Holiday Tea CD Available

Our CD is now complete, and features all students in grades K-8. You can now view a complete list of the tracks (including which class sings which song).

You can also hear some samples of the songs on Marek's blog!

Each participating student received a copy of the CD. We're also taking orders for the CDs. (They make such great gifts!) We ask that you make a donation to our project for each CD you order (you decide how much), and the money we raise goes to the H.I.S. Playground Fund.

To order your extra copies, or to volunteer to burn some copies for the class, please email Marek.

Holiday Music CD

The Abenaki, Amoskeag, Ossippee, Soonipi, and Monadnock classes (K-8) have been recording their songs from Holiday Tea and from our North American year. We'd like to share them with you! Our charity fundraiser holiday CD features the singing voices and musical instruments of our students on songs like "This Little Light of Mine", "Go Tell It on the Mountain", "Arise, Arise", "La Bamba", and more. It makes a great holiday gift for your family; stay tuned next week for details about purchasing your copy.

Holiday Tea 2007: Parent-Student Band

Many thanks to our wonderful parent-student Holiday Tea Band...




Without these talented musicians, our concert would not have been so lively!

Holiday Tea 2007

Here are some photos from Friday's Holiday Tea celebration!

The Kindergarteners lined up to joyfully sing "Jingle Bells":

The Ossippee class held their Native American maps to go with their version of "This Little Light of Mine":

The Upper Grade classes recited poetry they had written:

The older students retrieved younger students from the audience as we all sang "Children, Go Where I Send Thee":

For more photos and comments, you can visit our kindergarten, elementary grades, and upper grades class pages.

School Wide News -- December 2007

‘Tis the Season for our annual Holiday Teas, lots of singing, dancing, sledding, and excitement in the air. I wish you all a wonderful holiday season and good health and fortune for 2008.

Search for a New Head of School
As many of you know, I have anticipated retiring from my role as Head of School for some time. Working as head of school for nearly twenty years has been an amazing joy for me and for my entire family. While this will be the last school year of my leadership, regardless of what the future holds for me professionally, I will continue to support the school’s growth and development into the future. -- Cathy Chesley

We have distributed a letter from Paul Dann, Chair of the Board of Directors, soliciting parent participation in the search for our next Head of School. Earlier this fall, the board surveyed families and staff and determined that they would focus the search on an Interim Head. We anticipate that the Interim Head would lead the school forward for a year or two while the next Head of School is identified. It is possible that the Interim Head could become the Head of School. This strategy has been successful in a number of non-profit leadership transitions involving the retirement of a founding director.

The search committee will be comprised of teachers, parents, board members, and staff. Membership on the committee will involve reviewing resumes, attending interviews, and participating in the final hiring decision. Obviously, this search is very important to us as we move forward to the next twenty years of growth and change. We encourage your participation. However, please be assured that even if you are not able to participate in the search process, we will keep you informed of the search process on a regular basis. If you would like to be a part of the search committee, please contact Jayne Huxtable at jhuxtable@derryfield.org.

With Special Thanks
We want to thank Jill Stagner for her outstanding volunteer effort in making student photos possible this year. Jill has put in hours of hard work taking photos and coordinating orders to see this project through to the end. In making this a fundraising effort for the school, Jill’s time has benefited all of our children beyond the obvious picture-taking efforts. And if that wasn’t enough, Jill is the energy behind our new Daisy Scouts After School Program. Heather Staples-Roy is Jill’s able-bodied assistant in this endeavor. Thank you Jill and Heather. We also thank Marilyn Knapp for her coordination efforts with our Scholastic Book Sale, with assistance from Beverly Primeau, Karen Robertson, and Jill Stagner. The book sale has been a huge success! And finally, we thank the talented parents who came out for the upper school’s Holiday Tea instrumental ensemble: Laurie Sweetbrown, Joe Brancato, Dean Spiliotes, Trish Collins, Russ Freeman, and Jay Towne.

We also thank Kate Drapeau, who has been a student teacher in the Ossippee class. She will finish up her time here this week.

Holiday Vacation
Our last day of school before the holiday vacation will be Friday, December 21. We will have a normal Friday schedule, with school closing at 1:30, followed by childcare until 5:30. Classes will resume on Thursday, January 3rd.

Mount Sunapee Ski Program
Winter skiing for students in grades 1-8 will begin on Monday, January 7th. Skiing details will be sent home with classroom teachers. Parents interested in chaperoning for all five weeks, or joining us for itinerant weeks should let their child’s teacher know as soon as possible, but no later than December 15.

Congratulations
Blessings and joy to the Bishop family on the arrival of their new little bundle, Zoe!

Community Involvement
H.I.S. students enjoy a reputation for their commitment to community involvement and to sharing their good fortune with others. There are many opportunities for you to support their work: The Ossippees will sell hand made candles, the Soonipis are busy working on their C.A.N. project, and the Monadnocks will continue their work as the Beech Hill Bakers, with their upcoming Christmas Cookie Extravaganza. Boxes for donations to area food pantries will be located in the main foyer. Also, we’re collecting warm winter clothing (coats, hats, gloves, blankets, boots) for homeless adults to support the Under the Bridges Project. We hope you’ll become part of our school’s legacy of giving back.

School Photos
If you have any questions or concerns about your child’s photos, please let someone in the office know. Thank you.

Snow day information is available on-line.

Our tax ID number is 02-0390863. Some or all of your child care payments may be tax deductible. Please talk to your accountant.