TA News

Dear TA Families,

I hope that everyone had a good Thanksgiving holiday. With Tuesday’s snowfall, Thursday’s dramatic drop in temps, our first snow day of the year, and the launch of winter sports practices, this week definitely ushered in the start of a new season! 

Quarter 2 & Academic Progress
This week we also passed the halfway point of the 2nd quarter of the school year. This is an important juncture in the academic calendar, especially for high school students, whose classes and credits are organized on a semester basis. During the next two weeks, from December 8 to 19, students will be working on essential studies and assessments and will want to keep up with their work and feel confident (and not behind) as they go into the long holiday break (12/20-1/4). The final stretch of the semester takes place the weeks of January 5 and 12. Now would be a good time to check in with your students at home about their class work and progress, review assignments and grades in Alma together, and connect about highlights or challenges they want to share. Please reach out to us at school if you have questions as you help support your student’s academic success on the homefront. We are a big team – teachers, advisors, counselors, school leaders – and we are here to help!

Holiday Events
The annual Winter Concert is on Wednesday, December 10 from 6:30-8:00pm. All middle school students will participate in the middle school chorus performance. All high school students enrolled in instrumental ensemble or stage band classes will also be performing, as well as the high school chorus club. The event takes place in the Martha Jane Rich Theater and is free and open to the community.

On Friday evening, December 12, there will be two student dances. The class of 2030 will be hosting a middle school dance for 7th and 8th graders in the annex building. The class of 2026 will host a holiday dance for high school students in the gym. Both events are from 7-9pm.

Season of Gratitude
We continued our annual tradition of filling out gratitude cards in advisory last month. We hope that the activity is meaningful for students individually as they reflect on the things they especially appreciate in their lives, make note of them, and share with their advisory. I can attest to the fact that the activity has a collective impact on the community because we collect and post the hundreds of cards around the school. It is an inspiration to walk through the hallways at this time of year and be surrounded by so many young people’s personal notes of thanks. Myriad topics are highlighted, from family to food to classes, friends, sports and hobbies, and pets, as well as more abstract things like health, opportunities, and love. I haven’t done a quantitative analysis, but my hunch is that if we did do an official count, we’d find that parents and family feature at the top of the list – and I wanted to be sure to share that with all of you at home. Most teenagers might not be super skilled at sharing their gratitude in person but know that they appreciate you!

Featured photos this week: A few of this year’s gratitude cards, students taking advantage of our first ski trail days of the season, and a cool snowy overhead shot of campus (photo credit Kevin Brooker)

Happy December,

Carrie Brennan, Head of School