The Foote School 
E-News
September 4, 2014
In This Issue
Quick Links
A Fantastic First Day!


The first day of school was filled with excitement and happy reunions as students and teachers converged on Loomis Place for a new year of growth and learning. Lower School students met their teachers and went on classroom scavenger hunts to get to know their new spaces. Middle School students boarded buses for off-campus team-building adventures as part of Project Week.


Students were especially thrilled to try out the new Lower School playground built over the summer. It features a new and unique Luckey Climber and a natural playscape with swings, stumps, slides and more.


Third grade teacher Amanda Diffley summed up the day in a Facebook post Wednesday afternoon: "Favorite quote from our first day of school, said joyfully by one of my new third graders at dismissal: 'This didn't feel like school at all today, Mrs. Diffley, it felt like camp!'"

Find more first day photos on our Facebook page.
AllSchoolNewsALL SCHOOL NEWS AND INFORMATION
Materials Needed for Art Projects
As part of their study of Native Americans, MAG students will be dyeing wool using natural materials. Parents are asked to bring any of the following items to Jennifer Youngblood's art room:
  • Yellow onion skins (only the papery part)
  • Pokeberries in their juicy state (please freeze)
  • Fresh or frozen flower heads (marigolds and coreopsis)
  • Acorns

Please sort items and bag each separately. Flowers and berries can be frozen in airtight plastic bags.

 

The Art Department is also looking for the following recycled materials, which can be dropped off in the art rooms or at the front desk:

  • Washed Styrofoam trays
  • Picture frames (11" x 14" or smaller)
  • Unwanted shoes
  • Gardening magazines or seed and flower catalogs
  • Old tennis balls (not chewed by dogs)
  • Unique and interesting natural materials for fairy houses
Parents Night & Fall Dinner

Parents Night and Fall Dinner is Thursday, Sept. 18. Click here to RSVP.



New Parent Website on Children and Tech


Foote's new director of technology, Jay Treverrow, has put together a new blog with great information and resources for parents on how children engage with the networked world.

Click here to check it out!


Help Make Grandparents Day a Success!


Volunteers are needed to help us get ready for Grandparents Day on Friday, Oct. 10. If you can donate a few hours of your time on Thursday, Oct. 9, from noon to 3 p.m., or on Friday, Oct. 10. from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., please contact Cheryl Nadzam in the Alumni & Development Office at cnadzam@footeschool.org.
 
Information on Parent E-News


Foote's Parent E-News is distributed every Thursday via email to all Foote families, the Foote Board of Directors and the faculty and staff. We welcome your suggestions.

If you are aware of a parent who is not receiving E-News and would like to, please contact Director of Communications Andy Bromage at abromage@footeschool.org.

 MSNewsMIDDLE SCHOOL NEWS AND INFORMATION
Fall Sports Start Monday, Sept. 8

Sports Offered:
  • Field Hockey
  • Cross Country
  • Girls Soccer
  • Boys Soccer
Who may sign up:
  • Students in Grades 7-9 may sign up for all sports.
  • Sixth graders may sign up for Cross Country to start, and possibly others depending on numbers.
Equipment Needed:
  • Soccer: cleats and shin guards
  • Field Hockey: cleats, shin guards, mouth piece, eye guards and stick
  • Cross Country: properly fitting running sneakers
Participating students must complete and return the 2014 - 2015 Sports Participant Medical History form. Click here to download a copy.

Questions? Contact Athletic Director Brad McGuire at 203-777-3464 ext. 219, or bmcguire@footeschool.org.
 PTCNewsPTC NEWS
Join the PTC for Coffee - Sept. 5


First PTC Meeting of the Year - Sept. 10


Wednesday, Sept. 10
3:15 p.m. in the Sturley Room.

All parents are welcome and encouraged to attend to learn more about the ways you can get involved in supporting the Foote community.

Fall Family Fun Day - Sept. 14

Parent volunteers are needed to bring side dishes, desserts, juice boxes and to help set up, clean up and work at the craft table. Click here to sign up.

Golf Tournament Fundraiser -  Sept. 28


Fore for Foote 
Golf Tournament Fundraiser

Hit the links with friends and help raise money for programs
 that enrich our children's experience at Foote!

Sunday, Sept. 28, 1 p.m.
The Tradition Golf Club at Wallingford
Shotgun golf tournament for 18 foursomes

 Click here for more info and to register
 Email Mark Anestis with questions.

DayInLifeA DAY IN THE LIFE OF FOOTE
Project Week Spotlight: Sixth Grade

While Lower School students settle into new classrooms, Middle School students are off-campus this week engaged in challenging team-building activities as part of Project Week.

Head of Middle School John Turner and Middle School Science teacher Kim Birge-Liberman sent these photos from Farmington, where sixth graders are participating in outdoor activities designed to build community, ease the transition to middle school and launch the journey theme of the sixth grade year. The raft-building activity pictured required students to work in groups using innovation and collaboration to construct a raft that would carry them across the lake.

   
How I Spent Summer Vacation: Lara Anderson

To kick off the new school year, Foote faculty talk with Parent E-News about how their summers reflected the first part of the school motto, "Gladly will I learn and gladly teach."

For week two, Middle School Humanities teacher Lara Anderson discusses the week she spent at Fort Ticonderoga, delving deep into early American history.

Read more on our website.
From the Faculty Blogs

After exploring the new playground, Sue Delaney's MAG students (pictured) made a list of words to describe it.

Melissa McCormack's third graders wasted no time delving into a math game.

Engineering was the challenge for Jim Adams' fifth graders: they were given 11 index cards and six inches of tape to build the tallest tower they could.

To read more, check out the Lower School blogs and Middle School blogs.  
DatesDates to Remember
Sept. 5 - PTC Coffee for Parents, 8:15 a.m. in the Perrine Library
Sept. 8 - Middle School first day of classes
Sept. 14 - Fall Family Fun Day 
Sept. 18 - Parents Night & Fall Dinner
Sept. 25 - Rosh Hashanah - NO SCHOOL