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December 2023

Important Family Announcements

Save the Date: Upcoming Wellness Program Livestream

The Human Development Program is pleased to announce that Max Stossel from Social Awakening will address the student body on Jan. 9 at 7:30 p.m. His talk, “We’ve Been Sneaking Into Your Brains,” will illustrate specific ways technology is designed to be addictive and distracting. He will provide tools for students to help combat these designs and lead a much-needed discussion about the impact of phones and social media.

Parents and guardians are invited to view the presentation via livestream, so be sure to mark your calendars! The event link will be emailed to families on Jan. 8.

Updated Student Transportation Information

As we look ahead to second semester, please note the announcements below about shuttle bus transportation for School breaks.

Long Winter Weekend: Feb. 1-5, 2024

Bus reservations will be offered Jan. 4-18 by completing a registration form, which will be emailed to students (note: parents will not have access to the reservation form). Reservations are required; cancellations after Jan. 18 are non-refundable. Additional reservations will be processed after Jan. 18 only if seats are available, and a late fee of $5 will be assessed.

Spring Break 2024

New buses have been added to Bradley, LaGuardia, and JFK airports on Saturday morning, March 9. More information will be included in the January Family Update.

Click here for transportation schedules.

Questions about student transportation may be directed to Laurie Grusauski via email.

A Note about Unaccompanied Minors: If your student is not yet 16 years of age 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 Andrew D'Ambrosio, dean of student life, at (860) 435-4441 or, after hours, the dean on duty at (860) 435-2591.

For Lower-Mid Families: Off-Campus Semester Programs

The lower-mid class has heard presentations by several experiential learning programs, including High Mountain Institute (Leadville, CO), The Island School (Eleuthera, Bahamas), Maine Coast Semester at Chewonki (Wiscasset, ME), and School Year Abroad (France, Italy, Spain). Please click here for more information. Families are encouraged to discuss these opportunities over Winter Break so that students are prepared to complete applications in January for the 2024-25 school year.

The College Corner

The College Advising Office remains busy throughout the month of December, engaging with seniors as they await admissions decisions from their early schools and complete submissions for their regular decision schools (if necessary). Seniors should review the December College Advising Office Newsletter for important reminders and deadlines.

While we assist seniors with the final stages of their application submissions, the College Office is diligently planning programming for upper mids in advance of the assignment of individual college advisors in January. The kickoff event, the Upper-Mid College Forum, is scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 20. Upper-mid families can expect to receive an update letter with comprehensive details about this event in mid-December.

Testing Information

Class of 2025: Click here for information about PSAT scores, and SAT and ACT preparation.

Families of Class of 2026 Students who took the PSAT: Click here for information about PSAT scores .

2023-24 Test Dates and Deadlines