The Atlanta School is offering a summer camp to hone both expository and creative writing skills for Middle and Junior High School students from July 7 through July 18, 2008.  We will be focusing on basic grammar skills, writing essays based on summer reading assignments, and exploring approaches and techniques for creative writing projects.  During the afternoons, we will be watching movies and writing reviews, going on field trips with the goal of inspiring creative writing, and perhaps going for a swim or two.  From July 7 through July 15, the camp will run from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Those participants who have not been picked up by 3:15 p.m. will be in aftercare in the main TAS building until 5:00 p.m.  On Wednesday, July 16, we will be leaving for a two-night camping trip in the north Georgia mountains where we will read our creative writing projects around a camp-fire and play in the woods!  The cost of the Quill Camp is $450.00.  It’s not too late to register!  Call Paulette at (404)688-9550.

Whew!  We’ve done it!  The AT, baby!  Just a walk in the woods.  For six days, Doug and Jennifer led eight intrepid TAS Junior High students and alumni from Springer Mountain, the southern terminus of the Appalachian Trail, to Hog Pen Gap – a 40-mile trek that included the summit of no less than 10 named mountains.  There are too many tales to tell, but suffice it to say that our hikers’ collective sense of accomplishment is well-deserved and the spirit of adventure is alive and well.  We are planning on hiking from Hog Pen Gap to Unicoi Gap over a long weekend in the fall, and we are planning on hiking from Unicoi Gap into North Carolina next spring.  Newcomers are welcome!  Keep checking the TAS webpage.  For that matter, check the page in the near future for photographs. 

We are pleased to announce that the Appalachian Trail Camp will take place from June 9 through June 20, 2008.  The camp is open to rising 6th Graders and above.  The first five days will be spent preparing, training, reading and hiking.  We will depart for North Georgia on Friday, June 13 and begin our hike on Saturday, June 14.  Plans are to cover approximately 50 miles of the AT from Springer Mountain to Unicoi Gap.    We’ll complete the hike by June 19 and return that evening or Friday morning.The cost for the camp is $580 - more details to follow including training opportunities, equipment needs and options as well as specifics about the trip. 
 
Please contact us if your child is interested in applying.
 
Happy Trails!
 
Doug and Jennifer

Summer Camp Dates - Brochure and details to follow soon.
 
Pre - K ( 3 & 4 year olds )
 
Session 1  - June 16- June 27
Session 2 - June 30 - July 11
Session 3 - July 14- July 25
Session 4 - July 28 - August 8
 
Cost ( per 2 week session) - 1/2 day - 250.00  full day 400.00
 
Art camps ( 5 years and older)
 
Session 1 - June 16 - June 20 - TBA
Session 2 - June 23 - June 27 - Paper crafts
Session 3 - June 30 - July 11 - Pottery *
Session 4 - July 14 - July 25 - Pottery *
Session 5  - July 28 - August 1 - Mixed Media
Session 6 - August 4 - August 8 - Mixed Media
 
Cost -  1 week sessions - 250.00        2 week sessions - 475.00

January is a busy month for the 1/2 class. We will continue to study Native Americans in North America, take a few field trips, and continue learning Spanish.

This month we will take a look at North American Native Americans after European contact. We will cover them by region beginning with Georgia and South East. These tribes include the Yamasee, Cherokee, and Chatot. Next, are the South Western tribes which are the descendents of the Anasazi. Some of them are Hopi, Navajo, and Jicarilla Apache. After we will study the Iriquos Confederacy, the Adirondak tribe, and the Manhattan tribe of the North East. We will travel back to the North West to have a look at the Stillaguamish, Maki, and Walla Walla tribes. Lastly we will study the Plains Indians. The Lakota, Shoshone, and the Pona are just a few of the tribes from the plains. We are gearing up for our research project in February. Each child will have the opportunity to research a Native American tribe and present the information to the class. More information will be provided in Februrary.

Our class will also take three more field trips during January. On the 17th we will go to Spivey Hall to see the Atlanta Percussion Trio.  We have planned to take the children to Mount Arabia on the 24th if it is nice. Then we will go back to Spivey on the 29th for an operatic rendition of “The Three Little Pigs.” These three field trips are $5 each.

Students will continue to study “calendar” vocabulary in Spanish. As soon as this is mastered we will move on to “things to do” and “action” words.