Headmaster's Notes
Dr. Vincent M. Stumpo, Headmaster

Dear Linden Hall Community,

We enter the Holiday Season with a spirit of great excitement. The first trimester is finished, our students have just completed their fall examinations, and we all look with anticipation to winter holidays, our Angel-Mortal and Vespers traditions, and a well-deserved rest.

The last month has witnessed several exciting developments. Among these were Linden Hall's first Leadership Seminar Series. Founded by Linda Mummert, and in her words, "The first Pride of the Lion Leadership Class was selected by members of the Linden Hall community based on positive outlook, pride in our school, leadership potential, and a willingness to do the right thing. Students in grades 8-11 were considered.  A volunteer group of adults who aspire to excellence, who believe in Linden Hall, and who believe in these students have prepared an interesting curriculum for this first series.  It is based on John Wooden's Pyramid of Success. Students selected have agreed to complete a series of six to eight seminars and a building project on campus while learning leadership skills that will enable them to be successful throughout life. It is hoped that this inaugural venture will lead to future opportunities for additional classes."

On Saturday, November 10, Linden Hall held a "Day of Caring" on our campus. Students, in their advisory groups, tackled many cleanup and campus beautification projects. This good work was followed by an exciting Blue-White flag football game, then a spectacular bonfire. Mrs. Colin, Mrs. Mummert, and the Student Government officers did a wonderful job of organizing the event.

We have received the results of the recent national EXPLORE test conducted by ACT for our 7th and 8th graders. There were many strong performances summarized by the fact that 40% of our girls tested essentially finished in the top 10% of the nation. The fact that the majority of the girls in that high-achieving group were recently admitted to Linden Hall only further supports the belief that the curricular changes and improvements made over the last 18 months are having a positive impact on recruiting talented and motivated students to Linden Hall.

Such an encouraging outlook is also supported by the results from November's Visit-for-a-Day. Last November, our Admission Department hosted two families and interviewed one of them during this event in 2006. This year, those numbers swelled to ten visiting families with all ten agreeing to be interviewed. Such a response is confirmation that the improvements we have made to both the academic program and the physical plant are being well-received in the competitive marketplace of independent schooling.

We at Linden Hall realize that parents have options as to where to send their daughters to school, and for us to be viable into the 21st century, we must be committed to offering the best learning and living experience. And we are.

I wish all a peaceful and restful Holiday Season.

Advancement Announcements
June Stine, Director of Advancement
It is hard to believe, but the end of the year is rapidly approaching. Now is the time to review important financial matters. Careful planning can help you balance your personal and philanthropic goals for the remainder of the year and beyond. Charitable income tax deductions are within your control. While being philanthropic and remembering Linden Hall, you may enjoy the satisfaction of increasing your tax refund or reducing the taxes you would otherwise owe next April.

How can you give? The most common way of giving is made in the form of cash or check. If you itemize your tax deductions, gifts of cash can eliminate or reduce tax on up to one-half of your adjusted gross income.

Making a gift of stocks, bonds, or mutual funds can also bring you extra savings. When securities have increased in value, you should give them directly to the school rather than sell them and donate the proceeds. If you have owned them for more than a year, securities used to fund a gift can be tax deductible at full fair market value, not just their original cost. With securities that have decreased in value since you have owned them, consider selling them and donating all or some of the proceeds. You can take an income tax deduction for the cash gift and may be able to deduct your loss from other taxable income.

This year if you are over 70 1/2, it is possible to make tax-free charitable gifts directly from your IRA which guarantees the gift will never be subject to income tax or estate tax. The school can also be named a beneficiary of a retirement plan.

Gifts of life insurance that have built up cash value, but are no longer needed for their original purpose, are excellent gifts. You can also designate Linden Hall as a beneficiary of all or part of a life-insurance policy.

Others ways to give are through Charitable Gift Annuities. Both outright and deferred charitable gift annuities are funded with cash or other assets and pay a fixed income to a donor (or donors) for life. A Charitable Remainder Trust provides annual income to a beneficiary or beneficiaries for life or for a term of years. They are more complex than the charitable gift annuity but more flexible for meeting the donor's needs as well. Trusts can be funded with a variety of assets. A Charitable Lead Trust provides annual income to the school during the donor’s lifetime while transferring assets to the donor’s heirs. A lawyer will need to help you set up these kinds of giving vehicles.

A donor may give a home or other residential or commercial property to the school while retaining the right to live in it for life or a term of years.

There are so many way to give at the end of the year to help maximize your gift to the school while obtaining tax and financial benefits. Please contact your accountant, financial planner, or lawyer who can help with your specific needs.

Auction Update
Missy Anderson '73, Alumnae Director
The second annual silent and live auction will be held Saturday, April 12, 2008, at the Anne Brossman Sweigart Sports and Fitness Center from 5:30-7:30 p.m. “Roots & Wings” is our theme this year, and the Phyllis Stadler Lyon ’52 gymnasium will be transformed into springtime in a garden setting.

Please join us for a light buffet supper, refreshments, and incredible desserts, to enjoy an entertaining evening to raise funds for the Historic Renovation Fund.

We are currently accepting donations for our auction: i.e., vacation getaways, artwork, antiques, autographed celebrity items, gift certificates, sporting events, gift baskets, or cooking lessons.

Please contact the Advancement Office at Linden Hall, 717-626-8512, or email Susan Hall for more information.

Help us reach our goal to raise $30,000! Thank you in advance for your help.

College Counseling News
Susan Kirkland, Director of College Counseling
Seniors are in the home stretch of the college application process. Materials for Early Decision candidates have been sent, and all other applications will be sent prior to the Christmas vacation. The girls have worked consistently well since the beginning of the school year, and they are looking forward to the holidays and a well-deserved rest. I’m very proud of their efforts.

Juniors started the formal college process in October. They participated in college classes and received a handbook with detailed information on all aspects of the process. At this time, they are self-evaluating and determining initial college criteria. Individual meetings with the college counselor will begin in January. The juniors also took the PSAT in October, and results will arrive in December for review.

Results of the EXPLORE test, given to grades seven and eight at the beginning of September, identified ten students with excellent academic abilities. The families of those students have been notified, and the girls have been invited by Dr. Stumpo to participate in the Advanced Scholars Program. The results for all students indicated a need for more work in the areas of usage and mechanics and rhetorical (writing) skills, and English teachers will be incorporating more drill work into their classes to strengthen these areas. Students did nicely in the Reading and Math areas, and any individual needs will be addressed by the appropriate teachers. The Science results indicated a need for intervention, although lower scores are not uncommon at this age level and in this area because of the vast differences in science curricula throughout the country. Linden Hall’s newly established science curriculum should improve this area.

PLAN results have finally arrived for grades nine and ten, and evaluation reports have been sent to families. The counseling office will meet individually with students to review their results and to suggest areas and ways for improvement. A complete review of the results will occur, and a summary will be provided in the next bulletin.

As always, please contact me if you have any questions or concerns.

Upper School Update
Sally Watkins, Academic Dean
We certainly have had a busy fall with students and teachers following syllabi and with new classes, especially in science and social studies, getting into the academic routine. To break up a busy schedule, on the Monday following Parents’ Weekend students had a late opening so that they could sleep in or just relax; when both boarding and day students attended breakfast that morning, they were surprised to see their teachers behind the serving line and at the milk, cereal, and juice areas ready to fulfill their orders! Everyone enjoyed this relaxing time together.

For the first time middle school students took exams on November 7, 8, and 9 and now have an idea of how to prepare for a longer test and how to take one. This routine is ingrained into upper school students as they spent two days in review before the tests and attended study groups. Everyone looks at this assessment time very seriously in both the preparation and grading of tests by the faculty and the actual taking of tests by the student body.

LuAnn Billett, photography teacher, will be returning for the second trimester full time as of Monday, November 12. We welcome her and extend our appreciation to Christy Nickey who substituted capably for LuAnn.

Middle School Messages
Sally Watkins, Middle School Dean
Our middle school day students are excited about the up-coming renovations to their Day Lounge: painting and carpeting, expanding the space by removing a dividing wall, arranging new furniture, and providing larger lockers for both coats and books. As a highlight to the partial demolition process, the day students wrote graffiti on the walls of the room divider; they laughed, scribbled, and had fun. Everyone is delighted by this prospective updating!

Click images for larger view.

We are very proud of the excellent performance of ten of our middle school students on the recently administered standardized tests. Since the tests also provide valuable information about where strengths and weaknesses reside in both English and math areas, both the English and Math Departments have met to go over recommendations and to decide how to resolve areas of weakness.

Of course, during the week of November 5 through November 9 the middle school students will be taking exams for the first time. They will experience a review of material covered during the first trimester and then an exam that covers that material. The faculty is very interested in observing what this kind of assessment shows about mastery of material.

The middle school faculty meets monthly after school to discuss how to encourage and assist students who may be having academic or behavioral difficulty. We are diligent in notifying parents about our concerns.

Academic Spotlight: Mathematics
Mary Cuba, Department Chair
Many new and exciting changes have been made in the Mathematics Department for the 2007-2008 school year. First, we have established a two-year Algebra I course for girls who need a longer exposure to algebra concepts to attain mastery. Shaaron Lavery is teaching the first course, Algebra IA, this year, and next year we will be adding an Algebra IB course. We have also designed an honors level Algebra 2 course which includes all content required for the SAT Math 1 and 2 Subject Tests. We are very happy with the addition of this course and plan to add an honors geometry course next year which will be designed to delve deeper into the content taught in our college preparatory geometry.

Also, new this year is an alternative approach to the teaching of pre-calculus. We have adopted the text that precedes the one we use for A.P. Calculus. Teacher Linda Gillingham reports, "I am really excited about the new pre-calculus text. I like the way that numerical, algebraic, and graphical approaches are integrated. We have been studying how to analyze functions by looking at domain and range, continuity, increasing and decreasing behavior, boundedness, local and absolute extrema, symmetry, asymptotes, and end behavior. We've also investigated vertical and horizontal translations, reflections across axes, and vertical and horizontal stretches and shrinks. We have analyzed linear and quadratic functions in depth; we are currently working on analyzing power functions; we will analyze rational functions next. We are also learning how to use the graphing calculator to draw scatter plots, find a regression model, and use the regression model to make predictions. It's really fun and exciting stuff!"

Our statistics course is also off and running. We have learned the difference between categorical and quantitative data and have also learned how to display them. Currently, we are learning how to standardize and model data. The girls seem to be really enjoying this course and are learning much about math in the real world, not "math world."

Finally, nine of our girls are currently preparing to take the A.P. Calculus exam in May. With additional class time gained by beginning the year in August and having extra classes scheduled throughout the year, there is much more time to dig deep and practice for our BIG day! We've conquered limits and continuity, are currently engrossed by derivatives, and look forward to integration.

Yes, another great year is in full swing, and we in the Mathematics Department are privileged to be working with all of our girls and seeing them develop in their mathematics career!

Gracenotes
Biba Benjamin, Music Director
The Parents' Weekend Concert was a great success! Many thanks to the girls in both the Upper and Middle School hand bell choirs and choruses. The Upper School Chorus performed an aria by Bach that was very challenging as it was their first time singing four-part harmony. In the beginning of rehearsals, there was some question whether or not the girls could handle such an endeavor, but they rose to the occasion and did a wonderful job! The soloists for the concert, Emma Callahan, Sera Park and Bee-Ah Kang, gave splendid performances.

Coming up in a few short weeks is our Vesper Service which will be held on Sunday, December 9. Again, the Upper School Chorus will be tackling a piece that they have never sung before. I know the audience will be thrilled to hear this classic Christmas choral piece.

On the Boards
Dennis Foreman, Drama Director
Thornton Wilder's Our Town, our upper school play, was performed in late October and has received rave reviews.  The day immediately following, October 29, auditions were held for our middle school production, Charlotte's Web.  Mr. Foreman was extremely excited about the number of talented middle schoolers who auditioned.  A cast and crew of 17 will be performing this classic children's tale on Saturday, February 16th.  Abby Milnor-Sweetser (senior) and Diana Egnatz (sophomore) will be assisting Mr. Foreman as student directors.  Rehearsals for the play are in progress during D-blocks on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.  Actual casting will be finalized following Thanksgiving Break.

The BIG question in drama circles is, "What will be the title of the spring production?!"  Mr. Foreman promises an answer before Winter Break.

Between the Lines
Linda Mummert, Athletic Director
THANK YOU to the tennis and volleyball parents for providing support during the season as well as the pot luck dinners for the awards presentations at the end of the season. Your involvement is critical to the success of our programs, and we appreciate all you do.

The Equestrian Team is off to a strong start with the MS earning champion and reserve champion in their two competitions to date. The varsity team received champion honors in New York. Both teams have earned the right to compete in the Zone II Regional Championships to be held at Linden Hall on March 30, 2008. The next competition is at the end of January.

Blue & White competitions began this year with the flag football game being played on November 10 followed by a bonfire. US Blue 3 vs. US White 2. MS Blue 2 vs. MS White 2.

All information regarding athletic programs including practice locations and times as well as contests and results can be located on the Linden Hall Sports Calendar. Go to this site and sign up for instant notification of changes by email alerts. It is simple... just a click away!

In the Dorms
Dennis Foreman, Upper School Dorm Director
As I write this, Thanksgiving Break is less than two days away.  It is difficult to believe how quickly this first trimester has flown by!  I am very thankful for each member of our dormitory staff.  This has been a superb first trimester and we are truly blest with amazing individuals:  Lindsay Bowman, Terry Bucher, Mirjam Mosimann, and Shaaron Lavery in our Middle School Dorms; Lisa Bachman, Jen Cairns, Janel Falvey, Michelle Petersen, and Alison Whiteside in our Upper School; and, Claudia Prosack, Ligeia Jennis, and Pam Smith in our Independent Living Dorm.  I would also like to thank Jim Rothwell for his ongoing work in our computer room and for holding math labs for our girls on Wednesday and Sunday evenings.  We are pleased to announce that Ms. Sarah Mauger will be joining us as part of our Upper School dorm staff.  Ms. Mauger will be moving to campus in mid-December.

Student Council Corner
Judy Conlin, Student Council Advisor
Parents’ Weekend was a busy time for the members of the Student Council. The girls could be seen on the volleyball court, in the riding ring, on the stage, and in the hallways guiding parents to classrooms. The girls enjoyed meeting the parents of their friends and fellow students.

The next day was time to prepare for participation in the Lititz Halloween Parade. The parade not only offered the international students the opportunity to participate in a fall tradition in Lititz, but it also gave the girls a night of fun and laughter after Parents’ Weekend and before the week of final exams. All the girls who participated had a fun time.

Continuing with their plans to offer cultural and community service projects for the student body, the Student Council organized the community service part of Day of Pride, held November 10. Faculty and students, buckets and rakes in hand, spread out through the campus, inside and out, raking, washing windows, cleaning out closets, and most importantly, laughing with their friends and with their teachers. It was the beginning of a great day for the student body.

Plans are being made for the Holiday Season. Trees will be decorated, candy canes will be available, and the traditional Angel Mortal Holiday Gift Exchange and Party will be held. The Student Council is looking forward to providing a “homey” atmosphere for the holidays.

Student's Soapbox
Abby Milnor-Sweetser, Class of 2008

A senior, Abby Milnor-Sweetser is co-editor of the Linden Ledger, our school paper, and has won recognition for her writing through The Scholastic Writing Awards. This piece is one of her most recent forays into self-discovery.

Thoughts For Students As We Approach Exams
Ligeia Jennis, History Department Chairperson
I have two poems I would like to share with you. Let me start with the poem I first read when I was about your age.

Invictus (William Ernest Henley)
Out of the Night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find me, unafraid.

It matters not how straight the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

I offer this to you for two reasons. First, because it is a great poem, even for someone who has pretty much hit the cosmic lottery of life. I am protected (many of us are) from a lot of the things that many, many people in the world must face every single day-abject poverty, imminent violence and chaos, persecution for my beliefs, the list of day to day struggles that I do not have to face is actually amazingly long and I have done nothing to deserve my safety. But, nonetheless, here I am safe and secure and yet still part of me wants to identify with this poem which is all about having an unbreakable attitude in the face of struggle, or at least part of me wanted to in the past.

Second, I offer you the poem to tell you a little bit about how time and experience have changed my mind and my perspective. To be frank, I no longer want to live that poem. Sure, I hope that I will have the strength of character to face life's challenges. I am just not sure I need to be so determined about chasing those challenges down. I now believe a bit more in the second poem, the one by John Milton.

On His Blindness (John Milton)
When I consider how my light is spent
Ere half my days in the dark world and wide,
And that one talent which is death to hide
Lodg'd with me useless, though my soul more bent
To serve therewith my Maker, and present
My true account, lest he returning chide,
"Doth God exact day-labour, light denied?"
I fondly ask. But Patience, to prevent
that murmur, soon replies: "God doth not need
Either man's work or his own gifts: who best
Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best. His state
Is kingly. Thousands at his bidding speed
And post o'er land and ocean without rest:
They also serve who only stand and wait."

Now, before I recommend to you that you occasionally "stand and wait," let me take you on a short journey.

I remember sitting on the steps of my high school sometime shortly after graduation. A friend and I were about to attend the same college, as we had attended the same classes since I transferred in to his kindergarten class. We had both been among the top students in our grade, had pretty much divided up the awards and local scholarships. We were, in short, our school's lottery winners, the heavy hitters, whatever other cliché you want to use. In any event, we sat there on the steps of our former school, the site of so many of our academic successes, and on that clear, warm, June night we said pretty much the dumbest thing it is possible to say and I think I was actually the one to say it first. I said, and he nodded and agreed, "Well, how much harder could it be?"

The thing about searching out challenges is that sometimes you find them. In high school, I had been able to earn top grades in my school's toughest classes while working about 20 hours a week, lettering in a varsity sport and marching band, participating the the regional honors orchestra, editing my school newspaper, taking a third language, and leading several school clubs including NHS, yearbook, debate, and some others I am now forgetting. And I was able to do all of this because (and even I knew it at the time) my classes were easy. Even though they were the most challenging that my school had to offer at the time, they were still easy. I applied to colleges specifically to find a more challenging academic environment and then decided to go to the school that every guide described as "intense." In short, I was just daring someone to "charge my scroll" with "punishments."

And they did. Swarthmore College answered the question of “How much harder could it be?” just about every day. In that first semester, my grades literally ran the gamut. I had never worked harder in my life and yet the resulting grades were uninspiring to say the least. Let's just say that I felt “circumstantially bludgeoned.” I felt at times as if I were, indeed, in the middle of that “pit,” and most days I was not certain who was mastering whom.

But I stayed. And so did my friend. We still had some of the same classes together. Chemistry, we somehow eeked out a passing grade after some of the worst test and quiz grades in recorded student history. Calculus, having both tested into a higher level, we both wondered why we had ever thought to sit for the Honors test at all. In the end, he passed and I did not, but I went against my advisor's advice and took the class again the next semester just to prove that it wasn't me, that it was the professor. I guess you could say that I was still searching out battles and “bludgeonings,” but I did eek out a C+ the second time.

And then there was Economics. I took that class because my friend raved about it.

And he was right. It was an amazing class with a professor I still think is one of the best teachers I will ever know. He was tough but fair and seemed to know just about everything about economics and economic history. Even though I was no good at math, out of sheer respect for this professor I kept going in economics to be one credit shy of a degree. I stopped only when I could no longer memorize enough to make up for the fact that I could not see in my mind's eye all of the mathematical underpinnings of the material we were covering. I stopped when I could no longer understand the material.

Now, this brings me back to challenges. In college, I often saw how much I could not see, how much better than I some of my fellow classmates were, how difficult the material was. Time and time again, I was offered a “strait gate” and I charged ahead with old skills for new problems (like reading the entire actual transcripts of the Sacco and Vanzetti Trial; the stack of books came up from the floor to above my hip, I read every single word and I earned a C- for the paper because I had decided to substitute volume for understanding; all that info and I hadn't actually answered the question).

Sometimes, I tried to find new skills for new problems and I tried to see how I could adapt to this new arena when I mostly felt blind and blinded by the work load and expectations. But mostly, I felt swamped. Even when I was “winning,” the terms of the victory were just dramatically different. I was no longer the smartest person in the classroom and I frequently just could not see what the professor wanted from me.

And, let me tell you a dirty little secret, my college GPA would not have allowed me on the Linden Hall Honor Roll. Not even close. I graduated and then went on to Oxford and graduate school and years of teaching, but the most important educational experience of my life was hardly a ringing victory for my GPA. I never would have gotten out of study hall with my grades. Never.

But, and this was important, I was learning. Most of the time, (calculus excepted) I learned more in one class than I had in all of high school. There are lessons that I use in classes to this day that came from classes I took in college. Heck, the principles that guide my life come from a class I took in college, which is also to say that my son comes from something I learned in college. So, where it counted, in the ways that have lasted, in the ways that still define me today, I succeeded in college and the challenges Swarthmore presented to me were worth the price I paid for them.

I know that grades are important to you now (and they should be to some degree), but they will not always define you. They don't even need to define you now, though they can certainly be part of the definition. Think about it, how many of you would have assumed that I had to take calculus twice in college in order to pass it? It is hardly stamped upon my breast like some scarlet C.

Believe me, there were times in college where my biggest wish was that I could return to high school, to have just one minute more when I was sure I was “mastering” the material and easily earning an A+, when I knew I was in charge. It is easy to cling to the past as times change. Buddhism defines this as the central cause of all human suffering. At some point, though, we need to decide if the change is worth it, not just for some external validation, but for ourselves. And this leads me back to the second poem.

John Milton was an English poet during the Inter-Regnum and Restoration. He wrote Paradise Lost, an epic poem so amazing that it has actually changed western understanding of Christian doctrine. He dared to take on kings and his own government even though doing so endangered his ability to write and his freedom. This is a guy who understood the idea of “mastering one's fate” and being “bloody but unbowed.”

He was also going blind when he wrote this sonnet. And he was also an older man. The same brilliant mind that strove to “explain the ways of God to man” also considered the importance and sheer power of human choice in all matters. Sometimes the right choice is to rail and fight, to charge ahead unafraid and undaunted. Sometimes you just have to gut it out. But sometimes, the best you can do, the very best, is to take a deep breath, determine what you actually can accomplish and what you want to accomplish, what you want for yourself in the bigger picture. Sometimes, the lesson is more important than the grade. And sometimes things going on outside of the classroom are more important than the grade.

To be sure, sometimes the grade is actually what counts, but be sure it counts for you because (and I know this is hard to believe right now) there are actually very few times after school where people will judge you based solely on some grade you earned years ago. And this leads me to my last point, which is also embedded somewhere at the start of this little path.

No athlete expects to win all of the time. No military leader expects only stunning battlefield successes. Think about it. An A+ means that you have completely mastered the material, that your understanding is not merely satisfactory (C), or above average (B), or even excellent (A). A+ pretty much means perfection. If you go through life expecting only perfection, you will be disappointed by excellence. By excellence! If that isn't a recipe for an early ulcer and poor self-esteem, I don't know what is.

As private school students you already have access to privileges and perks that millions of U.S. and international students simply do not have. If lifestyles were graded, most of us would have to admit to at least a B+ in terms of the safety, health, comfort, and freedom we enjoy. And B+ is allowing for a lot of pessimism. And yet, it is very easy to take all of that and forget it. To focus simply on the immediate “loss” in front of us. In a life filled with B+s and better, it is easy to hyper focus on the quiz or test or assignment or class in front of us, as if that is the only thing that matters, as if anything less than an A+ on that means our total failure.

But is that really true? Each of you is a talented, complex, multi-abled, multi-interested young woman. You have abilities and skills for the classroom as well as abilities and skills that have little to do with the classroom. Is it really fair to yourself to expect that you only succeed perfectly at everything?

If teaching were graded the way learning is, then I have to be honest and tell you that I haven't given an A+ lesson since about a year and a half before I had my son. I remember the lesson. It was heaven. I was completely on track and the students “got” my every allusion and metaphor. All of the connections I tried to explain made sense and opened up the text a bit more. Discussion flowed naturally. I even learned things I hadn't known before then. Students who did not normally engage in discussion were on fire and participating like crazy. If anyone in the history of teaching has taught “Catcher in the Rye” and the post war American culture better than I did on that day, well, I just don't believe they did. Maybe they taught it as well, but I am not sure it could be taught better.

And every lesson after that has been less than total heaven. Does that mean I am a failure as a teacher? My students still went on to the next level, some took the APs, some took the SAT IIs, all got into the colleges or summer programs of their first choice. Even the students for whom I did not have a single A+ lesson in the entire year, the entire year! They are doing well as well. They still got the material and were able to then succeed at their next classes. When we talk or they e-mail me, they still sometimes bring up points from the classes and seem to be happy with the year, even the year without any A+ lessons.

In other words, perfection is not always necessary. There is an old saying, “the perfect is the enemy of the good.” In your quest for the perfect grade, for the constant A+, are you being fair to yourself and your learning process? Or are you just charging ahead to see how many “punishments are charged on your scroll?” Are you, in essence, daring the world to challenge you simply to experience the “bludgeoning” of the challenge?

Your environment has become more challenging; it has changed and you can't change that, but you do have a choice for your next steps. You can keep railing against that change or keep trying to apply old skills to new challenges. Or you can “stand and wait” for at least one deep breath's moment. You can can look at your new arena and consider the strengths you can bring into it. In short, you can redefine success away from that old, easy A+ and to a new area. Maybe for some of you that will still be an A+, maybe it will be a B, maybe even the occasional stumble into C or D-ville or lower. But it can also be about what you are learning and what you are learning about yourself in your world. All of the A+s in the universe can't substitute for actual understanding. And, in the end, it is our understanding that follows us in this world.

I am not trying to tell you that failure is okay, that grades don't count at all. Constant failure isn't okay and you all are wise enough to know that. Similarly, grades do count, just ask the seniors as they are in the middle of their college applications. (Or, better yet, wait until they aren't actually, literally, in the middle of their application materials and the gut wrenching anxiety that is now part of every high school senior's October and November. They will still remember the stress in December, but asking a senior about the process in the middle of her applications is like trying to stop a quarterback in the middle of the championship game play. You can try it but you are likely to be tackled from all sides for it.)

Linden Hall is a college preparatory school. Our goal is to challenge and engage you as students, to prepare you for academic environments beyond our walls and also for a life of learning beyond the classroom. Your goal is to learn and grow and mature, to be the best “you” you can be. In that process, grades count and A+s are nice. But this is not a sprint. You do not have to “post o'er land and ocean without rest.” You only get one try at life, only a certain measure of days and “light” to spend as you best can. Just make sure, as you spend your light, that you spend it wisely, that you make it mean something to you.

It is okay to stumble when your road becomes more steep or rocky or curvy, or whatever else can happen to roads to make them more challenging. It is okay to stumble as long as you get back up again and as long as you know why you are on the road in the first place, to grow and learn and mature, to reach your highest potential. That is the ultimate goal of Linden Hall and it pretty much the only worthwhile goal in life. Just ask John Milton.

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IN THIS ISSUE:

Headmaster's Notes
Linden Hall's Leadership Seminar Series, Day of Caring activities, EXPLORE test results, and November's Visit-for-a-Day

Advancement Announcements
Charitable income tax deductions and planned giving

Auction Update

College Counseling News
Seniors' college searches, Juniors' begin looking, and testing results

Upper School Update
Exams and LuAnn Billett returns from maternity leave

Middle School Messages
Day lounge renovations, exams, and faculty "parenting"

Academic Spotlight
Algebra I, Pre-calculus, and Statistics

Gracenotes
Parents' Weekend review and preparing for Vespers

On the Boards
Charlotte's Web casting

Between the Lines
Equestrian teams qualify for Zone II regional championships, to be held at Linden Hall!

In the Dorms
Giving thanks to our dorm staff

Student Council Corner
Parents' Weekend, Halloween Parade, Day of Pride, and Angel-Mortal events

Student's Soapbox
Abby Milnor-Sweetser
Class of 2008

Thoughts For Students As We Approach Exams
Ligeia Jennis
History Department Chairperson

PLEASE NOTE:

Password protection is now in place on the alumnae and parent sections of the Linden Hall website. We do this for the protection of your personal information. When you go to www.lindenhall.org and click on one of the password protected sections at the bottom of the page, you will be taken to a login page. On that page is a link that you can use to register on our website. It is easy and takes only seconds!

UPCOMING EVENTS: