Lotspeich Blast Oct 24, 2025
Key Dates
Saturday, Oct. 25 — Combined Trunk or Treat event for Doherty and Lotspeich Families, 3-5 p.m., Doherty Campus
Monday, Oct. 27 — Day 5
Tuesday, Oct. 28 — Day 1
Wednesday, Oct. 29 — Day 2
Thursday, Oct. 30 — Day 3. Kindergarten Field Trip to Benton Family Farm
Friday, Oct. 31 — Day 4. Parent Coffee, 8:30 a.m. Lotspeich Halloween Parade, 9:15 a.m., Upper Track or Kalnow Gym if raining
Saturday, Nov. 1 — Growing Together Event, 9 a.m.-12 p.m. S.H.A.R.E. Pumpkins and Popsicles, 2-4 p.m.
Sunday, Nov. 2 — Daylight Saving Time Ends
Monday, Nov. 3 — Day 5. School House Symphony visits Grades Kindergarten, 1, and 2. Lower School Food Drive Begins
Tuesday, Nov. 4 — Day 1
Wednesday, Nov. 5 — Day 2 Field Trip: Grades 1 and 5 to the Cincinnati Zoo. School House Symphony visits Grades 3 and Pre-kindergarten. Book Fair Begins
Thursday, Nov. 6 — Day 3. School House Symphony visits Grades 4 and 5
Friday, Nov. 7 — Day 4. Cincinnati Museum Center visits Mrs. Del Vecchio and Mrs. Cappannelli’s Classes. Lotspeich Parent Community Meeting, 8:30 a.m., After the Bell Room
Wednesday, Nov. 12 — No School. Parent-Teacher Conferences
Thursday, Nov. 13 — No School. Parent-Teacher Conferences
Friday, Nov. 14 — No School. Teacher Professional Development Day
Wednesday, Nov. 19 — Board of Trustees Meeting, 6 p.m.
Tuesday, Nov. 25 — Thanksgiving Break begins at 3:15 p.m.
Wednesday, Nov. 26-Friday, Nov. 28 — Thanksgiving Break. No School
Photos of the Week
Kindergarten welcomed a special guest to teach them all about Diwali. After reading a book about the holiday, the students held their own lights and learned a festive dance.
What to Know Now
The Honeycomb! A Community Service Opportunity for all Lower School Students
The Honeycomb is a Lower School community service initiative where students come together to spread kindness, responsibility, and community — our Hive values — in action. Meeting twice a month after school, we learn how even the smallest acts can make the biggest ripples. Our third session is on Thursday, Oct. 30, at Doherty. We will be making blankets for Project Linus!
Each opportunity has a small fee to cover the cost of supplies for our projects! Register for ONE or ALL of our sessions!
Halloween at Lotspeich — Friday, Oct. 31
On Friday, Oct. 31, we will hold our annual Halloween Parade beginning at 9:15 a.m. Students will parade around the upper track by grade levels, beginning with our pre-kindergarten for 2-year-olds students. All parents are invited to attend, watching the parade from the field in the center of the track, where there is plenty of space to spread out to see all of the children. Parking is available at the Field House and along Ellmarie Drive. Students can wear their costumes to school in the morning. They will have recess and PE later in the day and are, therefore, able to change after the parade if necessary. If the weather should not cooperate, we will hold this event in Kalnow Gym.
Costuming Requests for Halloween
We would appreciate your help in not providing props or costume pieces that we would not permit as play equipment in school (guns, swords, arrows, etc.). Similarly, we need your help in being sensitive to the children’s need to maintain a parade route. We have found that large box costumes or very bulky outfits can be particularly problematic for the children. Makeup is difficult for the children to apply, so please do not send any to school. Of course, we ask that no child come to school in make-up as well.
There are lots of costumes to wear that celebrate Halloween. Please help us ensure that our children’s costumes do not stereotype, mock, or poke fun at another person/group or human condition.
ATB is Closing at 5 p.m. on Oct. 31
Growing Together: Doherty Oak Tree Planting Event
Please join us on Saturday, Nov. 1, to help plant 180 oak saplings, grown from a Doherty tree. We will plant them in a temporary location at Hillsdale Campus and then move them to create a Doherty Grove once the new Lower School building is finished. Please drop in anytime 9 a.m.-12 p.m. to help plant, play, and tour the future Lower School site. No RSVP required and all ages are encouraged to join us as we start to build the future Lower School environment.
Changes in Dismissal Plans?
As the fall sports season is finishing up, please email Anna Karol if you need to make any changes to your child’s set, routine dismissal schedule and we can get that changed in Veracross. Also, please remember to do the same thing once winter sport practices begin. Thank you.
Early Care Reading Wednesdays For Grades 1-5
Ms. Wilson and Ms. Berting are turning Wednesdays into Reading Day at Early Care. If you join on Wednesday, bring a book and be ready to cozy up and read!
Parent Community News
Trunk or Treat — Tomorrow!
Join us on the Doherty Campus, Saturday, Oct. 25, 3-5 p.m. Dress up yourself and your car! This is a joint event open to all Lotspeich and Doherty families.
Stock the Lounge (Teacher’s Lounge)
The Parent Community was able to start the year by stocking the teachers’ lounges in August with snacks and treats at the start of the school year. If you’d still like to contribute to stocking the teachers’ lounge, please order from the Amazon Wishlist. FYI, all items will be delivered to a central location (Laura Hardy’s house), and volunteers will assist in transporting them to the lounges in the ECC and Lotspeich buildings. These items will be delivered in October!
Upcoming Events
- Halloween Parade & Parent Coffee — Lotspeich, Oct. 31
- Walking Group — Join this WhatsApp group for dates and information! This is an ongoing, casual walking group that meets (weather permitting) on certain days after dropoff.
Quarterly Meetings
- Nov. 7
- Jan. 23
- April 10
Parent Community Leadership – Please reach out to us with any questions 🙂
Mona Desai, co-chair
Lindsey O’Connell, co-chair
Lauren Bonaminio, communications chair
Nancy Kingkeo, treasurer
Announcements
Pumpkins and Popsicles with S.H.A.R.E. — Saturday, Nov. 1, 2-4 p.m.
All are welcome to S.H.A.R.E.’s fun family event on Saturday, Nov. 1, 2-4 p.m. at the Pavilion on the Hillsdale Campus. Enjoy a fun-filled afternoon with family activities, including decorating pumpkins with words of kindness in honor of World Kindness Day. S.H.A.R.E. stands for Seven Hills Association of Rainbow Events. We are an affinity group for anyone with a family member or who is an ally to the LGBTQIA+ community. Let us know you are coming by emailing SHARE@7hills.org.
Holiday Care
When school is out … Holiday Care is in! For our next set of “no school days” on Nov. 12, 13, and 14, we will offer Holiday Care at the Hillsdale Campus for pre-kindergarten for 2-year-olds through fifth grade! We will be open from 7:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
Remember, there must be at least 20 students registered two weeks prior to program start for the programs to run! Register now!
LEAD Together — “Setting Kids up for Success” Webinar
Thank you to all the parents, faculty and administrators who came to learn from Psychologist Lisa Damour about “Setting Kids up for Success.” If you weren’t able to make it, we highly encourage you to listen to the webinar (about 55 minutes). Please access the webinar. It will be available until Jan. 31.
Seven Hills Unplugged — Every Tuesday
Back by popular demand, Seven Hills Unplugged returns to the Hillsdale Campus this fall every Tuesday! Families from pre-kindergarten for 2-year-olds through eighth grade are welcome to enjoy some after-school open play and screen-free fun! The ECC playground space is available for ECC families to connect! See the flyer for details. Rain-out locations will be shared each week, as needed.