Dear FA Families,

This is the companion piece to my Sunday message of two weeks ago, which focused on service learning opportunities for our students in the surrounding community. This morning, I thought that I’d share two examples of area organizations that partner with the school to improve the lives of our students and other residents of the Golden Isles. Being a good community member and a helpful neighbor is an important part of our school’s mission, and we have come to recognize just how many mutually beneficial opportunities exist between others and FA in the community.

Several great examples of these symbiotic relationships have actually occurred in recent days. The Golden Isles Youth Orchestra (GIYO) sponsors the String-On program teaching beginning strings to area youth, and they have been on campus this past week instructing FA Sixth Grade students.  GIYO receives a grant to pay its teachers as well as all of the instruments, books, etc.; and our students are fortunate to be direct beneficiaries of this program again this year. FA aspires to boast a strong instrumental program in the future, and relationships like this provide the genesis for realizing those kinds of ambitions. In turn, FA hosts GIYO’s annual summer residency; their participants use our classrooms and facilities during the months of June and July for intensive instructional workshops.

In a second example played out recently, the school and the RSM Classic PGA Tour golf tournament have developed a healthy partnership that allows the event to utilize the school’s facilities to host tournament-related support events on campus. Two weeks ago, the school hosted the tournament’s volunteer uniform pick-up operation for the hundreds of men and women volunteering to work the event, and this past week FA shared our baseball field, Pre-K Center, and Pavilion area for the RSM charity Wiffleball game and related activities. Many of our students and other stakeholders have also been volunteering at the tournament the past few days. The RSM Classic, sponsored by the Davis Love Foundation, has raised almost $29 million for children and family-focused charitable organizations since its inception in 2010. Indisputably, all boats rise with the rising tide, and the partnerships between FA and these two organizations amply illustrates that truth every year. The Love Family and the Davis Love Foundation have been generous benefactors to Frederica Academy over the years.

In the coming days, you will read and hear more about our students collaborating with other non-profit and mission-centered organizations downtown and on the island to lift the spirits of children, families, and senior citizens who deserve an infusion of joy and compassion during the holiday season. As I pause later this week to give thanks with my own family, I will also be grateful for my FA family… especially our student servant leaders for their endless and selfless acts of kindness.

Respectfully,

Scott L. Hutchinson

Head of School

Monday

8:15 AM - 10:15 AM

FA Parent Association

FA Holiday Card Stuffing

Shuman Conference Room

Click HERE to Volunteer

Monday @ 8:15 AM

Third Grade Field Trip

National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force

Savannah

Monday @ 10:00 AM

US Assembly

Gym

Monday @ 1:15 PM

Seventh Grade Journalism Class

Field Trip to SSI Airport

Monday + Tuesday

No LS After-School Clubs

Monday Evening

Varsity Basketball

@ Coastal Home School

Girls @ 6:00 PM

Boys @ 7:30 PM

Tuesday-Sunday

Gym Floor Closed

Floor Refinishing

Tuesday

MS + US Special Class Schedule

Tuesday (Lunch Periods)

FA Thanksgiving Lunch

FA Special Friends Invited

Tuesday @ Noon

Fourth Grade Field Trip

Seaside Veterinary Hospital

Tuesday @ 1:00 PM

FCA Meeting

Shuman Conference Room

Tuesday @ 1:00 PM

Cultural Awareness Club

Dr. Oliver's Room

Tuesday @ 2:30 PM

US Powder Puff Game

FA Football Field

Wednesday Morning

FA Young Alumni Council Meeting

Wednesday-Friday

FA Thanksgiving Break

Monday, November, 21

Holiday Card Stuffing 

8:15 AM

Shuman Conference Room, Been Library

All hands on deck! Please join the FA Parent Association and other parent volunteers on Monday, November 21, when they gather to mobilize this year's Holiday Card Stuffing operation. We have over 1,800 envelopes to stuff, seal, and stamp! Click here to sign up.

Greenery Sale - Important Pick-Up/Delivery Information

We anticipate delivery to be the Monday after Thanksgiving. We will send more details once we receive them from the vendor, but please plan on picking up your order the week of November 28. Click here to volunteer to help with Poinsettia and greenery pick-up and deliveries.

Thursday, December 1

Jingle Bell Celebration + Christmas Tree Lighting

FA Campus

We need cookies! Please sign up to contribute cookies to our annual Jingle Bell Celebration. Volunteers are requested to donate two dozen cookies. Cookies can be dropped off with Michelle Clifton in the Front Office of the Administration Building or, weather permitting, at a designated table in the East Campus Parking Lot near the entrance to the Pavilion on December 1 before 3:30 p.m. Cookies must be NUT FREE. Sign up here. Special thanks to Megan Grinstead and her wonderful colleagues at Rich Products for their generous cookie donation this year.

There are no Lower School After-School Clubs this week. Please email Heather Day if you have questions.

Are you excited about Christmas and the upcoming holiday season? If so, please join the FA Parent Association and other parent volunteers on Monday, morning when they gather to mobilize this year's Holiday Card Stuffing operation.

The Knights Table hopes you have Tuesday, November 22, on your calendar. FA parents, grandparents, and special family friends are invited to join your student(s) for a Thanksgiving lunch with all the fixings served by the Knights Table staff. Guests meals are $6 each and will be billed to family accounts.

For those of you who have RSVPd to the Thanksgiving lunch on Tuesday, please look for an email on Monday morning from Michelle Clifton ([email protected]) with details on where to come for lunch and the exact times. We look forward to having you!

For those who did not RSVP, it's not too late but please let us know immediately if you plan to attend.

Please click here to let us know that you are planning to attend and provide the following details:

1. Your name;
2. Number of non-students who will be dining; and the
3. Name(s) and grade(s) of your students you want to join you.

For Lower School, siblings will be able to eat together, and the lunch will be organized by the alphabet. If your child's last name begins with A-K, lunch is served at 11:00 - 11:30 a.m. and L-Z will be served at 11:30 a.m. - noon.  

Middle and Upper School students are welcome to invite special guests as well as long as they are relatives or close family friends. Students from other schools are not included in the invitation unless they are siblings or they are invited guests of the Admission Office. Middle School lunch begins at 12:15 p.m. and Upper School lunch begins at 1:00 p.m.

The Jingle Bell Celebration will be the evening of Thursday, December 1, and will feature musical performances from Grades 1-4. Photos with Santa are open to all members of the FA community. Following the event, photos will be shared on the school's Flickr site and be available to download for free.

Students in Grades 1-4 should report to their respective classrooms by 5:45 p.m.

Lower School Student Attire:

• Girls – please wear a dress or skirt; holiday themed is acceptable
• Boys – please wear dress pants with a button-down shirt; holiday themed is acceptable

Dear FA Community,

The Middle School Student Council is partnering with Safe Harbor, a local non-profit, to lead the Middle School in a service learning project this Holiday season. Safe Harbor's mission is to provide services that promote security and stability for at-risk families, children, and individuals.

Each Middle School advisory group will be assigned two local youths who have holiday wish lists. The Middle School will conduct a cash donation drive for the entire FA community. The money raised will be distributed equally among the advisory groups. Students will then take a field trip during school to shop for their newly adopted friends. The Seventh and Eighth Grades will go to Target on Monday, December 5, during their Directed Study class, while the Fifth and Sixth Grades will go to Target on Tuesday, December 6, during their elective class.

The donation drive started on Monday, November 14. We have donation boxes set up in both Benefield and Fleming Halls. Any amount you feel comfortable giving will be incredibly helpful and will go a long way towards helping local students.

Our hope is that our students learn to empathize with those who are less fortunate and that they learn that their collective efforts can make a huge difference in our community.

Trey House and Rachael Lee

MS Student Council Co-Sponsors

The FA Health and Wellness Club will be adopting a family again for Christmas this year! The family that we have adopted has a nine-year-old boy, a precious seven-year-old boy with a few serious health issues, and their very hard-working mother. Here are our plans:

Sunday afternoon, November 27, we will decorate the family's house for Christmas! 

Sunday, December 4, a group will take older son to Pinball Palace or Brunswick Adventures for a fun afternoon, another group will be with Nurse Pope and the younger son for some fun activities with him, and the mom will be pampered with a “mani/pedi!”

The seven year old has a condition called Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome. This is a severe form of epilepsy, which causes multiple types of seizures daily, sometimes up to one hundred a day. Because of the severity of this condition, his bedroom has to be properly set up to prevent injuries from falls. This is an ongoing process as he grows. His floor and windowsills must be padded and he has to have all shelves up extremely high. We have been in contact with his mother and are planning a day to work around the house to update anything that she might need done.

Last year, individual families sponsored a child in the family we selected and bought the gifts for that child. We are hoping to have a great response again this year! Here are the wish lists!

Nine-Year-Old Boy: shirts - size 10; pants - size 8; socks - size 8-9.5; pajamas - size 8-10; and jacket - size 10. Wish List: a lemon slicer; a chess set (a few of our members have volunteered to give him chess lessons); anything MindCraft; loves football and the Georgia Bulldogs; electric toothbrush; and anything Treasure X.

Seven-Year-Old Boy: shirts - size 8; pants - size 7; socks - size 8-9.5; pajamas - size 8; and jacket - size 8. Please note that he needs a special type of shoes to accommodate leg braces. The price of these shoes run about fifty dollars. Nurse Pope has more information. Wish List: He loves the Wiggles; soft toys - anything multisensory; touch and feel books; small musical instruments - he loves music; and Aveeno Daily Wash and Shampoo.

Mom: only request is an electronic deadbolt with push code for the front door.

Family Wish List: an artificial Christmas tree; Christmas decorations; Publix gift card; big, fluffy towels; and Chick-fil-A gift card.

The FA Health and Wellness Club now has its own Venmo account! If you would like to donate money for this worthwhile holiday project, it is so very easy!  

Venmo: @knights_wellness

For questions, please contact Nurse Pope or Mr. Riggs.

Eliana McMahon

FA Health and Wellness Club Secretary

Briley Johnson

FA Health and Wellness Treasurer

Thursday, December 8, 2022 - Monday, December 12, 2022 

“Exam Review Days”

Students will be reviewing for their semester exams in class.  New course material will not be presented during this time. 

Friday, December 9, 2022

“No Phone Friday”

In an effort to focus on exam preparation and to fully embrace the end of semester festivities, Upper School students will be asked to turn in their cell phones upon arrival in the morning.

Friday, December 9, 2022

“US Holiday Door Decorating Contest”

Upper School students will have two weeks to decorate their advisor’s classroom door in a holiday movie theme of their choice.  The winning advisory will receive a special breakfast on Wednesday, January 11, 2023.

Friday, December 9, 2022

“US Movie Night”

Upper School students are invited to attend a screening of Elf on the Windolf-Johnston Performance Plaza.  Students should bring their own blankets and lawn chairs.  The Parent Association will be providing hot chocolate and cookies!

Monday, December 12, 2022

“US Locker Clean-out Day”

Upper School students should remove perishable and personal items from their locker.

Tuesday, December 13, 2022

Science Exam

9:00-11:00 AM

Wednesday, December 14, 2022

Math Exam

9:00-11:00 AM

Thursday, December 15, 2022

World Language Exam

9:00-11:00 AM

Details on Middle School scheduling and exams for the week of December 12-16 were shared on Thursday. Please click HERE to review the communication from Mr. Nelson.

Check the pictorial schedule below for dress-up day themes for Friday, December 9 - Thursday, December 15!



Thursday, December 8 @ 8:30 AM

Pre-K Holiday Program

Hamilton Hall

Friday, December 9

First Grade Jekyll Island Field Trip

Wear Green Uniform Shirt

Wednesday, December 14

Kindergarten Christmas Activity Day

Sign Up Genius Coming Soon!

Wednesday, December 14 @ 10:00 AM

Third + Fourth Grade Field Trip

Ritz Theatre (Downtown Brunswick)

Wednesday, December 14 from 10:00 - 11:00 AM

First Grade Gingerbread House Party 

Sign Up Genius Coming Soon!

Thursday, December 15

Fourth Grade Christmas Breakfast

December 15 @ 10:00 AM

Lower School Giving Tree Ceremony

Hamilton Hall

Last Tuesday night, Middle School math teacher, Rebecca Triplett, was honored as FA's Teacher of the Year. The ceremony was held at the College of Coastal Georgia and recognized teachers of the year at schools throughout Glynn County. Rebecca was accompanied by her husband, Mark, and mother, Barbara. Congratulations, Mrs. Triplett, and thank you for all you do for our community.

This unique event associated with the RSM Classic featured friendly, yet spirited, competition between PGA TOUR players and their wives. Each team was also comprised of students from local schools.

Mystery solved -- and that's a wrap! Twenty Middle and Upper School students, under the direction of Dr. Tess Nielsen, and with assistance from Reece Wisner, assistant rehearsal director, and Catherine Davis, lighting designer, staged two performances of "Clue" by Sandy Ruskin. It was a madcap mystery on the Hamilton Hall stage, and the nightly audiences were challenged with 'clues' to solve the who-done-it mystery. Presented by Thespian Troupe #8989, the cast and crew were led by senior Case Harrison (Colonel Mustard) and senior Sydney Carroll (Stage Manager). Congratulations to the entire cast and crew for a marvelous performance, and many thanks to Anthony Stubelek of AV East for providing the show's audio engineering. Enjoy the video and photos of this very funny play!

Congratulations to our overall winner, Abby Jane Johnson, and all of the homeroom winners of this year's Christmas Card contest!

On Tuesday, sixteen students were inducted into the Sociedad Honoraria Hispánica, the National Honor Society for students of Spanish and Portuguese.

This society recognizes students of high achievement in Spanish and Portuguese and promotes continuity of interest in Hispanic and Luso-Brazilian studies. To be eligible, students must be in Spanish 4 Honors or higher and maintain an honors average in Spanish and be members of the National Honor Society.  

New members are: Corey Atkinson, Maddison Baldwin, Carley Blogg, Travis Cavalier, Mary Wallace Champion, Max Crusan, Katie Eckert, Maggie Kaselak, Jackson Lewis, Lily Najawicz, Mildred Reeves, Payton Schoenauer, Gillian Sullivan, Mackenzie Todd, Anna Claire Tronolone, and Allie Vivirito.  

The FA Health and Wellness Relay for Life team met with the Glynn County Relay Team on Thursday to help organize sweet treats and cards for the nurses and other caretakers at the SGHS Cancer Care Center. We recognize the hard work that these healthcare workers perform every day and the emotional toll that this type of work can have on them! Our hope is that providing them with some small treats, words of encouragement, and thanks will let them know how much we appreciate their dedication as they take care of our friends and family!

Josh Manning

Co-President

FA Health and Wellness Club

This past week, the 6th Grade Music class engaged in beginning String Music lessons with Maestro Jose Tovar, the Ensemble Conductor and Coordinator for the Golden Isles Youth Orchestra. After a week of learning about string instruments, the students performed at the Lower School Morning Meeting. GIYO is a community partner of Frederica Academy. For more information about their programs, please visit their website.

The First Grade class traveled to Epworth on Thursday to celebrate with a traditional Thanksgiving Feast.

Last week, First Grade students helped to plant cauliflower, broccoli, and cabbage in the Lower School Garden! We are excited to watch our plants grow and can't wait for harvesting time!

The Kindergarten class took the stage for their annual Thanksgiving Program on Thursday where they performed songs and shared all that they were thankful for.

Irit Celnik’s mom, Ximena Celnik, was the Pre-K Mystery Reader last week. She read the book Five Brave Knights vs. the Dreadful Dragon.

December 1

FA Jingle Bell Celebration

December 3

SAT Exam

December 5-6

MS Soccer Playoffs

Glynn County Stadium

December 5 @ 4:00 PM

MS + US Christmas Caroling

Marsh's Edge

December 6 @ 7:00 PM

MS + US "Light the Night"

Magnolia Manor

December 7 @ 8:30 AM

PK Holiday Program

DRESS REHEARSAL

Hamilton Hall

December 8 @ 8:30 AM

PK Holiday Program

Hamilton Hall

December 8

MS Soccer Championship Games

Glynn County Stadium

Girls @ 5:00 PM

Boys @ 6:00 PM

December 8, 9, 12

MS + US Exam Review Days

December 9

First Grade Jekyll Island Field Trip

December 9 @ 7:00 PM

FA Benefield Society Party

Shiver Residence

Annual Fund Benefield Society Donors

December 10

ACT Exam

December 13

MS + US Science Exams

December 14

MS + US Math Exams

Wednesday, December 14

Kindergarten Christmas Activity Day

Wednesday, December 14 from 10:00 - 11:00 AM

First Grade Gingerbread House Party

December 14 @ 10:00 AM

Third + Fourth Grade Field Trip

Ritz Theatre (Downtown Brunswick)

December 14 @ Noon

Department Chair Meeting

December 15

MS + US Language Exams

Thursday, December 15

Fourth Grade Christmas Breakfast

December 15 @ 10:00 AM

Lower School Giving Tree Ceremony

Hamilton Hall

December 15 @ Noon

School-Wide Early Dismissal

December 16

Student Christmas Break Begins

Teacher/Staff Work Day

December 19-22

10:00 AM - 2:00 PM

FA Front Office Open

December 23-27

FA Campus Closed

December 28

Semester 1 Grades Posted

December 28-30

10:00 AM - 2:00 PM

FA Front Office Open

January 2

FA Campus Closed

January 3

Teacher/Staff Work Day

January 4

Second Semester Starts