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Upcoming Events
Monday, January 18 - SCHOOL CLOSED
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OPEN in LITE mode!
This week The Circle School opened in "LITE" mode – a loose acronym for Limited In-person Time. During LITE mode, students may be on campus each school day from 2:00 to 4:00pm, indoors and out, in addition to ongoing virtual activities.
In LITE mode, students may drop in and see what's happening outdoors or they can coordinate indoor activities using the same online "Happenings Board" that's used for virtual activities. Anybody can dream up an activity, announce it on the Happenings Board, and make it happen – now online or on campus! (Happenings can also be coordinated through the school office. On-campus happenings are limited to groups of six.)
So far, on-campus activities have included gaga ball, creek walks, corporation and committee meetings, hanging out in the Meadow Room, checking out library books, cleaning up the tent wreckage, using the 3D printer, and more... and this is only the first week!
We hope that LITE mode hours will be extended as the weather turns warmer and pandemic conditions improve. With a vaccine soon available to staff who want it, and with kids back on campus for part of the day now, this may be the LITE at the end of the tunnel, leading to a full reopening of the campus!
Questions about LITE mode? Email Ellen, Jim, or office@circleschool.org. |
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Online Happenings, too!
Off campus at any hour of the day, students and staff continue to gather together virtually in activities and events planned through the school's Discord server and the Happenings Board (a Google Doc virtual version of the Happenings magnet board in the Commons at school).
Over the past few weeks, these online happenings have included lots of game playing (two truths and a lie, Codenames, card games, Scattergories), bread making, virtual jigsaw puzzles, student-led classes (fiber arts, Minecraft modding, and low poly blender modeling), scavenger hunts, ice cream making, discussion groups about current events, story time, one-on-one tutoring, and lots of committee and corporation meetings. There have been so many games of Among Us that when school fully reopens, School Meeting members may return in colorful space suits, wondering who is an impostor. 😉
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Thank you!
This year especially, The Circle School is so grateful for the contributions received in 2020 through Pennsylvania's EITC, PKTC, and OSTC tax credit giving programs from the following businesses:
Avalon Insurance Co.
By Design Consultants
Capital BlueCross
Edwards Business Systems
Fulton Bank
Greenworks Development
Orrstown Bank
Radish & Rye
UGI Storage
UPMC
Pennsylvania's EITC-PKTC-OSTC program provides tax credits to eligible businesses that contribute to an approved organization like The Circle School. For more information about your how business can participate in this program, click here or contact Board Development Officer Michelle Loucas at michelle@circleschool.org.
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Tax Credits for Individuals, too!
Of course donations to The Circle School are tax-deductible, but now, if you pay Pennsylvania Personal Income Tax, you can get direct tax credit for your donations, just as the businesses thanked above. If your tax bill is $3,500 or more, you can reduce your tax bill by 90% of the amount you donate to The Circle School's financial aid program. (If your tax bill is less than $3,500, your credit will be less than 90%.) Available to businesses for many years, this amazing opportunity has only recently become available to individuals. Please click here to learn more.
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Annual Donor Statements
The office is working on annual donor statements for 2020. Thank you to all who contributed throughout such a challenging year.
Donors, if you don't receive your statement by the second week of February, please send an email to office@circleschool.org or call the office at 717-564-6700.
Want to help secure The Circle School's future? Become a sustaining donor today! Click here for more information and to set up (or change) your monthly gift or make a one-time donation.
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