Dear Families,
Congratulations to the boys and girls soccer teams for a tremendous season! Last Tuesday, the girls team defeated Rangeley Lakes 7-0 in the South Regional final, and the boys defeated Isleboro 4-0 in the South Regional final. Both teams traveled to Presque Isle for the State Championship yesterday. The girls defeated Wisdom High School 3-0 to become the Class D State Champions – and had an undefeated season! The boys took the pitch against Lee Academy, and played a tough game, but were unable to get the victory, final score was 5-0. This was the third year in a row both teams were in the state finals (2018, 2019, and 2021). We are extremely proud of both these incredible teams.
Last spring, NYA announced a generous $400,000 grant to support character and leadership programs in all divisions at NYA. The gift was given anonymously in recognition of the great work of our faculty in promoting character development for their children while at NYA. This gift will allow NYA to further develop and be more deliberate about our character education and leadership programs. To that end, we have hired a Director of Character and Leadership Education, Betsy Tomlinson. She will provide guidance for character, service, and leadership opportunities and programs from the Lower through Upper School. Betsy is a graduate of Bates College and spent many years in various capacities at independent schools and as a residential summer camp administrator. You may learn more about Betsy and this position through this press release. Betsy will also provide support in the NYA College Counseling office. Her first day was Monday, November 1. We are very excited about the new opportunities this position will provide for NYA and our students.
COVID-19 vaccinations have recently been approved for children ages 5 to 11. High vaccination rates among our eligible population and the use of masks have been helpful in limiting the exposure and spread of COVID in our community. We continue to strongly recommend the vaccine for eligible members of the school community. Additional information on how to access the vaccine may be found here.
🔦Mission Spotlight🔦
Spanish IV and AP Spanish did a little CSI recreation to further their command of the language. The students investigated a “crime” that happened in Ms. Brooks’s classroom. They rotated through three stations (the actual scene and two evidence stations) in order to make observations and gather evidence using Spanish. Then they ended it by writing out their theory of what happened in Spanish. We will keep you posted on if and when they solved the crime!
Our students will celebrate World Kindness Day, November 13. As a Kind Campus, we will support our neighbors at the Yarmouth Community Food Pantry for the second consecutive year. The Middle School Student Community Council will sponsor a Dress Down Day on November 18, and proceeds will go directly to the pantry. Students will organize a food donation drive, asking NYA families to bring food items for Thanksgiving Baskets during the week of November 15-19. The pantry requests that we focus on the following items: canned corn, canned green beans, and canned peas. In addition, students will write KIND NOTES campus-wide in advisory and in the Lower School classes. Our theme this year is for students to think about the difference between nice and kind. November 13 falls on a Saturday, and it is great opportunity for NYA families to plan intentional acts of kindness. We would enjoy hearing how your family celebrated the day.
All Middle School sports and Upper School NEPSAC hockey begin their winter season’s tomorrow, Monday, November 8. Coaches have emailed specific information about meeting times and locations. Upper School sports will begin the week of November 22. We are excited to see our student-athletes back in action and look forward to them carrying fall successes over to the winter. Winter schedules will be finalized and posted on the Athletics Website later this week. We are working with our conference school peers on Winter Sport COVID Guidelines for students and spectators and will share those prior to any competitions, as well. Upper School Fall Sport Recognition Ceremony will take place on Tuesday, November 9, at 6:00 p.m. Details on this virtual event will be shared by coaches.
Enjoy these photos from NYA’s Halloween celebration! (You’ll need the password NYApanthers, which is case sensitive.) Thanks to Brian Beard from Brian Beard Photo for these great shots.
There will be a Veterans Day flagpole ceremony on Wednesday, November 10 at 7:50 a.m. before school. At this ceremony, we recognize the commitment and the service of our nation’s veterans. This year, I would like to recognize some veterans directly linked to our community. It could be parents who are veterans, grandparents, aunts/uncles, siblings. If you have a story of a veteran associated with your family who has served, please email me a brief blurb at bjackson@nya.org with the subject line Veterans Day. I hope to share some examples during our flagpole ceremony.
Today, the NYA Admission Office is hosting an Open House geared for students and families interested in middle and high school at NYA. We expect a great turnout, but there are still many other opportunities for families to visit campus. Information on additional admission events for all grade levels may be found through this link, and interested families are also welcome to reach out to the NYA Admission Office at any time to request a tour. Remember, our families are the school’s best admission ambassadors. If you know of a potential student or family for NYA, please encourage them to visit.
School Picture Retakes: Monday, November 15, is our picture retake day for any students who missed the original picture day in October and for anyone who would like a second photo taken.
- Packets were sent home with students last week who were here for our original picture day. These packets contain a proof of your child’s photo with three different background options, portrait ID, and access code for ordering photos and complimentary SmileSafe cards. If you preordered photos for your child, these were also included in the packets.
- If you are pleased with your child’s photo, no further action is needed.
- If you would like to have your child’s photo taken again on Picture Retake Day, please email Marissa Markonish.
- Please be sure to let your child know if you register them for a retake. Upper School students will report to the Middle School Community Room at the start of first period to have their photos taken. Staff will assist Lower and Middle School students in reporting to the community room for their pictures.
- Anyone who received a photo package but wants to have the photo retaken should bring the old package with them on retake day. The photographer will scan the bar code on that package, and the lab will print the same package you ordered the first time.
- Contact Marissa Markonish with any questions.
Daylight Savings Time ended this morning at 2:00 a.m. Don’t forget to set your clocks back an hour.
There will be no school on Thursday, November 11 in observance of Veterans Day.
Have a great week!
Sincerely,
Ben Jackson
Head of School
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