Amy Grunwaldt, a counselor at Conway Elementary, received the April 2016 Excellence in Education Award at the April 25, 2016, Board of Education meeting. Congratulations to Amy on this prestigious recognition!

This marks Amy’s seventh year with the Ladue School District. She began working here in 2009 as a counselor at Conway. Amy is originally from St. Charles, Missouri. She and her husband, Adam Grunwaldt, have been married for 14 years. The couple has two children: 9-year-old Jacob and 5-year-old Carly. Amy received her undergraduate degree in Psychology and Sociology from the Lindenwood University. She received her master’s degree in School Counseling from Lindenwood University and acquired more than 30 hours in Special Education from Webster University.

Amy is an invaluable member of Conway’s team. She has a great rapport with kids; she is supportive and always willing to sit down with a student who is struggling and work through the problem. With Amy, the students’ voices are heard, and she lets them know that their problems are important to her. She has an innate ability to listen to what students have to say and respond in a way that makes them feel as if someone understands what they’re going through.

“We all have job descriptions,” Principal Dr. Lane Narvaez says. “Amy views her job as helping to make Conway the best that it can be! And that’s why she’s the perfect candidate for this award.”

Ladue School District students competed at the Gateway Chess League Action Tournament held this past Saturday, February 18. Spoede Elementary won the 3rd grade and under division, and three students (Alex Zhang, Katie Eisenman, and Tom Xiong) placed first in their individual grade levels.

Third Grade and Under Division

• The Spoede Elementary team of Alex Zhang, Celina Zhou, Christopher Huang, Roy Zhu, Kevin Wu, Rex Zhu, and Anish Shinde won the 3rd Grade and Under division. The Conway Elementary team of Ayden Huang came in 9th place.
• Anish Shinde finished in 2nd place in the Kindergarten individual standings.
• In the 1st grade individual standings, Alex Zhang came in 1st place, Ayden Huang received 2nd place, Roy Zhu came in 4th place, and Kevin Wu finished 6th.
• In the 3rd grade individual standings, Celina Zhou came in 3rd place, Christopher Huang finished 9th, and Rex Zhu finished in 12th place.

Fifth Grade and Under Division

• In the 5th Grade and Under division, Sahil Chatwal and Atharva Shinde (Spoede Elementary) came in 6th place.
• Sahil Chatwal placed 4th, and Atharva Shinde placed 10th in the 4th grade individual standings.
• Zachary Barrett (Ladue Fifth Grade Center) came in 16th out of 24 teams, and he finished in 11th place in the 5th grade individual standings.
• The Reed Elementary team of Jenna Song came in 19th place, and she earned 5th place in the 3rd grade individual division.

Middle School

• The Ladue Middle School 6th Grade and Under team of Max Yang, Allen You, Samuel Loiterstein, and Andrew Stappenbeck finished in 3rd place.
• In the 6th grade individual standings, Max Yang finished in 11th place, Allen You was 12th, Samuel Loiterstein was 21st, and Andrew Stappenbeck was 26th.
• The 8th Grade and Under team of Katie Eisenman, Daniel Ye, Arya Bhushan, and Kanishk Shanmugam finished in 3rd place.
• Katie Eisenman came in 1st place in the 8th grade individual standings. Daniel Ye was 4th, Arya Bhushan was 9th, and Kanishk Shanmugam was 12th place in the 7th grade individual standings.

High School

• The LHWHS team of Tom Xiong, Zachary Millsap, Sophie Kras, Jason Pummer, and Yan Rybak finished in 3rd place.
• In the individual standings, Zachary Millsap finished in 4th place in the 12th grade division, Tom Xiong won the 11th grade division, and Yan Rybak finished in 8th place. Sophie Kras finished in 9th place, and Jason Pummer finished in 11th in the 9th grade individual standings.

Thirty Ladue School District students competed at the Gateway Chess League Class Tournament held on Saturday, March 4th.

Third Grade and under division

• The Spoede Elementary team of Rex Zhu (3) , Roy Zhu (1), Anish Shinde (KG), Celina Zhou (3), Kevin Wu (1), Christopher Huang (3), and Bodie Buxner (2) won the 3rd and under division.
• The Conway Elementary team of Aaron Lin (2), Alex Wang (3), and Ayden Huang (1) came in 3rd place in the 3rd and under division.

Fifth Grade and under division

• In the 5th grade and under division, Atharva Shinde (4), Cooper Buxner (2), Harper Buxner (4), and Sahil Chatwal (4) (Spoede Elementary) finished in 3rd place.
• The Ladue Fifth Grade Center team of Zachary Barrett (5), Aditya Jain (5), and Ari Willick (5) finished in 5th place in the 5th and under division.
• The Reed Elementary team of Jenna Song (3) came in 12th place in the 5th and under division.

Middle School

• The Ladue Middle School 6th grade and under team of Andy Stappenbeck (6), Gil Weiss (6), and Samuel Loiterstein (6) finished in 2nd place in the 6th and under division.
• The 8th grade and under team of Benjamin Liu (7), Joshua Fundler (7), Katie Eisenman (8), Daniel Ye (7), Roshen Chatwal (7), Arya Bhushan (7), and Alex Rybak (7) won the 8th and under division.

High School

• The LHWHS team of Sophie Kras (9) and Jason Pummer (9) finished in 3rd place in the 9th and under division.

In this tournament, players also competed in divisions according to their US Chess Federation rating:

• Benjamin Liu (7) won the 1000 and above division, Aaron Lin (2) was 2nd, Jason Pummer (9) was 7th, Daniel Ye (7) was 18th, and Roshen Chatwal (7) was 25th.
• In the 800-999 division, Joshua Fundler (7) was 2nd, Jenna Song (3) 5th, Katie Eisenman (8) 8th, Celina Zhou (3) 11th, Arya Bhushan (7) 20th, Ayden Huang (1) 25th and Alex Rybak (7) 27th.
• In the 600-799 division, Zachary Barrett (5) was 7th, Gil Weiss (6) 16th, and Sahil Chatwal (4) 34th.
• In the under 600 division, Sophie Kras (9) was 7th, Aditya Jain (5) 10th, Rex Zhu (3) 11th, Roy Zhu (1) 16th, Andy Stappenbeck (6) 19th, Atharva Shinde (4) 25th, Cooper Buxner (2) 26th, Anish Shinde (KG) 29th, Harper Buxner (4) 41st, Ari Willick (5) 42nd, Kevin Wu (1) 45th, Samuel Loisterstein (6) 47th, Alex Wang (3) 50th, Christopher Huang (3) 52nd, and Bodie Buxner (2) 58th.

To view the full tournament results, visit the Gateway Chess website.

Many of these students will be competing at the Missouri State Chess Championships on March 18 in Columbia, Missouri.

Conway parent Suparba Panda decided to leave her full-time job as vice president of technology at Equifax to teach young students how to work with innovative technology. Suparba created TymeMachine, a nonprofit designed to introduce students to evolving technologies such as robotics, biometrics, 3-D printing and more!

Suparba recently spent several weeks working with students at Conway Elementary, where her son attends school. She led an afterschool workshop teaching students an introductory coding class. To learn more, check out this article published by Ladue News!

This week at Conway Elementary, the students took to the sidewalk out front to create motivational messages with chalk for MAP testing! Check out the pictures and video included below!

Ann Chapin, a physical education teacher at Conway Elementary, received the April Excellence in Education Award at the April 24, 2017, Board of Education meeting. Congratulations to Ann on this prestigious recognition!

Ann has worked for the Ladue School District since August of 1994, when she took a position as a physical education intern. For the last 13 years, not only has Ann taught at Conway, but she has also held the role of varsity girl’s tennis coach.

Ann has been an important member of the Conway community for 23 years. Her class is organized, lively and focused on specific areas, including cardio, strength training, agility and flexibility.

As Conway principal Lane Narvaez has said, “From seeing Ann’s daily interactions with the students, it is evident that not only does she love her job, but she also enjoys working to encourage a healthy lifestyle among both students and staff.”

Ann has a great sense of humor and is always looking to bring new activities to Conway. For example, she is the school’s pickleball champion (a fast-growing sport that combines ping pong, badminton and tennis skills), and last month, she had all of the students in yoga positions! With her patience, infectious motivation and can-do attitude, Ann makes exercise fun for everyone at Conway Elementary!

Ann is originally from St. Louis, Missouri. She and her husband, Michael, have been married for 15 years.

Ann received her undergraduate degree in psychology and sociology from Maryville College. She then went on to earn her master’s degree in education from the University of Missouri-St. Louis (UMSL).

See her award video here.

Seventeen Ladue School District students competed in the U.S. Chess Federation SuperNationals VI tournament from May 11-14 in Nashville, Tennessee. This is the largest-rated chess tournament in history, with 5,577 competitors and 1,586 teams from 50 states.

Students competed in tournament sections according to their grade and U.S. Chess Federation rating. Ten students from Ladue Schools returned to St. Louis with trophies from their individual tournament sections.

Ayden Huang (1) from Conway Elementary competed in the K-1 Championship section and finished in 21st place among 190 players. He was the only student from Missouri to compete in this section. Aaron Lin (2) from Conway Elementary played in the K-3 Championship section and finished 25th in a field of 214 students.

Sahil Chatwal (4) from Spoede Elementary played in the K-8 Under 750 section, and Celina Zhou (3) from Spoede Elementary competed in the K-3 Championship section.

Zachary Barrett from the Ladue Fifth Grade Center played in the K-6 Blitz tournament and finished 3rd among players rated 800 to 899. He also competed in the K-5 Under 900 section and finished 25th among 521 players.

Arya Bhushan (7) and Katie Eisenman (8) from Ladue Middle School competed in the K-8 Under 1000 section, both finishing in 20th place among a field of 249 players. As a team, Arya and Katie finished in 34th place out of 44 teams.

Roshen Chatwal (7) and Joshua Fundler (7) from LMS played in the K-12 Under 1200 section, with Roshen finishing in 22nd place among a field of 365 players. As a team, Roshen and Joshua finished in 49th place out of 69 teams. Roshen also competed in the K-9 Blitz tournament.

Benjamin Liu (7) from LMS competed in the K-12 Under 1600 section, finishing in 16th place out of 490 players. Ian Rothstein (7) from LMS played in the K-8 Under 750 section.

Benjamin Shoykhet (6) and Andrew Teh (6) from LMS competed in the K-6 Championship section. Benjamin finished in 20th place out of the field of 152 players. As a team, Benjamin and Andrew finished in 13th place out of 19 teams.

Iris Zhou (7) from LMS played in the K-8 Championship section.

Sophie Kras (9) from LHWHS competed in the K-12 Under 800 section. Jason Pummer (9) from LHWHS competed in the K-9 Under 1250 section, finishing in 5th place out of 218 players.

Zachary Millsap (12) from LHWHS competed in the K-12 Under 1600 section, finishing in 25th place out of 490 players.

Click here to view more pictures!

Students in Mrs. Brooks’ 3rd grade class at Conway worked in collaborative groups to act as safety engineers. This lesson is a trans disciplinary project inspired by the district’s STEM cohort. The students were given the task of making an “evacuation plan” for a flood on the “Island of Fun and Fitness.” This project allowed students to think about the challenges and struggles being faced by the many areas that have recently been dealing with flooding.

Their work included strategically deciding on supplies to purchase, using their math skills to round and estimate their total cost for supplies, and then making a map to plan the evacuation route. The final step was to test their evacuation plans, and then work to improve upon the plans. The third graders did an amazing job asking questions to ensure their plans met all of the constraints and criteria. The drone footage shows 1 of the 6 “engineering teams” testing their first evacuation plan. The other engineers are analyzing the plans to help them during the revision process.

The class loved fulfilling the STEM vision: Students and Teachers Engaging Minds!

The Ladue School District is pleased ​to announce that Conway Elementary School has been recognized as an Apple Distinguished School for 2017–2019 for its unique application of technology solutions in classrooms from kindergarten through fourth grade. Specifically, Conway Elementary has one-to-one technology availability for the 345 students the school serves and has intricately woven the use of technology into curriculum to leverage the ability to deliver differentiated instruction to meet the unique learning needs of each child. This integration is enhanced by a full-time technology specialist, Kristie Lehde, who works with both teachers and students.

Apple Distinguished Schools are centers of innovation, leadership, and educational excellence that use Apple products to inspire creativity, ​collaboration and critical thinking. Like Conway Elementary, the schools chosen to receive this designation showcase innovative uses of technology in learning, teaching, and the school environment and have documented results of academic accomplishment.

“The selection of Conway Elementary School as an Apple Distinguished School highlights our success as an innovative and ​compelling learning environment that engages students and provides tangible evidence of academic accomplishment,” Conway Elementary Principal Dr. Lane Narvaez said. “The initiatives that have led to this designation have been supported broadly within our school and district and could not have been accomplished without the generosity and dedication of our parent association. We are proud of this designation as it signifies the teamwork and commitment of our community and the strides we are making in moving each and every student forward at his or her level of understanding.”

Conway Elementary School received the Gold Star Award for the 2002-03 and 2006-07 school years. This is the highest recognition granted by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to an individual school. In addition, Conway Elementary School was named a National Blue Ribbon School in 2007-08, which is the highest recognition granted by the United States Department of Education to an individual school.

Nine fourth grade robotics teams from all four elementary schools in the district competed in the regional FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Lego League Competition on Nov. 12 and 13 at Brittany Woods Middle School. One team from Reed, one team from Spoede and one team from Old Bonhomme will be moving on to the Eastern Missouri Championship Event at St. Louis Community College on Jan. 13, 2018.

Congratulations to Reed team “Water Bots”, Spoede team “Nasty & Necessary #7” and Old Bonhomme team “Boom-Shaka-Lake-Ahs” for this accomplishment. Other teams were awarded, as well. The “Brain Waves” team won the Project Award for their innovative ideas and presentation skills. The “Tidal Waves” and the “Nasty and Necessary #7” teams won the Core Values award for their team-work and gracious professionalism, and the “Water Bots” and the “Boom-Shaka-Lake-Ahs” each won the Champion’s Award, which means they did great work in all three categories. Both Spoede teams were awarded Monsanto Fund grants to participate in the event.

The project was led by teachers Karen Engelkenjohn, Tammy MacLean, Kathie Dolan and Lindsay Lombardo. Congratulations goes out to all the teams, parent helpers and teacher coaches for their hard work. Best of luck to all the teams moving on to the Eastern Missouri Championship in January!