Dear NCHS Family,

With midterms wrapped up, we are enthusiastic about new beginnings as we shift into the second semester. The start of a new semester is exciting and an opportunity to start fresh and set new goals for the remainder of the year. Feel free to reach out to your child’s teachers if you have any questions or concerns about their progress for the semester.  

The 2022 Post Prom Committee is selling Sweet Treats for Valentine's Day!

Surprise your special someone, or treat yourself, and support the 2022 NCHS Post Prom at the same time. All proceeds will go to this year's event.

Pre-orders will be available for pick-up at Patisserie Salzburg (25 Elm Street, New Canaan) between February 10th - 14th.

The Nominating Committee will be meeting to fill positions for next year's 2022-2023 PFA Board and Board Committees. We would love to see more people get involved! 

Please email NCHSpfa@gmail.com to let us know how you want to help! Include the positions you would be interested in or any specific interests you have. Click HERE to see the current board and committee chair positions.

The NCHS PFA and the NCHS Writing Center have organized a virtual two-part college essay workshop for all students. The workshop will run in the evenings on March 22 and March 29 from 7:00-8:30 pm.  

The first workshop will help students generate ideas for their college essays, and the second will help students select an organizational structure that will best develop their ideas. Once students have a draft of their essay, they are encouraged to bring it to the Writing Center for additional feedback. All students are welcome to join!

EVENT LOCATION: Click HERE for Zoom link.

The School Counselors host this program for sophomore parents that focuses on creating an appropriate testing plan for junior year. The program will review the formats of the SAT and the PSAT, comparing them to the ACT to enable parents help their children in deciding which option makes the most sense. 

Our speaker will be Whitney Longworth from Summit Educational Group. This will be a virtual event and we will record it. Look for the zoom link prior to the day.

EVENT LOCATION: Virtual via Zoom. Link to follow.

NCHS School Day SAT for juniors is confirmed for March 30, 2022. We highly encourage all juniors to take this test. The scores from this test can also be sent to colleges for admissions purposes. Registration will be handled through the school at no cost to families.

Students may register for the SAT test at www.collegeboard.org and for the ACT test at www.actstudent.org.

*NCHS is a test site 

Juniors, are you interested in attending a CT State University? Check out this college fair on Feb16! Take advantage of this unique opportunity to learn from representatives at each of Connecticut's four state universities (Central, Eastern, Southern, and Western) and the University of Connecticut.

EVENT LOCATION: Virtual via Zoom. Click HERE to register.

NCHS teachers will be making course recommendations for next year just prior to the upcoming February break. Students in grades 9, 10 and 11 will then have access through the school portal to make preliminary selections. 

During a Connections meeting, students will review the steps for choosing their schedule and a tutorial will be forwarded as a refresher. Counselors will meet with each of their students through March to review their selections and answer questions.

The New Canaan High School band, choir and orchestra programs will perform a collaborative concert in the NCHS auditorium on Tuesday, February 8 at 7:00pm. NCHS Music teachers Scott Cranston, Leo Ficks and Sarah Gleason have been working with their students during the past month preparing for this concert that will feature over 100 of our high school musicians. Although each group performs regularly throughout each school year, they always look forward to joining forces in this annual celebration of collaborative music-making.

This year, they will present together an arrangement of Christopher Tin’s Baba Yetu, the theme song for the video game Civilization IV and the first to be nominated for and win a Grammy award (2011). Also featured is a collaboration lead by Mr. Ficks with the orchestra and band students in “Arith-metric”,  a modern composition that is minimalist and structured in a round.

EVENT LOCATION: NCHS Auditorium

Media often romanticizes and normalizes unhealthy, toxic relationship behaviors. In this workshop, parents will learn how to analyze relationships in popular tv shows, movies, and music that teens are exposed to and recognize behaviors such as manipulation and possessiveness. Parents will leave with tips for starting the conversation with their children. Register for this event at www.NewCanaanCARES.org.

EVENT LOCATION: NCHS Wagner Room

Back by popular demand, Filling in the Blanks will be holding its third annual SOUPerBowl Challenge. A Weekend Meal Bag staple, let's help them restock their inventory of kid-favorite soups for local kids in need. 

Who will win this year? Returning champion Chicken Noodle or underdog Tomato?  

Click HERE to visit the FIB virtual food drive and to support your community and your favorite soup! The donation deadline is February 14.

We invite you and your families to participate in the first-ever New Canaan Land Trust Winter Hiking Challenge! Bundle up and explore the trails at our seven open-to-the-public preserves. The Challenge runs through the end of winter (March 20th).

Take in the beautiful scenery as you traverse through woodlands, wetlands, and meadows right here in New Canaan. Share proof of your hike by snapping a selfie next to a trail marker and post it to social media using special hash tags. 

Submit your information to the Land Trust and be entered into a raffle to win a handcrafted walking stick. Click HERE for more information.

The NCHS Scholarship Foundation (NCSF) will hold its second NC Color Drop on Saturday, March 26th, 2022 at 10:00am. After a successful event last year, a sleek Bell407 helicopter, courtesy of HeliNY, will once again fly over the skies of New Canaan and hover over Waveny Park, safely releasing more than 1500 colored golf balls over a designated target.  Each golf ball will have an assigned number.  

The lucky person whose ball lands closest to the target will win a fabulous prize, such as a Momentum Transend Electric Bike, a Pet Portrait by Emma Sims, Mayfair Tickets, and an 84 Sports NC Gift Basket. The winning balls will be announced immediately. 100% of the proceeds will be donated to the NCSF for need-based scholarships given to NCHS graduates.