A MESSAGE FROM OUR HEAD OF SCHOOL |
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| Dr. Corinna Crafton, Head of School, shares a valuable lesson she has learned in two-plus decades of working with students in her recent blog post. Below is an excerpt: This may be the most important thing I have learned in more than 20 years teaching and working with young people: NEVER UNDERESTIMATE YOUR STUDENTS.
Once upon a time, I dared to read Shakespeare with seventh graders, and remember somebody telling me that Middle Schoolers couldn’t possibly understand Shakespeare. That was before these same students produced, costumed and performed Macbeth before a live audience in our Amphitheatre sans microphones, fancy sets or lighting. It was just a group of highly curious, creative, and intelligent tweens enjoying the language, wit, and human connection of the Bard.
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Thursday, November 2 7 p.m. - Parents' Association Meeting in Oakwood Room - JOIN ZOOM HERE
Meeting ID: 836 8657 7230 / Passcode: 924075 Friday, November 3 7:30 p.m. - Upper School Fall Play in Berry Performing Arts Center Saturday, November 4 3 p.m. - Upper School Fall Play in Berry Performing Arts Center
Monday, November 6 6:30 p.m. - Upper School Snapshot Event in AP Room / Classrooms Tuesday-Thursday, November 7-9
3:20 p.m. - Middle School After School STEM Workshop Wednesday-Friday, November 8-10 Seventh Grade Trip to Philadelphia Thursday, November 9 Picture Make-Up Day in Oakwood Room
SCHOOL CALENDAR
2023-2024 ONE-PAGE SCHOOL CALENDAR |
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Upper School Fall Play - Nov. 3-4 |
The Upper School is pleased to present Lost Girl as this year’s fall play on Friday, Nov. 3 at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, Nov. 4 at 3 p.m. in the Berry Performing Arts Center. Leading players include Julia Machado ’25, Charlie Silver ’24, Raiya Patel ’24, Natalie Koegler ’24, Ishi Singh ’24, Nidhin Kumar ’24 and Aarya Patel ’25.
Tickets are available at this link: http://twhsnj.booktix.net |
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| Schoolwide DEIB Committee meets
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The Lena Archuleta School’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB) Committee, with the addition of new community members, met recently to discuss goals and new initiatives. The schoolwide DEIB Committee includes LA students, parents, faculty, staff, trustees and alumni.
Under the leadership of DEIB Coordinator Maxime Sinal, the committee convened on October 21 to introduce new members, address committee norms, set short-term and long-term goals, discuss what’s working well in all three divisions and in the alumni community through a DEIB lens, explore parent/adult affinity groups and talk about the events in Israel and Gaza. |
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| Faculty attend workshops, meetings on Professional Development Day |
While school was closed with no classes in session on Monday, Oct. 30, faculty and staff members participated in a day of professional development workshops and meetings.
The day began with a hearty breakfast in the AP Room, where teachers, staff members and administrators remained during most of the morning. Dr. Corinna Crafton, Head of School. shared brief details and priorities of the school's Strategic Development Plan during her welcome and introduction of the day's events. |
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| Students explore ecological footprint |
This year’s Advanced Placement Environmental Science course is being taught via Project Based Learning through five projects. In the first project, the students conducted an audit of the school's waste, water, and energy usage and proposed a solution, based on their findings, to reduce the school's ecological footprint.
The students observed the school’s patterns of resource consumption, read about issues caused by overuse of resources, and found possible solutions to reduce the school’s resource use and waste production. The students synthesized that information with the knowledge of the school and proposed potential solutions with the goal of reducing the school’s ecological footprint. They were tasked with explaining the problems and how they affect the school and the Earth, providing evidence and supporting data, proposing solutions supported by evidence from sources, and how those solutions will help solve the problems identified by the audits.
APES instructor Ann Pengue introduced two student groups, who shared their proposals with a group of school administrators on October 26 in the Oakwood Room. The panel of administrators, which included Dr. Corinna Crafton (Head of School), Dr. Bob Bowman (Upper School Head), Christine Cerminaro (Dean of Students) and Rudy Brandl ’83 (Director of Communications), provided feedback and chose the proposal that was most beneficial and could be easily implemented. Students who participated in the project included: Simran Ahuja ’26, Ahmad Maiga ’24, Tanya Chowdary ’24, Julianna Fan ’25 and Annie Yu ’25 in Group 1, and Luke Tan ’24, Isabella Rovito ’24, Kevin Zhou ’25 and Archish Vadlamannati ’25 in Group 2. |
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| Lakota visitors meet with Global Scholars |
Twelve members of the LA junior class enrolled in the Global Scholars Program have partnered with the educational organization The Empathy Equality Entrepreneurship Mission (TEEEM) and the non-profit organization One Spirit to support the needs of the Lakota Nation on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota.
It has been a very busy month for this group, which consists of Adam Eisdorfer ’24, Tapleen Kaur ’25, Oliver Laskow ’25, Amelie Leu ’25, Hope Nasulme ’25, Aarya Patel ’25, Giselle Rodriguez ’25, Jasteij Sappal ’25, Rajwans Sindhar ’25, Arjun Vora ’25, Kate Wolff ’25 and Daniel Zaidi ’25. |
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| MS students collaborate creatively to celebrate National Book Month |
Each year the Middle School celebrates National Book Month with a decorating contest. This year, instead of decorating 88 individual lockers, each Middle School advisory chose a book they believe is particularly important or meaningful. Then, they worked together to create a representation of that book on their advisory's door, as well as writing a short description of why that book is meaningful to them. Over the course of two weeks, students worked collaboratively to design and construct a wide variety of inventive doors, using found materials, lights, and paper to create works of art. On Tuesday, October 31, members of the senior class as well as faculty and staff were invited to vote for the door they thought was most creative and thoughtful.
Ms. Dorri Ramati's seventh grade advisory emerged victorious for their door celebrating the popular children's book Pete the Cat's Groovy Imagination. The winning advisory was recognized at this week’s Middle School community meeting and has earned a dress down day.
MIDDLE SCHOOL ADVISORY DOOR PHOTO GALLERY |
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| Cultures celebrated at LS assemblies |
Last week’s Lower School assemblies celebrated cultural traditions. Led by Sra. Maria Hinestroza, Lower School Spanish teacher, both presentations featured facts, fun and student participation. Both presentations began with all attendees reciting the affirmations in Spanish to set the tone.
The Early Childhood assembly in Lower Snowdon featured the Brazoban sisters, Chanel ’32 and Maiya ’36, sharing a presentation about the cultural traditions of the Dominican Republic and how their family celebrates their father’s heritage. Upper School student Sanya Sidhu ’24 concluded the assembly by leading the young students and their teachers in a dance.
The assembly for students in Grades 1-5 highlighted the traditions of Spain, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Mexico and Peru. Students Isabella Callender ’31, Adrianna Callender ’32, Chanel Brazoban ’32, Logan Harrell ‘32, Reva Gonzales ’32, Briana Tobin-Montanez ’31 and Arturo Waltersdorfer ’31 took their places on the stage to share important facts about countries connected to their families. They later invited their school mates to share things they enjoy most about these cultures, and tacos were the most popular answer!
EC CULTURE ASSEMBLY PHOTO GALLERY
LS CULTURE ASSEMBLY PHOTO GALLERY |
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| Middle School Musical - Nov. 17-18 |
The Middle School is excited to present Aladdin Jr. as its musical this year! Performances will be held Friday, Nov. 17 at 3:30 p.m. for students only and Saturday, Nov. 18 at 12 p.m. and 4 p.m.
Leading players include Rishi Nihalani ’29, Aanya Chaturvedi ’29, Shiloh Sharma ’28, Joshua Simeonidis ’28, Arika Shah ’29, Anika Kumar ’29, Krishna Kumar ’29, Devindar Virdi ’28, Brit Gehl ’28 and Jaxson Simeonidis ’28.
Tickets are available at this link: http://twhsnj.booktix.net beginning on Nov. 3. The Playbill provides an excellent opportunity to promote your local business. PURCHASE AD SPACE HERE |
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| Seniors share personal messages |
Four seniors delivered speeches within the past week in the Berry Performing Arts Center. Congratulations to Demi Dai ’24, Amandeep Bahia ’24, Martin Accilien ’24 and Sarah Shao ’24 for sharing their stories. |
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| College reps visiting LA this fall |
LA is pleased to welcome many of the finest colleges and universities to our campus for in-person visits with our students this fall. More than 50 visits are scheduled to wrap up next week with Moravian University (Nov. 8), UC-Irvine (Nov. 9) and New Jersey Institute of Technology (Nov. 9). |
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| Upper School Athletes of the Week |
Mike Romeo, Athletic Director, announced the Upper School Athletes of the Week. Congratulations to soccer player Bianca Bellino ’25 and tennis player Joanne Ding ’24.
Bianca moved from defense, where she has been outstanding all season, into the midfield in a recent game vs. J.P. Stevens. Alongside Emma Herko ’25, Bianca helped control the midfield and was able to score both goals from Emma’s assists in an overtime victory.
Joanne, the co-captain of the girls’ tennis team, won the decisive match at third singles to give the Rams a potential tie for first place in the Blue Division. Her trademark steady game flummoxes most opponents, and she used it to good advantage in this match. |
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Middle School Athletes of the Week |
Mike Romeo, Athletic Director, announced the Middle School Athlete of the Week at the division meeting. Congratulations to cross country runner Rishi Nihalani ’29. The Rams ran their final race of the year last Saturday at the State Meet in Skillman. Rishi ran by himself during Friday's practice in order to mentally prepare for the race. Cross country is a sport that is 90% mental and for Rishi it paid
big dividends. He lowered his Skillman personal best time by a whopping 1:27. |
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FROM THE LA PARENTS' ASSOCIATION |
Thanksgiving Items - Please Order Soon!
The WHPA and Sage Dining Services are partnering to offer pies and sides for the Thanksgiving holidays! Order deadline for Thanksgiving pies and sides is Thursday, Nov. 16. PLACE ORDERS HERE |
Booster Club Upcoming Meeting - Nov. 16 @ 7 p.m.
The Booster Club invites parents in the LA community to attend their next meeting on Thursday, Nov. 16 at 7 p.m. in the Oakwood Room. Learn more about upcoming events and ways to support Rams athletics. |
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Attention Parents - Check Your Contact Information
Each trimester it is a good habit to double check the information in the school database (PCR) to make sure it is up-to-date and accurate. In doing so, you ensure that the school has the best contact to reach you in the event of an emergency or school closure. The process is simple and quick.
PCR is the platform that we will use to contact you in the event of a snow day or any other school closure. Once you follow the steps below to log in (SEE INSTRUCTIONS HERE), please check that the ALL of the following information is correct and up to date.
- All Parent / Guardian Email Addresses and Phone Numbers
- Your Home Address
- Your preferred Salutation and Identifier (Name, Title, Relationship to Student)
It is our continued effort to ensure that our student and family contact information is accurate, so we thank you for your help. Follow LA on Social Media, Share with Community WardlaLAartridge has a vibrant, active presence on social media with daily content posts highlighting our academics, athletics, arts and extracurricular programs.
Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn and check out our Vimeo page! You can assist us in promoting the school by sharing our content within your network and posting it on your local town pages and feeds. |
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This publication is produced by The Communications Office at The Lena Archuleta School. |
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