For Parents of Juniors, Lowers and Uppers

In just two weeks the 2010-2011 school year will come to an end and our students will head off to a very well-deserved summer break. Everyone’s cooperation is needed as students complete their assessments and clean out their dorm rooms and lockers and faculty and staff prepare for Commencement and Reunion weekends. For the most part, underclassmen should leave campus on Thursday, June 2nd. Exceptions include uppers who are going to prom, international students who are taking the SATs on Saturday, students who are involved in the Saturday afternoon concert, students who are involved in Baccalaureate and students who have siblings graduating on Sunday. Please remember that all exceptions to the Thursday departure rule must be approved by your child’s cluster dean.

For Parents of Seniors

For the first time—or at least the first time in our memory—we have partnered with PSPA to bring you a message about post-graduation celebrations. That message was sent to you in an email earlier this week. We were reminded last year by a summer letter from parents of a member of the Class of 2010 that for many families in which the graduate is the first child a little information from those who have been through it before can be helpful and is appreciated. Without putting a damper on anyone’s fun, we hope to raise awareness and promote safety.

Senior Class Photo Available Online

We invite parents of seniors to download a free, hi-res photo of the senior class from our SmugMug photo gallery site. We took the photo of the seniors in April on the steps of Samuel Phillips Hall, and we’ve posted six different versions of the photo online for parents and students to download. View the photos and download them ».

Survey Update

As announced in the May 6th Parent Bulletin, students took the Independent School Health Check Survey on Wednesday of this week. We have not analyzed the data, but we are pleased to report that 1066 students completed the survey that was conducted on line during the all-school meeting period. The information garnered from the survey will inform our health and wellness programs.

From Jane Fried, Associate Head for Enrollment and Research & Dean of Admission

• Longitudinal Research Study
  We recently launched a Longitudinal Research Study to learn more about the role Andover plays in shaping the lives of our alumni/ae as they enter higher education, develop a value system, and chart a course through life. This study was made possible by the support of an anonymous gift from a member of the Class of 1966 and his spouse. Thank you to parents who participated in last fall’s parent focus groups, which informed the set of questions addressed in the project. This spring, members of the Class of 2011 were asked to participate in the first round of this study by completing an electronic survey about their Phillips Academy experiences. We will get back in touch with the members of the Class of 2011 during the fall of 2011, and the summers of 2012 and 2015 in order to gather more information. We are very excited to have begun this ground-breaking work.
• The End Depends upon the Beginning Study
  To gain an understanding of how our newest and youngest students transition to Phillips Academy, we developed a study which focuses on our junior. The appropriately named The End Depends upon the Beginning Study, based on the work of Dr. Richard Light at Harvard University, aims to gather information about juniors’ transitions to the school, and how Andover could do a better job of helping ninth graders adjust to our program. A random sampling of approximately 25 juniors has been invited to participate in this study. We hope to gain valuable insights about the junior program which could prove very helpful to our efforts in working with Andover ninth graders in future years.

The Phillipian Online

The Phillipian proudly announces the launch of a new photo gallery for easy photo sharing and buying. The galleries are updated daily several times a week and reflect the wide variety of happenings on campus, including guest speakers, student activities, and other events of interest. In addition, the gallery hosts photos from home competitions of various varsity sports. All photos are available for purchase through Smugmug, and profits go to support the Phillipian. Questions or concerns should be addressed to photo@phillipian.net. Visit the Phillipian Photo Gallery at http://photos.phillipian.net.