Pre-K 3—Grade 5 students receive a book for their birthday that is added to the Steve Williams Library Collection. Please be on the lookout for an email from Mrs. Trumpler regarding book selection. After a special bookplate is placed in the book, it will be blessed at the Birthday Chapel. Your child will be the first person to check out the book, and we ask them to return it after reading it for a few weeks so other children can enjoy it! Please join us at their special birthday Chapel.

8:25 a.m.

St. Mark’s Episcopal Church

March Birthdays

• March 24 (COMBINED Grades Pre-K 3 – Grade 5)

April and May Birthdays

• April 14 (Grades 1-5)
• April 23 (Pre-K and Kindergarten)

Each month, first – fifth grade students are recognized by peers and teachers for demonstrating qualities of the Fruit of the Spirit that the Apostle Paul writes about in his letter to the church in Galatia. “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” Galatians 5:22-23. Parents are welcome to attend these afternoon gatherings, as they are all Chapels and gatherings.

Wednesdays  at 2:30 p.m.

Lori Schiavone Commons

• March 19 – Fruit of Faithfulness Gathering
• April 23 – Fruit of Gentleness Gathering
• May 14 – Fruit of Self-Control Gathering

6:00 p.m.

Lori Schiavone Commons

Pizza and beer will be provided. Dads are encouraged to dress casually, as pickup basketball games often occur in the Lori Schiavone Commons during Dads’ Club socials.

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.

School and Extended Day Programs are closed on September 20.  Childcare is available during your child(ren)’s conference time(s):

• ELP 1 and ELP 2 – conference care offered in Dempsey Chapel
• Pre-K 3 – Grade 5 – conference care offered in the Lori Schiavone Commons

The ability to sign up for a conference time is located on the My ESJ Parent Portal, under “Important Right Now”