News

Returning Parents: Please read the enclosed memo from Academic Dean John Drew about next year’s course catalog, academic requirements and interests, working with your child’s advisor, and more. Additional information can be found on here.

Concord Academy is hosting a Women in Technology Conference (CA WiT) on Saturday, April 27, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. We invite young women and gender non-binary students in grades 7-12 of all experience levels to attend! The event will include a keynote, workshops, a two-hour coding hackathon, networking opportunities, and a discussion with computer science teachers about how to best empower young women in CS courses. Attending the conference is completely free! To register for the conference and learn about the workshops, speakers, schedule, and more, check out its website at CAWiT.net.

Usually, the Chameleon Chamber Players listen to unfamiliar pieces before trying to play them. But this year, the five-member advanced ensemble had a chance to approach music differently thanks to a gift of funding for Concord Academy’s new composer-in-residence, Stefanie Lubkowski. In addition to teaching individual lessons in composition, Lubkowski has included student-musicians in the creation and development of an entirely new work. Her approach speaks to one of her main professional goals: to help young people see writing music as a dynamic process.

To transform a heap of waste into a sleeping mat for a young person experiencing homelessness, it takes between 600 and 700 plastic shopping bags and 15 to 20 hours of an individual’s time. “It’s a labor of love,” says Concord Academy student Audrey Lin ’19. But it’s one she has convinced others to take on along with her through her senior project — teaching groups to make plastic yarn (or “plarn”) from discarded single-use plastic bags and to use it to crochet lightweight, portable, bug-free, waterproof sleeping mats. The project unites her love of craft with her passion for environmental advocacy.

I am very pleased to announce that Laura Twichell ’01 has agreed to serve as CA’s interim academic dean for 2019–20, beginning on July 1. She is respected for her skills as a learning leader, her commitment to issues of equity and inclusion, and her thoughtful approach to mentoring students.

We are pleased to share with you the calendar for the 2019–20 academic year.

Parents will be able to view their child’s fall term academic comments, house comments for boarders, and fall season athletic comments starting Thursday, January 10. The advisor report will be available later in the month (around January 22). Access to these reports is available through the parent portal.

The online bookstore is now officially open! Please order your books as soon as possible if you have not yet done so.

Sophomores and juniors will be able to access their 2018 PSAT scores online on approximately December 11. Students who provided an email address during the PSAT administration should receive a message from the College Board linking them directly to the PSAT score portal. Students who do not receive such an email need not worry; they can simply go to psat.org/scorereport and log in to view their scores. If a sophomore or junior has an issue accessing PSAT scores, the student should call the College Board at 866-756-7346.

Whether from around the corner or from across the world, families traveled last week to Concord Academy to visit with their children, get to know fellow parents, and take part in the CA experience. They visited students’ classes and studios, cheered from the sidelines at athletic competitions, met with teachers and advisors, and viewed students’ artistic endeavors. Works in progress were presented by vocal and instrumental groups, CA Dance Project, and the performers in the fall mainstage production, The Laramie Project. Panel discussions addressed student trips, Global Online Academy, college counseling, and Community & Equity programming, among other topics. Several events for families, including parent class socials, a meeting of the parents’ book group, a gathering for families of students of color, and the annual community dinner hosted by CA Parents drew the community together. See photos from Family Weekend here.