Warm Wishes

It is December 10 and soon the campus will be empty. The last of the papers have been submitted, tests have been taken, videos have been made, and orations have been delivered. Now, students will rejoin their families, relax with friends, and take a break from the Phillips Academy routine. New parents should not be surprised by how much sleeping your children will do in the next three weeks. They are neither avoiding you nor hibernating; sleep is just their way of compensating for the all-out push of the end of term. No matter your family’s tradition and regardless of whether your children are home or traveling through the vacation, we wish you all a joyful holiday season.

Before the Parent Bulletin’s hiatus, allow us to share two pieces of business.

Getting Ready for Winter Term

Thank you to the many families who paid their tuition bills for the second half of the school year by the December 1, 2010 deadline. Students whose accounts are paid in full by December 21 will be registered for winter term and receive their schedules on-line. Please note that the registrar’s office and the comptroller’s office will close at the end of the day on Thursday, December 23rd and reopen on Monday, January 3rd.

Also, please be sure to fully fund your child’s Blue Card prior to Monday, January 3, 2011 to avoid delays at the Andover Bookstore.

Comments on the “Plan”

Several of you have sent suggestions for the Bullying Prevention and Intervention Plan. Thank you. We will review the plan with students during the winter term. In light of the many cases reported in the news lately, we encourage you to talk with your children about the implications of bullying and cyber-bullying and how to respond when they see such behaviors happening. Not exactly the most cheerful of topics, but one worth addressing under the broad heading of “keeping our children safe.”