Dear Families,
We are looking forward to the first day of school on Wednesday and welcoming our students and families to campus. This year, we will begin with the largest overall enrollment in our school’s history with over 380 students, including more than 100 new students to the Academy.
A list of upcoming events is as follows:
Wednesday, September 8: First Day of School.
- Convocation for grades 1-PG and families welcome. 7:45 m. on Denney Field. Classes to follow immediately. Students will be seated by grade, and standing room will be available for parents. If it is raining, we will move the ceremony inside and students and parents can watch it virtually. We will send an email with instructions prior to Wednesday morning.
- Kindergarten Arrival: 8:00 a.m.
- Primary Arrival: 9:00 a.m.
- Toddler Arrival: 8:45 a.m.
Thursday, September 9: Lower School Parent Night
- Via Zoom at 6:30 p.m. Link will be forthcoming via email.
Tuesday, September 14: Upper and Middle School Parent Night
- Via Zoom. Link will be forthcoming via email.
- Middle School: 6:30 p.m.
- Upper School: 6:45 p.m.
Friday September 17 to Saturday, September 18: Homecoming and Reunion Weekend. Additional information will be forthcoming, but a few details are as follows:
- Family and student cookout Friday afternoon (all school families and students invited)
- A full game schedule Friday and Saturday
- Spirit week activities Monday, September 13 to Friday, September 17.
Saturday, September 18: Annual Steve Morris Golf Tournament at Toddy Brook, 8:00 a.m. tee time. Every year, parents, alumni, faculty, trustees, and friends come together for the annual Steve Morris Golf Tournament, which honors late faculty member Steve “Mo” Morris by raising funds for need-based financial aid for talented NYA students. This fun scramble-format tournament includes games and prizes, breakfast and lunch, and an opportunity to join the NYA community in supporting students and families. We invite you to click here to register as a single, twosome, or foursome. Contact Crystal Gordon for more information or for sponsorships and prize opportunities.
Monday, September 20 to Tuesday September 21: Upper School Kauffmann Program, White Mountain Trips for grades 9-PG. Grade deans will soon be forwarding more information on each of the class trips. For any initial questions, please contact Kauffmann Director, Ian Ramsey, or the respective grade deans:
- Ninth Grade: Dave Gagne
- Tenth Grade: Peter Sillin
- Eleventh Grade: Liz Smith
- Twelfth Grade: Lynn Sullivan
Tuesday, September 21: 4:00 – 6:00 p.m. (drop in any time): New Parent Reception under the tent on the Curtis Lawn. This is event is designed to welcome new parents, but all NYA parents/guardians are invited and encouraged to attend to welcome our newest families to the school. Stop by and meet other NYA parents and learn how to get involved while enjoying appetizers and cocktails. Please register here.
Monday October 4 and Tuesday, October 5: Middle School Experiential Trips for grades 7-8.
Picture Day, originally scheduled for September 8, has been moved to October 8. Additional information will be forthcoming.
Save the Date: Middle School and Upper School Grandparents’ Day, Friday, October 22. We are finalizing plans for a safe, in-person grandparent event this year. More details will be forthcoming. (Our Lower School Grandparents’ Day is held in the spring.)
One of the things I missed most last year were opportunities for us to gather regularly as a school community. This year, there will be many more opportunities–and Upper and Middle School athletic events are examples. Spectators are once again welcome and encouraged to attend games on campus. For outside events, masks will be optional. Masks will be required for indoor events. This fall, the NYA Upper School has varsity and JV programs competing in soccer, cross-country, golf, volleyball, and field hockey. The Middle School competes in tennis, soccer, and cross country. There will be some competitive teams and some fun action to watch. Seasons have already kicked off and game schedules may be found through this link. I look forward to seeing you on the fields, supporting the Panthers!
On August 26, we released our back to school health and safety protocols to families and you may find them through this link. Please take time to review this information prior to the start of the school year. The following serve as a couple of reminders.
- If you have not already done so, please sign up for pooled testing. The form takes less than a minute to fill out. Pooled testing will take place every Thursday morning, and it will only take a moment. In addition to the community health benefits of pooled testing, there are a couple of additional benefits. First, those who participate in pooled testing will be exempt from quarantine, in most cases, if they are identified as a close contact. Second, pooled testing will provide valuable information as we monitor the spread of the virus in our community. We need a high percentage of participants, vaccinated or unvaccinated, to guide our decision-making as we look to ease restrictions in the future.
- Vaccinations are available for anyone over 12 years old. This is the most effective way to limit the spread of COVID-19 and keep our students in school. Vaccines are readily available, and additional information may be found through this link.
Text Alerts: In the event of school cancellations, delays, or other unscheduled changes to the normal school day, or to relay important information, families will be contacted by various methods including text messaging. To ensure that you can receive text messages from the NYA Parent Alert system, if you haven’t already, please text START to 22383 and add 22383 as a contact in your phone’s address book. In addition, please update your information in Family Web using the Custodial Parent Information Form to ensure that your cell phone number is correct and your Parent Alert settings are set to receive text messages. Instructions on using this form can be found here.
This is my first Sunday letter of the year. Each Sunday, with the exception of holidays, you will receive either a Sunday letter from me, or a division newsletter from Mrs. Markonish or Mr. Austin. These updates will include important announcements, information on upcoming events, as well as other “goings on” around campus.
For additional updates around campus please feel free to follow my Head of School Instagram account at jacksonnya_hos.
Have a great first week of school. We are very excited to begin the 2021-2022 school year!
Sincerely,
Ben Jackson
Head of School
NYA ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Facebook – North Yarmouth Academy Page, NYA Parents’ Association Group, NYA Athletics Page (for livestreams of home contests)
YouTube – North Yarmouth Academy
Twitter – @NYAToday
Twitter -Athletics – @NYAPanther
Flickr – nyatoday
Instagram – Ben Jackson HOS, North Yarmouth Academy, NYAartists
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