On Friday, seniors took part in Instant Decision Day, hosted by the College Counseling Office in the MPR. Students from EL Haynes and DCI were also invited to participate in the annual event. Nineteen different colleges attended, and seniors have signed up in advance to speak to representatives from these colleges, share their transcripts, and discuss their academic futures.

Students in AP English Literature had a Jane Austen Tea Party after reading Pride and Prejudice. Students chose names of characters out of a hat. They were invited to dress as a character and act like the character, and interact with other characters like their character would. They then did a “speed dating” event as their character, spending four minutes engaging with each character and moving around the room. There is food and drink, with students in other classes serving the food. The class, available to juniors and seniors, is taught by Ms. Alston and Mr. Hotchkiss, but the tea party was the brainchild of Ms. Seid, who retired this past year, but previously taught the course. 

Students in Dr. Finkelman’s classes used turkey bones to reconstruct the bodies and study the physiology of the birds. Dr. Finkelman is a paleontologist who teaches biology, environmental science, and an elective called Dinosaur Philosophy int he upper school.

The middle schoolers had their first full-school Spirit Week, just in time for Halloween. Students wore all kinds of funny and creative Halloween costumes, from food items to superheroes, to animals, and literary heroes. On Tuesday, students got comfy in their pajamas, to make the early morning after a night of Halloween hijinks easier to swallow! On Wednesday everyone was seeing double for Twin Day, as students and teachers matched their ensembles. Thursday the hallways exploded with class pride, with fifth graders in red, sixth graders in blue, seventh graders in green, and eighth graders in purple. Students celebrated with a pep rally in the afternoon, including kudos for the sports teams and an epic dance battle.

This was a week of wins for girls’ soccer. The middle school team triumphed over Capital City on Thursday 4-0. The team is coached by Ms. Griffith and Ms. D’Angelo. The varsity girls’ team also beat Capital City, advancing to the PCSAA championship game Friday at 5:30 at RFK. That team is coached by Ms. McBride and Mr. Keller. Kudos to the swift and strong girls’ soccer teams!