Moms: Access the Wonder Woman in You

Spoiler alert: If you have not yet watched the Wonder Woman movie, released June 2, 2017, then please bookmark this blog post and come back to it later.

My family and I went to see Wonder Woman this weekend. My daughter, G.N., age seven, said, “Wonder Woman went to the war. I liked seeing her fight.”

This is important! Girls and women need role models who fight, not just with costume-drama witty remarks or mean-girl social tactics, but facing danger to fight for values and big ideas.

Before going to the movie, I read about (here and here) women who cried during the battle scenes, especially the scene in which Diana Prince goes over the top of the trenches and leads a charge across no-man’s land. I cried, too. They were good tears. I want to remember them and carry them with me.

School Boards for Independent School Districts in the San Antonio Area: 2016-2017 Edition

Need to keep track of what’s happening at school boards in the San Antonio area? Here are some links to help you with your research.

Alamo Heights ISD

• School board home
• Board members
• Meeting schedule: usually on third Thursdays at 7:00 p.m. in the Central Office, 7101 Broadway, San Antonio, TX 78209 (map)
• Next election: May 2017
• Superintendent

School Calendars for Districts in the San Antonio Area: 2016-2017 Edition

Here is a handy list of printable school calendars for independent school districts in the San Antonio area, including Bexar County and parts of surrounding counties.

• Alamo Heights ISD
• Comal ISD
• East Central ISD
• Edgewood ISD
• Fort Sam Houston ISD
• Harlandale ISD
• Judson ISD
• Lackland ISD
• Medina Valley ISD
• North East ISD
• Northside ISD
• Randolph Field ISD
• San Antonio ISD
• Schertz-Cibolo-Universal City ISD
• Somerset ISD
• South San Antonio ISD (download begins automatically)
• Southside ISD
• Southwest ISD

ESC Region 20 has charter school information.

CLOSED [Giveaway] Holiday Pops with the San Antonio Symphony – December 18-20, 2015

Update: This giveaway is now closed.

We’ve been looking forward to this for months! It’s almost time for the San Antonio Symphony to present its annual Holiday Pops concerts at the Tobin Center. On Friday and Saturday, December 18 and 19, 2015, the concerts will begin at 8:00 p.m., and on Sunday, December 20, the concert will begin at 2:00 p.m. The Symphony has offered my family a set of tickets to attend a concert and another set of four tickets to give away to my readers. To enter the giveaway for a four-pack of tickets to the Friday evening concert, please leave a comment on this blog post, sharing a story of an experience at the Tobin Center (or another venue). Leave your comment no later than Tuesday, December 15 ; I will randomly choose a winner and notify him or her by email, and the tickets will be waiting for you at the box office on Saturday evening.

Kids learn the meaning of giving at “A Christmas Carol” at the Playhouse San Antonio

“A Christmas Carol”, at the Playhouse San Antonio through December 21, 2015, is an opportunity for you and your kids to learn about the meaning of giving during the Christmas season, and to experience live theater at its best.

For months, I had been hearing buzz about this new production of the classic Charles Dickens story. The kids and I went to the Playhouse last weekend to see for ourselves. The play made a big impact on my son, F.T., who is eight years old. He wrote his own review, which I have included below. (I would write “spoiler alert,” except we all know the story by heart, right?)

“A Christmas Carol” is an evergreen tale because it dramatizes the choices we all make in life: whether to be rigid and self-contained, or to be giving and sharing. The story teaches that by showing generosity in the material world, we gain back something priceless in spirit.

CLOSED [giveaway] “Comfort & Joy: Music of Christmas” with Benissimo! Music Productions on December 13

Update: This giveaway is now closed.

Comfort & Joy: Music of Christmas, the annual holiday concert from Benissimo! Music Productions, will be at the Chapel of the Incarnate Word, 4503 Broadway, San Antonio, Texas 78209 (map), on Sunday, December 13, 2015 at 3:00 p.m. Adult tickets for $25 and student tickets (with ID) for $15 are available for purchase online; past concerts have sold out, so I recommend buying your tickets early. Benissimo has offered my family a set of tickets to attend the concert and another set of four tickets to give away to my readers. To enter the giveaway, please leave a comment on this blog post, no later than Wednesday, December 9, sharing your favorite holiday song. I will randomly choose a winner from among the comments.

Founders Classical Academy Schertz parent interest meetings on November 17 and 19

Founders Classical Academy Schertz  is planning to open in August 2016 on the north east side of San Antonio, and is holding parent interest meetings on November 17 & 19, 2015, at 7 p.m.

Founders Classical Academy is a network of public, open-enrollment charter schools that offer tuition-free, classical education. There are five campuses in Texas and one in Arkansas, with plans for growth; for now, the closest campus to San Antonio is Founders Classical Academy Leander, on the north side of Austin. Founders Classical Academy is part of the ResponsiveEd group of charter schools, which offers a range of school models to serve many populations of students. Other ResponsiveEd schools in San Antonio include Premier High School and the Foundation School for Autism.

One of the greatest strengths of Founders Classical Academy is its partnership with the Barney Charter School Initiative at Hillsdale College, a prestigious Great Books higher education program. That partnership has helped Founders Classical Academy to define its vision of classical education as a continuation of the traditions of Western civilization. 

“Miró: The Experience of Seeing” at the McNay Art Museum and Family Day on October 25

Miró: The Experience of Seeing is at the McNay Art Museum until January 10, 2016, and I encourage you to bring your kids to see it while it’s here. Sunday, October 25, 2015 will be an especially good day to visit because the McNay will be hosting Family Day: Magical Miró! from 1:oo p.m. to 4:00 p.m., rain or shine.

For a few days this week, my kids had a brief Fall Break, so we visited the McNay on a quiet weekday. As soon as we walked into the Miró exhibit, my five-year-old daughter, G.N., started giggling. She was looking at Woman, Bird and Star (Homage to Picasso), a 1966-73 painting. “Why are you giggling?” I asked her. She said, “Because the hat . . . [giggles] . . . look!”

Compass Rose Academy information meeting on October 22

Compass Rose Academy is a new charter school that’s still on the drawing board, but has tremendous promise for underserved students in San Antonio. Founder Paul Morrissey is hosting a parent information meeting on Thursday, October 22 at 5:30 p.m. at the Food Court at PicaPica Plaza, 910 S.E. Military Dr., San Antonio, TX 78214. RSVP online for the information meeting; even if you can’t attend, please submit use the RSVP form to submit your email address for updates.

Opera in the Park in Travis Park with Opera Piccola San Antonio

Ever since writing this post, I’ve had high hopes for Travis Park as a downtown cultural gathering place. Travis Park lived up to its promise with the recent Opera in the Park event, led by Opera Piccola of San Antonio and showcasing an array of local performance groups.