From the School

LETTER FROM SALLY

This week’s query: How can I fit in and still be true to myself?

This week’s assembly is Abu the Flute Maker. Feel free to join us at 2:30 on Friday in the Arts Center.

Community Health Initiative meetings begin next week. One is scheduled for each grade level. These meetings with Middle School Counselor Jack Huntington and me are very important and parents are urged to attend. The purpose of these meetings is to discuss the developmental milestones of the upcoming year and how to best support your children in their academic and non-academic work, to learn about the advisory curriculum and how parents can support this work at home, and to learn how to best navigate the social scene. This meeting is designed to help strengthen the communications and bonds between the school and parents in an effort to help support everyone in our community in making healthy and informed decisions pertaining to our children. Please mark these dates on your calendars:

5th grade: Monday, September 20

6th grade: Tuesday, September 28

7th grade: Tuesday, October 12

8th grade: Wednesday, October 20

Meetings begin at 7:30 in the Middle School Drama Studio. The 6th and 7th grade meetings will be preceded by a light dinner, beginning at 6:45 PM.

A few weeks after the grade-level CHI meetings there will be grade level peer group meetings. The peer group meetings provide a unique opportunity for parents to have meaningful discussions on many of these same subjects in a safe and confidential setting. These meetings are for parents only and, again, help us learn to communicate in open, honest and healthy ways on issues of mutual interest and concern. The peer group meetings are for discussing non-academic issues only and are facilitated by parents from each class. The Middle School years are the years when our children change the most – they enter as children and leave as young adults. With this comes a wide-range of changes (emotional, psychological, neurological, hormonal and intellectual) that are baffling for our children as well as for the parents. Opening the lines of communications on issues ranging from cliques to coed dances….is the most important tool that we have to create a community that can best support our children.

Math Club! Beginning Tuesday, September 21st, 5/6 students are welcome to come to room 205 on Tuesdays from 2:00 – 2:30 pm. Students will be able to work alone or collaborate with friends to tackle fun and challenging math problems. The 5/6 math club will be directed by Lauren Phillips. Meetings will be held every Tuesday, and students are welcome to drop in when they can. Pick-up is promptly at 2:30 when teachers begin their weekly faculty meeting.

Are you new to the Middle School? Lots of information about daily life in the division may be found on the Parent Portal of the website. On the Parents Association Middle School page, there is a box with a link to a document called “Nuts and Bolts: Frequently Asked Questions about the Middle School.” It’s a good place to start if you have a question.

There are two people on the Wisconsin Avenue campus who have key responsibilities in watching over the health of your children. Our nurse is Jasmin Whitfield, and our athletic trainer is Shannon Fooks. Jasmin is on duty during the school day, and Shannon is on campus during all PE classes and athletic events, late morning through early evening. Please contact them if you have any questions or concerns about your child’s health or physical activity levels. For email, follow the SFS pattern (last name, first initial @ sidwell.edu). Phone extensions: Jasmin 202-537-8130; Shannon 202-537-2464.

Thank you for returning the two transportation forms that were mailed out in the August letter. 7/8 parents also need to send the Camping Permission Form. If you have not yet sent these, please get them to your child’s homeroom teacher or advisor as soon as possible.

If you are in the building between 8:00 and 8:05 am, please remember that that is when we observe our morning silence. Also, students arriving then will check in at the late room on the first floor so that silence in the homerooms and advisories is not disturbed.

To all Middle School families: a reminder that cell phones are to be turned off and put away – in lockers or cubbies, not just in pockets – during the school day. Some students use phones during the day to send text messages to friends; I encourage parents to check billing records and to support our efforts to discourage this practice. Multiple phones are available at school for students to use if they need to contact you.

Middle School students are not permitted to buy food or drinks at the Fox Den (school store) or at campus vending machines from 8:00 AM until they have “shaken out” with their homeroom teacher or advisor at the end of the day. If a student needs to buy something such as gym clothing during the day, he or she should arrange that with the homeroom teacher or advisor. Coffee products will not be sold to Middle School students, and behavior in the store must be respectful, appropriate, and responsible at all times. It is the intention of the school to stock the store and vending machines with healthy snacks, but since the campus serves students from 10-18 years old, choices are available that we hope will encourage older students to stay on campus to purchase after-school snacks rather than leaving campus. Parents should set limits with their children about the use of these facilities.

A reminder: Students who attend after-school programs here at school are not allowed to leave campus (for example, to buy food) and then return. All structured after-school activities provide snacks, and we feel it is safer for students to be taken care of here.

Thanks to everyone for your cooperation with the traffic routines on 37th Street; things are going very well! One note: we do have assemblies on Friday afternoons, and they do not finish until 3:20, at which time students need to walk back from the arts center before they go home. Please be patient with us on Fridays – and come a little later for pick up!

We have heard that the traffic in the garage has been especially slow this fall. Please note that students should be dropped off and picked up only in the drive-through lanes, not in the garage itself. Also, you will notice that the light at the exit near the post office has two cycles; one light faces the SFS exit, and the other is for the post office. Form two lines at that exit, and then when post office traffic has cleared, you may turn right on red.

We still do have extra security cards for cars that are coming to campus regularly – feel free to pick them up. Some parents have noted that they easily slip down under the dashboard; a little tape does wonders to keep that from happening. Another solution is to secure it to the visor with a rubber band and flip the visor down when the car is on campus.

Also please do remember that when you come into the Middle School, please stop and sign in and pick up a visitor tag.

We are still looking for Parent Volunteers to help during the school day – contact Carlene if you have a half day every other week or so.

The print version of the student directory was delayed over the summer. We apologize for the inconvenience. Each family will receive a copy of the printed student directory before the end of September. Until then, please utilize the links on the parent portal to access this information.

Instrumental Music Notes

Instrumental Music Notes

ALL Students selected for the Orchestra this year, grades 5-8, please report to room 101 (Mr. Henderson’s room) for rehearsal period. You will receive parts, letters to take home, and an overview of the concert season. Please be on time and bring your instrument. Students who are in both Orchestra and Girls Ensemble go to Orchestra first to pick up your music and letters. Then go to Ms. Holtz’s room for rehearsal.

Fall Drama Auditions

Attention Students in Grades 7/8! Audition for the Middle School Fall Drama: Louis Sachar's THERE'S A BOY IN THE GIRLS' BATHROOM. Audition date: Tuesday, Sept. 14 from 2:15 - 4:45 p.m. in the Middle School Drama Studio. Scripts are available in the MS Library. Please read the AUDITION FACT SHEET for more specific information. If you have any specific questions, contact Tim Reagan or Mary Milroy.

Attention 8th graders! If you are interested in joining the Vertical Voices Playback Theatre Company, there will be an interest meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 15 from 12:50 - 1:50 pm in the MS Drama Studio. Vertical Voices is a year-long commitment for 8th graders only. Please read the VERTICAL VOICES FACT SHEET for more information.

Math Counts

Attention 6th, 7th and 8th grade parents!! Does your child like solving challenging math problems and puzzles? If so, encourage him or her to come to Math Counts meetings. Starting on Thursday, September 30th, we will be gathering in Mr. C’s room (Room 306) from 3:30 – 4:30 pm every Thursday to tackle fun and challenging math problems together. In the spring, a team of students will be selected to represent Sidwell Friendsin area-wide competitions. Students do not need to sign up to attend the meetings – simply show up! An after school snack is provided for the students. For more questions, email Andrew Callard (aka Mr. C) at callarda@sidwell.edu.

Test of Listservs

Test of Listservs

Important! We will be conducting a test of both Equake (the School's Emergency Listserv) and SFSNewsflash (important updates often grade or division specific) on Wednesday, Sept. 15. Each fall, each family is automatically subscribed using the emails submitted on the Parent Portal. If you would like to unsubscribe or subscribe additional e-mail addresses please read more. If you do not receive an Equake and a SFSNewsflash on Sept. 15 and you believe you should have been subscribed, please subscribe following the directions. You should get a message stating that you have enrolled. If you have any questions, please call or e-mail Lydia Adelfio (202-537-8102, adelfiol@sidwell.edu ).

PA Announcements

Eighth Grade Parents

All 8th grade parents should have received an e-mail from Sung Hee Kim, one of the 8th grade representatives, containing information about last Saturday’s 8th grade picnic. If you did not receive this e-mail, please send Sung Hee your email address. Sung Hee Kim, sungheekim@comcast.net

Thank you.

PA Arts Committee

GOT ART? In hand, mind, and/or spirit? The PA Arts Committee welcomes any one, on the fringe or deeply immersed in love of the Arts, to join us in monthly meetings during which we plan different ways to support and celebrate SFS’s Arts. Read more about us on our renewed PA Arts Committee Website, posted later this week. Contact any of the following for more info: Rebecca Boylan (boylanr@georgetown.edu), Maude Fish (maude.fish@comcast.net), or Sally Amoruso (sallyamoruso@gmail.com). First meeting is WED, September 22, from 7:45-9:30 pm, in the US Library Board Room. Please join us for refreshments as we launch plans for a dynamically new ArtRageous, our annual all-school gathering (Sunday, January 30, 1-4 pm) to create, perform, and otherwise enjoy the Arts in the inspiring spaces of our beautiful Middle School campus.

Volunteer!

Volunteer!

A list of volunteer opportunities at SFS is now on line. Please go to the Parent Portal of the website, click Parents Association, then click Volunteering. ALL parents are encouraged to get involved in the Sidwell Friends community. Thank you in advance for being an active member of the PA!

Polly Bomstein & Lynn Sachs, co-presidents Sidwell Friends

Other News

Admissions Office Announcement

Important Announcement from the Admissions Office. In an effort to work more closely with current families and employees who are applying a child for the 2011-12 academic year and who is not currently enrolled at Sidwell Friends, the deadline to submit Part I, the application form, is October 1, 2010.

All supplementary material to complete the application is due by January 15, 2011. The online application and all forms are now available from the website from the admissions tab. Call the Admissions Office at 202-537-8111 if you have any questions.

Events For Student Scholarships

EVENTS FOR STUDENT SCHOLARSHIPS
NEXT-TO-NEW SALE
Sidwell’s hugely popular sale of quality used items is back and we need your help to make this event more successful than ever! The Next-to-New Sale will be held October 21-23. All proceeds directly benefit student financial aid. Collection times at the Wisconsin Avenue campus will run September 8-October 13 on Mondays and Wednesdays from 8:00 to 10:00 AM and Saturdays from 9:00 to 11:00 AM. We will also have a limited number of collection days at the Lower School—look for updates in the newsletter. Please click here for a list of items we accept and do not accept.

We need volunteers! We are looking for volunteers to assist with collecting, sorting and pricing donations, setting-up for the sale, cashiering, cleaning up, publicizing the event, community out-reach, etc. We are also looking for Section Heads to take responsibility for a particular category of donations and oversee its organization. If you are interested in learning more about these positions, please contact Lauren Mulcahy, Director of Special Events, ( mulcahyL@sidwell.edu ) or at 202-537-8110.

We can’t accept books for the NTN sale; however, if you have picture books, board books, and other elementary age books (not chapter books), we will accept them to donate to Brightwood. Sidwell partners with Brightwood Elementary School in DC in a community service project through which we donate books to be read to and given to children there by student and adult volunteers. This year’s donation during the NTN drive will supplant the usual separate Brightwood drive in November.

Newsletter Information

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Note concerning the School Calendar: the calendar entries that appear in the right column of each Newsletter are automatically generated by the official school calendar and are not subject to editing by the Newsletter Editors. All changes or additions to the school calendar must be made through the school scheduling office, reachable at: scheduling@sidwell.edu.