Father Daughter Dance Reminder

Remember to RSVP for the Daddy-Daughter Dance taking place on Saturday, December 6! Click on the flyer to see a larger version.

Fall Break Reminder

Today is the first day of Fall Break. Classes will resume on Monday, December 1st. In the meantime, be sure to use this time to spend with family and loved ones.

Enjoy this Pinterest pin with 25 fall crafts for kids to make! 

December Enrollment Tours

• Tour of The Spanish School: Tuesday, December 2nd, 8AM
•  Tour of The International School: Wednesday, December 3rd, 6PM
•  Undecided School Tour: Wednesday, December 3rd, 6PM (Marine Campus)
• Tour of The International School: Tuesday, December 9th, 8AM
• Undecided School Tour: Thursday, December 11th, 6PM (Pine Campus)
•  Tour of The French School: Wednesday, December 16th, 8AM

SLLIS will begin accepting applications to Kindergarten, 1st grade, and 6th grade for the 2015-2016 school year on October 1, 2014. If you are interested in enrolling your child in grades 2nd through 5th grade, please see our revised enrollment policy below (passed by the Board of Directors in November 2013).

Kindergarteners and 1st graders have the opportunity to choose to attend The Spanish School, The French School, or The Chinese School. Families can select one of three schools or rank each school by preference when applying.

6th grade families applying to The International School have the opportunity to choose between the Spanish and the French partial language immersion program. The partial-language immersion program is available to any incoming 6th grader living in an eligible area. We do not require any language experience prior to enrolling.

To receive an electronic enrollment application, we ask that our families attend an enrollment event. We invite you to attend one, or all, of our engaging and fun events. Students applying for The International School will be asked to spend a shadow day prior to acceptance and write a reflection about their experience.

December Club SLLIS

There are still a few spots left for the November 26 Club SLLIS. Please contact Lisa Berman directly at lisa.berman@sllis.org or at 314-398-6839 if you still need to sign up.

There will be no school on Friday, December 5 due to professional development.  If you need child care, Club SLLIS is a fee-based child care program offered at the Papin Building for all SLLIS students. Read more about the program on the form. NOTE: Registrations will be accepted through December 1, an extension from the deadline listed on the form.

We have also added December 22 and 23 to the Club SLLIS calendar. Registration for December 22 and 23 are due December 8.  No late registrations will be accepted for these dates as it is difficult to line up additional staff during a holiday period. The same will be true for January 2 (form out soon and due by December 19). 

The registration form can be found by clicking here. It is also available in every school’s lobby, at pick up from the Mosaic program and will be emailed to every family with email. For any questions, please contact Club SLLIS Coordinator, Lisa Berman, at lisa.berman@sllis.org or 314-398-6839. 

Weekly Overview: 11/24-11/28

Tuesday, November 25: TSS Thanksgiving Celebration

Wednesday, November 26: No School — Fall Break

Thursday, November 27: No School — Fall Break

Friday, November 28: No School — Fall Break

Fall Break Reminder & Tonight is Beaujolais Nouveau

Fall Break begins on Wednesday, November 26 and school will resume on Monday, December 1. Enjoy the holiday with your loved ones and check out this Bottle Cap Turkeys craft to do for Thanksgiving.

Also, tonight is Beaujolais Nouveau!

2014 Annual Appeal

Waking up in Helsinki, waking up to St. Louis : Rhonda’s Eisenhower Fellowship

In mid-October, I woke up early on the tiny island at Hanasaari, and drew the curtains so that I could see sunrise over the bay. I started to collect my thoughts and reflection on my own Finnish Lessons from the past two weeks. When I met with Minister of Education and Culture, Kriista Kiuru, last week, she summed Finnish success in one word : trust. Finns trust their government and trust authority.  Parents trust teachers. Teachers trust students. Parents trust children. Children trust adults. This pervasive trust creates ideal conditions for peaceful living and common practices.

That particular Thursday morning, when I tuned into my Twitter feed, I was overwhelmed by the images, reports, and commentary from the police-officer involved shooting of VonDerritt Myers Jr, just a few blocks away from my home. When I moved my family to Shaw in April, I was (and still am) convinced that this is absolutely where I want my kids to grow up. I appreciate the diversity of our neighborhood, the crew of intentional, critical parent friends who inspire me, and the space for our kids to go out and play. I want my children to be able to go to a friend’s house and ask them to come out and play, ride their bikes to the park, and walk to the store— the normal kid life that we had growing up. The store at the center of last month’s shooting is our neighborhood corner store. The store folks stop in on their way to the Botanical Garden. The store that has weekly Eritrean specials (yummy!) in addition to American sandwiches and regular corner store snacks.  When I learned of this shooting, I actually thought it would be safer to just send for the kids and raise them in Finland. We’re talented with languages and great at friend-making. I know how to navigate life in a new country, and I was becoming less confident that I could keep my children safe at home.

Being in Finland during the most recent officer-involved shooting in St. Louis,  provided a very stark cross-cultural comparison for trust and authority. Finnish culture has much respect and trust for government, which frames Finnish expectations for authority. Children in Finland have a great degree of autonomy from a very young age and adults respect children as people (see

​ my previous post​ Hei! from Helsinki!). One of my primary observations in all of the schools that I visited was the absence of micro-aggressions and policing youth. Even when a student was doing something inappropriate (coming to class late, standing on a table, wandering the recess field without their class), none of the adult responses were aggressive or antagonistic. No one reached to subdue the child, demand immediate behaviour change, assign a consequence, send or threaten to send an authority to respond. In fact, there were no security officers, Deans of Students, Deans of Culture, or crisis response teams. When I mentioned my observation to one building principal, she asked if they should hire some such position. She wasn’t aware of any schools in her region with any behaviour, crisis, or security specialists. This observation made me think that we antagonize youth here and then punish them when they become defensive or reactive. Our recent police shootings are lethal forms of the same micro-aggressions that we recreate in our schools.

​Another ​Eisenhower Fellow, former SLPD Chief Dan Isom recently spoke with NPR (  http://www.npr.org/2014/08/15/340562854/in-law-enforcement-diversity-is-important-ex-chief-says?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=storiesfromnpr) about the deep work necessary to diminish the aggressive exchanges between police and citizens. Our community leaders are calling for justice and ways to rebuild citizen trust in law enforcement and the judicial system.

For the second time that week, I sobbed uncontrollably on the flight to London about the state of affairs in St. Louis.  I have family members who have been, currently are, or may in the future be incarcerated for their choices. We loved them before their crimes, supported and encouraged them during their incarceration, and welcomed them back home. They made mistakes and learned from their mistakes. They came home and made better lives for their families, raised their own children and mentored others. I am proud of the fathers and men that they have become. This fall  in St. Louis we’ve become consumed with classifying the victims of police shootings as innocent bystanders, active criminals, former criminals, or potential criminals. What we are losing sight of is that all of these people are people. I am not nor will I ever condone criminal behavior, but what I have witnessed is that people can grow and learn from their mistakes. If we kill every teenager who makes a poor decision, we kill that opportunity. We are not just losing the lives of these five young men, we are losing hope for our future selves. We are giving up on who our own children can be.  I remain hopeful for our region and our children. Leaders and critics of gun violence within our communities and between police and citizens are lending their perspective to the Ferguson Commission.

“So the question is not whether we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we will be. Will we be extremists for hate or for love? Will we be extremists for the preservation of injustice or for the extension of justice?” – Martin Luther King, Jr. from Letter from a Birmingham Jail

We choose love.

SLLIS Inclement Weather Reminders

Inclement weather poses a safety hazard for transportation to and/or from school.  All SLLIS campuses will follow the same protocol in the event of inclement weather. SLLIS may opt to close school during inclement weather.However, if the weather is not serious enough to close school, we may announce a “late start” day. This means that the school will open at 9:15 instead of 8:15am, allowing families and employees more time to travel safely to school. The Mosaic (Before/After School Program) will always be cancelled in the event of a “late start” day. Of course, for safety reasons, attendance on “late start” days is at the discretion of the parent. In the event of potential inclement weather while school is in process, we may announce an “early” dismissal.

 As a reminder, should an inclement weather announcement such as a school closing or a late start be necessary, we will notify you all via the following outlets:

1) A BrightArrow message will be sent out via phone and email by Facilities Manager Sylvia Evans. (Be sure to keep your contact information current using MySLLIS online or by emailing SLLIS Registrar – Amanda Harris – amanda.harris@sllis.org

2) News Channels 2, 5, & 11 (KTVI & KSDK) will post the school announcement on the ticker at the bottom of their station screens

3) Radio station AM 1120, KMOX, will announce the inclement weather status

4) SLLIS social media will post the inclement weather status via SLLIS Website,Facebook,Wordpress Blog, & Twitter

This Week at The French School

The French School is partnering with ShowMe Etsy to host Marché, an artisanal holiday fair. Get your holiday shopping done by purchasing from 25+ vendors.

Marche Flyer

Also remember to come to Beaujolais Nouveau on Friday, November 21.

Beaujolais Nouveau flyer