Dear NCHS Families,

November is the perfect balance of fall and winter. You get to break out your favorite sweaters, enjoy the beautiful fall foliage, and eat pumpkin-flavored everything. As we enter our second Covid Autumn, let’s continue with wellness protocols that keep us healthy and safe.

Whether this is your first or third child in their junior year, please join us virtually to find useful strategies and tips to help your student cope with the pressures of this important year. Learn about the potential stressors - including academics, standardized testing, virtual college visits and social life - and understand ways to manage them all.

Our panel of experts will be Cynthia Rivera, Chair of NCHS Counseling Department; Eileen Donellan, Social Worker; Susan Bliss, Ph.D., L.C.S.W., Student Support Coordinator for NCPS; and Kristi Carriera, 11th Grade Assistant Vice Principal.

EVENT LOCATION: Virtual via zoom. Link to follow.

Please join us so we can answer all of your sophomore-related questions! 

Guidance counselors Cynthia Rivera and Nick Willett will discuss many topics, including: the Power School GPA and how it converts to a 4.0 scale; how Honors and AP classes are weighted; what GPA colleges see and care about; and how many AP classes a child should take. They will also show us a roadmap to our students' academic pursuits and introduce Naviance, which you will use during your child's college search. 

This meeting is not to be missed, but if you do, it will be recorded!

EVENT LOCATION:  Virtual via zoom. Link to follow.

Join Principal Bill Egan and the Assistant Principals for an informal Q&A session to get caught up on everything that's happening around school.

EVENT LOCATION: Virtual via Zoom. Link to follow.

As our seniors begin to submit college applications, now what? How will they cope with acceptances, rejections and make other important decisions? Dr. Elizabeth Ortiz-Schwartz, an Adolescent Health Specialist affiliated with Silver Hill Hospital, will engage us in a conversation on how to help our seniors manage the decisions process. All questions welcome!

Heather Bianco, NCHS Senior Internship Coordinator, will also be on hand to explain the Senior Internship Program.

EVENT LOCATION: Virtual via Zoom. Link to follow.

11/6     SAT*

12/4     SAT 

12/11   ACT* 

* Denotes NCHS as a testing location 

Register for the SAT at www.collegeboard.org

Register for the ACT at www.actstudent.org

Mark your calendar for a special college admissions event for NCHS students and parents. 

Thanks to the generous support of our PFA, author Jeff Selingo will return for a virtual conversation about the current college admissions landscape. Selingo has written about higher education for more than two decades and is a New York Times bestselling author of three books. His latest book, Who Gets In & Why: A Year Inside College Admissions, was published in September 2020 and named among the 100 Notable Books of the Year by the New York Times. A regular contributor to The Atlantic, Jeff is a special advisor for innovation and professor of practice at Arizona State University. He also co-hosts the podcast, FutureU. 

Families from Staples and Darien High Schools will also be joining us for this webinar.

EVENT LOCATION: Virtual webinar link will be sent on Dec 2.

If you missed the counselor presentation on October 14th regarding Financial Aid, you can view it on the NCHS School Counseling page under video presentations or by clicking HERE.

Seniors may attend college visits and hear the latest news first-hand from schools in which they may be interested. Students must register for the visits on Naviance and ask for permission from the faculty to miss class. 

Those who are unable to meet with the reps should stop by the CCC BEFORE the visit time and fill out a form indicating their interest in the visiting school. Attendance is taken at these sessions, which are either in person or via Zoom. 

The visit schedule may be viewed through Naviance and on the NCHS School Counseling page.

The NCHS Senior Internship Program is looking for organizations and companies to host our seniors from May 17th to June 10th during school hours. Seniors report to their internships during the school day and for approximately 25 hours per week. Students can browse our SIP portal in December and start to create their list of desired internships, which may be remote, in person, or hybrid. 

If you would like to host an intern at your business/organization, please email Heather Bianco for more information.

Winter registration is open for all sports on Family ID. Please register now at https://www.ncrams.com/.

*Congratulations to Coach Bill Brown and NCHS Varsity Boys Golf, our FCIAC and  CIAC D1 State Champions! This is the first time NCHS boys golf has been played in the fall season, and they crushed it!

*Boys and Girls Cross Country had a very good showing at last week's FCIAC Championship meet. Girls Varsity finished 3rd overall out of 16 and were only 1 point away from a 2nd place finish. Freshman Radea Ralev finished 12th overall. Freshman Boys and Freshman Girls each won the team championships, with Ryan Boulanger and Jackie Doherty winning their races!

*Congratulations to our undefeated Varsity Field Hockey team, currently 15-0, as of October 24th. The girls will be the #1 seed in the FCIAC playoffs which begin October 30th.

*Girls Soccer is also having a strong season and will be the 4th or 5th seed in the FCIAC Tournament!

*Turkey Bowl ticket information will be sent to all NCHS students and parents on or around November 5th, with more details coming next week. The game will stream via NCTV’s YouTube channel. Click HERE to access the game coverage.

The New Canaan High School Choral Program's traditional GRAPEFRUIT FUNDRAISER will take place again this fall. 

The grapefruit sale has been a staple during the holidays in New Canaan for decades and, in addition to aiding our choral program, also helps local food banks and service organizations. In the past 5 years, we've provided over 850 boxes to charities in CT and NY for those in need. Each box contains 20lbs. of delicious “Ruby Red” grapefruits from the Texas Rio Grande Valley. 

Pricing and pre-orders will begin the second week of November. Check the NCHS Choral Program website for updates or email nchschoir@ncps-k12.org.

Bring the whole family to see New Canaan High School’s production of Freaky Friday, a new musical based on the celebrated novel by Mary Rodgers and the hit Disney films. 

It is a heartfelt, comedic, and unexpectedly emotional update on an American classic. When an overworked mother and her teenage daughter magically swap bodies, they have just one day to put things right again, and chaos ensues. Don’t miss our incredibly talented students as they share the stage with special guest, Principal Egan, who will make his NCHS Theatre debut! 

Tickets and more information can be found on the NCHS Theatre Department website. See you there!

EVENT LOCATION: NCHS Auditorium

New Canaan CARES is excited to announce our first annual Election Day event Fore CARES! 

Join us on this day off school for an 18 hole “par-tee” on the lawn of St. Mark’s Church on November 2nd from 10 am – 2 pm! Children under 12 must be supervised.  

Fore CARES will be running on a Shotgun Start – all players at an assigned tee-time slot will begin simultaneously, but at different holes. Choose your tee-time (10:00 am, 11:00 am, 12:00 pm, and 1:00 pm). Each hole is limited to four players at a time, and CARES may combine smaller groups to form a foursome.

This event is $20 per golfer, with  proceeds going directly towards CARES programming!

To purchase tickets visit www.newcanaancares.org/fore-cares.

EVENT LOCATION: St. Mark's Church

Why are students in affluent communities considered at risk, and what role does adult self-care play in all of this? Join CARES for a conversation with Dr. Suniya Luthar. She addresses why the rates of depression, anxiety and rule-breaking in high-performing communities are higher than the national average and provides us with tools to change the culture.

Register for the event at www.NewCanaanCARES.org.

EVENT LOCATION: Virtual via Zoom

We all know that mental health is just as important as physical health. Join us on November 15th for a conversation with Dr. Christopher Bogart, a licensed clinical psychologist and Co-Executive Director of the Sasco River Centers in Darien, Stamford and Wilton. Dr. Bogart has worked in both the private and public sectors for the past 25 years and will examine the impact emotions have on our lives and suggest strategies to help manage them.

Register for the event at www.NewCanaanCARES.org.

EVENT LOCATION: New Canaan Historical Society.

Join us on November 24th to support Filling in the Blanks' 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐔𝐍𝐈𝐓𝐘 𝐋𝐮𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭! 

At 7pm, residents across Fairfield County will place their lit luminaries outside to raise awareness for childhood hunger. The luminaries will shine as a symbol of hope and unity for kids struggling with food insecurity.

𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐒𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭? Buy for yourself and share with friends & family, and don't forget to make it social! Help @filling_blanks raise awareness by sharing photos on social media using hashtag #𝐒𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐅𝐈𝐓𝐁, and don't forget to tag FITB!

𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐬𝐞? Click HERE to purchase your luminaries by the deadline of November 5th.