Margaret Rosser
SSFS 7th Grade students had a fantastic time and learned a lot about sustainable food production on their fall overnight signature trip. They started off at the Adventure Park for climbing fun, then discussed food production and sustainability with SSFS Farmer Joe Heathcock before heading out to camp at Brunswick Family Campground. The following day, they learned more about farm production and did service and farm work at an organic farm run by alumni Kip Kelly. The trip ended with a tour of a local creamery, and freshly-made ice cream! See more photos on Vidigami here.
FriendsFest 2018: November 10, 2018 ~ 10:00am - 4:00 pm. 
Dear Lower School Friends,
On Friday, September 21, the PK3 – Grade 5 students attended their first Lower School assembly featuring musical duo, Cantaré. Performers Cecilia Esquivel and Dani Cortaza shared folk melodies and rhythms from the Andes, the Rainforest, Central America and the Caribbean. The students enjoyed learning about the rich music and culture of the Indigenous people of Latin America. Cecilia and Dani also shared information about various string and percussion instruments used in Latin American music and in their presentation of "The Legend of Viracocha: Pre-Columbian Music." Lower schoolers sang, danced, and even participated in the instrumental accompaniment during the show! 
SSFS 3rd Grader Katie T. recently completed a mini-triathlon for an organization called "
The seventh grade had a wonderful Fall Signature Trip last week! Students climbed with friends and faculty while persevering at the Adventure Park. They engaged with Joe Heathcock, SSFS’s resident farmer, in a frank discussion about how our food is produced. Students enjoyed a sustainably-harvested dinner of rockfish tacos and roasted s’mores before sleeping at the Brunswick Family Campground. The second day of the trip involved service work at an organic farm run by alumni Kip Kelly, where students weeded celery beds, picked spinach, harvested close to 1,000 pounds of sweet potatoes, and removed sweet potato vines, before enjoying a farm-to-table lunch. Students finished out their trip by touring a local creamery and eating freshly-made ice cream. A special thank you goes out to our parent volunteers who helped prepare and serve the farm-to-table lunch! See more photos from the trip 
On Saturday, October 6th, seven intrepid Upper School students ventured out to the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute in Front Royal, VA. The huge campus there is where the bulk of the National Zoo’s conservation science work is done. Students had the opportunity to explore the veterinary hospital learning about how large carnivores are trained to allow radiographs of their pregnancies and the different considerations for vets when doing blood work or anesthesia on different classes of animals. They talked with scientists working on assisted reproduction for endangered animals in captivity; the SCBI has had great recent success with Przewalski’s horses and there are 4 new foals who will be able to be released into the wild population. The students talked with international scientists using health sciences to alleviate human-wildlife conflict in places where we can reduce threats to both. They attended a presentation about international Species Survival Plans for captive bred animals and played “matchmaker” for black-footed ferrets. Some of the students chose to attend a panel discussion about careers in conservation science. This special campus is only open to the public one day a year, so it was a wonderful opportunity for our scholars.
Save the date! The SSFS community is invited to attend the 2018 Upper School play, “She Kills Monsters: Young Adventures Edition,” Nov. 9-10 at 7:15 pm in the PAC Theater. The play tells the story of high school senior Agnes Evans as she deals with the death of her younger sister, Tilly. When Agnes stumbles upon Tilly’s Dungeons & Dragons notebook, she finds herself catapulted into a journey of discovery and action-packed adventure in the imaginary world that was her sister’s refuge. In this high-octane dramatic comedy laden with homicidal fairies, nasty ogres, and ’90s pop culture, acclaimed playwright Qui Nguyen offers a heart-pounding homage to the geek and warrior within us all. [Review by Samuel French]. 
