Whitman Academy Jordan

We need moms or dads who would be willing to substitute for ill or absent teachers. Please tell the office if you think you could fulfill our need. Let Mrs. Muna know with what age group you might be willing to sub, and thank you.

We still have many copies of the 2009-2010 school yearbook available at Whitman. Please come by the school, or call the main office, to inquire about copies. The price is only 5 JD each.

A new school year has just begun and we are off to a hot but wonderful start.  As usual not everyone has returned yet, but the show must go on and the lessons need to get started.  We have nine new teachers with us this year and two more joining us in October.  With the twelve returning teachers, we now have a teaching staff of twenty-three.  This is our biggest staff to date.  We are praising God for answering our prayers and abundantly supplying our need.

The largest graduating class in our school’s history was given diplomas in May.  Fourteen students graduated and all of them are college bound.  This was an exceptional class of students and because of that I awarded a group GRIP Award to this class as a whole.  Soon you will see this award hanging in our entrance way.

This fall we are hoping to get a boys sports league going.  A couple of dads are involved in this activity and we are very excited about getting this off the ground.  Our leadership group is heading off to Budapest in a couple of weeks and our Band kids are off to Band camp in a few days.  It does not take long to get BUSY when you are working with teenagers.

We are off to a great start!

-Mary Townsend, Principal

We are launching a comprehensive fundraising campaign to help our school meet our expanding enrollment. We introduced our expansion goals at the Parent Meeting held on April 9.  Here is how you can help.

The “Whitman Academy Expansion Fund” will involve administrators, students, alumni, and other friends of Whitman.  We will be giving people new opportunities to become involved at Whitman.

• Our primary campaign focus is to build a K-12 school to meet present & future needs.
• We want to raise 7 million J.D. ($US 10 million) in phases.
• The Phase I goal is to raise JD 1 Million ($US1.5 million) by May 10, 2010.
• Parents set a goal of raising 7% of the Phase I goal or 70,000 J.D. ($100,000).

You can get involved in the Whitman Academy Expansion fund by:

1. Becoming a Charter Member. Make a donation of any amount to become one of our Charter Members. All of your donations are tax deductible.
   • You may donate at Whitman Academy.
   • You may donate online by going to http://whitmanfund.org
   • You may mail your donation to:
     Roy & Dora Whitman Academy, Inc.
     929 Wilson Hill Road
     Arrington, VA 22922
2. Make a long-term pledge by going to www.whitmanfund.org and pledge $1 or more per month.
3. Talk to your family, friends, and supporters. We can email you an electronic copy of a sample letter that you might use for this purpose.
4. Help us connect with former teachers/students.If you are in current contact with a teacher who served at Whitman, a family whose children were students at Whitman, or former students, share with us their contact information.
5. Tell us about two or more possible donors that we can contact.

Trusting the Lord together,

The Whitman Academy Steering Committee

YEARBOOKS ARE HERE! –  We still have copies for sale.  We hope you will take time to congratulate the Yearbook Staff and Mr. Brinkmann on their hard work.  We have discovered that some copies have printing problems with smudges or light pages.  If you want to exchange your copy for a better copy, please talk to Mr. Brinkmann or the Office.

MOM VOLUNTEERS NEEDED: ADOPT A CLASSROOM – Moms, are any of you interested in taking home classroom pillows for the summer – washing covers & perhaps making some new covers- to get ready for the fall?  ESPECIALLY in need of help are the pillows that the high school uses on the roof lounge area.  If interested, talk to Robin Hart.  Thanks.

Dear Parents,

We have a busy final weekend coming up. Saturday morning at 8:00 is the 8th grade graduation and secondary assembly. Besides the 8th graders graduating, awards will be given out to other students. Refreshments will be served following the assembly. Please try to attend this event. At 10:30, we will have the elementary awards assembly. Parents please be present as our children have a chance to shine.

High school graduation is at 5:00 Sunday afternoon at Bisharat Golf Club. A reception follows the ceremony. Everyone is invited. If you need directions please call Mrs. Muna in the office on or before Saturday.

I have been in discussion with the School Board concerning our new dress code for elementary students. Several parents have voiced concern about this being a financial burden. My intent was not to cause financial stress on our families. I still would like to see our students in collared shirts, but I am not going to demand that our elementary students follow the new dress code. This new dress code is mandatory for the secondary school, however. This will be printed up in our new Parent/Student Handbook that will be given out in August. I hope this calms some of the anxiety that you are facing during this time of global financial downturn.