Window Into Wakefield Jan 2012

Window Into Wakefield Issue No. 2

FEBRUARY 2, 2012

Window into Wakefield is designed to help better acquaint you with life at Wakefield School. please enjoy learning about the activities in which our students take part as well as the accomplishments of our community.

a message from the director of admission I am thrilled to be writing to you from the other side of the ad-

mission application deadline! Thank you to everyone who worked so hard to complete and submit their admission and financial aid applications. It has been a pleasure to get to know each of you and your family. My colleagues have remarked at what a talented and engaging applicant pool we have this year, and I have to agree.

Over the next month I will be busy sharing your applications with the admission committees and we will prepare decisions to be sent to you in early March. If in the interim you have any follow-up questions, please do not hesitate to call (540) 253-7600 or email smcdonough@wakefieldschool.org.

For those of you who are just beginning the process of considering Wakefield, we have now shifted to our rolling admission season and as such will be considering applications as they are completed. I hope that you will take advantage of the opportunity to come out to campus for a tour and interview in the near future.

Make sure you mark your calendars for some of the great upcoming events, and I encourage you to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube, so you are always up to date on what is happening at Wakefield…we always have something fun going on!

Sarah McDonough, Director of Admission and Financial Aid

Please join us for an upcoming event: ~~ BRING A FRIEND TO SCHOOL DAY: Monday, February 20, RSVP at www. wakefieldschool.org. ~~ The Wizard of Oz: Wednesday, February 29, March 1, 2, and 3.

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january 2012 at wakefield

Fifth grade Egyptian Banquet The Egyptian Banquet is more

than a feast of exotic foods, and more than a celebration of everybody’s favorite History unit.

This day provides a great opportunity for the students to show off their knowledge, but also to put their creative writing and acting skills to good use.

In just a week and a half, the fifth grade History scholars write, practice, and perform skits about characters and events we’ve talked about in class. The skits are allowed to be funny, but they also have to contain facts about Egyptian life and beliefs. There’s not enough time to memorize lines, so the skits are a bit like readers’ theater with props and actions. Their creativity is impressive.

On the day of the banquet, the fifth graders have two classes in the morning before changing into costumes and getting a bit of make-up to look the part.

Then they perform their skits for an audience of classmates, parents, and Wakefield folks. When the skits and the kudos are finished, they make their way to their feast—always a banquet of grand proportion, organized by parents, with as many authentic Egyptian foods (except gazelle!) as possible.

Once the feasting is over, they head back to an afternoon of classes. And in future years, when they see fifth graders in the hall on The Day, they can exclaim — as older students do each year — that it was one of their favorite days in the Lower School. -- Katie Hutchison, fifth grade teacher.

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In Owls Sports

Wakefield’s Girls’ Varsity Basketball team improved to 17-5 with wins against Shenandoah Valley Academy, Tandem Friends, and Highland. Junior Emily Granruth (pictured right) recently became the career-points record holder for girls’ basketball and is on track to break the all-time scoring record of 1,355, held dually by Eric Wilson ’10 and Jeff Byrd ’11.

The Boys’ Varsity Basketball team stands with a record of 17-4, with recent wins against Tandem Friends and Southside Baptist Christian.

The Varsity Squash recently traveled to Richmond for the Salty Hawkins Tournament, while the H2Owls took on Seton in an Invitational Swim Meet.

Want up-to-the-minute news on your favorite Wakefield sports team? Follow us on Twitter @WakefieldSchool. For the post-game pics and stats, check us out on Facebook at www.facebook.com/WakefieldOwls. For current schedules, rosters, and more info, visit www.wakefieldschool.org.

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Owls Return Home for Alumni Panel

In January, 19 Wakefield alumni participated in two panels — one to answer questions for the current freshmen and sophomores and one aimed at Wakefield’s juniors and seniors. Wakefield has been holding Alumni Panels for the last decade or so and within the last five years it has become an annually recurring one with a set date on the calendar. Special thanks to the alumni who joined us for the afternoon: Omar Aminzay (’11), Jack Byers (’10), Jeff Byrd (’11), Kelsey Callahan (’10), Rachel Cole (’11), Ian Fontaine (’09), Max Hechl (’10), Alex Holcomb (’10), Sarah Hontz (’11), Katie Huang (’10), Pete Hunter (’11), Erin Kennedy (’10), Kourtnee Lewis (’11), Annie Olimpi (’10), Max Rice (’09), Brooke Robinson (’11), Ryan Sloan (’11), Gracie Withers (’10), and Lilly Withers (’08). Schools represented: University of Virginia, Mary Washington University, Wagner College, University of Tampa, Baylor University, College of Charleston, Lynchburg College, Elon University, Emory and Henry College, James Madison University, Vassar College, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, and University of Southern California.

So far, the Class of 2012 has been accepted to more than 60 different colleges and universities and has been awarded $1,014,872 in merit-based scholarships.

At Wakefield, 100 percent of our Class of 2011 graduates were accepted to four-year colleges and universities, and 50 percent won admission to colleges ranked in either the most or highly competitive categories in the U.S., as determined by Barron’s Profiles of American Colleges 2009.

Of our grads, 61 percent received at least one merit scholarship.

For more information on Wakefield School’s college counseling process and matriculation, visit www.wakefieldschool.org.

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LOWER SCHOOL HISPANIC FESTIVAL

Every other year, Spanish teacher Ana Lizarraga hosts a Hispanic Festival to teach lower schoolers about the cultures of Spanish-speaking countries. This year, the students learned about Bolivia, Guatemala, Panama, and Argentina.

Want to see the students salsa? Visit our YouTube channel for that video and more featuring the lives of Wakefield students.

Thank you for your interest in Wakefield School.

We are an independent, college-preparatory school whose primary goal is to provide a rigorous, liberal arts education. We believe that a challenging, content-based curriculum trains the intellect while fostering self-discipline, independence, creativity, and curiosity. At the same time, we encourage students at every level to think about and with the knowledge they are working to master. Finally we aim to cultivate strong and ethical character through guidance in and out of the classroom from teachers committed to training the spirit as well as the mind. The mission of the School is to provide students with the fundamental knowledge, the critical thinking skills and the strength of character to distinguish that which is true from that which is not, and to use that wisdom in positive ways. This concept is embodied in the School’s motto, Virtus et Sapientia, or “Virtue and Wisdom.”

Find Us On:

Wakefield School 4439 Old Tavern Road P.O. Box 107 The Plains, VA 20198 Phone: 540-253-7600 Fax: 540-253-5492 admissions@wakefieldschool.org www.wakefieldschool.org Seek the challenge, make a difference, live an extraordinary life.