The Headmaster's Blo

Hi guys.

TABS 2010

Hello. I am in Baltimore seeing alumni and making a presentation with Joel at The Association of Boarding Schools. Our keynote speaker this morning, Professor Richard Light of Harvard shared his research on undergraduate trends. Some of the skills students need by their college years are: public speaking, time management, ability to work in teams, and the ability to do mid-course corrections (accept feedback) on projects. I believe these are part and parcel of an NCS education.

NCS: science of composting

The 8th grade Earth Science classes are studying the nutrient cycle and the mechanics of aerobic and anaerobic decomposition. As part of the unit they will be making a film with the Farm interns for iTunes U. Of course, at NCS compost is more than a science project as it yields tons of soil amendments for our garden.

NCS: barn chores

The temperatures dropped into the 20s last night, and as you can see it is almost dark at this time of year when your children head to the barn. The big responsibility of watering animals and cleaning stalls helps build resilient individuals.

Solar Power

CLICK ON THIS LINK TO ACCESS THE STORY OF OUR NEW SOLAR ARRAY.

NCS: wind storm

A front is moving through, bringing heavy winds with flickering lights and power. As it moves through temperatures will drop precipitously, and hopefully bring snow.

The students just had Fund Lunch, tonight is homenight, and also the first night of Hanukkah. Lastly, I've been asked to remind you to please send your child's winter break travel plans to Sheila. Thank you.

Hock

New On Our Website

We have several postings of new material on our website that I'll alert you to in coming days, including:

this link to access the Farm Blog about our sheep and homegrown wool.


Hock

NCS: first period math

> We are back and firing on all cylinders. The enclosed photographs show Matt assigning homework to Level II, Dave going over some linear equations with Level III, and Nick proving a new theorem in his advanced geometry class. I hope your travels home were uneventful.
>

Sunset over Algonguin and the bus has arrived

The chartered bus from Manhattan just arrived, which means that all our students are back. When you have a minute, please check out the short slide show of various Thanksgiving festivities at our online photo gallery:

CLICK ON THIS LINK TO ACCESS THE SLIDESHOW.

Back To School

It was wonderful to see so many families last Wednesday and Thursday. Since then the campus has been quiet. I hope the short vacation has been a good one for you and your family. As you can see from the enclosed photograph the dawn sky over Cascade has proven to be the start to a simply gorgeous day.

We are excited to jump back into the final twelve days of classes. Travel safely