The Athenian School

Taking time over the weekend for community service, eight students from grade 9 worked with Mark Friedman on Saturday packaging produce at the Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano.

New blog entry: Pillar writer Ilah R. '23 interviewed Neal Gottlieb, founder of Three Twins Ice Cream, about the effects of COVID-19 on the company. https://bit.ly/3c1KyQz

Juniors Lexi G. '22 and Abbie B. '22 were featured in the Alamo Today & Danville Today News for their work constructing tiny house that they plan to donate to Operation Dignity, an Alameda County nonprofit dedicated to helping the homeless.

Mary D. '21 has been featured in a PHOTOxCOLLECTIVE, an online photography exhibition! Check out her work here: https://bit.ly/2XScnm6

Athenian is hiring a Director of People and Culture! This new senior-level position leads human resources and reports directly to the Head of School. Please share within your networks and email [email protected] for more information.

From science and math to literature and history, Athenian teachers are making it work in the classroom! Well-ventilated spaces and protective gear protect students and teachers on campus, and students learning from home are included via Zoom.

The US presidential election shared its date with Japanese Culture Day (Bunka-no-hi ), an important national holiday in Japan. Athenian's Asian Culture Club hosted an origami activity, with students joining both in person and on Zoom. To find out more about Bunka-No-Hi and learn some Japanese vocabulary pertaining to this holiday, click here: https://bit.ly/3l1xwUR

Next week, on November 14th and 15th, Athenian will be hosting our first virtual Open Houses. The Middle School session will be held on the 14th and the Upper School session will be on the 15th. If you’re interested in what makes Athenian so special, please visit Ravenna and register! See you all then!

Athenian is providing a Supervised Study Hall for elementary school-aged children of faculty and staff in order to allow them to fully focus on their roles at the school during the day. These mini-Owls follow their virtual lessons and engage in enrichment activities with teachers Nazeera Salak and Julia Espino throughout the day and in the afternoon.

It's Election Day, and Athenians have been hard at work at the polls! These students are all in Stephanie McGraw's 2020 Election seminar.

Noelle W. '23 wrote this piece for The Pillar, Athenian's student-run publication, about the intersection between climate change and California's record-breaking wildfire season. https://bit.ly/2HSlMG8

This Halloween, Athenian residents and boarding students came together to celebrate! Still abiding by COVID-19 safety regulations, the Athenian residential community managed to gather as a community. (The boarders are separated into family groups of three or four, and in those groups they are allowed to be closer than six feet to one another and take their masks off around each other.) Over the Halloween weekend they carved pumpkins, had a socially distant night time scavenger hunt, and watched the film Coraline. A big thank you to Eric Niles, our Head of School, for supporting the weekend's events and the Halloween Committee, (Prefect) Yeva Horbin ‘22, (Prefect) David Yang ‘22, Dorm Head Erika Argueta-Connor, and ADH Paula Jurado ‘16 for putting together a wonderful community gathering!

Students have been back on campus on an alternating-week schedule, with structural modifications and social distancing measures in place. We're so happy to have them here!

Our Service Pillar remains strong! Community Service Director Mark Friedman took a group of students to distribute food with the Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano last week in San Pablo.

Athenian Alum Daniel Ziblatt '90 has co-written a fascinating opinion piece on Democracy in the New York Times. Daniel is Eaton Professor of the Science of Government at Harvard and the author of three books including the NYT bestseller "How Democracies Die." Check out the article here: https://nyti.ms/3oqVTgN

Athenian, in partnership with educational consultant Erica Hernandez, is helping to expand access to independent schools through our first virtual "Introduction to Independent Schools" event on October 28 at 5:30 PM. Parents, students and guardians interested in learning more about this educational path are all welcome to attend. We will discuss how to navigate the application process and what makes a school independent. For more information or to RSVP, please contact Nenelwa at [email protected].

Students in the Wrestling Athletic Clinic played stability ball rugby earlier this week. This game was invented by wrestling coach Ted Webb for conditioning.

Please join us tomorrow evening to learn about the science and practice of emotional intelligence with Marc Brackett, author of Permission to Feel. Following his talk, our very own faculty member and best-selling author, Mark Lukach, will lead a curated Q&A. Together, this dynamic duo will leave you feeling inspired! RSVP here: http://athenian-brackett.eventbrite.com/ This event will be held online at 5:00pm on October 22. Zoom links will be sent two days prior to the event with a reminder on event day.