GREETINGS FROM TGS
Please join us for Coffee with Dan on
Thursday, April 21 at 8:30am in Dan's office.

TRAIL RUNNING AND MOUNTAIN BIKING BEGIN NEXT WEEK. PLEASE SIGN UP TODAY! 
Zach and Amy Caldwell will lead running and mountain biking activities again this spring, starting next week. Mountain biking will be held on Tuesdays, beginning April 26, and running will be held on Wednesdays, beginning April 27. Practices run from 3:15-4:30pm.

Runners need to be able to run at least one mile without stopping and be prepared to get wet and muddy, and bikers should feel confident riding through the woods on trails. Runners and bikers should have appropriate shoes, clothing, and water bottle and snack. Helmets are required for all bikers. Parents are welcome. Please contact Mary if your child would like to participate. Spring sports fee is $20. 
 
TGS CELEBRATES READING CHALLENGE
The Challenge began last week with a fun day seeing everyone dressed as her or his favorite book character. Now we're one week into the challenge with only one more to go. Please remember that parental support is crucial for many students. Thank you for your support and your participation. For more information and ideas, visit the Library page

Do you have a bubble machine to loan the eading celebration we are planning in May? Please contact Ponnie. 
 
If you have any questions or need more materials, please call me at 802-387-5364 ext. 104, email, or visit the Library page.

Happy Reading,
Ponnie

ALL SCHOOL LUNCH FRIDAY, APRIL 22  
The Student Council is hosting an Earth Day All School Lunch this Friday, April 22 at noon. The cost of the lunch is $5 and all proceeds will benefit the Connecticut River Watershed Council
 
We will also be handing out handmade reusable cloth snack bags to all students in celebration of Earth Day. These bags were created and sewn by TGS faculty and parents and designed by Hannah Richards. We hope they help with many years of sustainable snacking.
 
The meal will be rice and bean burritos with a choice of extra fillings (lettuce, cheese, sour cream, salsa) and a side of tortilla chips. For those who are gluten free, we will be making burrito bowls. Students will order their burritos and choose their toppings at school on Wednesday. If you would like to join us for this event, please email Justin so we can create a burrito for you.
 
TGS PHOTOS
 
Our photo archive is updated with photos from February and March. Don't forget you can download photos to share with friends and family or order prints. View the photos at Photos.thegrammarschool.org. If you have any questions about the site, please email Justin.  
 
VIDEO
Check out this video about fort building at recess and the trading economy that has grown alongside it. Make sure if you use Facebook that you like our school page
 
PETER PAN PHOTOS BY ALLAN SEYMOUR
PETER PAN DVDs - $25  
Specify Cast A (Friday) or Cast B Sunday. 
Email Alli to order. Please pay and pickup with checks payable to The Grammar School.
 
GOLF OUTING AND DINNER
Thursday, May 19

For more information, please contact Kimberly.

GRANDPARENTS AND SPECIAL FRIENDS DAY 
Friday, May 20
Do we have the addresses of those people that you'd like us to invite? If not, please send them to Kimberly.  

TGS SPRING EVENT - Friday, June 3
More details will follow soon. If you are interested in being a volunteer at this event, please let Kimberly know.  

TGS SUMMER CAMP
The dates for TGS Summer Camp are July 11-15, 18-22 and 25-29.

Jen Robb, P '18, '22 will lead the summer camp at TGS again this year. We will feature programs in arts and outdoor exploration, as well as mountain biking, for campers 6-12 years old. This year the hours of the day camp will be extended to 4 pm, and campers also will have the opportunity to switch between arts and outdoor programming on a daily basis if they would like. Options for the afternoon include swimming at the Putney pool or staying on campus for free choice activities, such as maker space workshops or arts and crafts.
 
Jason Touchette will return to lead an ongoing Dungeons and Dragons group each week, and the arts track includes painting, drawing, sculpture, clay, and photography, with current art teacher Hannah Richards and TGS alum Cordelia Fuller as instructors. Amy Hyatt of the Vermont Wilderness School will be back to offer her courses on outdoor wilderness survival skills.
 
Mountain bike coach Daq Woods returns for his 16th year, and he is excited to expand his program to include one week of half day and two weeks of full day biking activities. He says, "By having fun, the riders get better. All week long they gain confidence on their bikes, on trails in the woods. One of the best feelings I've had is when bikers I have taught years before come back to ride with us, and tell me that they never will forget that week of mountain bike camp they did when they were 12!"
 
The very popular Young Explorers program for 4-5 year olds will be under the leadership of Jessica Sardinas again this year. Themes include art exploration, enchanted forests and fairies, and hunting for pirate treasure under the sea. Children will learn songs to go along with the activities.

For more information, please contact Jen Robb. 
   
Like us on Facebook

APRIL

20 Earth Day ASM

21 Coffee with Dan

22 All School Burrito Lunch

26 Mountain Biking Begins

27 Trail Running Begins

MAY

19 Golf Outing and Dinner

20 Grandparents Day

24 Spring Concert 6:30pm

JUNE

3 Spring Event 
COMMUNITY NEWS  

HORSEBACK RIDING LESSONS
Katherine Wagenbach - TGS parent is offering horseback riding lessons to children and adults this spring & summer. She is certified by CHA and local to the Putney area. Contact her at: katherinewagenbach@gmail.com or 802-380-3234 for more information.

MARU-A-PULA SCHOOL MARIMBA BAND AT PUTNEY SCHOOL
The Putney School is honored to welcome back the Maru-a-Pula School Marimba Band for a benefit concert on Saturday, April 23 at 7:30pmto raise scholarship money for AIDS orphans in Botswana.

Botswana has the third highest HIV rates in the world and is home to more than 30,000 AIDS orphans. All proceeds from the concert will go to fund scholarships for AIDS orphans to attend Maru-a-Pula School. Maru-a-Pula School is one of the top schools in all of Africa and regularly sends its students to universities across the US and UK. Many of Botswana's leaders-ministers, businesswomen, doctors-are graduates.

The Putney School is pleased to further its relationship with Maru-a-Pula School in continued celebration of the arts and commitment to education around critical global issues. The Putney School Head of School Emily Jones, taught at Maru-a-Pula from 1981-1985, where she met and married her husband, Gordon, who teaches English and Visual Arts at Putney.  In 2013, Putney facilitated an exchange that sent Director of Technology Kevin Champney to work with Maru-a-Pula on developing an IT plan. "We have continued close ties with the school," says Emily, "and have watched it grow from a start as an anti-apartheid model school to one of the strongest schools on the continent."

CALL FOR POETRY FOR FROM THE RIVER, TO THE RIVER
A message from former TGS parent, Evie Lovett, mother of Julia Shumlin '09 and Ben Shumlin '12: 
 
The public art project From the River, To the River invites the public to collaborate by submitting very short poems or haiku on the subject of the Connecticut River or water to be included in the final art installations. 3-5 will be selected. Please email your poems or those by others (we will use poems only with permission) before May 10 to fromtherivertotheriver@gmail.com or post poems on the project's Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/fromtherivertotheriver/
 
From the River, To the River is a series of site-specific art installations considering the unique relationship between Brattleboro, Vermont and the Connecticut River by Andrea Wasserman, Elizabeth Billings and Evie Lovett. Invigorating two locations - the Brattleboro Transportation Center and the Archery Building Green - with sculpture, photographs, video projections, public events and social media, the project connects the river and the Brattleboro community through art.  The project is funded through the National Endowment for the Art's Our Town grant and will open during July Gallery Walk.

SPRING SPRUCE UP HELP 
If you need help doing your "spring spruce up," Deb Gray has time to help you out this month with painting, decorating, cleaning etc. References available, reasonable rates. Email degoart38@gmail.com   
 
PARENTING FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE CHATS AT PUTNEY LIBRARY
April 27 & May 11 from 6:00-7:30pm 
Do you need ideas for how to talk with your kids about social justice issues like racism, economic inequality, incarceration, homelessness, and gender? Join us for these interactive chats, which will highlight books at the Putney Public Library and other helpful resources, too.Light refreshments and childcare provided. www.act4socialjustice.com or 802-254-3400

MONADNOCK ART PARTIES

NEWS ITEMS
Please send your Community News items to Mary by Tuesday morning to be included in the Wednesday Notice. If you have news you would like to share with The Grammar School community, please contact Mary.