Episcopal Insider
Beaches Campus
September 6, 2024
All Campuses
The ESJ Fine Arts Department invites students, families, and community members to attend The Art of Art, a night of creativity and exploration of visual arts. Come try throwing a pot on a ceramics wheel, participate in a photography demonstration, or create artwork that you can bring home.
This free event takes place on January 16 from 5-8 PM on Arts Row on St. Elmo Drive at the Munnerlyn Campus.
Applications for the 2025-2026 school year are open and now is the time to apply for siblings at all ESJ campuses!
Episcopal families interested in a sibling applying to the Beaches Campus (Grades Pre-K 3 – 5), St. Mark’s Campus (Age 1 – Grade 5) or Munnerlyn Campus (Grades 6 – 12) should follow the steps below and complete the process by January 31. Siblings receive priority consideration, but space is limited, so be sure to complete the application process early.
View Steps to Apply for a Sibling
New This Week
The Boo Bash Planning Committee will have its first meeting on Friday, September 6, from 9:00 a.m. – 9:45 p.m. via Zoom. The Boo Bash is a long standing tradition on the Beaches Campus and is an exciting way to kick off the start of fall. For more information on how to get involved, please contact Ashley Davis, Director of Marketing and Development at [email protected]
Jaime L. Simmons, Volleyball Program Director, invites your students in third to fifth grade to practice with the ESJ varsity volleyball team after school on Tuesday, September 24 at 3:30 p.m. in the Beaches Campus Gym. We are excited to offer this great experience for our Lower School Campus students. For any questions, please contact Matt Flakus at [email protected]
*Girls Basketball practice will be reschedule for this day.
Volleyball Clinic Registration
Friday, September 27
Munnerlyn Campus
5:30 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. | Cookout on the Forbes Event Lawn
7:00 p.m. | Friday Night Football at Jangro Stadium
Come cheer on the mighty Episcopal Eagles as they take on the Yulee Hornets! No formal program – this is a casual evening of fellowship and fun!
- Admission is free for St. Mark’s and Beaches Campus families.
- Family Ticket Packets for those who RSVP will be emailed closer to the event.
- All students must be accompanied by an adult.
Click here to RSVP by September 20
Episcopal’s Cheer Program Director invites students in grades 1 – 5 to cheer with the ESJ varsity team at the football game on Friday, September 27 (during Lower School Family Fun Night). We are excited to have our lower school campuses on the Munnerlyn Campus for Friday night lights at Episcopal!
Registration is closed.
What to Wear:
- The junior cheerleaders will receive their shirts on Wednesday, September 25, at practice. They will wear these shirts to Episcopal on Friday, September 27 to cheer in.
- Please have the junior cheerleaders wear black athletic shorts and white socks with sneakers to cheer in on Friday.
- Girls should have hair up in a secure ponytail on Wednesday and Friday.
- Please bring water bottles both days.
Wednesday, September 25
- Practice, 4:00 – 6:00 p.m. at the Munnerlyn Campus
- Bus transportation with adult supervision will be available for both campuses to this practice. If you would like to sign your child up for transportation to practice on Wednesday, please email Matt Flakus at [email protected].
- Parents will pick students up at the Munnerlyn Campus Upper School Drop-Off (campus map) after practice at 6:00 p.m.
Friday, September 27 (no transportation provided)
- 4:30 p.m. – Check-in and drop off at Munnerlyn Campus Upper School drop-off circle (campus map)
- 4:30 – 6:00 p.m. – Junior cheerleaders practice and get ready with varsity cheerleaders.
- 6:00 p.m. – Junior cheerleaders will be walked over by varsity cheerleaders and coaches to join parents and families at the Lower School Family Fun Night Cookout at the Forbes Event Lawn.
- 6:30 p.m. – Varsity cheerleaders and coaches will walk back over to Forbes Event lawn to pick up the junior cheerleaders.
- First Quarter: Cheer on sideline
- End of First Quarter: Cheer routine
After the Routine:
Cheerleaders may join their parents and families in the stands to continue cheering on the Eagles.
Reminders
2024-2025 Important Calendar Dates
- January 10 – December Shout Out Free Dress/Beach Bash Tickets on Sale!
- January 14 – Pre-K/K Chapel
- January 15 – Chapel (first – fifth grade)
- January 16 – Parent Association January Meeting via Zoom
- January 17 – Spirit Dress
- January 20 – MLK Day (No School)
- January 21 – Pre-K/K Chapel
- January 22 – Eucharist Chapel
- January 23 – Family Open House (5:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.)
- January 28 – Class Picture Day (Wear Maroon)/Pre-K/K Chapel
- January 29 – January Birthday Book Chapel
- January 31 – January Birthday Free Dress/Parent Coffee with Elise Fallucco (after Friday Flag)
- February 3-7 – CTP 5 Testing (second – fifth grade)
- February 4 – Pre-K/K Chapel
- February 5 – Fruit of the Spirit Chapel
- February 6 – Parent Association February Meeting via Zoom
- February 7 – January Shout Out Free Dress
- February 11 – Pre-K/K Chapel
- February 12 – Chapel (first -fifth grade)
- February 13 – Winter Wonderland Daughter Dance (6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.)
- February 17 – Presidents Day (No School)
- February 18 – Pre-K/K Chapel
- February 19 – Eucharist Chapel (first – fifth grade)
- February 21 – Spirit Dress Day/Noon Dismissal/Trimester 2 Ends)
- February 25 – Pre-K/K Chapel
- February 26 – February Birthday Book Chapel and Head of School List Recognition
- February 28 – February Birthday Free Dress/Beach Bash Parent Social (6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.)
2024-2025-Key-Dates-Beaches-Campus-v-2024-02-06
We are pleased to announce our visiting author for the fall semester – Victoria Piontek. On Friday, September 6, Victoria will join fourth and fifth grade students for an interactive presentation of her book, Better With Butter. We are so excited for Victoria to share her book with the Lower School community!
About the Book:
A girl with anxiety disorder finds an unlikely friend—and emotional support animal—in the form of an adorable fainting goat.
Twelve-year-old Marvel is afraid of absolutely everything-amusement park rides, food poisoning, earthquakes, and that big island of plastic floating through the ocean. She also obsesses about smaller worries like making friends, getting called on by the teacher, and walking home alone. Her parents and the school therapist call her worries an anxiety disorder, but Marvel calls them armor. If something can happen, it will. She needs to be prepared.
But when Marvel stumbles on a group of older kids teasing a baby goat that has mysteriously shown up on the soccer field, she momentarily forgets to be afraid and rescues the frightened animal. Only Butter isn’t any old goat. She’s a fainting goat. When Butter feels panic, she freezes up and falls over. Marvel knows exactly how Butter feels and precisely what Butter needs-her.
Soon, Butter and Marvel are going everywhere together, and Butter thrives under Marvel’s support. Butter also helps Marvel. Everything is easier for her with Butter by her side. But just when Marvel starts to imagine a life in which she can manage her anxiety, instead of letting it control her, Butter’s owner shows up to claim her. Will Marvel find a way to keep her friend? Or will she revert back to the anxious, lonely person she used to be?
About the Author:
Victoria Piontek is the author of The Spirit of Cattail County (Scholastic Press, 2018), a ghostly story of magic and friendship set in the Everglades. The Spirit of Cattail County was a Bank Street College Best Book of the Year (2019) and selected for the Sequoyah Children’s Masterlist (2019-2020). She is also a Literary Associate for Executive Agent Laura Rennert at the Andrea Brown Literary Agency. Prior to her current roles, Victoria had a myriad of other jobs, from waitressing to sales, but her favorite occupation was teaching middle school children in New York City as a Teach for America Corps Member. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing for Children and Young Adults from Hollins University, and an MST in Education from Pace University. Her forthcoming novel, Better with Butter, is about a twelve-year-old girl struggling with anxiety and the fainting goat that changes her life. When she’s not writing, you can find her hiking in California, where she lives with her husband, three children, bunny, and fluffy dog.
Students who received a Shout Out at Friday Flag in the month of August are welcome to dress down for school on September 6. If your student received a shout out, you will be contacted by their teacher.
Beaches Campus Parents,
The Beaches Campus Parent Ambassadors warmly invite you to join them for a parent meet up this September. Be sure to check the invite below for your specific date and time—and don’t forget to wear your ESJ nametag!
Spirit Day is Friday, January 17, 2025! Don’t forget to wear your ESJ Spirit Shirt with athletic, denim, or uniform bottoms!
Greetings Episcopal Parents,
Welcome back to a new and exciting school year at Episcopal! You are invited to join us for a “Coffee and Conversation” with The Reverend Adam Greene. All parents are welcome to meet after Flag on Friday, September 13, from 8:30 a.m. – 9:15 a.m. for coffee and Q&A.
The Reverend Greene will update us on the upcoming school year and we will allow time for a question and answer period. Please feel free to come for as long as time allows. We look forward to seeing you all on Friday, September 13!
Let us know you are coming!
Beaches Campus Dads,
You are invited to attend the Beaches Campus Dads’ Club Meet and Greet on Thursday, September 19th at 6:30 p.m. at Southern Swells Brewing Company in Jacksonville Beach, FL.
Don’t miss this opportunity to meet other Beaches Campus dads in an informal and relaxed setting. All dads are welcome and don’t forget your ESJ nametag.
If you plan on attending, please RSVP here!
Sincerely,
Beaches Campus Dads’ Club President
Patrick Aland
School is closed on September 20, 2024 for Parent – Teacher Conference Day. Childcare will be provided during your scheduled conference time.
Please be on the lookout for an email to sign up for Pre-K 3 – fifth grade parent-teacher conferences.
The Beaches Campus Parent Book Study is back! Hosted by Mary Broe (Kai Bear, Grade 1), the group will meet in the Music Room every Wednesday after Chapel, September 4 – November 13. The book selected for this fall is The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness by Jonathan Haidt. The author regarding his book: “I explain the major causes of the international epidemic of mental illness that hit adolescents in the early 2010s, and I offer a path forward for parents, teachers, friends, and relatives who want to help improve the mental health of children and adolescents. Change is possible, if we can act together.”
If you would like to join this book study, please sign up here by next Wednesday, August 28. The School will purchase copies of the book for the book study members.