May 10-16, 2025

5/16/2025

The weeks seem to be moving by more quickly as we reach mid-May and find the end just around the corner. This was Spirit Week on campus, bringing us PJs, teacher lookalikes, witty white lies, clever choices to replace backpacks, and those dressed like fisherpeople or aquatic life. Check out a photo slideshow below. Joyful spirits abounded indeed as AP exams concluded and weekend dances for 8th grade and the Upper School await this weekend. We hosted a sports college signing this week (details below) and teacher Melissa Winder was honored with her Golden Apple award. There was a Middle School track meet, and today finds Ultimate Frisbee holding their final game of the year and our Varsity Track team competing in the State meet in Richmond. Our Emphasis groups got together during Community Time today to discuss their upcoming adventures in learning. People are still talking about how wonderful last weekend’s Mother’s Day Music Festival was from start to finish. Kudos to all who helped make that great event happen. Check out a photo slideshow below. Saturday also found members of the Class of 2000 on campus to hold their 25th reunion. As one of them shared, “In just a short time together, we were able to reconnect in ways that felt simultaneously natural, familiar, and entirely new. Watching my classmates laugh, share stories, and reconnect with each other in the beautiful Tandem spaces truly filled my heart - and I know others felt the same way.” As we prepare to watch our class of 2025 move on, it’s nice to be reminded that Tandem connections and memories are strong. 
 
In the Middle School, 5th graders checked out the Tandem garden. 6th graders learned Islamic calligraphy (details and photos below). 7th graders added a new layer to their study of endangered species (details and photos below). 8th graders had an exciting week that included a visit to the Charlottesville Friends Meeting House, a Middle School track meet for some, and their culminating class event being held tonight, the 8th Grade Dinner Dance.

In the Upper School, this year’s final edition of the Tandem Times student newspaper was released today - read it here. 9th graders spent all day Monday at Lighthouse Studio to film and edit their TED talk and debated topics like whether or not wealthy people are responsible for serving those less fortunate. Sophomores are finishing up their Socratic seminar work. Engineering students are tweaking their boat designs and trebuchets as test days get nearer. Seniors decorated the campus with literary quotes (details and photos below). The Upper School prom is tomorrow night, and lots of planning has gone into the decorations and event execution.
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Tandem Friends School is a co-ed Quaker day school for grades 5-12 in Charlottesville, Virginia.
 
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