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December 8, 2022

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Featured News

Power Packed with Family Service
Power Packed with Family Service

Over the weekend, more than 100 Potomac family members participated in the Parent Association Service Learning Committee’s (PASLC) Power Pack Event, creating 450 meal packs and handmade cards for our community partner Food For Others. Anna Slaten, director of development and outreach at Food for Others, spoke to participants about the organization's mission, local food insecurity, and the importance of Power Packs in providing weekend meals to children in the wider community. A big thank you to PASLC co-chairs Gretchen Speigel and Tiffany Butler for their leadership in planning the meaningful family service event, and to Potomac families for their generous donations and volunteering at the event. View the photo gallery. 

Announcements

Board of Trustees Nominations

The Potomac School Board of Trustees is seeking nominations for candidates to serve as elected members of the board. One of the responsibilities of the board's Committee on Trustees is to maintain an ongoing pipeline of trustee candidates for future consideration and election by the full board. Nominees should have the ability and willingness to fully participate in the board's work. Learn more here. 

CONNECTdmv to Host Empowerment Summit

CONNECTdmv will host the "Be You" Empowerment Summit on Sunday, December 11, 1:00-5:00 pm, at Georgetown Day School. Potomac's assistant head of school for academics, Juna McDaid, will be a panelist, and junior Nuna Endale will lead a workshop. Potomac families and students of color are invited to register for this robust personal-development experience that inspires, connects, and affirms students of color at independent and parochial schools. While this program was created primarily for students, workshops are also available for parents and you are encouraged to participate in the summit to create a partnership with your child. 

Save the Date: PCW Panel on Mental Health

The Parents Council of Washington will host a panel discussion with psychologists and counselors from its member schools on Wednesday, January 25, 7:00-8:30 pm, at The Field School in Washington, DC. Potomac Upper School counselor and director of student support Josie Woods will join her fellow panelists in discussing the value of school-based student support systems and ways that parents/guardians can partner with schools to enhance a culture of wellness. A question and answer period will follow the panel discussion. Register to attend. 

Donate Winter Warmth

Please help the MS Service Learning Club reach their goal of having the Potomac community donate 175 warm winter coats (new or gently used) and 75 new hats, gloves, mittens, and scarves for children and adults served by Cornerstones. The drive runs through Thursday, December 15, and you can drop off donations at the coat racks in each division. Thank you for sharing winter warmth this holiday season!

December 13 FAPS Meeting

Please join us for our monthly Fathers Association of The Potomac School (FAPS) meeting on Tuesday, December 13, 8:30 am, at McLean Baptist Church. Our faculty speaker will be Head of Upper School Doug McLane.

After-School Activities

Extended Day and Service Learning Team Up

Did you know that Extended Day and Service Learning have teamed up? Ahead of last Saturday’s Power Pack Family Service Event, Extended Day students assisted with the event setup and card making. Heartfelt messages were crafted to send with each package of food items to help sustain local families in need. One student shared, "This is why I love Extended Day – because we get to do great things, like art to make others happy!” Extended Day thanks ACE Everett, director of K-12 service learning, for allowing us to help with this event!

Middle School Winter ETC

Middle School families: Don’t miss out on Winter ETC classes! Grades 4-6 can enjoy such activities as… 

  • Court Games (4-6)
  • Speech/Debate (5-6)
  • The Art Touch (4-6) 
  • and more!

Registration for our winter programs closes on Friday, December 9. 

Spring Break Camp Registration Open

Jumpstart the spring fun with Spring Break@Potomac! Registration is open now for K-6 students, and space is limited. Mark your calendars to join the fun March 13-17 and spring into action now by registering. Two camps options are available:

  • (K-6) Panther Spring Break Sports Camp
  • (Gr. 1-3) S.T.E.A.M Squad Spring Break Camp

Pawz Corner

Potomac's Spirit StoreLooking for some great holiday gift ideas? Check out Potomac's Spirit Store! There are ornaments, Scout coolers, stadium cups, pet accessories, blankets, and much more ready to ship or send home today.

Week Ahead

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Auction

Casino Royale is Coming!

Please join us for our next auction acquisitions meeting in the Flag Circle Building conference room on Wednesday, December 14, 8:30 am.

Potomac Social

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    Lower School News

    Lower School

    No Sharing Assembly December 9

    Please note that we will not have an LS Sharing Assembly tomorrow, December 9, as the students will be practicing for Lower School Carols.

    Lower School Carols Is Coming!

    The students are preparing for Lower School Carols, our annual LS holiday program. This special celebration of music, poetry, and dance will take place next Friday, December 16, 10:30 am, in the Langstaff Auditorium. Please be on the lookout for a letter from classroom teachers that includes information about performance attire, as well as song lyrics. For those who are unable to attend in person, here is the LS Carols livestream link. Parking for this assembly will be in the EPAC and Spangler parking lots. Note that the road from the EPAC through campus will be closed to traffic starting around 12:10 pm; please consider parking at Spangler if you have to leave campus before then. 

    Shining a Light on Holiday Traditions Around the World
    Shining a Light on Holiday Traditions Around the World

    Our kindergartners enjoyed their field trip to see Seasons of Light at the Smithsonian's Discovery Theater. Excited and engaged, the children marveled at the show, which focuses on holidays and cultural celebrations from around the world. The performance addressed the origins of various holiday traditions, including singing songs, displaying colored lights, and enjoying special activities with family and friends.

    Winter Break Dismissal

    Winter Break dismissal will be on Friday, December 16, at 12:00 noon. Please make sure to complete a SchoolPass change form by 1:00 pm on Wednesday, December 14, if you will be taking your child home with you at the end of our LS Carols program on Friday. Please change your child’s dismissal to "carpool" and include details in the notes section with the pick-up location: from the classroom or the carpool line. There will be sign-out sheets in front of classrooms for those students who will be dismissed early. Students who do not leave immediately with a parent will ride the bus home at our noon dismissal. There will be no Extended Day or late buses on December 16. As a reminder, a link to the GPS bus tracking can be found on CampusNET and the Potomac School app. 

    Lost and Found is Going, Going, Gone!

    Before leaving for the holidays, please be sure to have your child check the LS Lost and Found collection in the wooden box located by the fish tank and Gum Tree doors. Items unclaimed on December 16 will be donated.

    Lower School Dates

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    Middle School News

    Middle School

    Lost And Found Overflowing

    The lost and found bin in the MS Square is full to the brim. We will sort the items and place them on tables in the MS Square next Monday. Please stop by when you are on campus for one of our holiday celebrations and take home any items that even remotely resemble something belonging to your MS student. Items not claimed before the break will be donated.

    Invention Convention Is Tomorrow!

    Parents are invited to see the products of our fifth graders’ ingenuity at the “Meet the Inventors” event, which will take place tomorrow, December 9, starting at 1:30 pm, in the EPAC lobby. This is an open-house event; parents can come anytime between 1:30 and 3:00 pm. Our students are excited to share their creations with the Potomac community. Who knows, maybe their inventions will be seen on Shark Tank one day!

    MS Winter Celebration Guidance

    It’s that time of year for hot cocoa, crackling fires, cozy blankets, and the MS Winter Celebration! Parents are invited to join us for this annual event on Wednesday, December 14, 1:45 pm, in the Langstaff Auditorium; it will also be livestreamed. The rehearsal will take place on Tuesday, December 13, 1:30-3:00 pm. Please take this rehearsal time into account when scheduling outside appointments.

    Students will come to school in their uniform (PE or regular) and change before the assembly. The dress requirements for the assembly are as follows:

    • White top without printing or logos, preferably long-sleeved
    • Solid, plain black or dark navy (uniform navy is fine) pants or leggings with matching, solid-colored socks, or long skirt with matching stockings or tights

    If you plan to take your student home after the assembly, a sign-out sheet will be available on the table in the MS Square. Please make a note of this change in SchoolPass. Parking for this assembly will be in the EPAC and Spangler parking lots. Note that the road from the EPAC through campus will be closed to traffic starting at 3:25 pm; please consider parking at Spangler if you have to leave campus before then.

    Middle School Dates

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    Intermediate School News

    Intermediate School

    Beautiful Music Tonight

    The Music Department is looking forward to seeing you at the IS Winter Concert tonight, December 8, 7:00-8:30 pm, in the Spangler Center’s Culp Main Court. If your child is staying after school, please be sure to update SchoolPass and email Joleen Hyde. The concert will be livestreamed for those who are unable to join us in person. 

    ART 8 Graphite Half-magazine Drawings
    ART 8 Graphite Half-magazine Drawings

    The half-magazine drawing assignment challenged our eighth grade art students to look carefully at the form of the human face and art value (the lightness and darkness of colors) as they used graphite pencils to recreate the missing half of a magazine photograph. This exercise helped the students learn and apply important art concepts to the portrait choice project that followed.

    IS BSA Enjoys a South African Treat
    IS BSA Enjoys a South African Treat

    During last week’s IS Black Student Alliance meeting, the students learned about one of Mrs. Hyde’s South African family favorites – banana fritters. She shared that one of the ways she expresses her appreciation for her family is by sharing her culture through food. The theme of the meeting was to reflect on what we are grateful for and to brainstorm ways we can give back in the spirit of kindness and appreciation during the holiday season.

    Intermediate School Dates

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    Upper School News

    Upper School

    Zahra Arabzada visits Potomac
    Zahra Arabzada visits Potomac

    Friday's assembly speaker was the impressive Zahra Arabzada, an activist for the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan. Ms. Arabzada shared her story of traveling to the United States to receive her education at St. George's School in Newport, RI, and then attending Hobart & William Smith Colleges. She now lives and works in Washington, DC, and during the withdrawal of American troops last summer, she helped secure the safe passage of her family from Afghanistan to Canada. Read More

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    EFEB Speaker Shares Passion for Economics

    The Economics, Finance, Entrepreneurship, and Business (EFEB) Concentration recently had its second Club Block Conversation, featuring a visit from Potomac parent Dr. Sebnem Kalemli-Ozcan, the Neil Moskowitz Professor of Economics at the University of Maryland, College Park. In her talk, entitled "Economics: What is it good for? Absolutely everything!" Dr. Kalemli-Ozcan shared her passion for economics as a way of thinking that can inform everything from running one’s everyday life to addressing the problems of the world. She included a discussion of the concepts of scarcity, opportunity cost, and the fact that businesses, individuals, and governments are interconnected in systems through economics. She concluded the conversation with an analysis of select global issues through an economics lens.

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    A Great Student Diversity Leadership Conference
    A Great Student Diversity Leadership Conference

    Six Potomac juniors recently attended the Student Diversity Leadership Conference (SDLC) in San Antonio, TX, held in conjunction with the National Association of Independent Schools' annual People of Color Conference (PoCC). Potomac faculty and staff participated in PoCC while the students were taking part in SDLC.

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    Robotics Participates in Signature Event
    Robotics Participates in Signature Event

    This past weekend, three US Robotics teams traveled to Worcester, MA, to compete at The Wave at WPI, a VEX Robotics Competition Signature Event at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Signature Events are world-class events that replicate a world-championship experience outside of the Robotics World Championships. For many of our teams, this was their first experience competing at such a high level. 

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    Speech and Debate Achieves Major Success

    Potomac’s Speech and Debate team sent a large contingent to the George Mason University Patriot Games tournament this past weekend. It might have been the most successful weekend in program history, with Potomac finishing in second place out of more than 50 teams. Riverside High School in South Carolina narrowly outpointed the Panthers.

    Our team produced 11 place winners, including event championships from Natalie Roots-Nowakowski ’23, Hannah de Souza '25, Olivia Eads '23, and Taylor Burris '23. The top three individual performers in the tournament were all Potomac students. Roots-Nowakowski edged out de Souza and Eads as the tournament’s all-around individual champion. Over the same weekend during an event at Princeton University, Ethan Maher ’24 took second and earned his qualifying bid to the Tournament of Champions in congressional debate. View the complete results of all advancing students in the tournament. 

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    Grade 8 Visits Upper School
    Grade 8 Visits Upper School

    A very special meeting took place last week, when Potomac’s Class of 2027 came over from the IS to catch a glimpse of life on the US side of campus by participating in Panther Time. After a string of student life announcements, the emcees hosted a game of musical chairs featuring members from each grade. In a repeat performance from her freshman year, senior Shelby Willcox came out on top! We hope that the eighth graders had fun and enjoyed being part of Panther Time.

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    Winter Lights on December 15

    Next Thursday, December 15, 1:30-3:00 pm, is the Upper School’s annual Winter Lights Assembly. Each year, four seniors and one faculty member are selected to speak about their winter holiday traditions; the program also features a number of musical performances, including selections from student a capella groups. Due to limited space, we can only accommodate students, faculty, and staff for this assembly; parents are invited to join via livestream. 

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    Spanish Field Trip to Museum of American History
    Spanish Field Trip to Museum of American History

    Last week, seniors in Mr. McLane’s and Mrs. Salamone's Spanish elective courses visited the Museum of American History to see ¡Presente! A Latino History of the United States, the first exhibit of the future Smithsonian National Museum of the American Latino. The students were treated to a guided tour of the exhibit space and even met a visitor from New York City, who was the subject of a photo on display taken almost 50 years ago. Afterwards, the group enjoyed lunch at La Cosecha. Read More

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    Upper School Dates

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    US T208 Tiered Classroom

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    Athletics

    Athletics

    Girls Basketball Tip-off Champions
    Girls Basketball Tip-off Champions

    The girls varsity basketball team defended their title as Tip-Off Champions, beating Seton for the second year in a row 53-45. Zoe Myslewicz ’24 led the way with 14 points and 12 rebounds. Catherine LeTendre ’25 led all scorers with 28 points. In the opening game against John Paul the Great, the team sprinted out to a 20-8 first-quarter lead and never looked back, finishing with a 59-29 win. LeTendre and Skylar Giuliani ’25 shared the top scoring honors with 14 points apiece. The team opened their season ranked twelfth in NovaHoops.

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    Girls Varsity Squash Battles at Flanagan Tournament
    Girls Varsity Squash Battles at Flanagan Tournament

    Girls varsity squash attended the Flanagan Tournament at Mercersburg on December 4. The team opened the day against Mary Institute and Saint Louis Country Day School (MICDS). Senior Layah Nasr won her game 11-4, 11-5, 11-6. In an exhibition match, freshman Cecelia Woods also won her game in five. Although the Panthers put up a good fight, MICDS moved on to the next round after an 8-2 win.

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    Boys Basketball Starts Strong

    The varsity boys basketball team opened their season in strong fashion, winning three of their first four games. Last week saw wins over National Christian Academy and The Heights. Although the Panthers fell by one point to Bullis in the Tip-Off Tournament championship, they played with energy and tenacity. On Tuesday, the team competed in the annual “Coach Franklin Bowl” versus Landon. The assistant coach of Landon is Potomac varsity basketball Coach Levi Franklin’s younger brother, Larry. The Panthers put on a tremendous performance to secure a hard-fought and well-deserved 66-65 victory.

    Athletics Dates