Summer reading assignments and suggestions have been posted to the SAS library website. In addition to this year's all-School read—Transatlantic by Colum McCann—you are asked to read two other books from the required reading list, all of which have been recommended by St. Andrew's faculty.

Next year, we have several brilliant visiting writers coming to campus. We're excited to announce that Colum McCann, who won the National Book Award in 2009 for Let the Great World Spin, will visit St. Andrew's for a day next year. At the end of the school year, we gave all current students a copy of TransAtlantic. Students should bring their book back to school with them - we will be studying the novel in all English classes next year before McCann's visit.

In fact, as you read TransAtlantic, and get to know the fictional version of Frederick Douglass that McCann creates in its pages, students may also want to dip into the work of renowned historian David Blight, whose recent biography, Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom (2018), which just won both the Pulitzer and Bancroft Prizes, among many others. Since we are always interested in how different disciplines can learn from one another—something you can see in the vast array of books suggested by the faculty—Professor Blight will be visiting on campus this year as well and will engage in a conversation with Colum McCann.

Additionally, in the fall, Richard Blanco—an American poet, author, civil engineer, and President Obama's second inaugural poet—will spend a day with our students. I strongly recommend reading his poetry collection In Looking for the Gulf Motel and his memoir, The Prince of Los Cocuyos: A Miami Childhood. In these works, he explores his Cuban heritage and his role as a gay man in Cuban-American culture. We are thrilled that he will be one or our visiting writers next year!

There is no summer homework beyond the required reading, but fun enrichment resources can also found on the summer work website, if you wish to keep in practice in your favorite subjects for the fall.

We've made a slight change to the 2019-2020 academic calendar. The winter Long Weekend will now begin Friday, January 24, 2020 at noon, and run until Tuesday, January 28 at 6:00 p.m. Fall semester exams will run Tuesday, January 21 through Friday morning, January 24. All students will be in exams until 11:30 am on January 24. Please do not arrange early departures without first talking to Dean of Studies Gretchen Hurtt.

The most up-to-date version of the one-page school calendar PDF can always be found at https://www.standrews-de.org/parents/calendars/pdf.

Current parents, do you love talking about your child's experience at St. Andrew's? The Admission Office needs volunteers to contact the parents of accepted students throughout the month of March and offer to talk through their decisions to enroll. If you are willing to volunteer a few hours of your time, make calls to three to five families, and help more great students and parents choose SAS, please send us an email at admissions@standrews-de.org.

• Whenever you have any changes in personal information such as your address, phone/cell number, employment, or email address, please let the School know as soon as possible, so that we may update our records. You can email updates to us at healthcenter@standrews-de.org, or to Diane Fagan at dfagan@standrews-de.org.
• If your health or dental insurance information changes at any time during the school year, please be sure to send us an updated scanned copy of the front and back of your new insurance card(s). This also pertains to prescription cards.
• Unfortunately, this time of year, we tend to see an increase in illnesses. If at any time, your child is sent home due to illness (or an injury), when the student returns to campus, he or she—along with you, the parent/guardian—must check in with the Health Center first, before returning to dorm and resuming School activities. In some cases, the student may require a letter from your healthcare provider authorizing his or her return to School.

Happy 2019! As we charge into the new year, we are confidently entering our exam period—but we need your help! We would like to offer you the opportunity to send your student(s) an Exam Basket to help them prepare for their mid-term exams.

All the proceeds will go to all-School events organized by the Class of 2019 (including prom!).

We have made two different kinds of exam baskets available to order for your child or grandchild: the Nutritious Basket and the Indulgent Basket. The Nutritious Basket will be filled with snacks on the healthier end of the spectrum, whereas the Indulgent Basket will satisfy all those study-session cravings.

The deadline to order a basket for your student(s) is Thursday, January 17. Visit The Saints Shop, our online marketplace, to order yours today!

Thank you so much for your support!

Love,

Noor El-Baradie '19, Carson McCoy '19, and the entire Class of 2019