpose of our holistic approach to education at St. Paul’s,” said Rev. Spencer. “All of our focus on academic excellence is ultimately self-serving and misdirected if it is not grounded in the values expressed in our School Prayer, values of love, compassion, and kindness which we hope to nurture in all those who come to St. Paul’s.”</p>
<p>Over the course of their six-day visit, the monks worked on their sand mandala on the floor of the Reading Room. Surrounded by clear plastic cups of colored sand, the monks poured the sand into place with narrow metal funnels called chakpurs. When one chakpur is scraped by another, it causes sufficient vibration to force a thin stream of sand to flow out onto the mandala. The use of the two chakpurs is said to symbolize the union of wisdom and compassion. As many as five monks at a time worked eight hours a day over five days to create their symbol of art and spirituality. </p>
<p>A sand mandala (Sanskrit for “sacred circle”) is an ancient form of drawing using black, white, and three shades each of blue, red, yellow, and green sand to symbolize the universe and its energy as well as the cycle of life and death. In ancient times, the sand used was ground from gems. Today the sand is most often colored with vegetable dyes or opaque temper sprinkled with powdered flowers, herbs, grains, or colored stone.</p>
<p>Upon completion of the mandala – and in keeping with the Buddhist tradition that the world is impermanent and constantly in transition – the monks performed a prayer chanting ritual outside the Schoolhouse on the morning of September 24. They then swept up the sand, handed out small bags of it to students, and poured the remainder into the Lower School Pond from the footbridge that leads from the Kitt residences to the Hockey Center. It is believed that the current will carry the healing energies throughout the world.</p>
<p>A few new stats from Leadership Weekend:
New Students admitted for 2009-2010
Form…III…IV…V…Total
Boys…49…27…7…83
Girls…60…27…3…90
Total…109…54…10…173</p>
<p>States represented 25 (total 35).
Countries represented 10 (20 total; 18%).
SSAT’s Median past two years: 88%-86%.
Financial Aid: 191 awards to 36% of student body.
The Average need-based award was $37,428.
Of the 535 students, 35 (7%) are legacies and 26 are siblings.
Students of color represent 33%.</p>
<p>To be clear, the stats posted above are the number of entering students in each form, not the number offered admission. And those sibling and legacy numbers refer only to the new students with those relationships, not the whole school, which would be a much higher number. Some legacies are also siblings. The latest numbers are very close to the information SPS released in the spring, just a few added since then. </p>
<p>Admittance to St. Pauls School remained highly selective with a 19 percent admit rate. Jada Hebra, director of admissions, reported that 167 new students 79 boys and 88 girls have elected to enroll in the fall. The students hail from 25 states and 10 countries. </p>
<p>Included in the enrollment numbers are 60 new students of color 43 from the United States and 17 from foreign countries. Thirty-one percent of the new students have an alumni or sibling relationship with the School. </p>
<p>Among the new students are 106 new Third Formers, 52 new Fourth Formers, and nine new Fifth Formers.</p>
<p>On the St. Paul’s transcript fro the core classes or those taken for an entire year, will it show the grades received in each term or just the final grade received for the class.</p>
<p>I’m not sure about third form (9th grade), but for forth form it is only the year end grades. Fifth form they see everything (all term grades and final grades) Sixth form they see your fall grades, and maybe your winter?</p>
<p>Okay… now the source of my enrollment data (post #1756), financial aid and much much more has been posted at last. This information is the most current and accurate (through last weekend), however the legacy/sibling information may have an error and a definitional issue (I will update this later). And I apologize, I meant enrollment not admissions in my earlier post, but all the other data was and is accurate. This link: <a href=“https://www.sps.edu/ftpimages/36/misc/misc_57332.pdf[/url]”>https://www.sps.edu/ftpimages/36/misc/misc_57332.pdf</a> will bring you to a clickable menu for a wide variety of information, including: </p>
<ul>
<li>Admissions and Student enrollment </li>
<li>College Admissions (through last spring)</li>
<li>Finances & Endowment as of 6/30/09 (down 18.7%, VERY good)</li>
<li>The new Science/Math Center (with a floor plan)</li>
<li>Alumni Demographics</li>
<li>The Administration</li>
<li>Faculty statistics</li>
<li>The Trustees with profiles</li>
</ul>
<p>The ‘wallpapers’ and the recordings from the student a cappella group are not available here (yet). There are also links to videos, the Parent’s Facebook page ([St</a>. Paul’s School Parents | Facebook](<a href=“http://www.facebook.com/pages/St-Pauls-School-Parents/78019196378?ref%20=search&sid=1057535369.1114541752..1&v=wall]St”>http://www.facebook.com/pages/St-Pauls-School-Parents/78019196378?ref%20=search&sid=1057535369.1114541752..1&v=wall)) and more. If you are a parent, signup for the Facebook page.</p>
<p>This was a push page, so let me know if the link does not work for you. There is a huge amount of data here (talk about transparency!).</p>