The calendar information below is for all-school, multi-divisional, and/or Parent Association events and activities in the coming weeks. Please see the Lower School, Middle School, or Upper School sections for division-specific "must-know" info, or visit the Calendar web page to see the full calendar.

• Tues, Feb. 5: 4th/5th/6th Grade Outing (rescheduled from 1/29)
• Wed, Feb. 6: MS and US Parent-Teacher Conferences, 2:45-5:00 pm
• Fri, Feb. 8: Post Prom Meeting, 8:00 am, Scott House Conference Room
• Sat, Feb. 9: Middle School Play, "Saving Persephone," 7:15 pm, PAC

And coming up soon/to keep on your radar...

• Wed, Feb. 13: Auction Meeting 8:15-9:30 am, Scott House Conference Room or via Conference Call-In
• Wed, Feb. 13: MS and US Parent-Teacher Conferences, 2:45-5:00 pm
• Fri, Feb. 15: Re-Enrollment Contracts Due
• Mon, Feb. 18: President's Day - NO SCHOOL
• Tues, Feb. 19: Professional Day - NO CLASSES

With the Wednesday, Jan. 30 snow day, we have used the last of our three reserved weather days for the 2018-2019 calendar. Interim Head of School David Hickson sent an email to all SSFS families on Jan. 30 outlining our plans for reclaiming academic days to meet our Maryland State Dept. of Education (DOE) requirements should additional weather necessitate more snow days this winter. Please click here to review the email and note the calendar dates that may serve as our make-up days. 

Re-Enrollment Contracts were emailed to families on Friday, Feb. 1. We are excited to start planning for the 2019-2020 academic year, and we sincerely hope that your family will continue to be a part of the SSFS community! We ask families to submit re-enrollment contracts by Friday, Feb. 15. Contracts are available via your My BackPack account. Please select the "Enrollment/Re-Enrollment" link. Instructions for how to sign your re-enrollment contract are also available online here. If you have questions, please contact your division head or Dawn Griffith at dawn.griffith@ssfs.org or ext. 231. Thank you!

ICYMI: Mark your calendars and plan to join us for the PA Auction on Saturday, May 11, 2019, 7pm – 11pm, at our new location: Ten Oaks Ballroom in Clarksville, MD! Visit Glowing Together to learn more, donate an item, submit a sponsorship, sign up to volunteer, and RSVP! See full article here.

ICYMI: It's that time of year again to start thinking about next year's PA Executive Committee. See more info about PA positions here. All SSFS Community members should feel free to nominate anyone (even yourself!) you feel would be a good fit for SSFS's PA Executive Committee and/or a Grade Representative. Please make nominations through this nominating form.

ICYMI: The PA-sponsored Post Prom is Sat. evening - Sun morning, April 13-14, from 11:00 pm - 6:00 am.  We are getting geared up for a fun night, but it can’t come together without volunteers. Any parent from any division is welcome to join in. Our next planning meeting will be Friday, February 8th, 8:00 am in the Scott House Conference Room. We thank you, and the 11th -12th grade kids thank you!  Feel free to reach out with any questions to Dawn Lee or Lauren Deichman.

For questions or more information about an event, please contact Pam Gilmer, LS Administrative Assistant, at ext. 112 or pam.gilmer@ssfs.org, or visit the Calendar web page to see full calendar.

• Fri, Feb. 8-Thurs, Feb. 14: LS Wee Mail 
• Fri, Feb. 8: Packing Smart Sacks (with 5A and 2A)
• Sat, Feb. 9: 4th and 5th Grade Dinner and a Show, 6:00 pm, Westview (please RSVP here by Wed, Feb. 6)

And coming up soon/to keep on your radar...

• Tues, Feb. 12: 4th Grade to A Wider Circle
• Fri, Feb. 15: Re-Enrollment Contracts Due
• Fri, Feb. 15: Packing Smart Sacks (with 1A and 1B)
• Mon, Feb. 18: President's Day - NO SCHOOL
• Tues, Feb. 19: Professional Day - NO CLASSES

It’s hard to believe that Valentine’s Day is just around the corner! The Wee Mail Post Office will open next Friday, February 8th, and run through Thursday, February 14th. Click here to see a brief video about this special annual Lower School tradition. In order to keep our newly-employed postal workers busy, we need your help! You and your child are encouraged to write letters and/or draw pictures to children in and out of his/her class. The letters can be placed in an envelope or folded over and stapled. We need a neatly written address consisting of first and last name as well as grade and section (Example: Mary Anne Peacock – K or Suzie Smith – PK3). Stamps can be purchased before school from 7:45- 8:10 am in the Lower School lobby from our Kindergarten postal workers. 
 
The cost of a stamp is 5 cents. Please try to use small change (pennies, nickels and dimes).  Stamp sales will be limited to 20 per day per student. After a letter is written, addresses and stamped, it can be deposited in the mailbox in the lobby or in any of the classroom mailboxes.  Mail pickup and delivery times will be in the afternoon.
 
We request that NO CANDY or TREATS be sent through Wee Mail, only cards or letters. 
The Lower School address book is located in each classroom as well as Kindergarten to help with names, classes, and sections. If you have questions, please visit the Wee Mail Post Office located in Kindergarten or ask a Kindergarten teacher or student. Happy writing! We thank you for your support!

Below is information about upcoming MS and all-school activities and events in the coming weeks. For questions or more information about an event, please contact Erin Ryan, MS Administrative Assistant, at ext. 160 or erin.ryan@ssfs.org, or visit the Calendar web page to see full calendar.

• Wed, Feb. 6: Parent-Teacher Conferences, 2:45-5:00 pm, MS Classrooms (sign up here)
• Fri, Feb. 8: MS Sportsplex Day
• Sat, Feb. 9: Middle School Play, "Saving Persephone," 7:15 pm, PAC

And coming up soon/to keep on your radar...

• Wed, Feb. 13: Parent-Teacher Conferences, 2:45-5:00 pm, MS Classrooms (sign up here)
• Fri, Feb. 15: Winter Sports End
• Fri, Feb. 15: Re-Enrollment Contracts Due
• Mon, Feb. 18: President's Day - NO SCHOOL
• Tues, Feb. 19: Professional Day - NO CLASSES

ICYMI: Parent-Teacher Conferences will be offered on Wednesday, February 6th and Wednesday, February 13th.  Please click here to register for conferences with those teachers with whom you would like to meet. Students are invited and encouraged to attend conferences along with their parents, or they may check-in to aftercare at no charge if parents prefer to speak privately with a teacher. Click here for more info...

Sportsplex Day has become a MS tradition and is essentially an indoor field day in the middle of the winter. Students should wear their team color (teams will be posted this week), and should bring a water bottle labeled with their name and wear tennis shoes. Pizza and a variety of desserts will be provided. There will be gluten-free pizza and pizza without cheese available, and some of the desserts will cater to special dietary needs. Children with special dietary needs are also welcome to bring a bag lunch from home. All Middle School students and faculty will be off-campus during this event. We will depart SSFS at approximately 9:30 am, and will return in time for regular participation in sports and electives before dismissal. 

Seventh grade Humanities teachers are excited to announce that 7th grade students will be attending Adventure Theater’s production of "Huckleberry Finn's Big River" on Tuesday, February 26. Students will depart at 11:00 am for a 12:30 pm show and a moderated discussion afterwards. The plan is to eat bagged lunches in the nearby play area if weather permits, or on the bus back to school. Students will return in time for regular dismissal at 3:40 pm. Click here for more information about the performance, which corresponds to our class studies on the Adventures of Tom Sawyer.

8^th Grade Scientists applied their scientific inquiry skills this week with an investigation relating to their study of muscles and joints. They were asked the question, “which arm joint is most important when we throw for distance?” Each group wrote up a procedure that was careful to control for any variable that they thought might distort their results. Then their subjects threw tennis balls with different joints immobilized to determine which had the greatest effect on the distance thrown. It was a chilly lab, but a great opportunity to conduct a real investigation without an expected “right” answer.

ICYMI: Sandy Spring Friends Middle School is proud to announce its production of "Saving Persephone" by Meghan van Lelyveld. An evening performance is planned for February 9th in the Performing Arts Center at 7:15 pm. Read more here... 

Below is information about upcoming US and all-school activities and events in the coming weeks. For questions or more information about an event, please contact Kerry Foley, US Administrative Assistant, at ext. 109 or kerry.foley@ssfs.org, or visit the Calendar web page to see full calendar. 

• Wed, Feb. 6: Upper School Parent-Teacher Conferences - Sign up for your conference time here.

And coming up soon/to keep on your radar...

• Wed, Feb. 13: Upper School Parent-Teacher Conferences - Sign up for your conference time here.
• Thurs, Feb. 14: Upper School Coffee & Conversation, 8:15 am, Scott House (re-scheduled from the 1/30 snow day)
• Fri, Feb. 15: Re-Enrollment Contracts Due
• Sat, Feb. 16: Upper School Winter Dance (sponsored by the Junior Class), 8:00-11:00 pm, PAC-Studio B
• Mon, Feb. 18: President's Day - NO SCHOOL
• Tues, Feb. 19: Professional Day - NO CLASSES

ICYMI: Parent-Teacher Conferences will be held on Wednesday, February 6th, and Wednesday, February 13th from 2:45- 5:00 PM in the Westview Dining Hall. Please use the online scheduling system, PTCFAST, to schedule your conference times. Please note that we will not be able to accommodate any “walk-ins.” Should you have any questions regarding the online scheduling system, please contact Meredith Shankle at 301.774.7455 ext. 110 or via e-mail at meredith.shankle@ssfs.org.

Earlier in January, you received David Hickson’s message with details about the 2019-20 Academic Calendar. That document provides important information regarding various aspects of the entire school. There are, however, a few date and event adjustments to both the start and the end of the school year which are the direct result of planned improvements to the Upper School program. I write to provide more information about this.

While those of you reading this have already passed the entry point to the Upper School through programs such as the 9th Grade Trip and/or Spring to Success, you will notice that we have moved those programs closer to the start of classes to assist families with summer plans and to allow for the most robust student participation possible.

For those of you who are rising seniors or the parent/guardian of a rising senior, you may have noticed the change of graduation for seniors being moved a week earlier in June. This change is the result of a long-discussed desire to create a meaningful educational culmination for seniors. As many other independent schools have done, we are taking the initial steps to create a “senior project” type experience for subsequent graduating classes. While there have been various iterations of such programs in the past, we seek to formalize this in a sustainable way. In so doing, our goal is to provide  seniors a programmatic way to reflect upon and synthesize their learning and experiences from SSFS by also allowing them time to dive deeper into a particular area of interest, expand their perspective on some aspect of the world, or even try out an anticipated life interest or career possibility. 

In its inaugural year, with the class of 2020, students will apply for this program and be provided support and accountability to complete their proposed project. The program will take place over the course of students’ entire senior year as they structure their proposal for approval and make the necessary arrangements for implementation, with their intensive exploration taking placed in the weeks between AP exams and graduation.

Please look for more information in the next few months.

What: The Junior Class is sponsoring an Upper School Winter Dance, "Junior Class Lit Luau," A night of glow-in-the-dark, Hawaiian themed fun! There will be good music, tasty snacks, a photo booth, and even a tiki bar!
When: Saturday, Feb. 16, from 8:00-11:00 pm
Where: PAC-Studio B
Who: Open to all Upper School students, on in PAC-Studio B.
How: Tickets are $10 in advance, $12 at the door. 
Questions? Contact Ben McClellan, Ben.mcclellan@ssfs.org

QUESTION: For 20 points. Guess which college preparatory Quaker school advanced to the Montgomery Academic Beltway League’s 2018-2019 Championship Round?
ANSWER: SSFS

With an overall record of 39-11-0 and counting, across all interscholastic formats of play, SSFS ranks fittingly among the top academic programs in the county and continues to distinguish itself, among other things, as “an ideal setting for intellectual contemplation, diverse extracurricular pursuits, and personal growth.” Positioned for another run at the MABL Championship (Montgomery Academic Beltway League), this year’s SSFS Quiz Bowl Team is poised to break several program records by the time the academic competition season ends. 
Led by Captain Justis Dixon (’19), this year’s SSFS Quiz Bowl Team is rounded out by fellow seniors Michelle Tobin (Assistant Captain), Alan Burd, Bella Vignola, and Thomas Perich, juniors Alex Fendig and MacKenzie Schless, sophomores Moira McCudden, Olivia Gilbert, Esther Feron, Leila Bobrow, and Allison Dixon, and first-year students Rebecca Megginson and Emily Thompson. With one eye focused on the current academic season and the other on player development, the future of SSFS Quiz Bowl looks as promising and bright as the present.

Providing camaraderie for kindred spirits while celebrating academic achievement, intrascholastic Quiz Bowl Club (Spring) and interscholastic Quiz Bowl Team (Fall) provide healthy venues to foster friendships inspired by a mutual love of learning. Best of all it’s fun!  For more information contact Quiz Bowl Coordinator Eduardo Polón.

Getting a jump on summer fun has never been easier; navigate to our website to check out all the new and amazing options for this season, or see our viewbook here. We pride ourselves on the customization of camp for every family. So whether it's hand picking workshops, extended day, transportation options, or flexible lunch options, we are sure we can create just the right fit for your busy family this summer. From tots to teens - there is truly something for everyone!

We encourage you to go through the exciting programming you'll find on our completely revamped website. SSFS families can enter the code BEESTSATCAMP during registration for a 10% discount.

If you have any questions or if we can be of assistance, please e-mail us at camp@ssfs.org or call 301-774-7455 x167.

Interested in Quailhill local pasture-raised beef? Sides, quarters, and convenience packs available in late January.  Please contact Elizabeth Thornton or Peter Austin at 301-774-7725 or jha111@verizon.net. 

This is an optional, opt-in virtual bulletin board for all members of the SSFS community to share resources and announcements about topics not part of the traditional school day or school related events (think: finding babysitters, repair service recommendations, hiking groups, etc.)   Please fill in this quick online form to opt in.