December 8, 2008
Dear FUMA Families,
I hope you all enjoyed having your cadets home for Thanksgiving! It is very quiet and lonely here when the boys are away, so we are happy to have them back! Now that our first major leave is behind us, I wanted to go over a few things regarding leave procedures as we prepare for Christmas - which is right around the corner!
While our boys may think they are just "going on leave," one of the goals of our leave program is to teach our young men how to plan and prepare for travel. Making arrangements in advance and successfully handling those problems which inevitably arise are all part of the learning experience. If we work as a team - parents/guardians and leave office - valuable life lessons can be learned. Please look over the bullets below to ensure that your part of this process is in place.
- A Leave Permission Form should be on file for every cadet in the Upper School. This is the form you completed at the first of the year where you informed us of your desires for your cadet's leave status. You do not need to send in another form all year unless you wish to change the leave status. Also, you do not need to call to see if I have one on file. If I don't, I will call you.
- Your cadet completes a "Leave Slip" on Sunday evenings prior to leave weekends. This is the form that lets us know where he is going, with whom and how he will be returning to the Academy. This slip is compared to the "Leave Permission Form" for approval. You can help your cadet by ensuring he knows this travel information (even if it is just that you will pick him up and bring him back). If he is traveling by public transportation, it is helpful to fax us a copy of his itinerary which we will deliver to him, as well as keep a copy on file in our office if needed. Our fax number is (434)842-4242.
- On all leave weekends (which are listed on the Upper School Calendar), we offer a charter bus to the Richmond Greyhound Station. From here your cadet may be picked up, take another bus on home, or catch a cab to the airport or train station. The fee for this charter bus service is $60.00 one-way OR round-trip and is charged to his account.
- For Thanksgiving, Christmas, Winter Break, Easter and Spring Break we offer charter bus service to several different locations in Richmond and Charlottesville as well as DC Greyhound, Dulles Airport, Washington National, Tyson's Corner and Hampton Coliseum Mall. These bus schedules may be found on our website in the Download Center.
When you make travel arrangements from one of these destinations, please make sure your planned departure/arrival times fit within the bus hours listed on these forms and allow time for security clearance.
If you would like your cadet to take one of these charter buses for Christmas Break, please let him know as soon as possible and fax me a copy of the form with your selection circled. By working together, we can make Christmas transportation less stressful for all! Please let me know if I can be of assistance.
We want to wish all our FUMA families a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
Best Regards,
Betsy Ivens
Assistant to the Commandant
