Dr. Palmer’s Update: January 2011

Principia students are back and ready for 2011. From the youngest preschoolers to nontraditional College students, everyone is embracing opportunities to stretch, learn, and grow in new directions.

At the School, the first phase of facility renovations is coming to completion. The School bookstore is now open in its new location just off the Upper School lobby. Next month, the Pre-, Lower, and Middle School library will move into renovated space with access to an outdoor reading patio. Students will gather in a new atrium space to hear stories in the multimedia story room. And the Lower and Middle School art room will relocate from the basement of Lower School to an airy space on the Middle School level, complete with stairs leading down to a future sculpture garden.

Stop by for a visit, when you can. Meanwhile, check out the series of videos tracking the progress of this project since it began last summer. In the latest one, Scott Gerber, manager of capital projects, offers a sneak peak at what is included in the next phase of renovations. We are actively fundraising for this project and hope to restart construction this summer.

In case you didn’t hear the announcement from the rooftops, the School will be performing The Music Man in this spring’s production April 7–9. At the College, the spring musical production will be Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities. Principia will be the first-ever college to produce this musical, which debuted on Broadway in 2008.

We are getting ready to launch our second “online-in” course for students in Elsah. Following a successful computer science course taught by a professor in California in the fall, a professor in Boston will be teaching a Spanish language and culture course this spring. And we’re looking forward to rolling out our first non-credit online courses this June. Stay tuned for details.

If you missed the live “Principia Chat” with College Dean of Academics Scott Schneberger in December, listen to the podcast or view video highlights. The January Chat will focus on the new Upper School Freshman Experience program, an interdisciplinary, experiential approach to nurturing first-year high schoolers. Ask your questions live on Principia Internet Radio at 8 p.m. (CST) on January 18 when Upper School teachers Rich Eisenauer and Jodi Fielding chat with Chief Administrative Officer Peter Stevens.

We are continuing to focus this year on the metaphysical theme “Trust in the Lord, and do good” (Psalms 37:3). At the College, four students will be presenting Convocation talks on this theme next Thursday, January 13, from 1:00–1:50 p.m. You can listen from anywhere in the world on Principia Internet Radio. Join us—and be prepared to be inspired!

It’s going to be a great year for Principia, and we send warmest wishes to the worldwide Principia family for a happy, fun, and, most of all, educational 2011!