March 30-April 3, 2025-2026

It was another big week of completing things here at Tandem as we readied for Spring Break. The Upper School cast of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee delivered a great show to audiences last weekend. What a treat - and thanks to those who participated as audience spellers! Check out photos from the show below. Our Upper School Geeky Girls hosted another fun event for young girls on Saturday (details and photos below). Our Varsity Track team ran in their first meet on Friday, then another on Wednesday (details and photos below). Seniors completed their Senior Project presentations (details and photos below) this afternoon. Many ‘Madness’ tournaments are completing: the March Mammal Madness animal winner was the Humpback Whale, with sophomore Ana S-G the overall community winner. In the library’s Manga vs Graphic Novels madness competition, Dog Man was the clear winner. The Community Quiz Bowl continued with matches all week, but the championship matches will happen after Spring Break. There were a couple of parent meetings this week. While students got a jump start on Spring Break, faculty and staff today enjoyed an enlightening and educational day with Toni Graves Williamson and workshops and activities put together by staff members in conjunction with Toni. There were games and gorgeous spring weather in abundance this week and all are delighted that Spring Break has arrived!

In the Middle School, 5th graders are learning about space and earth systems, and about the differences between weather and climate. 6th graders will soon undertake a Silk Road research paper. 7th graders are looking at genetics. 8th graders are looking at game design and reading and annotating their chosen Holocaust-themed book, picking from The Book Thief, The Diary of Anne Frank, or The Boy on the Wooden Box. 

In the Upper School, 9th graders learned about Newton’s 2nd Law of Motion and are looking at regional civilizations. Sophomores are studying the Revolutionary Era. Juniors are still working on a short stories unit. Seniors are letting out a collective sigh at the end of two weeks of presenting their Senior Projects. Well done, seniors! 

Upper School students modeled the Quaker saying of "Let Your Life Speak" with a student-organized walkout from 2nd block classes this morning. Intended to mirror local plans for high school walkouts, some of our Upper School students left their classes at 10:20am and gathered on our quad in silence to protest the United States' War in Iran. Students sat in a circle and shared messages out of silence that spoke to their feelings about the US Administration's actions and their senses of personal and collective responsibility to voice their concerns and/or opposition. Faculty and staff were on the quad throughout the protest, which intentionally lasted through Morning Break, providing an opportunity for Middle School students to witness this act of conscience.