Goodbye and Happy Summer!

Parents have been arriving and loading boxes into every type of vehicle over the last week. This will be the scene on campus through the afternoon of June 6. Meanwhile, the crew from the Office of Physical Plant has been even more in evidence as the lawns are tended, hedges are cut, paths are cleared and the buildings around the Great Quad are spruced up. By Sunday morning, the school will be resplendent – no matter the weather – and the seniors, their families and teachers will be ready for the culminating experience of each student’s career at Andover: the Commencement Exercises. Senior parents have received two emails from Alumni Affairs Director Debby Murphy ’86, and me so you are well prepared to navigate the commencement weekend events. It is a highlight of our year to be able to share this milestone moment with you and your children. No matter where you will spend the summer or whether you will be back in Andover in September, we wish you safe travels and a healthy combination of work and play.

What Lies Ahead

Returning parents know that the summer at Phillips Academy has a different pace but is hardly a “down time” for us. In addition to the several programs that run here from late June through early August – ABL Writing Workshop, IRT,(MS)², PALS and Summer Session – our administrative offices are busy organizing and sending out the annual summer mailings to parents and students. Between now and August 1, you will be asked to complete several forms and update contact information. (Thank you for your timely replies.) As you will recall, we made a concerted effort last year to streamline our data collection and to reduce the size of the Parent Handbook by eliminating redundancy and relying on parents to access more information electronically. We strive to strike the right balance of hard-copy and electronic postings while continuing to improve communication with parents.

Student Publications

Whether a consequence of or an unfortunate coincidence with the change in the format of our order forms last year, the student publications suffered a steep decline in subscriptions. Therefore, we have redesigned the forms to make them more user-friendly and hope that you will subscribe and support our budding journalists, writers, artists and editors.

Academic Calendar for 2010-2011

The single most sought after document by parents this time of year is the Academic Calendar. A reminder: The calendar for 2010-2011 was finalized several weeks ago and posted on the Parent Portal. The Academic Calendar is also posted on the Academy website.

Reader feedback

In October we launched the Parent Bulletin to capture news you could use in an informal bi-weekly newsletter. The first few bulletins were heavy with reports on H1N1 virus precautions and campus statistics. Over time, the bulletins contained happier news and practical notices about everything from the snowman outside SamPhil and the cherry tree near Morse to ground transportation to the airport, prom orders and packing and shipping arrangements. Our readership rate proved that the bulletin was a success. Looking toward next year, we’d be interested in your feedback and suggestions.