November 23, 2025

Trimester #1 is officially in the books, and tomorrow begins our well-deserved week off. Is it just us or is this year FLYING by?!
We hope you have plenty of time this week to rest, recharge, and enjoy the season with family and friends. Whether you’re traveling, spending time cooking delicious food, or simply catching up on sleep and your favorite activities, this break is the perfect chance to pause and reflect on what we’re grateful for.

We’re exceedingly proud of all the hard work and accomplishments our community has achieved so far this year. We look forward to returning next week with full energy, feeling ready for an exciting winter season ahead.

Enjoy this week's newsletter, and we wish everyone a safe, joyful, and restorative break! 

All in the spirit of the season, teachers received a special surprise this week from Middle School Art Elective students, as their class spent time creating and delivering Teacher Gratitude Cards! Thank you, Amy and FSW art students for this thoughtful sentiment. 

Next Thursday is Thanksgiving! When I was first introduced to the holiday in 1998, I had been living in the USA for just one week. It was a chilly day on the shores of the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland, but the football was on and Anne’s large family filled the house with noise and fun. I liked Thanksgiving and all its traditions immediately. There was plenty of food and drink, tossing footballs, afternoon walks, and we ended the evening watching “A Charlie Brown Christmas.” We drew names from a hat for Secret Santa while Anne’s mum played carols on the piano, officially kicking off the Christmas season.

It’s hard to think of an Australian holiday quite like Thanksgiving. Australia was discovered by the British in 1770, and the First Fleet of settlers, mostly prisoners, arrived in 1788. These original settlers displaced Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, who had lived on the continent for tens of thousands of years. January 26th, sometimes called “Australia Day,” marks the anniversary of this arrival, but today it’s increasingly regarded as a time to recognize and reflect upon the rich and ancient history of Indigenous Peoples and their resilience.

In lieu of having a toy swap this year, we have decided to partner with an amazing local organization called the Free Christmas Shop of Wilmington. At the end of last school year, we donated a large amount of gently loved toys to this organization and they were incredibly gracious, and loved the support from our school.
Free Christmas Shop of Wilmington is one of the few local organizations that accepts gently loved items, and their impact on the community is undeniable. Last year they helped over 500 families by providing a free holiday shopping experience, and they are expecting similar numbers this year. We will be helping in multiple ways-

Jacket and Toy Drive:
Thanksgiving break is a great time to go through your gently loved toys and jackets to donate! We will be collecting gently loved kid and adult jackets and gently loved (or new) toys amongst other items until Wednesday, December 10th. Please check out the flyer for the full list of needed items. If you have any questions regarding what kind of items being accepted, please email pa@fsow.org 

Thank you to those who have already dropped off items! We already had to take a carload of jackets and toys to the Free Shop collection site! The Free Christmas Shop is still looking for volunteers. Please check out their sign-up genius if you are interested in volunteering:

Holiday Stocking Service Learning Project:
Another way we will be supporting the Free Christmas Shop will be collecting and stuffing holiday stockings. Please check out the items needed to supplement the stocking assembly effort, and drop-off items to the front desk (or during morning drop-off) by Friday, December 5th. Items will be organized and students will be assembling stockings on Wednesday, December 10th.

To kick-off our break and honor this season of gratitude, each classroom celebrated in their own special way.

Stepping Stones spent their week chop, chop, chippity-chopping up vegetables and preparing Stone Soup before sharing their collaborative meal with families on Wednesday

Both Stargazer classes came together with their families for songs and multi-cultural cuisine in honor of their International Day of the Child celebration

Kindergarten Sea Stars and First Grade Fiddler Crabs joined together to share in query, song, and yummy food with their families. Students and adults each shared what they are most thankful for (gravitational pull and electricity made the list)

Second and Third Grade Seapiper families gathered in the spirit of their long-held Singalong tradition.
Sitting close with blankets and loved-ones, their voices lifted as one, giving quiet thanks for the joy, warmth, and sense of community that embraces all of us.

In the spirit of team-building and gratitude for their many accomplishments, Middle School students headed off campus on Friday to celebrate all of their hard-work this trimester.
6th-grade ventured to a rock quarry in search of shark teeth, 7th-grade went to the Fort Fisher Aquarium, and 8th-grade took advantage of the beautiful weather with a hike at Carolina Beach State Park

Earlier this week, several classes gathered at the tree nursery to study the seedlings they planted last winter and reflect upon their growth over the past nine months.
It's hard to believe that in just a few weeks, more than 600 trees raised right here at Friends School will be transplanted to micro-forest sites in Wilmington between December 5th - 7th!

That's not all -- about 800 seedlings will be available to take home during our tree give-away on Thursday, December 11th (see flyer for details). 

If you are available to help with any of these upcoming events, please follow the link below to the Sign-up Genius

The Green Team recently hosted two successful book club meetings for Nature's Best Hope on November 13th and 16th at Longleaf Cottage. Thanks to everyone who read the book and attended these meetings.
We also welcomed a special guest, Margee Herring, representing The Alliance for Cape Fear Trees. Margee shared information about their efforts to preserve trees in Wilmington and recruit volunteer tree stewards to care for the city's trees. From the beginning, the Alliance has supported our Native Tree Nursery and helped identify suitable micro-forest sites for our trees. 

The Green Team is excited to begin a wildlife habitat project in front of the cottage this winter! If you are interested in learning more about this project or joining the Green Team, please contact Meghan Sweeney -- meghan@trifectapress.com.
Our next meeting is Tuesday, December 16th from 8:00-9:00am

If you have a copy of Nature's Best Hope that belongs to Friends School, please drop it off with Susan Willis at our front desk. Thank you!

Friends School Science Olympians are digging-in deeply to the 2025-26 season through research, knowledge-building, engineering processes, and scientific cycles. As their curiosity, collaboration, and persistence shine more and more each week, teams are connecting early exploration to focused skill development. We love observing your process and are eager to see what happens next!

Welcome back, Smith family!

We are so happy to have Enzo and his parents, Alex and Ryan rejoin the 1st grade cohort. 

Attention Stargazer Families!!

Do you have a rising Kindergartner?

Please plan to attend a virtual information session especially for you on December 4th at 5:45pm, where you will receive important information about:

Stay tuned for upcoming communications about the session!

Good Shepherd Sign-Up Link

We're always looking for volunteers to help with our monthly dinner shifts at Good Shepherd Center! Follow the link HERE to sign up for any of the upcoming shifts, now through January!
We serve on the 3rd Thursday of each month from 4:30-7:00 PM at 811 Martin Street.
Come lend a hand and be part of this meaningful community effort!