Aspiring young artists are needed to help design the front cover page of a new Central School brochure.

The content winner’s artwork will be printed on the cover of our new Central School Parent Handbook!

Please place your entry in an envelope marked PTO handbook artwork and place in the PTO mailbox by Friday, April 24, 2009. Questions, please contact Laura Durkin or Jeanine Vaia (see student directory for contact information).

You are cordially invited to an original collaborative performance of “The Geometry of Childhood: looking at all the angles”, featuring the 4th and 5th grade students of Central School

The performance will be held on Thursday, February 26 at 1pm and 7pm, Hauser Auditorium with a reception to follow the evening performance.


Students performing in the evening performance need to be at school at 6:15pm with doors to the public opening at 6:45pm.

Please come and help us celebrate the conclusion of our six week artist in residency with the Striding Lion InterArts workshop.

Questions, please contact Dawn Gmitro, Artist in Residence Chair (see student directory for contact information.)

A special thank you to Kathy Dudek and her volunteers; Elaine Cinkay, Kim Frank, Jeannine Glavas, Mary Mathey, Kate Nessinger, Chris Rocco, MaryJo Robling, Jennifer Sedivy and Maureen Zalewski for their efforts to make the preschool screening run smoothly.

Our Cultural Arts: Artist in Residence, Striding Lions InterArts workshop is in full force and our children are having some fun and challenging themselves.

The final performance, by a group of 4th and 5th grade students, will be held on Thursday, February 26th at 1pm and 7pm in the Hauser auditorium. In order to fulfill our Illinois Arts Council Grant, we need to record this performance and produce a CD and are looking for a talented Central School parent willing to record at either the 1pm or 7pm performance and provide us with a CD. If you are that parent, please contact Dawn Gmitro (see student directory for contact information.)

Thank you in advance!

Beginning on January 21, 2009, Central School will welcome the Striding Lion interArts Workshop to our school for a six week artist residency.  A team of three professional artists specializing in creative dramatics, music and dance will guide the students through an arts intensive focusing on collaboration. While introducing the fundamentals of the art mediums explored, the improvisations and arts activities used by Striding Lion will also teach interpersonal skills and tools for teamwork.   The Striding Lion artists work closely with the faculty to create an arts program that grows out of class curriculum.

The kindergarten through third grade classes will receive one visit from the artistic team during the six week period while the fourth and fifth grades will meet with the teaching artists three times a week culminating in a performance of original material developed by the students on Thursday, February 26.  All students will attend a performance by the teaching artists on Tuesday, February 3^rd at 9 am, as well as the February 26^th final performance by the fourth and fifth grade students.

If you have questions please contact Dawn Gmitro. (Information in our school directory.)

This program is funded by grants from the Illinois Arts Council, an agency of the State of Illinois, the Riverside Township and the Central School PTO.

New Location: Hauser Cafeteria

The Cultural Arts initial volunteer meeting will be held on Wednesday, September 24, 2008 from 7-8pm in the Hauser Cafeteria. There is no need to be artistic, crafty, or an art history buff. The PTO has fantastic materials which will allow all parents, grandparents and caregivers to present the “picture of the month” in your child’s classroom. All materials are available on-line. If you cannot make the meeting and would like to volunteer, please contact the Cultural Arts Coordinators Sue Pipal at pipals@centralptonews.org or Nancy Hutchings at hutchingsn@centralptonews.org. A sign up sheet will also be available in the school office after the meeting for those who would like to sign up in person but cannot make the meeting.

Thanks to everyone who has signed up already.