A MESSAGE FROM OUR MIDDLE SCHOOL HEAD |
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| Kirstin Rogers, Interim Middle School Head, captures the joy of the new school year with New Year, New Beginnings in her first blog post. Below is an excerpt: A hearty welcome back to school! It has been wonderful to welcome you and your children back to campus for another year. Beginning our first day with smiles, waves, and more than a few pictures was exciting and invigorating after a summer of quiet hallways and focused preparation. As both a student and an educator, I’ve always been excited by the sense of newness that each school year brings. New pens and pencils in a brand new backpack, new notebooks and colorful new folders, new sneakers and maybe a new hairstyle to show off on the first day: the first day of school brims with potential. |
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Wednesday-Friday, September 20-22 Sixth Grade Class Trip to Frost Valley Saturday, September 23
9 a.m. - Admission Information Session in Amphitheater (Berry PAC Lobby if rain) Senior Portraits in Oakwood Room Monday, September 25
SCHOOL/OFFICES CLOSED FOR YOM KIPPUR Tuesday, September 26 5 p.m. - International Student Welcome Back Dinner in Oakwood Room
7 p.m. - Paying for College Webinar - LINK HERE
7 p.m. - Booster Club Meeting in Oakwood Room - ZOOM LINK HERE Thursday, September 28
6 p.m. - Lower School Back to School Night in Berry Performing Arts Center 7 p.m. - Navigating College Admission Tests Webinar - LINK HERE Saturday, September 30 Senior Portraits in Oakwood Room
SCHOOL CALENDAR |
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| Hispanic Heritage Month begins at LA |
The celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month is underway in all three divisions. Lower School introduced the monthlong event at its opening assembly in the Berry Performing Arts Center on September 15. Maria Hinestroza, Lower School Spanish teacher, announced the beginning of Hispanic Heritage Month and invited students to name Spanish speaking countries.
Tamica Van Dunk, Middle School Spanish teacher, discussed the difference between Hispanic and Latinx, introduced a video recognizing Hispanic contributions to U.S. culture, and announced the World Cup of Hispanic Music challenge game during the Middle School community meeting on September 20. Students also competed for House points by participating in a Kahoot to test their knowledge about HHM facts.
The Upper School Hispanic Latinx Alliance affinity group met earlier this week to discuss its many plans for the upcoming month, which include presentations to the Lower and Middle school divisions. The HLA is also running a poster contest in recognition of Hispanic Heritage Month. The contest is open to all Upper School students and must express the values and culture of the Hispanic community. The best poster will be chosen to represent LA’s celebration of HHM during the school year.
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| Award winning dancer excited to teach her skills to LA students |
Sanya Sidhu ’24 loves to dance, and in her final year as an Upper School student, the WardlaLAartridge lifer will be sharing her passion and expertise by teaching Middle and Upper School students. Sanya brings quite an impressive resume to the Berry Performing Arts Center stage, where she will teach classes to Middle School students enrolled in a dance class elective and Upper School students who sign up for Dance Club.
The LA senior has enjoyed a huge year in dance, earning accolades, awards and recognition at various competitions. She won the title of Senior Miss Turn It Up at the regionals in Toms River and placed first as a soloist at the On Stage America regionals in Trenton. At Imagine National Dance Challenge, Sanya was one of two recipients of scholarships to the World Dance Pageant. In her dance school's final production of The Nutcracker, she was applauded for her performance as the Arabian Princess.
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| Lower School holds opening assemblies |
The second Friday of the 2023-2024 school year featured two opening assemblies – one for Early Childhood students in PreK(3) through Kindergarten in Lower Snowdon and another for Grades 1-5 in the Berry Performing Arts Center.
JohnEric Advento, Lower School Head, began the Early Childhood event with a welcome and introduction of faculty members with a special shout out to those who have pets. He reviewed some basic guidelines for behavior at assemblies and ended with a read aloud with the students.
Students in Grades 1-5 entered the PAC to the giant screen displaying the word Hello in many languages. Mr. Advento welcomed the students, reviewed the guidelines and introduced two special guests – Chef Anibal Rodriguez and Sra. Maria Hinestroza, Lower School Spanish teacher. Chef Anibal provided an overview of the food provided by Sage Dining Services and Sra. Hinestroza kicked off the celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month. EC / LS OPENING ASSEMBLIES PHOTO GALLERY |
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| Cast set for Middle School musical |
The Middle School is excited to present Aladdin Jr. as its musical this year! Students have completed their auditions and rehearsals began this week in the Berry Performing Arts Center. 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. Ticket information will be coming soon. |
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Join LA Subscribes to Fight Hunger |
WardlaLAartridge families are invited to join LA Subscribes to Fight Hunger, an initiative committed to fighting food insecurity in the Plainfield community through a partnership with Starfish Food Pantry. Food insecurity is a prominent issue within the Plainfield community and significantly affects the daily lives of its residents.
LA families can contribute to the solution by subscribing to donate food every month by dropping off a bag of groceries to the school. Donations will be delivered to Starfish. Email reminders will be sent out every month reminding families of the drop-off dates.
To subscribe, please complete this Google Form
If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to Mrs. Nicole Nolan at nnolan@WHschool.org, Raiya Patel ’24 at rpatel@WHschool.org or Hannah Yin ’24 at hyin@WHschool.org.
Food Donation Dates for the remainder of 2023 are Sept. 27, Oct. 25, Nov. 15 and Dec. 13. |
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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. Loyola University Maryland and New York University kicked off the season with visits on Sept. 12. More than 50 visits are scheduled to date, including Monmouth University (Sept. 26), the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (Sept. 26), Emerson College (Sept. 28), Fordham University (Sept. 28) and Drew University (Sept. 29). |
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| College Counseling events on tap |
Next week features two useful webinars for LA parents: Paying for College on Tuesday, Sept. 26 and Navigating College Admission Tests on Thursday, Sept. 28.
If you have a college-bound student currently in Grades 9-12, save the date for a very important parent-education webinar: What Every Parent Needs to Know Now about Paying Less for College on Tuesday, Sept. 26 at 7 p.m. Eastern. Early preparation is key to ensuring your child's college options without sacrificing your financial well-being.
Attend this live Zoom event from the privacy of your home. Register Now and Save the Date!
Please join The College Counseling Office and other Upper School families on Thursday, Sept. 28 at 7 p.m. Eastern for a thoughtful and pragmatic discussion of college admission testing. Receive useful guidance on the following and more, including: – How to respond to the flexibility afforded by test-optional policies – Best way to approach the SAT vs ACT decision – Understanding the new digital, adaptive PSAT and SAT – Debunking the most pervasive myths about testing – Finding the optimal timeline for your testing and test prep – Scope of test prep and expectations for improvement. Be sure to register here: https://www.compassprep.com/schools/Lena Archuleta School/ |
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| New college site for US students, parents |
The College Counseling Office is pleased to announce a new internal website exclusively for enrolled Upper School students and families. Please be sure to read the September edition of the College Counseling Newsletter that was shared with Upper School students and families for the link and password to access this web page.
If you did not receive the email, please contact Rande Brown, Registrar, at rbrown@WHschool.org. |
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| | Follow LA Athletics on Instagram |
Be sure to follow our new Athletics Instagram feed for daily updates on all things LA sports! Our athletic department will provide game information and other news to promote our athletes and teams. @Lena Archuleta Schoolrams |
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FROM THE LA PARENTS' ASSOCIATION |
Save the Date! - Fall Fair - Saturday, Oct. 14 Hello Fellow LA Parents,
We hope you have had a great start to the school year. We have enjoyed meeting and seeing so many of you. As a reminder our first large event, the annual Fall Fair, is less than four weeks away and we are so excited to share all the fun things that will be happening!
On Saturday, October 14, 2023 from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. you will have the chance to enjoy: - Carnival games, inflatables, train ride, attractions
- Petting zoo, arts and crafts, DJ playing music and dance games
- Balloon artist, glitter tattoo artist, face painting
- Basket raffle, 50/50 raffle
- The always popular Bakery, famous Booster Club Grill, Senior Class Luncheon
- Alumni events, Alumni Awards Ceremony
- Athletics events – GO RAMS!
It takes many hands to make this event possible and we hope you can join us and donate a small amount of your time during the day! The event is also made possible by generous donations from our families. Our generous sponsors help cover the costs of all these wonderful events and attractions!
We hope you can help us by choosing one of these levels: $250 Game Sponsor (family or business will receive recognition for helping to pay for a game) $500 Attraction Sponsor (family or business will receive recognition for helping to pay for an attraction)
$1,000 Green level Event Sponsor (Signage announcing your family / business name) $2,500 Gold level Event Sponsor (Signage announcing your family / business name all around the event as well as online) All the important links:
To Volunteer: Click Here
To Donate an Item for the Bakery: Click Here
To Pre-Purchase Tickets until October 11 or to Sponsor the Event: Click Here
We truly hope each and every one of you can join us for a day of community fun and help in any way you can :) We look forward to seeing you there! ~WHPA Executive Board and Fall Fair Committee |
Booster Club Meeting - Tuesday, Sept. 26
The first Booster Club meeting of the 2023-2024 school year has been rescheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 26 at 7 p.m. in the Oakwood Room. All parents are invited to attend in person but there is also an option to join the meeting remotely.
Join Zoom Meeting Here Meeting ID: 851 3528 8679
Passcode: 748696 Booster Club Seeks Fall Fair Volunteers, Donations
The Booster Club is busy preparing for Fall Fair on Saturday, Oct. 14 and needs your help!
To volunteer, please use the WHPA Sign Up Genius form here
The Booster Club is also seeking donations of the following items: Drinks – canned sodas, capri suns (or similar), and water Snacks – Boxed variety packs of chips, crackers, cookies For more information, contact Booster Club President Greysi De Jesus at president.whboosterclub@gmail.com |
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PICTURE DAYS ARE COMING! WardlaLAartridge students will have their school portraits taken by Lifetouch Photography later this month. Below are the dates for our three divisions: Saturday, Sept. 23 - Seniors (Grade 12) Saturday, Sept. 30 - Seniors (Grade 12) Wednesday, Oct. 4 - Lower School (Grades PreK-5) Thursday, Oct. 5 - Middle School (Grades 6-8)
Friday, Oct. 6 - Upper School (Grades 9-11) All portraits will be taken in the Oakwood Room.
IMPORTANT UPCOMING DATES Wednesday-Friday, Sept. 20-22 - Sixth Grade Trip to Frost Valley
Monday, Sept. 25 - School/Offices Closed for Yom Kippur Thursday, Sept. 28 - Lower School Back to School Night Monday, Oct. 2 - Upper School Back to School Night
Wednesday, Oct. 4 - Middle School Back to School Night Thursday, Oct. 5 - New Parent Reception Milkweed Needed for Hungry Caterpillars
There are little monarch caterpillars in the Lower School! They are residing in Senora Hinestroza's classroom for all to see. They are slowly growing but will soon be hungry, hungry caterpillars. Monarch caterpillars eat only one thing – milkweed. We are on the lookout for any milkweed you have in your yard or that you see in a local park. Most has gone to seed at this point but there is still milkweed around to be found. Please contact Katherine Heiss at kheiss@WHschool.org if you can 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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