Field Day is here! Pack a picnic and bring the whole family to run around the Post Oak backyard, socialize with other Post Oak families, slide down inf latables,

toss around the earthball, play instruments and musical games, and lots of other fun activities. Field Day festivities will have lots of old favorites from previous years along with some new features, including the Veggie Pals and fortune cookie baking with our High School students. Chairs Mary Vaeza-Lopez and Bernadette Verzosa have

been working hard to bring everything together for this year’s event, along with the help of many parent volunteers. Thank you to everyone who has been involved, and to everyone who has signed up to volunteer at the event. Please join us for this Post Oak family-fun community event, and remember to purchase your raff le tickets for some great prizes in the three Mystery Box Raff les. This is a free event and the sale of raff le tickets covers the cost of Field Day. Look inside for parking information and other details. See you Saturday!

SaturdayV O L U M E X V I I I , N U M B E R 6A weekly publication of The Post Oak School

O C T O B E R 18 , 2 0 1 2Available online at

www.postoakschool.org

i n t h i s i s s u e : F I E L D D A Y D E T A I L S • A N N U A L F U N D U P D A T E • G R A N D O P E N I N G P H O T O S

F I E L D DAY 2 01 2 !

T h e We e k l y

POST

The weather forecast is predicting mostly sunny skies for Field Day 2012: Healthy Mind, Healthy Body! Perfect for the one day out of each school year the whole Post Oak community gets a chance to picnic and play.

You’ll want to arrive early for all the fun activities. In addition to the always popular Earthball games, cake walk, bounce houses, and dunk tanks, a deejay will be spinning family-friendly music to lead kids and parents in creative movement and dance, and Houston Symphony trombonist Allen Barnhill will play “name that tune” with songs from The Baby Elephant Walk to ones by Bach and Bacharach. Also, everyone will love the Instrument Petting Zoo and Veggie Pals, a troupe that puts the fun in learning about nutrition.

This Field Day is especially significant with the presence of our first group of High School Students and their families. You’ll meet the high school students during the Mystery Box

drawings – they will pick our raffle winners!

We want to especially thank our many parent volunteers who dedicated their time and talents to making Field Day a wonderful day for all of us to enjoy! •

Bernadette Verzosa & Mary Vaeza-Lopez, Field Day Co-Chairs

FieldHealthyBody

MindHealthy

DaySat., Oct. 2010 a.m.–1 p.m.

Purchase raffle tickets on Field Day!

Your purchase goes towards funding this

event. Thank you!

BISSONNET ST.

EPISCOPALHIGH SCHOOL

GORDONELEMENTARY

INDICATES EXTRA PARKING AT EHS

PARKING MAP

THE POST OAK SCHOOL

FIELD DAYFAMILY PICNIC

ENTER

FIELD DAYENTRANCE

GATEA

VEN

UE

B

PA G E 2 O C TO B E R 5 , 2 0 1 2

WHEN Saturday, Oct. 20 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

WHERE Post Oak gym, field, and playground. Enter through the Post Oak field entrance off of the Episcopal High School driveway.

WHO All Post Oak families (relatives and friends are welcome to attend, too!)

WHAT There will be activities for children from Infant Community through High School… and parents have fun, too.

MORE DETAILS Parking is available on the Post Oak lot, at Episcopal High School (see map), along Avenue B, and across Bissonnet at the park behind Gordon Elementary.

PLEASE NOTE: parents must supervise their children on the playground. To ensure your child’s safety, signs will be posted to identify the age levels for the different playground sections. Please pay attention to the signs as they reflect ASTM playground safety standards for the different equipment. There are different areas for Infant Community, Primary, and the older children (Elementary–High School).

All costs for Field Day are defrayed by the raffle of class Mystery Boxes. Room parents (and other coordinators) have made an enticing array of creatively decorated boxes to be raffled off. There will be drawings at three different times: 11 a.m., noon, and 12:45 p.m. Remember, this event is strictly a fun raiser and not a fundraiser. However, we do want to cover the costs for the event, so please do your part and buy a raffle ticket or two.

FOOD & WATERThere will not be food for sale, so bring a picnic lunch and a blanket to spread out on the playing field.

We ask that you bring reusable water bottles to reduce plastic waste. Water will be available to refill your water bottles.

ACTIVITIES ◆ Houston Symphony Instrument Petting Zoo ◆ The Patch Obstacle Course ◆ Fortune Cookie Baking with High School Students

◆ Face Painting with Middle Schoolers ◆ Visor Craft Table ◆ Dunk Tank

◆ Bounce Houses & Slides ◆ Balloon Artists ◆ Cake walk with Moeller’s orange rolls and clementines

◆ Earthball games Catch with Parachute 10:30 High Jump 11:10 Hold It Up 11:40 Circle Time Trial 12:15

◆ Raffle Drawings at 11, 12 and 12:50

SPECIAL INTERACTIVE PERFORMANCESVeggie Pals, 10:30 a.m. & 12:15 p.m.

Allen Barnhill, Houston Symphony principal trombonist, 11:20 a.m.

NOTES OF GRATITUDE ◆ Thanks to EHS for additional parking. ◆ Thanks to room parents for organizing the

Mystery Box raffle and to all parents for contributing to those boxes.

◆ Thanks to each of you for purchasing raffle tickets.

◆ And big thanks to our terrific Field Day chairs Mary Vaeza-Lopez and Bernadette Verzosa, the POPA Chairs Laura Citardi, Jessica Gregg, and Whitney Walsh, and all the volunteers for making this great family event happen.

Field Day Details!

Extra T-shirts on sale at Field Day. Grab one while they last!

PA G E 3O C TO B E R 5 , 2 0 1 2

Three weeks into the campaign, the Annual Fund has been nothing short of extraordinary! A full sprint from the starting line has brought us past the half-way point of our $250,000 goal. Thanks to all employees, parents, trustees, and grandparents who have shown their early and generous support!

We still have much to do! Together with everyone’s support we can reach our goal. With four weeks remaining, we hope to get all families involved and understanding why the Annual Fund is so important to our school. Talk to your class captains, read your brochure, learn more, and give to the Post Oak Fund!

Ashley and Herbert Addison

Shonali and Rakesh Agrawal

Irma Alarcon

Daniel Anastacio

Nazario Anastacio

Mirna Andrade-Salgado and José Salgado

Anonymous

Frank Apollo

Alma Armendariz

Stephanie and Phil Arnett

Elenir and Rony Avritscher

Diana and Juan Balderas

Jessica and Darrell Barger

Tamara and William Basham

Steve Beeman

Mary Birk

Vivian Blum

Jessica and Ben Braun

Jennifer and Christian Brenckmann

Courtney and Bill Bucy

Erin and Brett Busby

Kimberly and Michael Callahan

Ruth Cañas

Sara and Juan Pablo Cata

Millie Chavez

Deepa and Rajesh Chelapurath

Dinah Chetrit

Anthony Cisneros

Laura and Martin Citardi

Danielle Dalsey

Kelly and Garth Davis

Kelly and James Davis

Lissa Debes

Sandra DeLeon

Maneesha and Manoj Devashish

Elizabeth DiCesare

Andrea and Robert Dilger

Victoria and Gislar Donnenberg

Anne Singleton and Jack Douglas

Lauren and David Dressler

Bob Duboise and Dale Duboise

Tina and John Duboise

Erica and Glenn Engle

Kathleen and Richard Evans

Laurie and Leland Fondren

Abbe and Adam Forman

Asenet Garcia

Amy and Blair Garrou

Karri and Alfredo Garth

Lilia Garza

Eva and Enrique Gasca

Tanya and Jerry Gee

Cathy and Tim Goff

Shekkola Gray

Janice and Barrett Green

Jeremy Grisbee

Sowmini and Ravi Gudimetla

Sophia Banu and Muzammil Hanif

Theresa and Travis Hanson

Vicki and Robert Harvey

Kristin and Joey Hayles

Debbie and Todd Henderson

Claudia and David Hertzog

Jada Hickman

Kelly and Blake Hill

Anh and Doanh Hoang

Carol and John Howenstine

Cynthia and Darren Hubbard

JPMorgan Chase Foundation

Catherine and Andrew Kaldis

Komal and Vijay Kale

Janet and Mario Kapusta

Hallie and Eugene Kim

Kinder Morgan

Cynthia DeLaney and Stephan Kinsella

Lili and Hans Kirchner

Amy, Lloyd, and Kirchner

Orly and Yoel Kluk

Christina Kopanidis-Cantu and Jorge Cantu

Vasanthi and Ramanan Krishnamoorti

Marcel and Matthew Lake

Vivian and Kenneth Lee

Susan and Timothy Leverenz

Renée and Michael Locklar

Deidre Lodrig

Kathy and John Long

Lupe Lopez

Lucinda and Javier Loya

Michelle and Thomas Lu

Robin and Jeff Lunsford

Monica and Richard Lyn-Cook

Sunila Madiman

Harold Malveaux

Jenny and André Marshall

John and Lori Martinez

Marcela Martinez

Elizabeth Matthews

Tanya Bennett and David McConkey

Alison and Blaine McElroy

Kelly McNamara

Muriel and Marcel Meicler

we can•

Together2 0 1 3 P O ST OA K F U N D D R I V E

THANK YOU FOR YOUR EARLY PARTICIPATION!WE HAVE FOUR WEEKS TO GO!

PA G E 4 O C TO B E R 5 , 2 0 1 2

If you have contributed and your name is not on this list, please accept our apologies and contact

Christina Cantu in the Development Office. EMPLOYEES 100%

TRUSTEES 86%

PARENTS 94/247

GRANDPARENTS 4

2012 POST OAK FUND DRIVE

TOGETHER WE CAN!

100%CONTRIBUTIONS AS

OF 10/16/2012

Michele Meicler

Manuel Mejia

Regina and Bert Mellinger

Sara Jurney and Todd Mensing

Paula and Mark Mey

Jessica and Philipp Meyer

Pat and Bill Mitchell

Nandita Gupta and Vikas Mittal

Mary and John Moore

Monica Moreno

Sarah and James Moudry

Diana Muñiz

Kate and Lance Murphy

Kathryn Murphy

Kavitha and Sattva Neelapu

Debbie Nickerson

Corine and Joel Noronha

Susan Hardwick-Smith and Kevin O’Gorman

Wendy and Meir O’Hanna

Emily Hansen and Patrick O’Heron

Heather and Brenden O’Neill

Diana and Albert Onofre

Patricia Onofre

Catherine and Robert Orr

Janet Ott

Sharon Engelstein and Aaron Parazette

Jaana Porra and Michael Parks

Julie Parraguirre

Stelli and Todd Parsapour

Melissa Coleman and Robert Pascoe

Norma Paulin

Jenna Pel

Christine Peterson

Lisa and Patrick Phelps

Jacqueline and Robert Phillpott

Maya and Errol Pinto

Post Oak Dads’ Club

Shelley and James Quillin

Laura and Thomas Rahlfs

Lisa and John Reed

Elizabeth Reese

Celia Rodriguez

Heidi and Bryan Rosenstrauch

Andrea and Anthony Russo

Safeway Inc.

Alicia Kowalchuk and Benjamin Saldaña

Jessica Samano

Suzan and Jeremy Samuels

Daniela and Manolo Sanchez

Farrell and Stuart Saunders

Kate and Greg Scheinman

Shonali Jacob and Jeff Schneider

Sherri and Charles Schugart

Meara Schwartz

Elaine Schweizer

Jacqualin and Jeff Seely

Zeenath and Arjun Selvakumar

B.R. Simon

Beth Smith

Mirani Smith

Hifa Sobhani

Valerie and Michael Sonsino

Simran and Manish Sood

Evy and Nickolas Spiliotis

Jenee and Nick Stefanakis

Mary and Garland Stephens

Nina Strane

Erin and Tom Stus

Anita Taj

Target

Diego Tax

Aimee and Greg Taylor

Catherine Than and Hoang Quan Vu

Nikayla and Aaron Thomas

Jeni and Matt Thompson

Phylis Tomlinson

Jennifer and Sam Touchet

Tamara and Robert Townsend

Mark Tucker

Ryan Tucker

Irving Valencia

Daniel Vicente

Molly and Coert Voorhees

Whitney and Marc Walsh

Jamie Ward

Melanie Gray and Mark Wawro

Debbie and Richard Williams

Vallette and Russell Windham

James Winslow

Miriam Winton

Constance and Jeffrey Woodman

Terry and Karl Wygant

Samantha and Charles Wykoff

Kim and Chuck Yates

Phoebe Yeager

Anita and Alan Ying

Carlie and Richard Yoo

Daniela Weil and Erik Zanker

Jennifer and Fernando Zumbado

PA G E 5O C TO B E R 5 , 2 0 1 2

“WANNA BE STARTIN’ SOMETHING”

PICK UP A PACKETPick up auction donation packets so that you’ll be prepared when asking for a donation! Packets are available for pick-up in the front office. If you have any questions about the auction, please contact Gala Chairs:

Jian Short, Erin Stus,

MORE “HOT STUFF”Tickets, Travel, Dining, Gift Cards, and More

Do you shop? Do you travel? Do you have season tickets? Do you eat out?

We’re fairly confident that you answered “Yes” to one of those questions! Talk to the store, hotel, or restaurant manager. Requests from valued customers are much more likely to result in a donation than cold solicitations.

THE HOST WITH THE MOST!Do you like to entertain? The Gala is looking for people to host events. Events can be for adults, children, or family. Usually, these items are sold on a per-person basis with all proceeds going towards the Gala fundraising goal. Your donation will need to include location and cover the cost of the event. You set the number of attendees.

■ Progressive Dinner – families partner to host a dinner party

■ Indian or Asian Dinner ■ Wine Tastings

“GOOD TIMES” EXPERIENCESSome of the most sought-after events and experiences are donated by our very own community using their own professions, hobbies, and talents. Don’t limit yourself though! Most of us have friends, neighbors, family members who might have something to offer, they just need to be asked!

■ Doctor for a Day ■ Photography Class ■ Behind the Scenes ■ Guided canoe trip

“HOT STUFF” NEEDED FOR SILENT AUCTION In addition to the classroom art projects in the Live Auction, the Gala also holds a very large silent auction offering an impressive selection of items donated primarily by our parent and faculty/staff communities.

“THINK IT OVER” UNDERWRITINGWe’ve already had a very good response to the underwriting packets that were sent a couple of weeks ago! Whether you decide to underwrite individually or to split a table, it all goes to support the school and this major fundraising event. Underwriting opportunities begin at $500 per couple and $1000+ underwriting levels are invited to an Underwriting Cocktail Reception in January. For your convenience, an Underwriting reply form is on back of this newsletter. Deadline to be listed as an underwriter in the invitation is Nov 9. So be a “Cool Cat” and become an underwriter today!

THE 2013 POST OAK GALA

CATCH A LITTLE “FRIDAY NIGHT FEVER”

PA G E 6 O C TO B E R 5 , 2 0 1 2

MONDAY, OCT. 22

Middle School

High School

Emily Hansen

Miriam Winton

Orly Kluk

TUESDAY, OCT. 23

Errol Pinto

Sarah Moudry

Julie Parraguirre

Danielle Dalsey

Kathy Long

WEDNESDAY, OCT. 24

Maya Pinto

Deidre Lodrig

Tamara Townsend

Tamara Basham

Hifa Sobhani

THURSDAY, OCT. 25

Debbie Nickerson

Phoebe Yeager

Beth Smith

Make-up pictures

Volunteer sign-up sheets will be at the front desk starting Monday, 10/22!

THE POST OAK BOOK FAIR

THURSDAY, NOV. 1 9 A.M.–9 P.M.

BARNES & NOBLE 3003 W. HOLCOMBE BLVD.

BOOK FAIR CHAIRS: HILLERY HUGG & MARY STEPHENS

Join us for this fun-filled

event for the entire family!

You can purchase books for

your child’s class, the school

library, and your friends and

family. A percentage of all

purchases (books, music,

games, toys, DVDs, etc.)

made that day go directly

to our school. Shop all day

at Barnes & Noble, but be

there from 4–7 p.m. for

activities featuring puppets,

robots, readings, bookmark-

making, and more!

Individual Student Pictures Are Next Week

Mon.–Thurs., Oct. 22–25

PA G E 7O C TO B E R 5 , 2 0 1 2

High School Grand OpeningA hearty thank you to all those who braved the weather to come celebrate the Grand Opening of Post Oak High School this week. There was no dampening of spirits in this evening of smiles, festivity, and, mmmm, lots of grilled cheese goodness. A highlight of the evening’s brief program was a reading by High School student —the first to enroll through early admission—about her experience in choosing to attend Post Oak.

“I am really glad that I chose Post Oak High School because it is so different and unique from any other high school and is truly the best high school that I could be so fortunate to attend.” Look for the full piece in the next Weekly Post. In closing, the high school students buried a time capsule containing videos, among other items.

Thank you again for your support in the creation of a high school which fosters not only strong academics, but also creativity and innovation. Here’s to the successful and bright futures of our Post Oak High School students! •

PA G E 8 O C TO B E R 5 , 2 0 1 2

PA G E 9O C TO B E R 5 , 2 0 1 2

Still looking for Parent Volunteers for Post Oak’s 50th Anniversary Committee

Sign up through the link on homepage or contact Kathryn Murphy at kathrynmurphy@postoakschool.org.

(2013–14 is our celebration year)

It’ll be nifty turning

50

REMINDER

DATE CHANGE

Third grade standardized testing

has moved from Dec. 3–7 to Nov. 12–16.

Guests Bring VarietyIn an effort to bring variety and cultural enrichment to Expanded Year Contract Days, we will be hosting an assortment of guests throughout the school year.

On October 12, a representative from the Fort Bend Museum visited the class. Claire Rogers, Museum Site Manager, led a program that delved into the history of the region. Students learned about items that nineteenth century pioneers brought with them while exploring Texas. The program also featured demonstrations of butter churning and wheel spinning, just as early settlers used to do. -Asenet Garcia & Jenna Pel

PA G E 1 0 O C TO B E R 5 , 2 0 1 2

South American Sojourn for Two Post Oak Dadsby Rakesh Agrawal and Sonny Harpavat, Post Oak parents

This summer two Post Oak parents, Rakesh Agrawal and Dr. Sanjiv Harpavat, traveled to South America. First, Dr. Harpavat went with a group of other doctors and volunteers to a small town outside of Santa Cruz, Bolivia named Montero. There they worked in hospitals and clinics taking care of children. They treated different diseases including malnutrition, diarrhea, tuberculosis, spinal cord problems, and poor vision.

The group also cared for 120 girls living in an orphanage. The girls do not have many of the things we have, but they have two of the most important things: spirit and enthusiasm. Catholic nuns run the orphanage and act like the girls’ parents. The children have many talents like weaving, playing basketball, and dancing. Some weaved and sold beautiful table cloths. On the last night they did a performance of dances from all around the world, including a Russian ballet and a Bollywood dance. Now the doctors’

group is trying to build a computer lab for the orphanage, and is also helping one young girl fulfill her dream of going to medical school to become a doctor.

After Bolivia, Sanjiv traveled to Cuzco, Peru where he was joined by Rakesh and another friend. Cuzco was the center of the ancient Incan empire, which ended in the 1500s when the Spaniards came to the west side of South America. Before that the Incan empire was vast (3,000 miles long), rich (it had lots of gold), and very sophisticated. Rakesh and Sanjiv trekked 58 kilometers through the mountains to a maximum elevation of 15,000 feet to the lost Incan city of Machu Picchu. They saw a city with magnificent stone houses and temples. In the center was the Sun Temple, which made a perfect image with sun light only during the equinox. At the top was a quarry full of rocks. The Incas used it to make all of their buildings. This shows us that Incas were extremely talented and intelligent! Both Rakesh and Sanjiv came back with many pictures and stories to share. •

PA G E 1 1O C TO B E R 5 , 2 0 1 2

C A L E N DA R N OT I C E B OA R D

O C T O B E R 2 1 – 2 7

Mon–Thu10/22–25 Individual school pictures

Tue10/23

The Post Oak Middle School Experience (all parents welcome)7:00 p.m.

Thu10/25

Infant Community Parent Education7:00 p.m.

Fri10/26

Conference dayInfant Community in session.Classes not in session: only students w/ expanded year contracts attend

O C T O B E R 2 8 – N O V E M B E R 3

Tue10/30

HS Halloween Party5:00–8:00 p.m.

Wed10/31 Halloween

Thu–Fri11/1–2 Vision and hearing screening

Thu11/1

Book FairAll Saints Day

Fri11/2

Montessori Journey6:00–9:00 p.m.($ & reg. required)

Sat11/3

Montessori Journey8:00 a.m.–2:00 p.m.

Sun11/4 Daylight Saving Time ends

Check out our calendar online or download a copy

at www.postoakschool.org

A B O U T T H E W E E K L Y P O S TThe Weekly Post appears on most Fridays of the regular school year.

You can receive a printed copy from your oldest child, or a PDF version online.

Submit letters, articles, or photos in electronic form by 5:00 p.m. on the Tuesday before publication to Communications Coordinator Elaine Schweizer (elaineschweizer@postoakschool.org). If publication is

on a Thursday due to school closure on Friday, then the deadline is 5:00 p.m. on the preceding Monday.

All photos in The Weekly Post are by Elaine Schweizer unless otherwise noted.

The Post Oak School was founded in 1963 and accredited by both the Association Montessori Internationale (AMI) and the Independent Schools Association of the Southwest (ISAS)

4600 Bissonnet, Bellaire, Texas 77401 • Telephone: 713-661-6688 • Fax: 713-661-4959 • www.postoakschool.org

Grandparents’ Days invitationsGrandparents’ Days will soon be here! If you would like your child’s grandparents or other relatives/friends to be invited to this year’s Grandparents’ Days (November 19 & 20), please visit www.postoakschool.org and submit their mailing information. Please include anyone you think would like to observe and/or interact with your children in their Montessori environment. Invitations will be mailed directly to those individuals in late October. •

Gra

ndparentsandFriends

Gra

ndparentsandFriends

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The Post Oak School cordially invites you to

GRANDPARENTS’ DAY(other relatives and close friends are also invited)

Monday or TuesdayNovember 24 or 25, 2008

9:00 a.m. to 11 a.m.

See your grandchildren at work in

their Montessori school.

To allow the younger students (Infant and Primary)

to maintain their work cycle, we request that

you view them through the observation window.

In the Elementary and Middle School levels,

you are welcome to interact with the students.

RSVPPlease email christinacantu@postoakschool.org

with your name and address, the names of your

grandchildren, and which day you plan to visit.

Or mail back the enclosed postcard.

Event schedule and directions are on the back.

PROGRAM(for both days)

9:00 – 9:15 a.m. Arrival/Breakfast

9:15 – 9:45 a.m. Welcome - John Long, Head of School

9:45 – 10:45 a.m. Guided tours: Infant & Primary classrooms.

Classroom visits :

Elementary & Middle School

(Note: Middle School students

are not on campus Monday

morning)

10:45 a.m. Departure.

Thank you for joining us!

�DIRECTIONS

The Post Oak School is located one block inside the 610 West Loop, on the corner of Avenue B and

Bissonnet. The entrance gate is on Avenue B. Parking is available on the school grounds.

The Post Oak School, 4600 Bissonnet, Bellaire, TX 77401Phone: 713-661-6688

Fournace

610WestLoop

Bissonnet

Avenue B

Southwest Freeway (59)

The Post Oak School

Bissonnet

N

Infant Community Parent EducationTHURSDAY, OCTOBER 25, 7 P.M.

in the common room

THE DIARY OF A TODDLER: A look at your child’s

daily schedule at school

PA G E 1 2 O C TO B E R 5 , 2 0 1 2