The annual Fathers Association of The Potomac School (FAPS) campout will be on Saturday, October 1. Come “tent out” for the night with other Potomac families of students in grades 6 and below. (Don't worry if you're not an experienced camper; we'll have volunteers to help with tent set-up.) The overnight event, at Lake Fairfax Park in Reston, VA, will include a picnic dinner, s'mores roasting, and breakfast the next morning. Families who don’t want to camp overnight are welcome to come for the earlier part of the festivities and then head home. Register here. 

Please do not arrive before 5:00 pm, as our volunteers need time to set up the campsite. We look forward to seeing you under the stars. If you have any questions, email FAPS president Matt Fischer. 

The campout can't be a success without volunteers to help out! Please go to the FAPS Annual Campout SignUpGenius and register to help.

Place your Campout t-shirt order by September 24 if you would like to have it in time for the event!

Potomac is working with CVS Pharmacy in McLean to offer an on-campus flu vaccination clinic for our K-12 students and their family members. The clinic will be held on Saturday, October 22, 10:00 am-2:00 pm, at the Holly Tree Tent (in front of the LS/Flag Circle Building parking lot). 

If you are interested in participating, please complete this expression of interest form by Monday, October 10, so we can ensure that we have enough vaccines available. Before administering the vaccine, CVS Pharmacy will require health insurance information (a copy of the insurance card, both front and back) and a completed CVS registration (found here). A parent/guardian must be present with any minor child receiving a vaccination.

This year’s first LS Sharing Assembly will take place tomorrow, Friday, September 23, 11:00 am, in Ramsey Assembly. The assembly will feature Mrs. Hoffmann's and Mr. McEwen's homerooms, and parents are invited. As always, please check your child's homeroom Bloomz page to find out when their class will be participating in a Sharing Assembly.

Please join us for our annual Folk Dance Assembly on Friday, September 30, 11:00 am, in the Spangler Center’s Main Court. All Lower School students will share traditional dances that they have been practicing in music class with Mrs. Clayburn. Please remind your child to wear sneakers for this assembly.

We look forward to welcoming all MS parents next Thursday, September 29, for our Parent Night. The event will begin at 6:30 pm with parents visiting our special subject teachers in their classrooms. In advance of Parent Night, we will email parents a collection of video or slide presentations about each special subject your children experience. At 7:00, parents will move to the Langstaff Auditorium to hear remarks from Middle School Head John Mathews. Visits to homerooms will follow at 7:30, with presentations by the teachers. The evening will conclude at 8:30. 

Our amazing Middle School readers surpassed our summer reading goal of 1,200 books, reading more than 1,400! To celebrate this accomplishment, we will have our first casual dress day of the year next Friday, September 30.

Middle School parents are invited to join us for our annual Welcome and Friendship Assembly, which will be held in Langstaff Auditorium tomorrow, Friday, September 23, 9:30 am. The event will be live streamed for any family members unable to attend in person. This MS tradition, which includes class performances, presentations, and songs, will kick off our year with a tone of friendship and caring.  

Next week, each sixth grade class will enjoy a day of team-building activities at Camp Crowell in Oakton, Virginia. Ms. Furr’s and Ms. Fields' classes will head out for this fun, all-day adventure on Tuesday, September 27. Ms. Coffeen’s and Ms. Morgan's classes will go the following day, Wednesday, September 28. The PE department sent out this letter with full details earlier this week. The letter includes a three-page waiver that must be signed and returned to school prior to each class trip. Students on the school lunch plan will be provided a bagged lunch from Meriwether-Godsey.

The crowd-pleasing candy counter game will return to Fall Frolics this year and we need lots of sweets! When you come to campus for a meeting, sporting event, or our upcoming MS Parent Nights, please bring along a bag of individually wrapped candy for this purpose. There are collection bins at the division entrances. Thank you!

IS students recently attended an informative clubs and affinity groups fair, learning about various opportunities for participation and leadership. The IS began this school year with 10 affinity/alliance groups and several Community Organizing clubs centered around leadership, as well as many fun Community Belonging clubs. Students received a Google form to express interest in certain affinity/alliance groups and were asked to submit their top preferences for a Cycle 1 club. View the full list of affinity groups and clubs in the IS.

Seventh grade science classes have been learning about ways to identify the quality of a water source through biological and chemical indicators. Wearing boots, the students waded right into their study of Pimmit Run. They used nets and identification keys to identify various macroinvertebrates and tested pH, nitrate, and phosphate levels. The data collected here will be compared to data gathered at the stream they visit during their upcoming trip to Caroline Furnace.

Upon arriving at school this Monday, students were able to watch Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral procession broadcast on the tv in the IS Commons. They reflected on her life while sipping some English Breakfast tea.

The popular IS Bake Sale is our division's biggest contribution to Fall Frolics! Please consider contributing baked goods for this popular booth.  

All Bake Sale items MUST be wrapped or bagged for sale in $1.00 portions (e.g., three cookies, two brownies). Please note clearly if an item is nut- or gluten-free. Students should bring the items with them to school on Friday, October 21; parent volunteers will greet them to take the goodies. Use this link to sign up to bring items. 

Fall Frolics also needs volunteers! Please view options to volunteer for pre-event preparations (candy counting, pumpkin painting, cake donations). Want to sign up for a volunteer shift on the day of the carnival (Saturday, October 22)? Use this form.

Your support of this important community event is very much appreciated!

For those who were unable to attend the seventh and eighth grade parent coffees last week, recordings from each program are posted on CampusNET.

Seventh Grade Recording
Eighth Grade Recording

Last week, the IS celebrated the completion of our summer reading. Students submitted their creative summer reading “postcard” designs to be spotlighted during a brief and engaging assembly. Eighth grader Brody Wiltshire’s skateboard postcard earned the grand prize, and she was awarded the coveted golden plunger. (You’ll have to ask your student about the significance of the trophy.)

Please join us on campus for Upper School Parent Night this evening, September 22, 7:00-9:30 pm. We ask that parents arrive in the Upper Crossroads between 6:30 and 6:55 pm; there, you will receive a school directory and the schedule for the evening. At 7:00 pm, the program will begin in the Lower Crossroads with remarks from Upper School Head Doug McLane. Parents will then follow a modified schedule of their child’s classes, meeting their advisors and teachers. Student stewards and members of the Upper School administrative team will be on hand to guide you throughout the evening.

The Class of 2026 and their advisors traveled to Camp Tockwogh, a YMCA camp on the Chesapeake Bay, for an opportunity to connect as a class and participate in an array of activities. Students chose from activities such as a high ropes course, giant swing, axe-throwing, arts and crafts, climbing wall, and archery. They bonded over meals with their advisory groups and got to know their classmates during free time playing tennis, gaga ball and basketball, making friendship bracelets, and more. The highlight of the trip was the Thursday night beach party, where the class enjoyed kayaking, paddle boarding, beach volleyball, motorboat rides, and a beach bonfire with s’mores! The trip was a great way to welcome the Class of 2026 to the Upper School experience and help them begin building friendships and forging class identity. Photos can be found here.

Last week, during the Grade 11 Conversations That Count event, juniors heard from psychologist Dr. Bonnie Zucker. The discussion focused on defining mental health and wellness; identifying factors that can improve mental health; and understanding stress and anxiety, as well as strategies to help manage these challenges. It was an enlightening and productive conversation. 

During last week’s senior class trip to Chincoteague, the members of Potomac’s Class of 2023 enjoyed gorgeous weather, reconnected as a class, and reflected on their role as leaders within our community. Specifically, the seniors worked individually and in their advisories to develop personal definitions of integrity, set goals, identify support systems, and commit to making a positive impact at Potomac and beyond. They also enjoyed their time away from classes and those pesky college applications, as they connected over ice cream, on a bike ride among the Chincoteague ponies, or simply while playing on the beach. This year’s seniors are a thoughtful, caring, and responsive group of students who are ready to lead our community and contribute to the Potomac experience in positive ways. We look forward to seeing all that they will accomplish this year!

Kicking off the school year through service, Potomac tenth and eleventh graders engaged in Community Action Days last Thursday and Friday. Over the two days, 29 advisory groups volunteered with 15 of Potomac's community partners across the DMV, including Red Wiggler Community Farm, Together We Bake, and Women Giving Back. Several advisory groups delivered dignity donations to our partners, including more than 120 textbooks from the World Languages Department for Habitat ReStore, more than 100 uniform items from the Panther Post for Women Giving Back, and artwork created by MS students for Sasha Bruce Youthwork. 

In the afternoons, students selected a Changemaker Project that offers them an opportunity to continue serving others and our natural world on campus. Projects included making 50 literacy and math kits for Arlington Housing Corporation, removing invasive species from Potomac's campus, and reading with Lower School students.

Thank you to the 45 sophomore and junior student leaders who helped create these meaningful days of service by preparing supplies, taking photos, and leading their peers in Changemaker Projects. View the galleries from grade 10 and grade 11.

Congratulations to the nine Potomac seniors who have qualified as semifinalists in the 68th annual National Merit Scholarship Program! Jack Wigmore, Tea Picconatto, Grace Lee, Michelle Ahn, Yabby Maelaf, and Arya Bansal (front row, l to r) and Olee Banerjee, Patrick Wolff, and Benjamin Joel (back row, l to r) are among just 16,000 high school seniors nationwide to receive this recognition. Semifinalists can continue in the competition for approximately 7,250 National Merit Scholarships, worth nearly $28 million in total, that will be awarded next spring.