October 20-24, 2025

It was another busy, beautiful fall week at Tandem, with academics and events galore. First quarter grades and comments were published. There were nine college visits and an evening webinar for parents about paying for college. The entire community enjoyed a wonderful Blue Ridge Day (read more and see lots of photos below) - thanks to all of the faculty and parent volunteers who made it all happen! Juniors took the PSAT on Thursday morning. There were many sports games and practices, and fall sports seasons for our Middle School and JV teams came to an end this week (read more below). The Middle School will hold a Halloween-themed dance tonight for 6th-8th graders, and the Upper School will hold their Under the Sea themed Homecoming dance tomorrow night. Our varsity sports teams are readying themselves for post-season tournament play, which starts next week. Go Badgers!

In Upper School academics, 9th graders are learning about viruses and finishing up The Odyssey. !0th graders are studying Chinese and Portugese explorers. Juniors are nearing the end of their analysis of The Crucible. Senior Comp students are tackling Beowulf. In Middle School sciences, 7th grade science students are making formal proposals for their Cell Project, and using eggs to simulate diffusion and osmosis across cell membranes. 8th graders are learning about logical fallacies and cognitive biases as they prepare to debunk the pseudoscience of their choice.

Today’s Community Time activities were great. Middle Schoolers enjoyed their second session of monthly Friday clubs, including options for Art, Board Games, Disc Golf, Drama, D&D, Engineering, Halloween Zines, Music, Reading and Tandem Outdoors. In the Upper School, four student speakers talked about their experiences last summer attending various Governor’s School Summer Residential Programs. Senior Owen S attended Latin Governor’s School and senior Henry A attended Japanese Governor’s School, both at Randolph Macon; senior Will M and junior Catriona S both attended Spanish Governor’s School at Washington & Lee University. Many thanks to them for sharing their experiences and encouraging others to apply for placement in the prestigious Governor’s School Summer Residential Programs for languages, academics and the arts (see details below, including information on this summer’s programs).