Ms. Chung's fifth graders practiced their lines over the break and are excited to share their play, Many Moons, with their fellow MS students tomorrow, Friday, January 6. Parents are welcome to join us at 9:30 am in the Langstaff Auditorium or watch via livestream.

On January 10, during a brief assembly, MS students will hear about the clubs being offered during the winter club session, which begins that same day. While some clubs will continue from the fall session, there will be many new offerings as well. We hope the students enjoy trying out some new activities!

It seems like a lifetime ago (or at least last year!), but our students did an amazing job surpassing the MS book collection goal for Potomac’s annual Book Fair in November. In acknowledgement of this feat, MS students will enjoy a pajama day/read-in on Wednesday, January 11. They may come to school in their coziest pjs or other comfy clothes and will enjoy some quiet time in the morning with a good book. Fourth and sixth grades have PE on Wednesday, so students should choose their comfy clothes wisely and plan to bring athletic shoes in order to participate fully in PE activities.

Grade 5 parents are invited to attend a Parent Forum on Wednesday, January 11, beginning at 8:30 am, in the Spangler Team Meeting Room. Parent Forums are opportunities for parents to connect with one another and discuss topics related to their children’s age group.

The MS will host a Sharing Assembly on Friday, January 20, 9:30 am, in the Langstaff Auditorium. Students will perform songs, skits, dances, and more, both individually and in various groupings. Homeroom teachers will notify their class parents to let them know which students are participating.

Additionally, as part of their ancient Chinese civilization studies, the fifth graders will celebrate the Year of the Water Rabbit with our annual Lunar New Year dragon parade. The clanging, jangling, luck-bringing parade will travel through the LS and MS on Friday morning, just before our Sharing Assembly.

January is a busy month for our students; they will hop on buses throughout the month to enjoy many enrichment activities. Here is a list of dates for our upcoming field trips: 

January 12

• Mr. McNeil's and Ms. Chung's fifth grade classes head to Higher Horizons (service learning trip) 

January 18 

• Mr. Mogle's and Ms. White's fourth grade classes head to the National Geographic Museum

January 19 

• Ms. Armstrong's and Ms. Harter's fourth grade classes head to the National Geographic Museum
• Ms. Westermann's and Ms. McClain's fifth grade classes head to Higher Horizons (service learning trip) 
• Grade 6 heads to the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center

January 24

• Ms. Harter's and Mr. Mogle's fourth grade classes head to Martha's Table (service learning trip) 

January 31

• Ms. Armstrong's and Ms. White's fourth grade classes head to Martha's Table (service learning trip)

On Thursday, January 12 (for Upper School parents) and Friday, January 20 (for Intermediate School parents), the athletic department will host parent coffees. We are bringing the Positive Coaching Alliance to run a workshop in the Spangler Team Room. The workshop, in summary, will focus on supporting our parents in finding the teachable moments in sports. Learn more about this workshop and the Positive Coaching Alliance. No registration is required; we hope to see you there!

Over Winter Break, the boys basketball team represented the Potomac community in wonderful fashion capturing the runner-up trophy in the Kreul Classic in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and finishing third at the Benedictine Capital City Classic in Richmond, Virginia. The team won one of three round robin games at the Kreul Classic where junior Elijah Flowers and senior Khalil Williams were selected to the All-Tournament Team. Flowers was also named to the BCCC All-Tournament team as the team won two of their three games in Richmond. Their current record of 8-5 is moving in the right direction as the team begins league play this week versus Maret.

Before Winter Break, the Potomac varsity swim team took on some tough competition during a meet at the St. Albans pool. The girls fell to Madeira (152 to 126) and to National Cathedral (182 to 100), while the boys lost to St. Albans (189 to 82) but defeated Fork Union (135 to 88).

Kate Douglas ‘26 won the 100 breaststroke, and the 400 free relay (Sabine Barbee ‘26, Sam Taylormoore ‘23, Maren Schwarz ‘25, and Douglas) brought home a win as well. Abby Lonkeng ‘25 dropped an astounding 22 seconds in her 100 freestyle, while Amory Imperatore ‘25 raced through the 100 butterfly.

The boys won the 200 medley relay (Will Walters ‘24, Brock Schedler ‘23, Arav Bhargava ‘24, and Clay Turner ‘24). Walters dominated the 200 IM, winning by 11 seconds, and Schedler won the 100 breaststroke, out-touching a St. Albans swimmer by 0.32 seconds.

On Thursday, December 15, both the boys and girls rebounded with the boys beating CES Jewish Day School (96 to 8) and Bullis (77 to 62). The girls also swept the pool, beating Visitation (86 to 83), CES Jewish Day School (129 to 22), and Bullis (109 to 42).

There were some great swims that Thursday night for the boys and girls, with many wins across the board! On the boys side: the 200 medley relay (Walters, Schedler, Bhargava, and Wick), Walters in the 200 IM, Bhargava in the 100 butterfly, Minsky in the 100 freestyle, Walters in the 100 backstroke, Bhargava in the 100 breastroke, and the 400 freestyle relay (Bhargava, Walters, Wick, Schedler).

The girls also had a number of victories: the 200 medley relay (Barbee, Schwarz, Kate Reynolds ‘26, Douglas), Douglas in the 50 freestyle, Schwarz in the 500 freestyle, the 200 freestyle relay (Douglas, Amory Imperatore ‘25, Samantha Taylormoore ‘23, and Schwarz), Barbee in the 100 backstroke, Grace Lee ‘23 in the 100 breaststroke, and the 400 freestyle relay (Barbee, Taylormoore, Schwarz, and Douglas).

Other performances of note: In the 200 IM, Claire McEwen ‘26 raced into the last 50 to win her heat. Greg Zubler ‘23 had a personal best in his 50 freestyle. Schwarz clinched two extremely close races in the 500 free and anchored the 200 free relay, both against Visitation swimmers, to secure her individual wins and also the team win!