Join Mr. O’Connor’s tour of Washington DC with the      Ancient Wanderers.  They began the trips six years ago with two international tours. Since then, they have traveled to Egypt, Greece, Turkey, Italy and France.  Last year they celebrated their tenth tour abroad. This year, they are proud to offer a domestic tour for the spring break of 2012. The tour will leave on the morning of  April 16, 2012 and return on the evening of April 19, 2012. The tour is run through the Smithsonian Institute. They have an excellent website with many details – www.smithsonianstudenttravel.com.

The students have to be responsible and they have to be ready and able for serious travel. These trips really give students a chance to explore history in a different way. It is a true hands-on experience. The additional experience of seeing our capital and meeting students from other parts of the country makes for quite a tour. The tour is nearly all-inclusive in cost (2 meals a day – hotels, flights and ground transportation are all included) this makes it possible for the students to travel at a cost that one could not do on their own. There will be professional guides and the teachers will be filling-in the other details. It is quite nice for the students to see the places they have studied in school. Please e-mail Jack O’Connor  for more information.

Circus Smirkus will be doing a residency at Franklin Elementary teaching 19 kids how to juggle, walk the tightrope, and many other circus tricks.  At the end of the training, the kids will be putting on a performance at 7:00 pm on January 13th.  It will be held in the Auditorium at F.A. Day Middle School and is open to the public.  Tickets will be on sale at the door for $5.

Wondering what to give your child this season ? Here are some suggestions compiled specifically for F. A. Day by the staff at the Newton Free Library.

Adventure books like  Death Cloud by Andrew Lane. It is the summer of 1868, and Sherlock Holmes is fourteen. On break from boarding school, he is staying with eccentric strangers—his uncle and aunt—in their vast house in Hampshire. When two local people die from symptoms that resemble the plague, Holmes begins to investigate what really killed them, helped by his new tutor, an American named Amyus Crowe. So begins Sherlock’s true education in detection, as he discovers the dastardly crimes of a brilliantly sinister villain of exquisitely malign intent.

Humorous books like Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos. This is a novel about an incredible two months for a kid named Jack Gantos, whose plans for vacation excitement are shot down when he is “grounded for life” by his feuding parents, and whose nose spews bad blood at every little shock he gets. But plenty of excitement (and shocks) are coming Jack’s way once his mom loans him out to help a fiesty old neighbor with a most unusual chore—typewriting obituaries filled with stories about the people who founded his utopian town.

Thank you Randy Meyer our librarian for getting us this list.  Please consider using the Amazon tab on our website for your purchase to support Day Middle School.  For a complete list please click here