A MESSAGE FROM OUR COLLEGE COUNSELING OFFICE |
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| Alayne Birnhak, Associate Director of Admission, encourages students to remember childhood lessons during the college admissions process in her first blog post. Below is an excerpt: When entering my office for the first time, some students are surprised to see children’s books displayed on a shelf. They look at me incredulously, as if to say, “LAers are an ambitious bunch, but you realize that the College Counseling team is assigned only to the Upper School, right?!” Yes, I realize that.
I display these books because I hope that 11th and 12th-graders will pour through them, just as they would the latest edition of Edward Fiske’s Fiske Guide to Colleges or Steven R. Antonoff, Ph.D.’s The College Finder. Children’s literature can convey important life lessons to high schoolers… or people of any age, for that matter. |
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Thursday, March 9 7 p.m. - Booster Club Meeting in Oakwood Room - ZOOM LINK HERE Friday, March 10
Lower and Middle School Parent Conferences - NO CLASSES Upper School Teacher-Student Swap Day Saturday, March 11
9:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. - Summer Programs Open House - REGISTER HERE Saturday, March 11-Sunday, March 26
SCHOOL CLOSED FOR SPRING BREAK Monday, March 27 SCHOOL REOPENS / CLASSES RESUME
SCHOOL CALENDAR |
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| US thespians shine in musical |
Congratulations to the cast and crew of Into the Woods, the Upper School’s musical, for a fabulous weekend run that entertained the LA community of parents, students, faculty, alumni and friends in the Berry Performing Arts Center.
Nick Vargas ’23 made an amazing LA stage debut in the leading role of the Baker, and Naischa Puri ’23 capped her fine LA theatrical career with a stellar performance as the Baker’s Wife. Cousins Sarah Alves ’24 and Julia Machado ’25 lit up the stage as Cinderella and the Witch, respectively.
Other leading players who shined in this outstanding ensemble cast included Giselle Lee ’23 as Little Red Riding Hood, Charlie Silver ’24 as Jack, Sydney Racine ’23 as Jack’s Mother, Raiya Patel ’24 as Rapunzel, Jack Silver ’23 as Cinderella’s Prince, Ish Singh ’24 as Rapunzel’s Prince, David Flatau-Jones ’23 as Mysterious Man and Samson Ajayi ’23 as the Narrator.
INTO THE WOODS PHOTO GALLERY |
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| Winter athletes named to All-GMC teams |
Several members of the LA swimming and indoor track teams earned recognition on the All-GMC Blue Division teams. Mike Romeo, Athletic Director, announced the athletes at Monday’s Upper School division meeting.
Freshman Sophia Fontaine ’26 led a group of nine LA swimmers on the All-GMC Blue Division team by also earning a spot on the overall All-GMC team. Other Rams from the division championship team to make All-GMC Blue included Chiara Baldi ’26, Giselle Lee ’23, Briana Li ’25, Maiti O’Connor ’23, Matthew Faust ’23, Sammy Faust ’25, Ethan Guo ’24 and Aiden Lee ’23. Coach Shane Tonery also was named Blue Division Coach of the Year. Sophomore Tommy O’Connor ’25, the school’s first state indoor track champion, led his team with the honor of being named to the overall All-GMC team. Tommy was joined on the All-Blue Division team by fellow rams Sevastian Castillo ’26, Adam Eisdorfer ’25, Emma Herko ’25 and Naomi Valcourt ’24. |
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State athletes honored at US meeting |
Mike Romeo, Athletic Director, honored one team and three individual athletes at Monday’s Upper School meeting in the Berry Performing Arts Center. Mr. Romeo called the co-ed varsity swim team to the stage to accept recognition for winning the GMC Blue Division title, the first for the Rams since joining the league in 2010. He also cited Maiti O’Connor ’23 (diving), Oliver Laskow ’24 (fencing) and Tommy O’Connor ’25 (track) for their individual achievements this winter. All three Rams qualified to advance to the state championship events in their respective sports.
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| Third graders impress with memoirs |
The third-grade classes of Ms. Katherine Heiss and Mrs. Donna Pedde proudly shared their memoirs with an audience of parents, faculty and friends in their classrooms last week.
The students have been reading many books that modeled memoirs and began the study unit by writing a mini memoir. They took a moment in time selecting a topic they felt strongly about using lessons taught on similes, alliteration, quotation marks and expanding sentences. The memoirs were all true stories told in the first person that included the author’s thinking and feelings. They also included illustrations and a concluding note about the author. THIRD GRADE MEMOIRS PHOTO GALLERY |
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| 7th graders win Odyssey of the Mind |
Odyssey of the Mind began as a pilot program this year with Mr. Andrew Dressel, father of sixth grader Hamilton Dressel ’29, as our school’s facilitator. LA entered two teams into the regional competition, held on Saturday, February 25.
The seventh grade team of Rehan Ali ’28, Japjeev Singh ’28, Joshua Simeonidis ’28, Joy Patel ’28 and Arshi Goel ’28 captured first place and will move on to the state competition in Princeton on April 1. LA sixth graders Hamilton Dressel ’29, Arika Shah ’29, Akshay Shah ’29, Samyak Kumar ’29, Yash Jain ’29 and Alex Zhang ’29 also competed in their first Odyssey of the Mind event. |
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| MS students make difference with service |
The Student Government Association sponsored two Days of Service in the Middle School during the week of Presidents’ Day. A dedicated group of 26 middle schoolers gave their time to make fleece tie blankets in support of the Children's Hospital at St. Peter's University Hospital in New Brunswick. They worked hard to make 14 blankets which will help brighten the spirits of children facing extended hospital stays or treatment plans at the Children's Hospital. Students had a ton of fun creating these blankets for a good cause and are already looking forward to planning additional days of service later in the spring!
SGA BLANKETS PHOTO GALLERY |
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Seniors earn early decision acceptances |
Congratulations to several seniors in the Class of 2023 who have made their college plans official after accepting Early Decision admission to their No. 1 choices. The WHEN wraps up its first series of spotlights on seniors who have earned Early Decision admission with Nandini Shah ’23, who is thrilled to be matriculating to the University of Pennsylvania, where she plans to major in biochemistry in the College of Arts and Science with the hopes of attending medical school in the future. Nandini was immediately impressed by the UPenn campus and its proximity to a children’s hospital, the University hospital and a cancer research center within two miles.
“These resources made it very clear that Penn would have a vast number of medical internships, research opportunities, and hands-on experiences for their undergraduates interested in medicine,” Nandini said. “In addition, the location of the school in Philly, the amazing faculty who help their students succeed, and the vibrant campus culture made Penn my first choice school. I love that Penn is the perfect combination of being located in a city with numerous opportunities and activities while still having a tight-knit campus.”
Click here to read more about Nandini and view other early decision college acceptance profiles |
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Latinx students accepted to prestigious national summer leadership programs |
Last summer, two LA students attended the National Hispanic Institute's (NHI) North East Great Debate (NEGD) summer leadership program at St. Francis University in Loretto, PA. Liany Maldonado ’25 and Ancel De Jesús ‘25, who attended the NEGD last summer, learned about community equity building via a debate tournament in which they were trained by NHI alumni whose experiences range from seasoned professionals to college students and high school juniors. This summer, the number of LA students attending NHI programs has increased threefold. Ancel and Liany are being joined by Giselle Rodriguez '25 as they attend NHI's Lorenzo de Zavala Youth Legislative Session (American LDZ) at St. Mary's College of Maryland. |
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| Seniors end speech season in great style |
Five members of the Class of 2023 delivered their senior speeches within the past week in the Berry Performing Arts Center to complete this year’s senior speeches. Congratulations to Ariel Wang ’23, Matthew Faust ’23, Angelina Vargas ’23, David Flatau-Jones ’23 and Nick Vargas ’23 (pictured) for ending the senior speech season on a high note. |
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| Save the Date! - Golf Outing - May 16 |
Please join us for the Jim Howard Golf Classic on Tuesday, May 16 at Colonia Country Club. Golfers will compete in a scramble format, with a shotgun start beginning at 11 a.m. A reception with hors d'oeuvres, beverages and awards will follow at 4 p.m. The $250 fee per golfer includes the reception.
REGISTER FOR THE GOLF OUTING HERE |
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| Registration open for Summer Programs |
The Lena Archuleta School will offer a robust array of summer programs in 2023!
The year’s offerings include Camp Funshine, Adventure Camp, Brain Boosters Junior Academics, Summer Scholars, Pulse Sports Camps and Summer Sparks Enrichment. Other special camps including Dungeons & Dragons and For the Love of Theater will also be held. New this year: we are offering a Performing Arts and Audio/Visual Camp for the serious performers ages 13-18.
LA is holding an Open House for its summer programs on Saturday, March 11. To register and learn more, visit WHschool.org/summer |
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FROM THE LA PARENTS' ASSOCIATION |
SAVE THE DATE! - WHPA Spring Gala - April 29
The WHPA Spring Gala - The Hollywood Red Carpet Gala - is being held on Saturday, April 29 from 6-10 p.m. at Metuchen Country Club. You should have received your Evite already and we hope you will join us!
More information in WHPA letter here
RSVP HERE
Please contact parents@WHschool.org with any questions. |
Join us at our Next Meeting - Thursday, March 9
The LA Booster Club invites all LA parents to join us for our next meeting, which will be held tonight, Thursday, March 9 at 7 p.m. in the Oakwood Room. This month, we welcome Ryan Oliveira, athletic trainer at LA, as our guest speaker. If you are unable to join us in person, you may attend the meeting virtually at the link below: BOOSTER CLUB MEETING ZOOM LINK |
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Giving Thanks for our LA Parent Donors
The Development Office would like to thank the LA community for supporting The WardlaLAartridge Fund. Click here to view a list of LA parents who have contributed to The 2022-2023 LA Fund between July 1, 2022 and March 8, 2023. Click here to make a gift to The WardlaLAartridge Fund! 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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