[vc_row][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text]Dear Flint Hill School Families,

Have you ever had that great feeling of pride and appreciation when you have a large family gathering? It’s the feeling you have when you look down the Thanksgiving table, around the backyard at the family reunion or when you gather with a group of friends. You feel a deep-seated sense of how great it is to get together, how fortunate you feel to be a part of that wonderful moment and the comfort it gives you to see it all happening.

That is exactly what I hope we all felt this past weekend during our tremendous Homecoming. Friday night’s bonfire was an outstanding event. In fact, one parent shared with me that her child, a kindergartener, proudly announced, “This is the best day of my life!” I sincerely hope they have many more “best days” just like that at Flint Hill. It was great to see the energy and excitement among everyone who attended.  From the team captains and the tremendous efforts of our facilities staff, to the outstanding band performance, brisk business in Spirit Alley, and our parent volunteers, it all demonstrated the very best from our school family. We often hear of a desire for “Friday night lights” and the gathering of the community that occurs during Friday night football games in other parts of the country. But it was wonderful to have our moment and to see the great sense of satisfaction and joy among all of our students and parents. Also on Friday evening, our Falcon alumni (pre 1990) joined us for a tremendous reunion in the Miller House thanks to Director of Alumni Relations, Kavon Akhtar ʼ06.

Saturday was another spectacular day. In addition to the beautiful weather, there was joy on the faces of children (and adults) of all ages. I saw parents getting their faces painted. I saw Flint Hill decals on arms, foreheads and faces. And the bookstore set up by Anne Peterson and her group of volunteers was outstanding. I noticed throughout the day more and more people wearing new sweaters, sweatshirts and jackets that had just been purchased. The inflatables for our young students could have not been better.  The food was outstanding and tasty, and people set up picnics all across the school grounds. Alumni who returned were happy to be “home” and were soaking up the Driving Spirit they used to share with their classmates and teachers.

Our athletics teams played with great intensity last weekend. Both the soccer and football teams gave it their all in exciting games against Wilson High School and Maret. I especially loved the banner that our football parents presented to boost school spirit, which made it clear that “This is Our House.”

Most of our fall teams, which were proudly mentioned in the Homecoming brochure, are into their tournaments now. The Golf team went undefeated this season and won its fourth consecutive championship. The Volleyball team won its third consecutive conference championship, and the Girls’ Tennis team was Tri-Champion at the end of the regular season.  Our Field Hockey team just finished a fantastic start to our program and we are very proud of the girls who pioneered this exciting new opportunity. The Cross Country team had its final meet on Homecoming day, and now several runners are off to the state tournament. Both the Boys’ and Girls’ Soccer teams will be on the hunt for tournament titles this week and the Football team will play at home on Saturday for a share of the MAC championship. Let’s continue to cheer them all on as they bring their highly successful seasons to an end.

Everything about Homecoming was spirited, positive, uplifting and very Flint Hill. If you were able to attend, I hope you felt that sense of pride that I mentioned earlier. I hope you saw the activity, the excitement and happiness on everyone’s faces, that you basked a bit in our Husky Pride and took comfort in the fact that we are a part of something great. If you were not able to join us, please know we missed you and that we hope to see you at future events as we come together throughout the school year.

It is our responsibility now to take those great feelings and charge forward with them.  In the dead of the winter, through tough moments and great ones, we need to continually reflect back to this past weekend.

In that process let’s make certain that we thank parent co-chairs, Carla Seebald and Mike McClements for organizing such an amazing Homecoming. I’d also like to thank Lisa Benn, Ginny Shevlin, and the countless parent volunteers who helped decorate and set the various tables along our Spirit Alley, Carla Becker and the parent volunteers who helped with the food and concessions, and Tiffany Parry and the entire Development team for their hard work behind the scenes.  We can never forget that we are Huskies and it takes a strong team effort to make things happen.

Thank you to everyone who helped or attended. Your participation was deeply appreciated and truly made an impact.

Best wishes to you! Keep smiling as we charge into the next phase of the school year. Our next big event is the Holiday Shoppes. I hope to see everyone there on Saturday, November 15!!

 

Sincerely,

John M. Thomas

Headmaster[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″][templatera id=”17051″][/vc_column][/vc_row]