It has been a great two weeks at University! Students – old and new – are making themselves comfortable in this space. They are talking with each other and with the adults in the building. They are celebrating successes and engaging in critical topics at community meeting. And they are having lunch in the sun all around the campus.
As we wrap up our first weeks back, I wanted to share a few highlights that showcase how University creates community.
- At the opening assembly, senior Mena Morcos reminded students that one of the best things about University is that this is a school where you can do everything – even run like a penguin and still be on the cross country team.
- On the Freshman Retreat, the 91 members of our Class of 2026 – from 34 different middle schools – settled into Jameson Camp for two days focused on the core value of mutual respect, support, and trust. There was team building, some intense gaga and volleyball games, and 1,200 chicken nuggets.
- While the freshmen were off in the woods, the rest of the school spent time with our summer reading – The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green – and wrote their own five-star reviews on everything from the month of August to roundabouts to soup. And, now that they are back on campus, freshmen have been working on this in their Language & Literature classes.
- Today’s Club Fair recruited new members for 43 different clubs, organizations, and affinity groups, including Drone Club, RoboBlazers, UNICEF, Asian American and Pacific Islander Affinity, and one group devoted to Cult Horror Cinema.
- Volleyball, boys tennis, boys soccer, girls soccer, and girls golf all saw big wins in the first week of school. And we are excited to host Pack the Stands Night on Sept. 8, with varsity tennis at 4:30, varsity boys soccer at 5:30, and varsity volleyball at 6:30.
- Finally, we successfully completed a fire drill last Friday, and then students in Chemistry got to watch some minor (very safe and very controlled) explosions before diagramming what happened in the demonstrations on a particle level. These events were unrelated.
Each of these helps make University the school it is by cultivating community in big and small ways. Thank you to the faculty and staff and students for making these first weeks a huge success!
– Alicia