Week of November 17, 2008

Welcome to the winter term! As you can see, I have included many photos. I just couldn't resist our impressive student art. There are paintings above by Amelia's Drawing and Painting students, Tyson Douglass, Tony Durham, Spencer Mitchell-Schwartz, Emma Armstrong-Carter, Jessey Holmgren-Sidell, and Emily Reif. There is also an unsigned Holocaust project. I managed to get a couple of photos of students rehearsing for the winter dance concert. They are all working so hard. At the bottom, you can see Jamie, Elise, Dave, and (hidden) Susan who were presenting a session at the North Carolina Association of Independent Schools annual conference, which was held last Friday at Ravenscroft. As you know, Friday was a staff workday, a day that we use to begin writing End-of-Term reports. These Upper School staff members gave up important writing time in order to share with other schools what they do best. Our group offered three presentations: End of Year program, Senior Seminar, and the new Sophomore Curriculum. I was extremely proud of all of them.

Speaking of End-of-Term reports, they are due to be completed on Monday, November 24th and will be in the mail before we leave for Thanksgiving vacation. It's hard to believe that we are already one-third of the way through the year. As you know, our fall symposium will be held on Monday of this week. Our topic is Current Affairs, and we have excellent sessions planned for our students on a variety of contemporary topics. We will balance the serious learning with our potluck lunch, band and Quaker N'Oats performances, and an hour of fun activities. Parents are most welcome to join us for the musical performances, which should begin at 11:45am on the patio. Also on Monday, we have a group of 15 students travelling to Cary Academy for the Triangle Diversity Alliance annual conference.

The basketball and swimming seasons have begun. Our first basketball home games were last Friday night. I was happy to see so many fans cheering for our teams. The swim meets aren't as easy to get to, but I will do my best to keep you posted. As Thanksgiving vacation draws near, I hope we are all able to slow down a little and enjoy time with our families. When I write this blog next week, I will be preparing for a large family gathering that will include four generations. Until then, I hope you have a great week!