Madeleine Wright will represent Davidson Elementary at Friday's north district spelling bee for CMS.

Keep your fingers c-r-o-s-s-e-d Friday morning for the three local spellers at the CMS north district bee. We have a report on them below, along with application information for families pondering their many options for school assignments in the fall.  The CMS magnet lottery, which includes Davidson’s own International Baccalaureate Middle School, opens Friday.

Also read below about Davidson Day‘s first-ever Homecoming and the Olympic gold medalist who will be speaking at Bailey Middle’s National Junior Honor Society meeting.

LOCAL SPELLERS HEAD TO CMS BEE

The North Learning Community for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools will hold its annual spelling bee Friday morning at Cornelius Elementary.  Representing Davidson-area schools will be Madeleine Wright of Davidson Elementary, Kaitlyn Kelly of Bailey Middle, and Emily Yue of Davidson IB Middle.  These three young women were all winners of their school bees and will compete Friday for the chance to represent the north area in the CMS district bee.

“My winning word was ‘rutabaga,'” reported Madeleine, the daughter of Doug and Réa Wright of Davidson.

Madeleine first won her class bee, on the word “quarantine,” and then represented Katherine Radcliff’s 5th grade class at the school-wide bee, open to grades 3-5.  Runner up was Ben Sellers, a 4th grader in Shannel Hoyer’s class and the son of Kathryn and Pat Sellers.

At Davidson IB, it all came down to the word “mallard,” which Emily Yue spelled correctly for the championship.  The 8th grader is the daughter of Bill and Vera Yue of Huntersville.  She does not consider herself a good speller, but says she is an avid reader and that helps.  During the IB school bee, Emily went through several rounds with 7th grader Jacob Pilsbury, the son of Ruth and Adam Pilsbury of Huntersville, whose big sister Louise was last year’s IB spelling champ.

At Bailey Middle, Kaitlyn Kelly’s winning word was “conundrum.”  The 8th grader is a Davidson Elementary alum and the daughter of Eric and Sandy Kelly.  Bailey’s runner up was 6th grader Zach Marti, the son of Laura and Gerardo Marti of Davidson.

Good l-u-c-k, spellers!  (Below are, from left, Madeleine, Emily and Kaitlyn.)

SCHOOL REGISTRATION NOW UNDERWAY

The start of a new year means it is time to think about fall registration.  Local private and charter schools are hosting open houses this month while the CMS magnet lottery opens Friday.  Families considering their options should note that:

• The CMS (public school) magnet schools lottery runs from Jan. 8 – Feb. 8.  The district will hold a magnet fair on Saturday at the Phillip O. Berry Academy of Technology in Charlotte, featuring information about the district’s 11 magnet programs.  The north-area region fair will be held Jan. 12, 6:30 – 8 p.m., at the Cornelius Town Hall. Davidson IB Middle, a magnet on South Street serving grades 6-8, is hosting open houses this month on Jan. 12 at 4:30 p.m., and Jan. 28 at 10 a.m.  The North Meck High IB program in Huntersville will host an informational meeting in the school’s media center Tuesday, 8-10 a.m.  Informal walking tours of North Meck High will be held from 8-10 a.m. Jan. 13-15.  Call 980-343-3840 to schedule an appointment. The lottery application is available online at www.cms.k12.nc.us/application.  A student ID number is required for the lottery.  New CMS students need to enroll regardless of whether they are interested in attending a magnet school.  See the CMS enrollment website for more information.
• For charter school lotteries, the Pine Lake Prep lottery for 2010 is closed, but the application period for Community School of Davidson runs through the end of the month.  CSD will serve grades K-9 in the 2010-11 school year. The charter will hold its first open house of the month Friday, starting at 9:30 a.m. Others will follow at 9:30 a.m. and also 7 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 14, and then at 1:30 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 29.  To register for an open house, call the charter school at 704-896-6262, or send an email to info@csdnc.org.   For more information, click here to get to the CSD registration website.
• Cannon School, a private school in Concord serving grades pre-K through 12,  requires submission of a completed application one year prior to the year of enrollment.  The school holds “walk-in Wednesdays,” 9 a.m. – noon, for interested families to stop by without a prior appointment.  See the school’s admissions website for more information.
• Davidson Day School, a private school serving grades pre-K through 12, will be hosting an admission open house on Tuesday, Jan. 12th, at 10:00 am in the Davidson Day auditorium.  This will be the first early childhood admission open house of the year.  Contact the school’s admissions office at 704 237-5223 or email at admissions@davidsonday.org with questions.
• McKinney Academy, a private elementary school in Davidson serving grades K through 4 (and will add grade 5 next year), holds admissions open houses through May. January’s open house, will be Thursday, Jan. 21, 6:30 – 7:30 p.m.  Parents are encouraged to attend the open house without their children.  They can also call 704-895-9664 to schedule a tour.  More information is available at the school’s admissions website.
• Woodlawn School, a private school in Iredell County that will be serving grades K-12 in the 2010-11 school year, will host an open house for prospective students, Sunday from 1-3 p.m.  New student registration ends March 1 for the upcoming year.  For more information, click here for the Woodlawn admissions website.  The new student application deadline for Woodlawn is March 1.

OLYMPIAN TO SPEAK AT BAILEY

Dan Jansen on the medal stand at the 1994 Winter Olympics.

Dan Jansen, an Olympic gold medalists in speed skating, will be the featured speaker at the Jan. 13 meeting of Bailey Middle’s National Junior Honor Society.  Mr. Jansen, whose daughter Olivia attends Bailey and is a member of the school’s basketball team and NJHS, is now a motivational speaker for Swing Blade Enterprises of Mooresville. Mr. Jansen famously dedicated his gold to the memory of his sister, Jane, who died of leukemia at the height of his skating career.  He now speaks to corporate clients about team building, overcoming obstacles and facing adversity.

DDS TO HOST FIRST HOMECOMING

Davidson Day will celebrate its first-ever Homecoming Saturday. Alumni, students and faculty plan to tailgate prior to the afternoon’s boys and girls basketball games.  Alumni will also be recognized during the games. The Patriots will be hosting Covenant Classical School. The girls varsity game will begin at 5 p.m.,  and the boys varsity will follow at 6:30 pm.  The DDS boys team is now 6-3, coming off a 59-51 win over Gaston Day Tuesday.  The girls are 0-2.

SCHOOL CALENDAR

• FRIDAY, JAN. 8 – Application period begins for enrolling in magnet programs (including IB) through CMS.  Applications can be done online and will be accepted through 10 p.m. on Feb. 8.  For more information, click here to get to the CMS Magnet Programs website.
• FRIDAY, JAN. 8 – Community School of Davidson will host the first of four January open houses.  This one will be held at 9:30 a.m., others will follow at 9:30 a.m. and also 7 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 14, and then at 1:30 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 29.  To register for an open house, call the charter school at 704-896-6262, or send an email to info@csdnc.org.  The registration deadline for CSD is Jan. 31. For more information, click here to get to the CSD registration website.
• SATURDAY, JAN. 9 – Davidson Day will celebrate its first ever Homecoming.  See above for more details
• SUNDAY, JAN. 10 – Woodlawn School will host an open house for prospective students, from 1-3 p.m.  New student registration ends March 1 for the upcoing year.  For more information, click here for the Woodlawn admissions website.
• TUESDAY, JAN. 12 – Davidson IB Middle will host the second of three January open houses for prospective students, starting at 4:30 p.m.   Families will be able to hear a presentation about the IB program and tour the school.  The last open house of the month will be Jan. 28 at 10 a.m.
• TUESDAY, JAN. 12 – CMS will hold a magnet fair for north-area schools from 6:30 – 8 p.m. at the Cornelius Town Hall, 21445 Catawba Avenue.
• TUESDAY-FRIDAY, JAN 12 – 15 – The North Meck High IB program will host an informational meeting in the media center Tuesday, 8-10 a.m.  Informal walking tours will be held from 8-10 a.m. Jan. 13-15.  Call 980-343-3840 to schedule an appointment.
• WEDNESDAY. JAN. 13 – Olympian Dan Jansen to speak at monthly meeting of Bailey Middle School (see above for more details).
• FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JAN. 15-16 – Theater students at Bailey Middle will perform “Grease”
• MONDAY, JAN 18 – Most area schools will be closed for the Martin Luther King Holiday
• WEDNESDAY, JAN. 20 – Walking Wednesday for Davidson Day
• THURSDAY, JAN. 21 – Davidson IB Middle will host an information meeting for 8th graders interested in the high school level of the International Baccalaureate program.  Students and staff from the North Meck IB program will be on hand to answer questions.  The meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m. in the school auditorium.
• THURSDAY, JAN. 21 – Open house, 6:30 – 7:30 p.m.,  for families of prospective students at McKinney Academy.  Parents can also call 704-895-9664 to schedule a tour.
• SUNDAY, JAN. 31 – Application forms are due at Community School of Davidson for the registration lottery for 2010.

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