TA News

Dear TA Families,

It’s been a whirlwind of a first week with a buzz of energy and activity on campus. How wonderful to be back in person, learning together as a community! Thank you to all of the students for their understanding and compliance with the indoor mask rule.

We look forward to seeing you on Tuesday evening for TA’s Back to School Night. The program will run from 6:00-7:30 p.m. Arrive as early as 5:45 p.m. to check in and visit information tables on the quad. More details here: thetfordacademy.org/2021/08/back-to-school-night-aug-31-2021 and in an email I sent to parents yesterday evening.

Here are updates on important resources related to technology and time that we want to be sure all students and families are aware of and have access to …

• Laptop for every student: We are continuing the 1-to-1 laptop program that we started during Covid. This week all students in grades 7, 8, and 9 checked out a TA chromebook. High school students in grades 10, 11, 12 can either check out a TA laptop or bring one from home; about a third of our older students have checked out a TA laptop thus far. Who else needs one? Students should see Kate in the library on Monday if they still need to check out a laptop. All classes will expect student access to a personal computer.
• Digital learning expectations and resources: Visit the ‘for families’ section of our Digital Learning website for tech resources, a video overview, and to submit the required digital learning agreement form for 2021-22.
• Homework club in the TA library before and after school: Starting next week, the school library will be open and staffed in the mornings from 7:30-8:00 a.m. and in the afternoons from 3:00-3:30 p.m. Students are welcome to attend on a drop-in basis; no sign-up required.
• Latham Library now open for TA students: Latham Library is reopening its doors to middle school and high school students during afterschool hours. Capacity is limited and the library requires parent permission. Link to this doc for more details and/or contact the interim librarian for Latham Library, Emily Zollo, [email protected].

Please note that Wednesday, September 1 is a half-day, with dismissal at 12:10 p.m. All regular bus routes will run at this earlier time. Visit the calendar page of our website to download the print calendar and to access the online Google calendar for the school: thetfordacademy.org/calendars.

Students and teachers did not waste any time jumping back into the swing of school. Forest walks, history timelines, Spanish language games, an instrumental music maze, and so much more – all happening in classrooms and around campus this week. Take a few minutes this weekend to talk about the week with the TA student(s) in your family: What were their learning highlights?

Thanks & Happy (1st) Friday!

Carrie Brennan, Head of School

Photo feature: Students in the Meal Planning & Prep culinary elective produced a big batch of salsa with tomatoes and peppers from our very own TA garden as their first project of the semester.