The Upper School will gather on Wednesday, December 20 at 1:30 pm for our annual Winter Lights Assembly. Each year, four seniors and one faculty member are selected to speak about their holiday traditions; these remarks are accompanied by performances by many of our musical ensembles and a capella groups. Parents are invited to join us via livestream. Happy holidays from all of us in the Upper School!

Join us as we welcome college coaches, administrators, and directors of admissions for Potomac's College Night for Prospective Student Athletes program. The program will take place on January 31, 2024, at 6:30 pm in the Tiered Classroom. Students interested in participating in athletics during their college years are encouraged to attend this program. This program is open to all US students and their parents. Topics covered will include getting recruited, living the life of a collegiate athlete, the NCAA Eligibility center, and terminology that students and parents will encounter during athletic recruitment. If you have any questions, please email Assistant Director of Athletics and Director of Track and Field & Cross Country, Meredith Valmon, or Associate Director of College Counseling Christopher A. Zissi.

During the Community Lunch on Monday, December 11, the Jewish Student Alliance (JSA) hosted a Dreidel Casino for students in the Upper School. Dreidel is a game played by spinning a four-sided top (a dreidel), each side bearing a specific letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Winners of the game win chocolate candy called gelt. Dreidel is a traditional game played by Jewish children throughout the world during Chanukkah, the Jewish holiday that commemorates the rededication of the Temple of Jerusalem after it was recovered from the Greeks in the 2nd century, when a small quantity of oil used to light the Temple's candles somehow miraculously burned for eight days. In keeping with the tradition of serving foods cooked in oil, the JSA served donuts during their celebration.

In December, Mrs. McLane’s Sustainability & Climate Change class and Mr. McLane’s Topics in Contemporary Latin American Studies class came together to watch Opening the Earth, a documentary film in Quechua, Spanish, and English. As part of their food unit, Sustainability & Climate Change students learned about the problems presented by the loss of biodiversity in food crops and the challenges of large-scale sustainable food production. Students in Topics in Contemporary Latin American Studies explored the interconnectedness of the potato in relation to global economic topics and the preservation and celebration of indigenous Quechua culture in rural Peru. Students from these classes created interdisciplinary, bilingual displays to share their learning.

On Friday, January 5, Potomac Theater will perform at the 2024 Virginia Thespian Festival, themed "Find Your Light." Potomac students will perform at 8:00 am on Friday and the event is open to the public. Learn more!