Eton School Connections

2701 Bel-Red Road, Bellevue, WA 98008 Phone: 425.881.4230

Spring 2013 Eton Alumni Newsletter

Celebration of Eton’s First Founder’s DayOn Friday March 22, Eton School celebrated its first ever Founder’s Day by recognizing Dr. Patricia Feltin, who founded the school in 1978. Dr. Feltin came to campus to meet with students and participate in the grand celebration. She began her visit by having lunch and catching up with teachers and staff in the Mezzo lunchroom.

After lunch, the Pre-elementary students presented her with lovely handmade tissue paper flowers, poems, songs, and even a dance. One Mezzo class performed “A Child’s Plea,” a poem written by Dr. Feltin in 1987. Another class enthusiastically sang the Eton School song for her with a change in the lyrics, “We’re glad you founded Eton School!”

The fourth, fifth and sixth grades performed songs from their entertaining play, “Schoolhouse Rock.” It was fun to see the students’ enthusiasm in their wonderful singing and dancing. The seventh and eighth grade wrote a poem, “We Are from Eton School” and recited it as a choral reading. These older students beautifully articulated their Eton experiences. If you would like to read the poem and see some great photos of the event, please visit Eton School’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/etonschool.washington.

Dr. Feltin believes every child has boundless potential and the Montessori philosophy provides the right environment for a child to flourish in many ways. In a Montessori classroom, learning is exciting and children thrive with the meaningful lessons using beautiful materials. Students gain confidence as they accept responsibility for their learning, and they feel empowered with their increasing independence. We carry on Dr. Feltin’s dream in educating the whole child according to the Eton School mission statement. The celebration of our first Founder’s Day was a huge success. It provided an opportunity for Dr. Feltin to witness a passionate continuation of her work and served as a powerful testimony to her dream.

Featured Alumna: Anne GaskinsAnne Gaskins is a junior at Whitman College majoring in French Studies. She is in Paris as part of a Spring Semester Study Abroad program through Middlebury College and taking classes through the Sorbonne system of education. Anne thoughtfully and humorously shares her French experiences on her blog: papillonaparis.wordpress.com. Her wonderful writing is accompanied with great pictures of her different adventures in Paris and in other parts of France.

The Lower Elementary students prepared questions to ask Dr. Feltin. Each class took turns asking Dr. Feltin questions, and she shared interesting stories about the early history of Eton School.

2 | Eton School Connections www.etonschool.org

Eton’s 2013 Eighth Grade Graduates

We want to stay connected in order to keep you informed of alumni gatherings and Eton events. In addition, we would love to hear what you have been doing since you left Eton School. Please send your current contact information to Eton’s Development Director, Monica Maling (mmaling@etonschool.org). If you know of other alumni who would like to stay in touch as well, please have them contact us.

We invite you to visit, like, and share Eton School’s Alumni Facebook page. This is a place for alumni to connect and share with each other. Visit it now at: www.facebook.com/EtonSchool.Washington.Alumni

Eton School Alumni: Stay Connected!

You’re Invited: Eton EventsMay 09

7th and 8th Grade Play, Much Ado About Nothing7:00 pm, Bellevue Youth Theater

May 23 Upper Level Science and Engineering Expo1:00 to 6:00 pm

May 28Eighth Grade Project Presentations6:30 pm, Activity Room, Main Building

May 30Lower Elementary Play, The Aristocats

6:30 pm, Redmond High School

This year Eton’s graduating class consists of seven students. They applied to various independent schools for high school and were accepted at Eastside Preparatory School, University Prep, The Northwest School, and Seattle Academy of Arts and Sciences. They all made their choices and will be attending Eastside Preparatory School, the Northwest School, University Prep, Interlake High School, and Lake Washington School District’s Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) School.

Ultimate Frisbee at Eton School!Ultimate Frisbee is now an established sport of Eton School as we are in our third year of having teams. We have a 3rd/4th grade team, and a 4th/5th grade team that compete in the elementary league. We also have a 6th – 8th grade team that competes in the middle school league. The governing Ultimate organization called DiscNW creates and oversees the leagues. Ultimate is a sport that fits nicely with our Montessori based education in that the teams are mixed ages, co-ed, and there are no referees, so players call their own fouls and work things out on their own. We are so proud of our players and how hard they work while having fun!

Eighth grade graduation is on Tuesday, June 11 and you are invited to join in this special day! Come hear these amazing students talk about their experience at Eton School and share their future plans. If you would like to attend, please RSVP to Monica Maling, Development Director via e-mail (mmaling@etonschool.org).