“Common sense is the most uncommon of qualities.”

                                               ~ Catherine McAuley

You can still submit your Tigerfest donation tomorrow, Friday—in car line, front lobby, or at After Care—and Saturday at Winter Carnival. Cash donations are appreciated. The Auction Book goes to the printer next week, so this is the last call for ads and donations. Or donate now online.

At Winter Carnival, check out the fall sports collages and grade photos that will be sold at Tigerfest. They—along with winter sports collages and collages of “Frog and Toad”—will also be available to order before and after Tigerfest (even if you can’t attend).

Several families haven’t received their Tigerfest invitation yet. If you didn’t receive yours, contact Alison Nolan.

We are pleased to announce that two of our WMA students, Kaitlyn Przydzial and Timothy Mitchell, are the recipients of sixth grade scholarships that were available to our present fifth graders at WMA and other schools. Kaitlyn has earned the Edgar Griffiths Scholarship, and Tim has earned the Mary T. Griffiths Scholarship. These scholarships apply to sixth, seventh and eight grades. Scott Hibbs, a student from Hillcrest Elementary School, is also the recipient of the Mary T. Griffiths Scholarship.
Qualified students must achieve a score of 98 or higher on a standardized test supplied by the Scholastic Testing Service. Testing is followed up by an interview with the Scholarship Committee, students are also asked for letters of recommendation from their current teachers.The scholarships are provided through the generosity of Edgar Griffiths Jr., Waldron Academy Class of 1935, and his wife, Mary T. Griffiths, whose bequest of $1.85 million was received by Waldron Mercy Academy. Edgar Griffiths served as president, CEO and chairman of RCA before his retirement in 1981.

JV Boys’ Game at 9:30 a.m.                  (Arrive by 8:45 a.m. for pictures.)

Varsity Boys’ Game at 10:30 a.m.          (Arrive by 9:35 a.m. for pictures.)

JV Girls’ Game t 12:00 p.m.                 (Arrive by 11:15 a.m. for pictures.)

Varsity Girls’ Game at 1:00 p.m.          (Arrive by 12:00 p.m. for pictures.)

Daily Sports Update: Call the Sports Hotline - 610-664-9847, press #6, then #1.

Spring Sports Registration will open online soon!

New for Spring 2012:

JV Baseball (Grades 5 and 6 boys)

JV baseball is being offered with a limited practice and limited nonleague game schedule.

A reduced athletic fee will be charged.

Instructional Girls’ Lacrosse (grades 3 and 4 girls on Thursdays)

More details to follow!

Congratulations to all Waldron Mercy student-athletes. We will recognize the swim team at the next Community Gathering. Click 'read more' for the list of swimmers who placed.

Waldron Mercy Academy has formed a Safety Committee, whose purpose is to focus on prevention of losses and overall safety awareness.  Our school will be a safe place to work, teach and learn if we, the staff, teachers, students and parents, follow the rules set forth by the Safety Committee. Please let the Safety Committee know if you would like us to address an unsafe issue you may be aware of at WMA.  Please contact Bill Petty, committee chair, if you have an item you would like to add to the agenda.

• The Safety Committee met on January 12, 2012, to discuss the safety issues concerning the Morning Car Line Doors. We adopted the following procedure for the Morning Car Line Doors. Please help us enforce these rules.
• Morning Car Line begins at 7:30 a.m.
• Beth Hymel and Kenya Holly (car line outside duty personnel) will check to see that an adult is in the Dixon Gym, on duty, before opening the outside car line doors and propping them open.
• Any student who arrives before 7:30 a.m. should wait in their car with his or her parent.
• Any student who presses the buzzer and asks Fran Gallagher to let them in will be told they cannot come in until 7:30 a.m. when Car Line begins.
• If a parent needs to drop his or her child off before 7:30 a.m., he or she must be dropped off at the Front Door and wait in the Front Lobby with Fran Gallagher until 7:30 a.m. when they can go to the Dixon Gym.
• Students arriving for Treblemakers on Tuesday and Thursday mornings should be dropped off at the Front Lobby. Siblings dropped off at the same time must wait in the Lobby with Fran until 7:30 a.m. when they can go to the Dixon Gym.
• At 8:10 a.m., Morning Car Line is done, and the side doors are closed. After 8:10 a.m. these doors will not be opened by teachers, parents or students. These doors should not be propped open by parents, teachers or students at any time. Anyone arriving after 8:10 a.m. must enter the front doors of the school.
• The only exception to this procedure is the Philadelphia bus that drops off at the back door before 7:30 a.m. The person on that duty will let those students in and keep them with him/her until an adult is in the Dixon Gym.

The Safety Committee needs everyone's help to enforce this procedure so that WMA remains a safe place to learn and teach.

Did you know your company's corporate tax can be directed to WMA at little/no cost to you or your company? Learn more about the Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) Program by joining us at WMA on Thursday, February 23, at 8:00 a.m., for a brief presentation followed by a Q&A session. Respond to Susan O'Neill '92, director of The Waldron Annual Fund and alumni relations, by Friday, February 17, to reserve your space. Breakfast will be provided.

Clinics are for beginner and novice boys and girls in grades 3 to 6, focusing on learning strong fundamentals for a full range of strokes, as well as, basic strategy, rules, match play, and scoring.
Loaner racquets, balls and protective eyewear are available. All your child/ren will need are clean non-marking sneakers.
Shannon Hazell, squash professional, will hold clinics on Saturdays, April 14, 21, 28 and May 5, and 12. Grades 3 and 4 will be from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m. and grades 5 and 6 from 11:00 a.m. to noon.
Clinics are limited to 16 players. The cost for five-week session is $125 or $30 per individual session (space permitting). For more information contact Shannon or 610-212-7175.

Stars and Stripes Theatre’s production of "A Year with Frog and Toad KIDS" has been working hard on blocking the scenes, building the sets, assembling costumes, collecting props, learning the songs and choreography, etc. February is a challenging month for us!  Please check the rehearsal schedule carefully! We plan on beginning to put all the individual pieces of the show together at our first rehearsal on the stage/gym on Sunday, February 26. 

"A Year with Frog and Toad KIDS" will be performed on Friday and Saturday, March 16 and 17. Information about ticket sales will be distributed around President’s Day weekend.