Suggested Summer Reading

First Grade: 

• Lunch at the Zoo by Wendy Blaxland
• Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?  by Bill Martin
• Where Does the Teacher Sleep? by Kathleen Gibson
• Danny and the Dinosaur by Syd Hoff
• Martin and the Teacher’s Pets  by Bernice Chardiet
• The Snowy Day by Jack Ezra Keats
• Chocolatina by Erik Kraft
• Never Race a Runaway Pumpkin by Katherine Applegate
• The Jungle Grapevine by Alex Beard
• All by Myself by Mercer Mayer 

Second Grade: 

• Grace for President by Kelly S. DiPucchio
• Comets, Stars, the Moon, and Mars by Douglas Florian
• Goof-Off Goalie by Betty Hicks
• Sam Gets Lost by Mary Labat
• Daisy Jane, Best-Ever Flower Girl by Megan McDonald
• If You Decide to Go to the Moon by Faith McNulty
• Amelia Bedelia’s First Day at School by Herman Parish
• Too Many Toys by David Shannon
• The Best Story by Eileen Spinelli
• A Cold Winter’s Good Knight by Shelley Moore Thomas 

Third Grade: 

• Look to the Stars by Buzz Aldrin
• The Magical Ms. Plum by Bonny Becker
• Happy birthday Bad Kitty by Nick Bruel
• The Secret Keeper by Kate Coombs
• Marco Polo by Demi
• The Girl Who Spun Gold by Virginia Hamilton
• The Dragon in the Driveway by Kate Klimo
• Nana Cracks the Case by Kathleen Lane
• The Keeping Quilt by Patricia Polacco
• Oggie Cooder by Sarah Weeks 

Fourth Grade: 

• Handel, Who Knew What He Liked by Matthew T. Anderson
• No Talking by Andrew Clements
• Snake and Lizard by Joy Cowley
• Hate That Cat by Sharon Creech
• Happy Birthday, Sophie Hartley by Stephanie Greene
• Flight of the Phoenix by R. L. La Fevers
• Punished by David Lubar
• Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
• Wild River by P. J. Petersen
• Bobby Versus Girls (Accidently) by Lisa Yee 

Fifth Grade: 

• Al Capone Shines My Shoes by Gennifer Choldenko
• Heartbeat by Sharon Creech
• The Girl Who Could Fly by Victoria Forester
• Turtle in Paradise by Jennifer L. Holm
• Dying to Meet You by Kate Klise
• Houdini: The Handcuff King by Jason Lutes
• 11 Birthdays by Wendy Mass
• When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
• The Great Good Thing by Roderick Townley
• Each Little Bird that Sings by Deborah wiles 

Sixth Grade: 

• The Danger Box by Blue Balliet
• Waiting for Normal by Leslie Connor
• My Last Skirt: The Story of Jennie Hodgers, Union Soldier by Lynda Durrant
• Tropical Secrets: Holocaust Refugees in Cuba by Margarita Engle
• Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer by John Grisham
• The Green Glass Sea by Ellen Klages
• The Candymakers by Wendy Mass
• Bound by Donna Jo Napoli
• Tentacles by Roland Smith
• Almost Astronauts: 13 Women Who Dared to Dream by Tanya Lee Stone 

Seventh Grade: 

• Homecoming by Cynthia Voight
• The Postcard by Tony Abbott
• Airman by Eoin Colfer
• Total Tragedy of a Girl Named Hamlet by Erin Dionne
• Beastly by Alex Flinn
• Gone by Michael Grant
• Dark Water Rising by Marian Hale
• Heat by Mike Lupica
• The Prince of Mist by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
• The Red Umbrella by Christian Diaz Gonzalez 

Eight Grade: 

• Dicey’s Song by Cynthia Voight
• Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi
• Tangerine by Edward Bloor
• And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
• Diamonds in the Shadow by Caroline Cooney
• Red Kayak by Priscilla Cummings
• Change-Up: Mystery at the World Series by John Feinstein
• Ruined by Paula Morris
• Rescuing Seneca Crane by Susan Runholt
• Guys Write for Guys Read by Jon Scieszka, ed. 

Ninth Grade: 

• The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
• Last Climb: The Legendary Everest Expeditions of George Mallory by David Breashears and Audrey Salkeld
• The Naming by Alison Croggon
• Soul Enchilada by David Macinnis
• Accidents of Nature by Harriet McBryde Johnson
• 13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson
• As Easy as Falling Off the Face of the Earth by Lynne Rae Perkins
• Nation by Terry Pratchett
• Written in bone: Buried Lives of Jamestown and Colonial Maryland by Sally M. Walker
• Jumped by Rita Williams Garcia 

Tenth Grade:  

• Deadline by Chris Crutcher
• The Great Wide  Sea by M. H Herlong
• The Spellman Files by Lisa Lutz
• Wake by Lisa McMann
• Dairy Queen by Catherine Gilbert Murdock
• Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer
• Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi
• Revolver by Marcus Sedgwick
• Cannery Row by John Steinbeck
• Nothing Comes Easy by Y. A. Tittle with Kristine Setting Clark 

Eleventh Grade: 

• The Zookeepers Wife: A War Story by Diane Ackerman
• Go Tell It On the Mountain by James Baldwin
• The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan C. Bradley
• Tell No One by Harlan Coben
• The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay
• Little Brother by Cory Doctorow
• The Heretic’s Daughter by Kathleen Kent
• The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game by Michael Lewis
• Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult
• The Art of Being in the Rain: A Novel by Garth Stein 

Twelfth Grade: 

• Shift by Jennifer Bradbury
• People of the Book: A Novel by Geraldine Brooks
• The Fortunes of Indigo Skye by Deb Caletti
• The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler
• The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
• Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell
• Water for Elephants: A Novel by Sara Gruen
• Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
• The Road by Cormac McCarthy
• Beloved by Toni Morrison

http://alliance.pucksystems.com/news_article/show/84683?referrer_id=33417

Spring Creek Academy Earns SACS CASI Accreditation

 Plano, Texas- March 1, 2011– Director, Karen Morrell announced today that Spring Creek Academy has earned accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Council on Accreditation and School Improvement (SACS CASI), an accreditation division of AdvancED.  This action was taken at the AdvancED Accreditation Commission meeting held in on February 2, 2011. 

 SACS CASI provides nationally-recognized accreditation, the purpose of which is continuous school improvement focused on increasing student performance.  To earn accreditation, schools must meet SACS CASI’s high standards, be evaluated by a team of professionals from outside the school, and implement a continuous process of school improvement. 

Read more...

Long and Webb to play tennis for OU

Spring Creek seniors Nicole long and Dane Webb will be donning the red and white of the University of Oklahoma in the fall of 2011.  Considered by TennisRecruiting.net to be Blue Chip Recruits, Nicole and Dane both signed in November to play tennis for OU.  Nicole is the first blue chip recruit to sign with OU’s women’s tennis program, and Dane is the only fall signee for 2011 for the men’s team.   Nicole is currently ranked #24 in the nation and #1 in Texas.  Dane is ranked #5 in the nation and #1 in the state and Gulf States area. 

Spring Creek Academy held its annual Star Party "The Galactic Experience" November the 12, at the home of Karen Morrell in Weston Texas.  Two astronomers, Bruce Morrell and Larry Nance set up their equipment for all to view the heavenly wonders.  Fun was had by all, with a pot luck meal and good company prior to the evening stars putting on their show.  Students, along with their family were able to observe Jupiter and it's moons, the Great Globular Cluster in Hercules M15, closet galaxy to our milky way Andromeda and the Dumbbell Nebula M27.

                M15                                       Andromeda                        Dumbbell Nebula

On December 22 and 23, Spring Creek Academy had seven of our own students performing in the Nutcracker in front of the Plano Symphony Orchestra at the Eisemann Center for the Performing Arts as part of the Collin County Ballet Theatre.  Collin County Ballet Theatre is under the direction of Kirt and Linda Hathaway of Hathaway Academy of Ballet.  Our students were Claire Ashcraft, Chloe McFarland, Lily Nelson, Riana Pellicane-Hart, Megan Simrell, Elizabeth Tudor and Angelina Widmoser.

Spring Creek Academy encourages all students to participate in a volunteer program of their choice. ...

The students organize their efforts through Student Council, National Honor Society or individual efforts. Spring Creek Academy has received national awards from the President's Council on Volunteerism.

One of the programs we are most proud of is our Blanket Project which donates hand made blankets to organizations such as Project Linus, Austin Street Shelter and Samaritan Inn. Volunteers knit or crochet 8 inch by 8 inch squares of yarn. Then 35 squares are laced together to create beautiful blankets. We have completed over 200 blankets that have been donated.

Friends and relatives associated with our students and staff members have contributed to the success of this project. We collect squares, then lace them together and distribute blankets all year and are delighted to receive donations. Any pattern may be used. This project is a great way to make use of small quantities of leftover yarn. For more information, please call the school.

Spring Creek Academy is equally proud of the academic success and the non-academic achievements of our students. 

We celebrate that success when we see our students gain acceptance to the top rated universities and succeed in their continued education.  A significant percentage of our students receive scholarships based on academic achievements and personal accomplishments due to the flexibility. 

Spring Creek Academy has two Olympic Gold Medalists, Carly Patterson and Nastia Liukin, many nationally ranked athletes and nationally recognized performers.  Several Spring Creek Academy alumni have gone directly into professional careers as athletes and/or performing artists. 

Spring Creek Academy has excelled academically as well with multiple nationally named scholars.  Our alumni are attending top universities such as Stanford, Harvard, Princeton, Cornell and Columbia Universities as well as more local universities such Baylor, SMU and many prestigious state universities.

Spring Creek Academy students are generally goal oriented and focused because of the very reasons that bring them to our school.

At Spring Creek Academy, students are in small class sizes where they develop close bonds with their fellow students.  Students are trying to succeed in other aspects of their busy life, which in turn breeds a culture of aiming high for themselves.  Spring Creek Academy students are not distracted by students who are trying not to succeed or looking to achieve the bare minimum.

Diversity of our students spans the full range of race, culture and ethnic origins, but they share a common understanding of each other.  Our students tend to be more accepting of each other because they know they are all here for a purpose. 

Spring Creek Academy is a leading private school for the gifted, talented, and highly motivated. We serve the greater Dallas metroplex located in Plano, Texas. Students at Spring Creek Academy thrive in a culture of success and goal oriented students without the distractions found so often in the public school systems. We are fully accredited by the state of Texas, offering grades K-12. Our goal is to provide a learning environment conducive to success with class size averaging eight qualified students.

We are a half-day school program with a morning session from 9:00-11:30, and an afternoon session from 12:30-3:00. A half day program is one where a full academic schedule is compressed into one half the time. This enables the students to participate in extracurricular activities in a more vigorous way. Thus our students have a balanced education, but in a highly focused venue. Parents are often unsure of a half-day program because it is not what they have come to expect from other schools. Spring Creek Academy has been doing this innovative educational program for over 10 years with outstanding success. We measure the performance of the students each year against the Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS) to insure that we are meeting expectations. SCA continues to score in the top 2% of all schools that use the ITBS test. This is based on the average score of all students enrolled in SCA.

We often see students actually improve their overall core test scores year after year as proof of the education format here at Spring Creek Academy. In addition to the annual testing, our students are graduating fully prepared to attend the top universities in the country, as demonstrated by our track record. Because all our students are immersed in a school environment surrounded by so many highly motivated, successful, goal-oriented students, the personal motivation bar is raised for all. Success breeds success. Most, if not all, of SCA's graduating seniors who sought scholarships received them because of their dedicated work at Spring Creek Academy and their pursuits of excellence in their chosen endeavors. Spring Creek Academy is not just for the already accomplished athletes or performers, but those aspiring to be outstanding. SCA is actively recruiting students who may have an interest in attending.

SCA graduates are now attending some of the finest universities in the country. Our graduates are attending universities such as Princeton, Stanford, UCLA, Texas A&M, SMU, University of Texas, Baylor, Alabama State, Arizona State, Florida State, Illinois State, Kansas State, Oklahoma State University, University of Georgia, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota and North Carolina. We even have an alumnus at the Cleveland Institute of Music.

We are equally proud of our students' achievements outside of our classrooms from, two Olympic Gold medalists, World and National Champions, and other accolades given to our students in the arts. The student body is very diverse including gymnasts, ice skaters, hockey players, tennis players, golfers, equestrians, soccer players, accomplished instrumentalists, dancers, and actors that have appeared in many films. We also host foreign exchange students from time to time who come to study and practice their skills here in the Dallas area.

We are very proud of our campus, which consists of high school, middle school and elementary school buildings. Our campus is adjacent to the Chisholm Hike and Bike Trail in Plano. We are tucked away on a cul-de-sac easily accessible from Custer Road, offering a quiet campus with lots of open space around us. Each building is self-contained with classrooms, a computer lab in the high school and the middle school. As we have grown, we have maintained our proven academic results and the special personality of our school that has earned us praise from our students and their parents.

Located in Plano, Texas we are conveniently located in the Dallas, Fort Worth Metroplex for easy access.