WindowIntoWakefield

Window into Wakefield is designed to help better acquaint you with life at Wakefield School. please enjoy learning about the activities in which

our students take part as well as the accomplishments of our community.

Issue No. 4 April 10, 2012

a message from the director of admission

Please join us for an upcoming event:

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--Admissions Open House, April 15, 2 p.m.--Wakefield Gala Auction, April 21, 6:30 p.m.

The spring months of the school year always feel like the busiest of the year. As you will read below, spring came early to Wakefield, and not only in the form of the warmest March ever! Our community has been busy traveling around the country, nation, and globe in pursuit of new knowledge and experience; preparing for the short and intense spring athletic season; and rehearsing for the spring theater production. Needless to say no moss is growing under our feet! I hope that you will be able to attend the Open House on April 15 at 2 p.m. if you have not yet had the chance to come to one.

Open houses are a wonderful time to see our campus, meet our students, and talk with our teachers and school leaders. Please RSVP to admissions@wakefieldschool.org. You may also enjoy attending the Wakefield Gala Auction, A Night in Havana, which is scheduled for April 21. For more information or to purchase tickets, contact Ezie Junkala at ejunkala@wakefieldschool.org. The Gala is a wonderful night filled with great food, music, and fun. I hope to see you soon and as always please be in touch any time with questions. Sincerely, Sarah McDonough Director of Admission & Financial Aid

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MARCH 2012 at wakefield

Duringthisyear’sDiscoveryDays,Wakefield’smiddleandupperschoolstudentshadthechancetotraveltoAfrica,France,ChicagoorNewYork;learnsong-writing,culinaryarts,orbakingskills;visittheFBIAcademyorcollegecampuses;orevenbuildacollectionofbathousestobesoldtobenefitourlocalHabitatforHumanityChapter!

Days 2012Discovery

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Wakefield parent and pro-fessional gardening advocate Rebecca Cohen shared some gar-dening wisdom and know-how this month with the Pre-K and Kinder-garten students through her “Re-becca Plants” presentation. Right, the students plant pea seeds.

How does your garden grow?

Wakefield School is excited to announce the newly developed Early Childhood Center with enhanced programming for our pre-school, junior kindergarten, and kinder-garten classes. Current kindergarten teacher Kathryn Mullett (at right) has been named the Coordinator of the Early Childhood Program. The Early Childhood Center will feature an Out-door Classroom and Dis-covery Room. The Outdoor Class-room’s purpose will be to encourage the students to investigate their surround-ings, utilize their natural curiosity, and make predic-tions and observations. In the Discovery Room, vari-ous centers — like home living, cooking, arts and crafts, etc. — will be set up

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for use by the students in all three levels. The program is grounded in the construc-tivist philosophy and guided by the research of noted child psychologists Jean Piaget, Lev Vygotsky, and Arnold Gesell. It aims to teach students how to self-regulate; foster curios-ity and creativity; develop the social skills to be active members of a community;

Announcing the newly developed Early Childhood Centerand inspire a love of learn-ing and school. Mullett said she loves teaching the young students because they pro-vide such instant feedback. “The kids are so open and spontaneous, and they don’t hide anything from you. I love the way they look at the world,” she said. “It’s very important for schools to always be evaluating their programs to make sure the pro-grams are aligned with the school’s mission,” said Di-rector of Admission Sarah McDonough. “Education is always changing, and good programs are always evaluating their current ap-proaches and incorporat-ing new philosophies.” For more informa-tion, visit www.wakefield-school.org.

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Want up-to-the-minute news on your favorite Wakefield sports team? Follow us on Twitter @WakefieldSchool.

For the post-game pics and stats, check us out on Facebook at www.facebook.com/WakefieldOwls. For current schedules, rosters,

and more info, visit www.wakefieldschool.org.

In Owls spOrts Spring at Wakefield brings with it a whole new slate of exciting sports. Varsity Girls Soccer, led by Coach Dan Beaver, is anchored by standout senior Isabelle Byers (both at right). The girls have started off their season with decisive shut-out victories against Shenan-doah Valley Academy, Freder-icksburg Christian School, and Middleburg Academy. Their record stands at 3-1-2 as of press time.

Varsity Boys Lacrosse has also had a strong start, led by seven seniors (in-cluding Sean Plummer at left) and Coach Tim Mahoney. Their current record as of press time was 4-1, with victories over Se-ton, Trinity School, and Trinity Christian School. Varsity Girls Lacrosse, a very young team, is still winless but has high hopes for the season and the upcoming years. Boys’ Varsity Tennis, with seniors Carter Dale, Felix Hechl, and Cyrus Fen-wick, has a current record of 2-2 as of press time. Co-ed Varsity Golf also plays in the spring, with Coach Dave Bryan. Starting in the spring as well are middle school girls soccer, boys and girls lacrosse, co-ed golf and boys tennis.

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Wakefield’s Theatre De-partment will present Alice in Wonderland, opening May 2 at 7 p.m., with additional perfor-mances May 3 and 4 also at 7 p.m. Both Middle School and Upper School students are fill-ing roles under Director Tom Bazar. Rehearsals are under-way. At left, students in the production take some notes from Bazar.

Wakefield Drama presents...

Alice in Wonderland

UpperSchoolScience

Fair If you drop food on the floor, does the five-second rule really matter? What makes that particular someone’s eyes so attrac-tive? What happens if you magnetize a radish plant? These are just some of the questions Wakefield School students tried to answer in their projects for this year’s Upper School Science Fair held March 26. Congratulations

to Rachel Tyeryar for her Grand Prize win! In the behavioral and social science category, Sydney Lee and Logan Floyd took first. In medi-cine and health, Ali Russell and Candace Craig took top prize. First place in chem-istry went to James Wroe. Cathy Kim won first place in biochemistry. In the ani-

mal and environmental sci-ence category, Ellie Ligon placed first. Tish Johnston and Ian Gumbin won the plant science category; Nick Young (pictured above) won the physics and engi-neering category; Hastings Williamson took first in applied science; and Rachel Tyeryar won the mathemat-ics category.

Thank you for your interest in Wakefield School. We are an independent, college-preparatory school whose primary goal is to provide a rigorous, liberal arts education. We believe that a challenging, content-based curriculum trains the intellect while fos-tering self-discipline, independence, creativity, and curiosity. At the same time, we encourage students at every level to think about and with the knowledge they are working to master. Finally we aim to cultivate strong and ethical character through guidance in and out of the classroom from teachers committed to training the spirit as well as the mind. The mission of the School is to provide students with the fundamental knowledge, the critical thinking skills and the strength of character to distinguish that which is true from that which is not, and to use that wisdom in positive ways. This concept is embodied in the

School’s motto, Virtus et Sapientia, or “Virtue and Wisdom.”

Wakefield School4439 Old Tavern Road

P.O. Box 107The Plains, VA 20198Phone: 540-253-7600

Fax: 540-253-5492admissions@wakefieldschool.org

www.wakefieldschool.org

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Wakefield third-grader Fiona Evans-Wells had a big adventure in February when

she visited and toured The Pentagon with her class.

Her account of the day was published in the News of Note section of the latest

Middleburg Eccentric!“My most favorite part was seeing the

9-11 Memorial Chapel and Navy Reflection Room,” she said of the trip.

Fiona’s Day at the Pentagon