Dear US Families,
This past week, during an Upper School Assembly, the speaker quoted the Nobel Prize-winning writer, social reformer, polymath, and artist Rabindranath Tagore who said: “I slept and dreamt that life was joy. I awoke and saw that life is service. I acted and behold, service was joy.” I pass this along as a means of expressing my gratitude to the community for allowing me to serve permanently as the Upper School Principal. This place means a lot to me, and my family, and I feel very fortunate to have the opportunity to help it grow and evolve in the coming years. Now, onto some business…
We are in the final stages of the academic scheduling process and on Monday, the portal that students use to register for classes will close. Once students have completed this registration, they will print out a copy of their requests and will need their parents/guardians and advisor to sign off on it. This “signing off” process is an important step in making sure that families are aware of what their student(s) have indicated they would like to take next year. If you haven’t yet spoken with your student(s) about their plans for next year, this weekend would be the perfect opportunity. While Monday marks the conclusion of the student portion of scheduling, it begins the administrative portion of this process. Beginning in April, Deans and Chairs will begin to study sign ups to settle on staffing, consider placement changes, and review 6th major applications. At the end of April, Deans will communicate with any student who submitted a 6th major application and/or communicated with a Chair regarding placement. Then, in May, Deans will meet with students who need to update their course requests based on this new information. If you would like to study our scheduling or placement process, philosophy, or calendar please be sure to head to the resources page on myDE where you’ll find a host of information about all 3.
When we return from Spring Break, we’ll be heading into what may be the busiest time of the year for the Division and community. Between interim comments, student government elections, the Spring Carnival, two weeks of AP testing, end-of-year assemblies, Junior/Senior Prom, Senior Selectives, June exams, Commencement, and a whole lot more it is going to feel like a sprint to the end! With that in mind, here is a very broad calendar of the final 10 weeks of school. I hope that it helps you to wrap your head around all of this wonderful chaos! I also implore you to read the pages submitted by Ms. Murphy, Ms. Wittner, and the Deans for more information about grade-specific events and expectations. As always, USnews will serve as a repository of information and we in the Upper School office remain available as resources.
- April 5: Max Stossell presentations on Digital Wellbeing; parent presentation @ 9:15am in Hajjar Auditorium
- April 11: 11th Grade Parent Forum @ 8:30am in Hajjar Auditorium
- April 12:
- 10th Grade Parent Forum @ 8:30am in Hajjar Auditorium
- Interim Comments released to students; released to families on 4/13
- April 13: 9th Grade Parent Forum @ 7pm in Hajjar Auditorium
- April 17:
- Interim grade reports release to students; released to families on 4/18
- Junior College Night
- April 23: Spring Carnival on Leggett Field!
- April 26: 9th Grade Parent Meet & Greet with the College Office
- April 29: Bulldog Bash!
- May 1 – 12: AP Testing
- May 18: Seniors last day of classes
- May 19: Junior/Senior Prom @ Maritime Parc in Jersey City
- May 22 – June 2: Senior Selectives (lots more about this from Ms. Murphy!)
- June 4: Commencement @ 10am
- June 7-9: Final Exams + Junior College Conference (more info to come!)
- June 13: Last day of classes (1:30pm dismissal)
Please be sure to see below to get more grade-specific information from the Deans and additional insight about community happenings from our Director of Student Activities and Director of Social Emotional Learning.
With that I want to wish everyone a safe and restorative Spring Break. I hope that your student(s) and you yourself are able to at the very least enjoy a change of pace. The kids – and faculty/staff! – have been working really hard and are certainly deserving of a break. I look forward to seeing many of you in the coming months.
Best,
Kim