School Wide News January - February 2008

I want to thank you all for your participation in our program and your donation of talent and energy that makes our school community a special one. We also appreciate all that our families have done to support various community service projects initiated by our students. I hope that you have all had a restful week off. On behalf of our faculty and staff, I wish you and your families a happy and healthy new year!

Here’s an update on what’s coming up in the weeks ahead:

20th Year Celebration
A kids’ music concert? A fairy/gnome house building day? An educational symposia for parents and teachers? A chicken-barbeque followed by a country dance? Whatever might appeal to you, we invite you to join in the 20th Year Celebration by helping out on one of these 2008 spring events. Sign ups are posted on the volunteer board. Please join our faculty, board, and alumni to help make the years end a truly memorable one!

2007—2008 Annual Appeal
By now everyone should have received a copy of our Annual Report and Annual Fund Appeal. To date we have raised $7,000 with generous gifts from the Gardner, Simon, Chesley, Schapira, Hotten-Somer, Nichols, and Rich Families. We have a match-challenge on deck—the Simon Family has pledged $600 for Science and Technology—but they’d like to see it matched! We invite you to join in on this annual tradition of giving. Collective support is what makes this school strong and keeps tuition as low as possible. All donations are tax deductible.

Parent Teacher Forum
Parents and teachers have suggested our collective reading of Raising Kids Who Will Make a Difference by Susan Vogt. Copies will be available in the office soon. We invite you to read the book and join us in March for a group discussion.

New Head Search
The search is underway; if you’d like to be part of the search committee, please contact Search Chair Jayne Huxtable right away. Jayne can be reached at jhuxtable@derryfield.org.

Moving Up Information Night
We invite you to an informational session on January 31, 5—6 pm. This session is designed to give parents an opportunity to meet and hear from their child’s next-year teachers. Come listen to what our teachers have to share about class expectations, daily routines, and traditions. Bring your questions. We’ll have childcare available with signups on the office door.

Open House for Prospective Students and Families
Please pass the word on about our OPEN HOUSE for new families scheduled for February 9th. 10—noon for Preschool through grade 4; 11:00—1:00 for grades 5 through 8. Please help us promote our school by sharing our date cards (available at the office) and posting them at a local library, store, or neighborhood bulletin board.

2008-2009 Registration
Next year’s registration is soon upon us. We are in the process of finalizing next year’s budget and Jodi will have reenrollment forms ready soon. Deposits will be due in early February, once you’ve had a chance to meet next year’s teachers.

Thank You to our Ski Chaperones
We are ever thankful to our ski chaperones:
Deb Marcou, Marilyn Knapp, Trish Collins, Beverly Primeau, Karen Robertson, and Lee and Terri Wilcox. Ski chaperones make our program possible…and help us to keep everyone safe. We had a wonderful first day skiing!

School Community Survey
Keep your eyes out for our school survey coming out by the end of this month. This survey seeks important information from YOU. Please share your feedback, your concerns and your compliments on teaching effectiveness, school administration, our website, and your ideas on various pending considerations.

Science Fair 2008—February 14
This year’s focus is Science Experiments and the Scientific Method. Students have already begun to brain storm ideas and engage in various aspects of the scientific method. Details on this exciting event will be forthcoming in your classroom newsletters.

Winter Vacation—February 25—29
Be sure to mark your calendars. If you need childcare, please sign-up on the office door by February 1. Please note: We need to have a minimum of six children signed up by that date in order to offer vacation week care.

Skiing Checklist

• ski jacket
• ski pants
• ski mittens (much warmer than gloves)
• warm hat
• helmet
• warm socks
• neck warmers
• goggles
• lunch

Please, no cotton jeans, no ankle socks, no dress mittens or gloves. Children should wear a warm layer (wool sweater or fleece) under their ski jackets. BE SURE TO LABEL ALL EQUIPMENT! We reserve the right to withhold any child from skiing who is not adequately dressed.

One large duffle bag with a shoulder strap works best for carrying gear and lunch from the bus to the lodge. The duffle, in lieu of several small bags, will help each child to manage their own gear. Teachers will watch out for items coming to and from the lodge, but ultimately it is your child’s personal responsibility to keep all equipment in check.

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.