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Picture Day |
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This year picture day will be on Monday, September 19, 2011. You will receive an email letting you know when proofs are available for viewing and ordering. Questions? Contact Sara Gibbons at sgibbons@sbschool.org
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Middle School Newsletter |
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The first edition of the Middle School Newsletter will come out on Friday, Sept. 23, and will be sent to middle school parents every two weeks from then on. Look for news about what is happening in classes and for links to blog articles by teachers and staff who work with the middle schoolers. |
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Click here to view this in your browser. |
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Fall Family Weekend |
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It's not too early to start
planning a visit with your daughter during our Fall Family Weekend,
October 14 and 15. Family members will have an opportunity to attend
classes, watch a performing arts presentation, cheer on SBS teams and
meet with teachers and advisors. You can find more information and
register here. |
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Owls for Life! |
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Students can display their school spirit with a school ring! A representative from Balfour, the ring company we work with, will be on campus Friday, October 14 during Fall Family Weekend! If your daughter is interested in purchasing a school ring, stay tuned for a specific time and place to meet the Balfour representative on October 14th. |
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From Bill Ivey, Middle School Dean: The Middle School is off to an excellent start, with strong energy and a good group feeling. The overnight trip in particular was a great success.
We arrived at Camp Becket, tired and starving, at about 5:30, and unloaded the bus as quickly as we could. It wasn't long before we were in the dining hall, enjoying chili with and without meat as well as the "world famous salad bar" as our host counselor Jez called it. Afterwards, we carried all our belongings to Gibson Lodge, and met back outside with Jez and our other host counselor, Hannah, to play some games to continue learning names and to begin to take on some group challenges. One group, for example, had to memorize a name and a self-designed dance for each student that began with the same letter as her name (so for example, Susan's dance might be the Swing, the Sushi, or the Soccer). After the games, we went to a campfire and enjoyed s'mores. The girls went back to the lodge early, arranged their mattresses on the floor of the big central room, and settled in together for a gigantic sleepover.
Everyone was wonderful about packing up the next morning, and we were ready for breakfast half an hour before it opened. After breakfast, we went to the high ropes course. As always, some students appeared nearly fearless while others were much more nervous. As always, there were many uplifting moments - students going higher than they expected they could, students literally giving each other a leg up while 20+ feet up in the air, students who didn't expect to even try finding themselves 40 feet in the air, reaching out their hands and touching the pole that marked the endpoint while onlookers cheered for them, and glowing with pride after being slowly lowered to the ground. Later on, after lunch, we tried some low ropes challenges such as trying to arrange ourselves by age on a horizontal log about one foot off the ground without anyone falling off. One group, asked to balance a large wooden platform on an angled fulcrum, managed somehow to do it in about two to five seconds flat, unbelievably faster than Jez or I had ever seen. They had a much harder time, interestingly enough, coming up with a pop song to sing while remaining balanced!
Both Jez and Hannah said we had really great kids as I walked with them back to the lodge and on to the bus. We talked about ways to keep the teambuilding going through the year, and I will be talking to the kids about their own ideas during the MOCA meeting on Friday, Sept. 16.
From Jessica Durfey, 9th Grade Class Dean: For many years, the 9th grade class has traveled to Road's End Farm in Chesterfield, NH. This year we did it again and had an unforgettable time. We loaded the buses Monday afternoon and headed north. Upon our arrival, we set up camp in the newly built cabins. That night we enjoyed a game of Wah, a challenging human knot, a bonfire, and a 15 minute version of "Boom Chick-a-Boom." It was a picturesque night with the full moon shining bright and sounds of laughter echoing throughout the farm.
The next day there was a lot more fun. After breakfast the girls had the opportunity to watch the 68 horses at Road's End Farm be released from one side of the farm to the other. It was a breathtaking scene to see all of those horses galloping at full speed. It is safe to say that everyone enjoyed this! We spent the rest of the day in a field doing a variety of things. Students worked together to set goals for the year and then wrote a letter to themselves, focusing on individual goals and fears. Before we headed out, Tom (the owner) sat down with the girls and had a heart-to-heart talk. He told them to cherish their time at SBS and to take advantage of every opportunity. It was a great way for the girls to end their trip and begin their high school careers.
From Aileen Logan-Tyson, 10th Grade Class Dean: The sophomore class set off for their trip to Boston at 7:30 a.m. on Tuesday. We had a very comfortable trip down 91 and the Mass Pike, arriving at Boston Common at 10 a.m. We met up with the Boston Group who gave each of our four student groups maps, descriptions and cameras to help navigate our way along part of the Freedom Trail. The four SBS chaperones took a back seat and each student group worked together to find places of historical interest, such as the Granary Burying Ground and Old City Hall. The groups also learned about historical figures such as Paul Revere and Sam Adams. The girls did a really nice job getting to know new students in their groups and navigating their way along the Boston streets. After a couple of hours we stopped for lunch at Quincy Market. The choices of what to eat were amazing and everyone took advantage of what was available. After lunch the girls worked together on a question and answer activity, and then we made our way through Quincy Market to where our bus had parked. We had wonderful weather for the trip, got to know more about one another, and learned a little US history. We all agreed it was a day well spent!
From Kelly Griffin, 11th Grade Class Dean: The juniors spent the day at High 5 Adventures in Brattleboro, VT this past Tuesday. 22 returning students and 4 new girls all nervously got off the bus and were greeted by three very excited adventure leaders. The instructors immediately put all of us in a large circle and directed us through a variety of goofy ice breaker games, including introducing ourselves as if we were from Texas or as an opera singer. Once we were all better acquainted, the girls broke into three groups and spent the rest of the morning doing low-ropes challenges. After lunch we put on harnesses and got ready for the high-ropes challenges. The girls spent the rest of the afternoon pushing themselves and encouraging one another to tackle tight ropes 50 feet in the air or to conquer the Giant's Ladder. By the time we boarded the bus to head back to Greenfield there was a tangible sense of accomplishment among the entire class. Though the girls were certainly exhausted at the end of the day, they had a great time and it was truly a bonding experience.
From Sara Gibbons, 12th Grade Class Dean: The senior class went to Tully Lake, where we met up with Ben, Ian and Jen from Adventure In Adventure Out for a day of canoeing and team building. Shortly after arriving (and learning about each person’s most disgusting food combination) we put the canoes in, piled our lunches and ourselves in the boats, and took off. Each pair of seniors quickly figured out how to work together and communicate to paddle the canoe forward. We played games on the water, like tag and capture the flag, and took a pre-lunch swim. After our picnic lunch Ben led the seniors in team-building games, like a timed ping pong ball challenge and working through a spider web. We knew the class of 2012 was competitive, but we didn’t know just how competitive they were until these games! We then loaded up the boats and headed back to the boat launch – but not before stopping for another swim break. Once on the bus, one senior commented that this was “the best bonding trip” she had ever experienced, and I’m sure more seniors would have agreed, if they hadn’t already fallen asleep!
To see photos from all the trips, check out our Facebook page! |
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Fall Athletic Season |
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| Varsity Soccer 2010 River Valley Athletic League (RVAL) Champions
| The fall athletic season kicks off on Wednesday, September 21, 2011. A list of upcoming games and events (home and away) for the next two weeks is below. We hope you'll come support our teams!
Riding
Sat. 9/24/11 USEA Horse Trials 8:00 a.m.
JV Volleyball
Wed. 9/21/11 @Wilbraham and Monson 4:00 p.m.
Sat. 9/24/11 @Berkshire 1:30 p.m.
Varsity Volleyball
Wed. 9/21/11 @Wilbraham and Monson 2:30 p.m.
Sat. 9/24/11 @Berkshire School 1:30 p.m.
Wed. 9/28/11 vs. Cheshire Academy 3:30 p.m.
JV Soccer
Wed. 9/21/11 vs. Vermont Academy 3:00 p.m.
Sat. 9/24/11 @Deerfield Academy 11:30 a.m.
Wed. 9/28/11 @Miss Hall's School 3:00 p.m.
Varsity Soccer
Wed. 9/21/11 vs. Vermont Academy 1:30 p.m.
Sat. 9/24/11 @Watkinson School 2:00 p.m.
Wed. 9/28/11 @Miss Hall's School 3:00 p.m. |
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First Parents' Association Meeting |
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Jennifer and Dmitry Eremeev
Parents of Francesca, Class of 2015
invite you to a cocktail reception at their home on
64 Greenleaf Drive, Northampton, MA
(4th house on the left)
Tuesday, September 20, 2011 - 5:30-7:30 p.m.
To launch the new academic year with
The Stoneleigh-Burnham School
Parents' Association
Let’s get to know each other and begin to chart the year ahead.
Join via Conference Call #1-218-936-4700 Access code 385591
Questions?
Call Regina Mooney in the Development Office 413-774-2711 x262
rmooney@sbschool.org |
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PSAT Day Coming Up Soon! |
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All SBS 10th and 11th graders will take the PSAT on Wednesday, October
12. This is the only weekday the test is offered all year and is the
only day that SBS will administer it. Twelfth graders will be working on
college applications that day and 9th graders and middle schoolers will
have other activities. The PSAT is a standardized test that
measures: -
Math problem-solving skills
The
test lasts approximately two hours and ten minutes. Go to
collegeboard.org for more information. The PSAT score is NOT reported
to colleges. It is useful as practice for the SAT and it can identify
strengths and weaknesses the student may be able to focus on in
preparing for college study. SBS will also be offering SAT test
prep sessions for 10th and 11th graders. These sessions will take place
on six Saturday mornings throughout the year. Please contact Lauren
Cunniffe, Director of College Counseling at 413-774-2711 ext. 280 or at
lcunniffe@sbschool.org for more information. |
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