TA News

Dear TA Families,

May is (almost) here. But before we jump ahead, let’s savor our April days.

Student Appreciation Week

This past week our school hallways were adorned with joyful, personal, and heartfelt notes – one for every student in the school – written by faculty advisors. Check out this awesome video compilation of some of the 300+ cards around campus. This is one of the many fun traditions of our annual Student Appreciation Week. Each day during Power Hour there were special treats and activities, including ice cream sundaes, TA t-shirt giveaways, carnival games, and a barbecue. Huge thanks to our TA teacher/admin leaders on the Student Life Committee who coordinated all of the events! TA Students: We  you!

Images of Early Spring @ TA

Featured photos this week include glimpses into power hour fun during Student Appreciation Week, integration of gardening into English class, and the welcome opportunity of moving outdoors for lunch in recent weeks.

Spring Break

The TA offices will be closed next week, April 24-28. Spring sports are in full swing with practices and competitions, so athletes should look out for communications from coaches and check team calendars to stay in the loop.

When we get back from spring break, we will jump right into all of the excitement of the final six weeks of school. Here are early May events to be aware of:

Roundtable Day on May 3

This is especially important for a few reasons: 1) It is our last half-day schedule of the year. 2) Seniors will be doing their roundtable presentations and parents and family members are invited! Please RSVP with your student’s advisor if you plan to attend. 3) Students in 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th grades will also be doing roundtable presentations in their advisory groups. (Parents of younger students are not included this year – but we will work to return to this practice in the future.) Learn more about portfolios at TA, our schoolwide transferable skills, and the purpose of roundtables: thetfordacademy.org/academics/proficiency-based-learning.

High School Course Registration for 2023-24

Students in 9th, 10th, and 11th grades, along with their advisors, recently attended course registration sessions led by the counseling department. Students received a TA course catalog to bring home to share with families and use as a resource for academic planning (link to PDF copy). The counseling department also sent out instructional emails to students and parents with steps, links to resources, and deadlines. Students in 8th grade will do all of this on May 3; this includes a daytime session for TA middle schoolers and an evening session designed for middle schoolers in our sending schools. Here is a re-cap of key info regarding high school course registration for all four grades: thetfordacademy.org/2023/04/course-registration-for-2023-2024-school-year.

Teacher Appreciation Week, May 8-12

We will celebrate Teacher Appreciation Week May 8-12 and would love volunteer parent support to help recognize and honor our TA panther team of educators. Look for an email on May 1 to be a part of this special week with food contributions and offerings of appreciation messages.

Operation Day’s Work on May 10

ODW is an international youth-led, service-learning initiative to raise funds for children’s causes in the developing world. On May 10, TA students will head out in work crews to sites throughout our community to provide labor for which participating ’employers’ will compensate the students and all proceeds will be directed to this year’s selected nonprofit. Learn more about ODW in a recent news post on our website and please ensure your student has filled out the participation form: thetfordacademy.org/2023/04/tas-operation-days-work-scheduled-for-may-10-employers-needed.

Honors Celebration on May 10The annual Honors Celebration at TA is a special event to recognize students who consistently engage in all of their classes and achieve at a high academic level. To qualify to participate, students must make High Honors at least once in the preceding four quarters (including the fourth quarter of the preceding year, except new students) and make Honors in all remaining quarters.

The Honors Celebration is an evening dinner event for students and families, held in the Vaughan Alumni Gymnasium. Students who qualified this year received email invitations on Wednesday, April 19. (This year the invitations went out to students only – not parents.) We are requestings RSVPs be submitted by April 25, so that we can plan accordingly.

And, last but not least …

While we enjoy a break from the routine of classes and coursework this week, one group of TA students will be hard at work, bringing all of their brainpower, problem solving skills, and collaboration to the test. Best of luck to the TA Robotics Team, as they venture to the VEX World Competition in Texas – thetfordacademy.org/2023/03/support-tas-robotics-club-and-their-trip-to-worlds!
All the best,

Carrie Brennan, Head of School