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February 2022

COVID-19 Booster Clinic on March 1

The School will host a COVID-19 booster clinic on Tuesday, March 1 in the MAC fieldhouse. We strongly encourage all eligible students (five months since the primary Pfizer or Moderna series was completed - OR - two months since the J&J vaccine was received) who have not received a COVID-19 booster to schedule an appointment.

Action Required for an Appointment

Students will receive an email from Danielle Shippey, director of health services, to register for an appointment.
Parent/guardian permission is required for all students under the age of 18. Parents must complete both the COVID Vaccine Intake Form with parental permission and the Pre-Vaccination Screening Form prior to the appointment.
Students must print and bring these completed forms to their appointment.

If your student has already received a COVID-19 booster, please upload their vaccination record on the Health Center Portal.

2022-23 Re-Enrollment Update

Hotchkiss hopes its online re-enrollment process is as smooth, efficient, and family-friendly as possible. Click here to learn how you can access your student's re-enrollment documents beginning Saturday, February 26. Enrollment contracts and fees are due no later than March 26.

Campus Candids

Catch a glimpse of recent student life in these Hotchkiss Flickr photo albums!

Lunar New Year 2022

HDA's Winter Musical Mamma Mia!

Important Announcements

Graduation 2022: Save the Date!

Click here for the 2022 Graduation schedule. Lodging arrangements should be made early, as local hotels and inns fill up very quickly.

For all other Graduation-related inquiries, please contact Lisa Brown at (860) 435-3188. We look forward to seeing you in June!

Absence Request Form Reminder

Now that students are again able to leave campus for appointments and take weekends, we wanted to remind families to submit absence requests through the Parent Portal.

It is a simple, three-step process:

Go to the Parent Portal and click on "Veracross Login" as shown.
Log into your Veracross acount.
Click on "Submit Absence Request" and provide the relevant information.

Absence requests are to be submitted no later than Thursday by 4 p.m. for a Friday departure, or at least one week in advance for requests that will include missing class or other obligations. Please call the Deans' Office at (860) 435-3189 if you need assistance.

Transportation Information for March Break

Dates: March 5-21

Reminder: Bus reservations are on sale through Feb. 18. Please make reservations through the OneCard web portal.
Click here for the transportation schedule. End-of-year reservations will be open for purchase in mid-May.
Transportation questions may be directed to Laurie Grusauski.

Families of boarding students must submit a March Break absence request via the Parent Portal (see item above for instructions). If travel plans change after the request has been submitted, please complete a new request identifying it as an update to previously submitted plans.

A Note About Unaccompanied Minors: If your student is not yet 16 years old and is traveling by air, we suggest that you check with your travel agent before booking flights to see if any restrictions are in place with respect to underage children traveling alone. Some airlines have more restrictive policies than others and demand a higher level of services for unaccompanied minors. Please note that the School does not provide escort services to or from airports. If you need special services, please call one of our area car services to make arrangements. If you have questions about unaccompanied minors, please call Stephen McKibben P'22, dean of community life, at (860) 435-3631; after hours, call the dean on duty at (860) 435-2591.

2022-23 Travel Calendar

Click here for the 2022-2023 travel calendar.

Hotchkiss Summer Portals Application Season is Open!

Middle and high school students interested in a two- or four-week summer classroom experience can find program details on our webpage.

This year's offerings include:

Equity is the Work
Humanities – Thinking Like an Historian
gcLi Leadership Academy at Hotchkiss
Environmental Science
Speech and Debate
Piano Program
Studio Art: Drawing from Observation
Robotics
Structural Engineering – Race Car Design
Physics of Sound – Electric Guitar Building
Theatre Program
Writers and Writing

College students interested in joining the Summer Portals community should consider applying for a summer fellow position. Resident teaching fellows support the Summer Portals community in the classroom and the dorms. Learn more about the position here.

Mischianza Memo: Order Yearbooks Now!

Each member of the Class of 2022 receives a complimentary copy of the yearbook. Upper mids, lower mids, and preps who want a yearbook, or seniors or PGs who would like a second copy, may order directly from Herff Jones. Please see the Mischianza webpage for more information and the link to order a yearbook.

The College Corner

Last month, Hotchkiss upper-mid students kicked off their college process by attending the College Office's Upper-Mid Forum. College admissions officers and deans from University of Pennsylvania, Carleton College, Dartmouth College, Haverford College, University of Vermont, and Smith College facilitated conversations on a wide variety of topics—ranging from an overview of the current admissions landscape to a detailed look at how admissions offices review Hotchkiss students' files. In addition, Hotchkiss college advisors moderated a variety of break-out sessions focused on special interests. The two-day event concluded with a financial aid workshop. Recordings of these sessions are available to Hotchkiss families here (please note your Parent Portal login is required).

Looking ahead, March break is often an ideal time for upper mids to visit college campuses. In these early stages of the search, the College Office encourages students to visit a range of institutions—urban vs. rural, public vs. private, large/small, liberal arts/specialized, etc.,—to help them identify what criteria and factors are most important to them. And in April, Hotchkiss will host a college fair where upper-mid students will be able to meet with and ask questions of admissions officers from schools across the country and around the globe.

For Upper-Mid Families: Important information about standardized test prep and registration.

Standardized Test Dates: Access a list of 2021-22 dates.