EMAIL DETAILS

Sunday - December 7, 2014


Principal's Letter


MESSAGE FROM MAMADOU


Announcements


UPPER SCHOOL COMMUNITY SERVICE NEWSLETTER
SFS HOLIDAY GIFT DRIVE


Events


PARENTS OF BLACK STUDENTS ANNUAL HOLIDAY POTLUCK
GAMETIME! WINTER SEASON
CELBRATE MUSIC AND VISUAL ARTS WITH THREE EVENTS IN DECEMBER
CELEBRATE THE HOLIDAY SEASON AT THE FOX DEN
CANDLELIGHT MEETING AT BETHESDA FRIENDS
ALL-COMMUNITY MEETING FOR WORSHIP: DECEMBER 28
SFS NIGHT AT THE WASHINGTON WIZARDS!


Other


QUAKER QUOTES


News Around the School


MS NEWS


Principal's Letter


MESSAGE FROM MAMADOU

Friends,
It is difficult to find the words to express the complex emotions that we are all feeling in response to the recent grand jury decisions regarding the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner. Students and adults in the Upper School have come together both in our regular Meeting for Worship and in two separate Meetings for Sharing in an effort to come to terms with these events. Our discussions will continue as we work together as a community to understand how to seek justice in our society.
The final two weeks leading up to our winter break will be a busy time for our students as they strive to complete the work of the semester. Please reach out to your child’s advisor if you have any questions about your child’s schoolwork.
With warm regards,
Mamadou Guèye
Interim Principal
Upcoming Events:
December 13, 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.: FAPAC Holiday Party, Dining Hall
December 13, 8:30-10:30 p.m.: Winter Dance, Dining Hall
December 14, 2:30: Choral Concert, AC Theater
December 17, 7:30 p.m.: Instrumental Concert, AC Theater


Announcements


UPPER SCHOOL COMMUNITY SERVICE NEWSLETTER
The December edition of the Upper School Community Service Newsletter is now available on the SFS website. Please click on Upper School and Community Servivce and you will find the newsletter in the middle of the page.
This newsletter highlights upcoming and recent community service events taking place at the Upper School. Please read this month’s publication if you would like to learn more and/or get involved in the community service program at the Upper School.

SFS HOLIDAY GIFT DRIVE
Sidwell_Friends_School_Holiday_Gift_Drive.docxOnce again, it is the time of year for the SFS all-school holiday gift drive. This is a Parents Association- sponsored event. As in past years, we will provide donated gifts to benefit participants at two agencies with which we have long-term partnerships: Martha's Table on 14th Street, and the Rosemount Center in Mount Pleasant. This year, we are adding the Foster and Adopted Parents Action Center (FAPAC) to our list of partners. In the spirit of giving this holiday season, please help us make this time-honored School tradition a success by donating a gift to benefit a child from infant to age 18.
HOW IT WORKS:

Place unwrapped gifts in a large bag. Please include wrapping paper.
Drop them off under the holiday tree in the Upper School library or in Mr. Connell’s office (Room 222).
Delivery dates are Tuesday, November 25, through Friday, December 12.

GIFT SUGGESTIONS:
Anything your child would enjoy receiving! Books are highly valued, as are board games, Legos, African American and Latina dolls, and crafts kits. Gift certificates help with shopping for teens. Suggested stores for gift certificates are Target and Old Navy (shops that are in walking/Metro distance of recipients). Diapers are also appreciated. PLEASE: NO action figures that carry weapons.
We also need warm items to distribute to the homeless. For suggestions: http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist/1AKO3LU4VC6RZ/ref=cm_sw_su_w
OUR PARTNERS:
Rosemount Center. Located in Mount Pleasant, Rosemount provides a range of services, daycare, bilingual instruction, home visits, and physical and occupational therapy. SFS Upper School students partner with the Rosemount Center, providing support in the classrooms primarily to children of recent immigrants.
http://marthastable.org/bundles-of-joy
Martha's Table. All three divisions of the School have been participating with Martha's Table for many years. Your participation in holiday gift giving supports families that participate in Martha's Table Children, Youth, and Family Learning Programs. The program serves hundreds of children from the 14th Street corridor and surrounding neighborhoods in D.C.
FAPAC – The mission of FAPAC is to significantly improve the lives of children in the District of Columbia child welfare system by empowering their foster, kinship, and adoptive parents to advocate for their children’s needs and ensure the inclusion of those perspectives at every relevant table. FAPAC provides comprehensive support and training that enables foster, kinship, and adoptive parents to access the services needed to care for children who have experienced neglect and abuse, and to develop skills to serve as foster parents and mentors in the D.C. foster care system.


Events


PARENTS OF BLACK STUDENTS ANNUAL HOLIDAY POTLUCK
Please join the Parents of Black Students for our annual holiday gathering on Friday, December 19, from 6:00-9:00 p.m. Sidwell Friends School parents Michael and Tisha Hyter have graciously volunteered to host this potluck gathering.
Please take a moment to RSVP using this Signup Genius link: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0d4aa8a728a31-pbswinter (You may need to copy this link and paste it into your Internet browser to access the Signup Genius.)

GAMETIME! WINTER SEASON
Presenting two opportunities to cheer SFS athletes this week and two more after winter break.

Swimming and Diving on Wednesday, December 10, at Stone Ridge at 4:00 p.m. Teams from four schools will be competing against the Quakers, whose squad includes league champions in both swimming and diving. If you’ve never been to a meet: This one will start with diving at 4:00 p.m. Swimming events start around 4:30 p.m. and conclude around 6:00 p.m. Indoor swimming pool venues are warm and cheers reverberate, making your voices sound really loud. Competing schools include Stone Ridge, Georgetown Day, Gonzaga, Georgetown Visitation, and SFS. Stone Ridge is at 9101 Rockville Pike, just beyond the Navy Medical Center. Entrances are off Cedar Lane and Rockville Pike.
Wrestling on Friday, December 12, against Georgetown Day School, 4:30 p.m. at SFS. Come cheer the Quakers, MAC league champions eight of the last nine years. The wrestling room is in the Athletic Center. We’ll be serving donut holes and cider to those coming to cheer.
Girls' and Boys' Basketball on Friday, January 23, at SFS. Girls' Varsity vs St. Andrews is at 4:30 p.m.; Boys' Varsity vs. Maret is at 5:45 p.m.?
Dance Ensemble Winter Performance is on Friday, February 6, at 7:00 p.m. in the Caplin Theater.


CELBRATE MUSIC AND VISUAL ARTS WITH THREE EVENTS IN DECEMBER
Winter Chorus Concert
Sunday, December 14, 2:30 p.m.: The full chorus, chamber chorus, and several student-led Upper School a capella groups will perform in the Robert L. Smith Meeting Room.
Art Exhibition – Gallery Opening and Instrumental Concert
Wednesday, December 17, 5:30-7:30 p.m.: Celebrate the opening of the Upper School Fall Art Exhibition in the Rubenstein Gallery. The show includes work created in the Drawing, Digital Art, Photography, Ceramic, and AP Studio Art classes. The gallery opening will be followed by the Instrumental Concert at 7:30 p.m. Make it your arts night at Sidwell Friends! Refreshments will be provided.
If you would like to help our Arts faculty with the installation of the student work, please e-mail Anna Tsouhlarakis, Studio Art teacher and director of the Rubenstein Gallery (Tsouhlarakisa@sidwell.edu).

CELEBRATE THE HOLIDAY SEASON AT THE FOX DEN
'Tis the season to be giving… 'Tis the season to be gifted…
'Tis the season to be thankful for all this new Sidwell Swag!
'Tis the reason to shop – great t-shirts, hats, sweatshirts, sweatpants, ¼ zip jackets, flannel pants, mugs and more.
December 10: The Fox Den stays open until early evening.
December 12: The Fox Den “Pop Up” Store will be at The Lower School - Quaker Library Room, 8:00 a.m.-11:00 a.m.
December 16: The Fox Den “Pop Up” Store will be at The Lower School - Quaker Library Room, 8:00-11:00 a.m.
December 17: The Fox Den stays open until early evening.
Lots of great opportunities to shop Sidwell Friends School Store – The Fox Den.
3825 Wisconsin Ave, NW, Washington, DC 20016. 202-537-8198

CANDLELIGHT MEETING AT BETHESDA FRIENDS
December 22: Candlelight Meeting for Worship on Sidwell Friends Lower School campus
Please mark your calendars for Bethesda Friends Meeting’s annual Candlelight Meeting for Worship on Monday, December 22, at 8:00 p.m. in the meetinghouse on the Lower School campus. (The address is 5100 Edgewood Lane, at Beverly; the meetinghouse is to the left of the School property.)
During the last 15 years, many have come to appreciate, in the midst of nonstop holiday activity and anxiety, this peaceful hour together. It affords us all some needed respite. From infants to teens, oldsters and youngsters, all are most welcome. This is a refreshing way to celebrate the season, so please join us.
For details: Ralph and Coralie Bryant (301-657-3767) and Peter Nielsen-Jones (202-722-1390, pnielsenjones@gmail.com).

ALL-COMMUNITY MEETING FOR WORSHIP: DECEMBER 28
On Sunday, December 28, we will have our second All-Community Meeting for Worship at 10:30 a.m. in the Robert L. Smith Meeting Room.
Please join families, faculty, staff, alumni, and former faculty and staff at this meeting. A child-friendly Meeting for Worship, First Day school, will be available for children ages 4 and up. Refreshments will be served at the rise of meeting. Please RSVP to Kathi Webb (webbk@sidwell.edu).

SFS NIGHT AT THE WASHINGTON WIZARDS!
Saturday, February 7, is SFS Community Night at the Washington Wizards game against the Brooklyn Nets. Tip-off is at 7:00 p.m. We’ve got a block of seats in sections 424 and 425 so we can cheer together. Tickets are $25 each. Assuming we sell our 100 tickets, we’re entitled to watch pre-game warm-ups from courtside; 50 of our youngest fans can high cheer in the tunnel as players run onto the court (6:25 p.m.). We’ll also get our own Wizards-SFS custom T-shirts.
Tickets can be purchased now in the Fox Den. There are a limited number of student tickets available for families on financial aid. We are offering one free ticket per family on a first come, first served basis. Please contact Valerie Foster at 202-537-2402 or fosterv@sidwell.edu. These are REAL TICKETS, not re-printable e-tickets---please don’t lose yours.
Questions? Contact PA Athletics Committee clerks Estee Portnoy (Estee.Portnoy@jumpdc.com) and Andrew Aurbach (andrew.aurbach@gmail.com) or Kathi Webb (webbk@sidwell.edu).


Other


QUAKER QUOTES
"John Woolman (1720-1772) exemplified what a Quaker life could be when governed by the testimonies of Friends. His untiring efforts to eliminate the holding of slaves, to improve the treatment of Native Americans, and to end economic exploitation gave substance to the Quaker testimony on equality, and his choice of a way of life "free from much Entanglement and the Desire of outward Greatness," as he records in his Journal, likewise demonstrated the practical import of the Quaker testimony on simplicity. Though he directed his energies primarily to reform within the Religious Society of Friends, his work and his public writings were also clearly intended to influence the practice of the larger society."
---Faith and Practice, Philadelphia Yearly Meeting.
"May we look upon our treasures, and the furniture of our houses, and the garments in which we array ourselves, and try whether the seeds of war have nourishment in these our possessions, or not."
---John Woolman


MS NewsOn the courts and in life, Joe Odihiambo's got it handled
An assembly with the basketball great netted everyone’s attention from start to finish
Read MoreReflection on being a member of the "Stargirl" cast
On Tuesday, September 9, a group of 7th and 8th graders filed into the drama studio with completed forms in their hands. On the questionnaire all of us wrote down that we adore acting.
Read MoreParty Clothes!
Community celebrates Middle Schoolers who brought eco-friendly t-shirts to The Fox Den’s inventory
Read More


Upper School Weekly E-Newsletter Submissions

How to Submit an Article to the E-Newsletter. Fill out the form at www.sidwell.edu/submit by 12:00 p.m. Thursday.

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.

The Upper School Weekly E-Newsletter is a forum for communication among parents and is designed to provide announcements concerning school events or information. E-newsletter submissions should be filled out at www.sidwell.edu/submit.


Calendar


Wed, Dec 10th

MS Winter Concert

AC Theater
7:00pm - 9:00pm


Thu, Dec 11th

PA Arts Committee Mtg

US Library Board Rm
7:00pm - 9:00pm


Fri, Dec 12th

LS Holiday Program - Gr. 2,3,4

LS Gym
9:00am - 10:00am


Sat, Dec 13th

FAPAC Holiday Party

US Dining Room, US Lower Floor
10:00am - 3:00pm


US Winter Dance

US Dining Rm
8:30pm - 10:30pm


Sun, Dec 14th

US Winter Choral Concert

Robert L. Smith Mtg Rm
2:30pm - 4:30pm


Tue, Dec 16th

LS Holiday Program - Gr. PK, K, 1

LS Gym
9:00am - 10:00am


Wed, Dec 17th

PA US Steering Comm. Mtg

Rusch Team Rm
8:00am - 9:30am


Fall Art Show Opening

Rubenstein Gallery
5:30pm - 7:30pm


US Winter Instrumental Concert

AC Theater
7:30pm - 9:00pm


Fri, Dec 19th

US Arts Guild

Robert L. Smith Mtg Rm
7:00pm - 10:00pm


Mon, Dec 22nd

Winter Break


1/2/2015


More


Athletics


Mon, Dec 8th

Swimming & Diving - Girls Varsity vs. Madeira


4:00pm


Tue, Dec 9th

Basketball - Girls Junior Varsity vs. Holton-Arms


4:15pm


Basketball - Boys Freshman at Landon


4:15pm


Basketball - Boys Junior Varsity at Flint Hill


4:30pm


Wrestling - Varsity vs. St. Andrew's School


4:30pm


Wrestling - Varsity - St. Stephen's & St. Agnes Tri


5:00pm


Basketball - Girls Varsity vs. Holton-Arms


5:30pm


Basketball - Boys Varsity at Flint Hill


6:15pm


Wed, Dec 10th

Swimming & Diving - Girls Varsity vs. Quad Meet


4:00pm


Swimming & Diving - Boys Varsity vs. Tri Meet with Gonzaga & GDS


4:00pm


Thu, Dec 11th

Basketball - Boys Junior Varsity vs. Georgetown Day


4:00pm


Basketball - Girls Junior Varsity at Maret School


4:15pm


Basketball - Girls Varsity at Maret School


5:45pm


Basketball - Boys Varsity vs. Georgetown Day


5:45pm


Fri, Dec 12th

Basketball - Girls Junior Varsity vs. National Cathedral School


4:00pm


Swimming & Diving - Boys Varsity vs. Dive Invitational


4:00pm


Swimming & Diving - Girls Varsity vs. Dive Invitational


4:00pm


Swimming & Diving - Boys Varsity vs. Dive Invitational


4:00pm


Wrestling - Varsity vs. Georgetown Day


4:30pm


Basketball - Boys Freshman at Flint Hill


4:30pm


Basketball - Boys Junior Varsity at St. Andrew's School


5:30pm


Basketball - Girls Varsity vs. National Cathedral School


5:45pm


Sat, Dec 13th

Wrestling - Varsity - Mercersburg Duals


9:00am


Mon, Dec 15th

Swimming - Boys 7/8 vs. Holton-Arms


2:45pm


Swimming & Diving - Girls Varsity vs. Holton-Arms


2:45pm


Basketball - Girls 7/8 A at Holton-Arms


2:45pm


Basketball - Girls 7/8 C at Holton-Arms


2:45pm


Basketball - Girls 7/8 B vs. Holton-Arms


3:00pm


Swimming & Diving - Girls Varsity vs. Holton-Arms


4:30pm


Tue, Dec 16th

Basketball - Girls Junior Varsity vs. Madeira


4:15pm


Basketball - Boys Freshman at St. Albans


4:15pm


Basketball - Boys Junior Varsity at St. Albans


4:30pm


Wrestling - Varsity at St. Albans


5:00pm


Basketball - Girls Varsity vs. Madeira


5:45pm


Basketball - Boys Varsity at St. Albans


6:15pm


Wed, Dec 17th

Indoor Track - P.E. Class (Coed) vs. Georgetown Preparatory Run & Gun


Swimming - Boys 7/8 at Stone Ridge School


2:45pm


Swimming - Girls 7/8 at Stone Ridge School


2:45pm


Basketball - Boys 7/8 B at Bullis


2:45pm


Wrestling - 7/8 vs. Bullis


2:45pm


Basketball - Girls 7/8 C vs. Stone Ridge School


2:45pm


Swimming - Girls 7/8 vs. Stone Ridge School


2:45pm


Swimming - Boys 7/8 vs. Meet @ Stone Ridge


2:45pm


Thu, Dec 18th

Basketball - Boys 7/8 A vs. Georgetown Day


2:45pm


Basketball - Girls Junior Varsity vs. Potomac School


4:15pm


Basketball - Boys Junior Varsity at Potomac School


4:15pm


Wrestling - Varsity vs. St. Andrew's School


4:30pm


Basketball - Girls Varsity vs. Potomac School


6:00pm


Fri, Dec 19th

Basketball - Girls Varsity - Quaker Invitational 12/19 & 12/20


12/20/2014


Basketball - Boys Varsity - Florida Trip


12/22/2014


Basketball - Boys Freshman vs. Wilson H.S.


4:15pm


Sat, Dec 20th

Wrestling - Varsity - SFS Tournament/Beast of the East


Fri, Dec 26th

Basketball - Girls Varsity - Surf N Slam Tournament (San Diego, CA): 12/26 - 12/31


12/31/2014


More


3825 Wisconsin Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20016 Tel: 202-537-8100 Fax: 202-537-8499