Parent Reminders and Announcements

Late Start Friday Morning

Please note that school will begin at 9:30 a.m. this Friday, October 9 and will follow a delayed opening schedule.

Faculty Addition

To provide all of our students with small classes and the most beneficial teacher-student ratio, we have divided the Prealgebra class into two sections. Mrs. Jane Hannon, a middle school teacher with fifteen years of experience, has joined our faculty to teach the additional section of Prealgebra. Having has most recently taught at the Pine Point School in Stonington, Mrs. Hannon will also be familiar to Williams families who know her daughters, Eliza ’06 and Molly ’09.

Events Coming Up

• Admission Open House is this Thursday evening, October 8 beginning at 6:30 p.m.
• It's not too late to sign your child up for the Renaissance & Rome trip to Italy during Spring Break 2010. Registration ends Thursday, October 15. For more information, download the trip introduction letter by History Department Chair Ben Ladd and the trip itinerary.
• Parents in the Groton Public Access TV viewing area, be sure to watch Mystic Matters on Monday, October 19 at 8:00 p.m. Hosts Tricia Cunningham and Susette Tibus interview Mark Fader about Williams.
• Williams alumnus Clancy Philbrick ’04 will be featured at the Mystic Arts Center's "Art After Dark" event on Tuesday, October 20. While a student at Williams, Clancy created the mural located on the side of Caruso's Music in downtown New London.
• All parents are invited to hear Mr. Greg Bowerman discuss artist-in-residence programs at the Parents Association Meeting on Thursday, October 22 at 7:00 p.m.
• The Williams School co-sponsors the Community Coalition for Children's annual program for parents. This year's free event Monday, October 26, 7:00 p.m. at the Garde Arts Center features Dr. Kenneth Ginsburg. The evening program will be followed on Tuesday, October 27 from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. by an Intergenerational Workshop on "Less Stress...More Success" presented at Connecticut College.
• At Fall Sports Day on Saturday, October 31, all five Williams teams with home games at the Athletic Complex will be participating in "Play for the Cure" to raise awareness of breast cancer research efforts.

School Directory Updates

Williams' School Directories were distributed one per student at a special assembly late Friday afternoon. As changes occur throughout the year, they will be shared via weekly email to parents and grandparents.

Blues in the News

National Merit Commended Students: At assembly, Head of School Mark Fader proudly announced the five seniors who received the designation of Commended Students from the National Merit Scholarship Program. More than 1.5 million students took the PSAT last October and of this large list, 34,000 high performers are now being named Commended Students on the basis of a national index score of 201. Mr. Fader (left) and Mr. Benbow (right) presented certificates to the following members of the Class of 2010 (left to right):

• Jim Hu
• Noah Bogdonoff
• Alex Lin
• Taylor Bickford
• Miles Sherman

Student Advisory Group: Mr. Fader also announced members of his volunteer Student Advisory Group. These students meet with the Head of School twice a month to provide feedback on daily life at Williams. Complementing the elected Student Council leaders, who work to create and manage programs such as Spirit Week, the students who volunteer to be part of S.A.G. act more to share a pulse on the school with the administration. Participating this year are:

• Annie Nelson ’11
• Zakiya Thomas-Keyton ’11
• Kat Evans ’11
• Hadley Eichengreen ’11
• Grace Mills ’12
• Samantha Mosey ’12
• Kiana Hainsworth ’12
• Kacey Cairns ’12
• Sonia Klein ’14
• Joshua Goldstein ’15
• Patrick Madaus ’15

Mrs. Diane McCue writes, "The month of October is dedicated to the awareness of homelessness globally, nationally and locally. Service Committee leaders have researched, printed and posted many facts about homelessness throughout the school. They will hold an assembly on October 19 featuring Catherine Zall, executive director of the New London Homeless Hospitality Center Inc. She will educate us as to the needs and plight of the local homeless population. We will donate the proceeds from our first coffeehouse on October 30 to the center."

Current Collection Drives

Parents are invited to contribute items to any of the following drives at Williams:

• "Project Shoebox" is spearheaded by Alicia Goncalves ’11. We are requesting travel-size toiletries, bandages and ointments, socks, small zipper bags, prepaid phone cards, tissues (all new and unopened) that will be organized into individual shoe boxes and delivered to the center for their transient homeless population. This drive ends on October 13 and we are in need of many items. There is a bin for the collection of items in the front foyer.
• Williams continue to recycle e-waste through EcoPhones, which has increased their list of acceptable items to include cell phones, inkjet cartridges (not laser or toner), laptop/notebook computers, ipods, and digital cameras. The money received from these items is used to buy food for the local soup kitchen, The Community Meal Center. There is a collection bin for the ewaste in the front foyer.
• The third week in October, Williams begins the annual Thanksgiving can drive. Again this year Service Committee will make food baskets, with food stuffs donated by the students and turkeys donated by faculty and staff to the Alliance for Living in New London. Alliance supports those living with AIDS.

Cookie Platoon

We also are beginning a new project called "Cookie Platoon" inspired by Williams parent Audrey Simon who wrote to Diane McCue, "I bake cookies for an organization in Deep River called Cookie Platoon. We send cookies to servicemen and women overseas. NO POLITICS are involved or required. Many recipients are not much older than Williams' graduates and they are a long, long way from home. We regularly get thank you e-mails with pictures etc. which is a very real connection to wars that most of us don't know much about. Still, I want to emphasize that the Platoon makes no political statements of any kind nor requires any political position of its bakers. You just have to like baking. The Platoon sends shipments about every two months, but bakers can and do bake when they can if they stick to items that will freeze."

The next packing of cookies and shipment will be on October 24. Anyone interested in contributing cookies should send their baked goods in on Friday, October 23 and they will be delivered to Deep River by Will Simon ’11.

Trustees Day

Trustees Mark Wolman, Gregg Benson (upper left) and Kathleen Maher (far right) observe Mrs. Galina Frisby's science class in action.

Sixteen William School Trustees came to school October 1 for an immersive, informative morning at school. Their day began with Dr. Fred Oliver's assembly on the collaborative composting effort between the Environmental Science class and Williams' kitchen staff. After sharing free snack with the students, Trustees then spent the next two periods exploring the variety of classes taking place.

As one Trustee wrote to Mark Fader, "I would like to thank you, the faculty, staff and entire student body for a wonderful day. My schedule has been extremely hectic and I originally had doubts about attending. I am so glad that I did. The assembly was a great example the considerate, respectful and enthusiastic aura of Williams. I was very touched to be honest with you. The teachers were great!  I heard nothing but positive feedback from the other trustees."

Senior Parent Gift 2010 Announced

Under the leadership of Chair John Ivimey (parent of Alex ’10 and Christopher ’13), a group of parents of the Class of 2010 worked through the summer months to get a head start on this year’s Senior Parent Gift to the school. Working closely with members of the Board of Trustees' Building and Grounds Committee and Mark Fader, the senior parents determined that the entryway to the Bulkeley Gym and Arts Department should be refaced, landscaped and made more welcoming for students, families and guests. 

The cost of this impressive gift is $65,000. Early commitments have already been made and the committee will be reaching out to each parent of a senior in the months ahead. We are striving for 100% participation and for March construction!

If you are a senior parent or grandparent and would like to get involved in this year’s Senior Parent Gift Committee contact, Laura Evans, director of annual giving at (860) 439-5451.

Pro bono design for renovations to southside entryway provided by Point One Architects

The Williams School
182 Mohegan Avenue
New London, CT 0632-4110
1891@williamsschool.org
(860) 443-5333
www.williamsschool.org