COMMUNITY MATTERS

Many people describe The Woods as a family and we couldn’t agree more! We’ve shared many special memories with each other since the start of this school year. Below shows some of the fun times at The Woods from August 2021 to June 2022.

#WeAreTheWoods

Popsicle Pop-Ups!

Gearing up for the school year, we hosted a few popsicle socials for students to see old friends and meet new ones, and to welcome Jodie Shoemaker to her new role as Assistant Head of School.

Food Truck Fridays

WAPTO hosted three different Food Truck Fridays where families came together for some delicious food, yummy desserts, field games, and, most importantly, time together in the fresh air!

Field Trip to Homestead Farm

The Woods Kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd grade students went on a field trip to Homestead Farm where they picked pumpkins, saw various farm animals, and were able to have fun together outside the classroom!

A Zippy Good Time at Bretton Woods!

Students in Grades 3–8 went on a field trip to Bretton Woods this past fall. From bulls-eyes and flips on the zipline to overcoming challenges and conquering fears, these students and their advisors had an exciting time on their field trip!

A Cup of Joe with The Woods

The Woods hosted a variety of parent coffees to kick off the school year. The consistent theme for these coffees were about the importance of parents partnering with the school to help their child continue to learn and grow from life’s ups and downs.

Parent Workshops with Keiana Mayfield

The Woods partnered with Keiana Mayfield to offer parent workshops throughout the fall to help enhance the skills and strategies parents/ caregivers use to engage with their children and family around issues of race and racism.

Itchy Witchy

The 3rd grade performed a riveting performance of the annual Itchy Witchy show. The show was live streamed for parents and the students were dressed to impress thanks to their costume makers – mom and dad! They also did a sneak peak for the Montessori students the day before they performed their live show. Thanks to 3rd grade teachers Ms. Erica Vassos and Mrs. Stephanie Chapman for being the directors and leading the charge.

Scholastic Book Fair

Thanks to Book Fair Chair Kate Nolan for spearheading yet another successful book fair at The Woods. Students were able to discover new books and support The Woods at the same time. The 8th grade leadership team also held a fundraiser during the book fair and was able to donate over 100 books to the The National Center for Children and Families.

Santa’s Workshop

Santa’s Workshop Chair Vinka Pasos-Ferrell, WAPTO, and parent volunteers created a magical experience for our students for this year’s special event. Students from grades 1 – 8 were able to shop for their loved ones at The Woods, and the parents were able to come together for this cheerful annual event!

Upper School Music Showcase

Music Teacher Mrs. Sharon Pabon worked with the 5th and 6th grade students on various instrumental pieces, which they then performed for their parents. 6th graders surprised the audience with a Star Wars rendition!

Pajama Day for Christ Child Society

The 8th grade leadership team organized a pajama day around the holidays in support of The Christ Child Society, a non-profit that helps women and children in need in the DC area. This initiative raised over $1,200 for those in need. Because of the support of our students and families, we were able to provide diapers and formula to families in need this past holiday season.

Christmas Concert

This year’s Christmas Concert was most certainly filled with joy and cheer. Parents and grandparents joined us to watch the Lower School students as well as our ensembles for their holiday performances.

MLK Day of Service

Woods parents and students participated in our virtual MLK Day of Service this year by making a frozen meal for someone in need. We were able to collect dozens of meals this year! Thank you to the families that participated in this year’s initiative.

Everyman Theater

Everyman Theater visited our Lower School and Upper School classrooms in January allowing students the space to exercise their imagination and show them the world of theater! Grade 5 and 7 Math Teacher Kristen Chrobocinski completed the First Annual Coast Guard Marathon in Elizabeth City, NC on March 4. Her daughters Caelyn (K) and Kylie (3) were there to cheer her on!

After School, There’s the After School … Activities.

Did you know that The Woods offers about ten after school programs each trimester for all age groups? Students have the opportunity to extend their studies and interests to after school hours. We offer robotics, chess, string ensemble, Girls Scouts, sports clinics, and so much more. Visit page 19 to learn more about the Chess Club and why it’s the most popular after school activity! You can also visit page 27 for more information on our robotics teams and how they did in this year’s First LEGO League Challenge.

How Do You Spell …

This year’s Spelling Bee had participants from grades 5-8. Held on February 22, the entire Upper School joined together in the MPR to watch their classmates compete for the winning title! Congratulations to our winner. Find out who that was on page 28.

Can you guess the winning word?

HINT: IT’S KNOWN OR TALKED ABOUT BY MANY PEOPLE.

Find the answer on page 28.

2.22.22

7th grade students celebrated this once in a lifetime day – 2/22/22 – through fun activities in math class with Mrs. Chrobo.

Black History Month at The Woods

Black History Month was honored and celebrated throughout The Woods. 4th grade students researched and wrote about iconic Black individuals, 5th grade students in art class researched and created paintings celebrating Black history, 3rd graders learned about and recreated freedom quilts, and 2nd grade students did a lesson around Martin Luther King, JR. in French class among other lessons throughout the school.

Rube Goldberg Celebrations

6th grade students worked hard for four weeks going through steps of the engineering design process to create Rube Goldberg machines. Students created these machines in addition to lab reports and videos. Parents joined the celebrations and the creativity in the room was spectacular!

Yummy WAPTO Treats

WAPTO continued to keep spirits high at The Woods with surprise treats throughout the school year!

Puppets Bring Joy to Montessori Students

Montessori students at The Woods were visited by Santa, his reindeers, and other friends with KayDee Puppets. Joy and laughter filled the MPR as the students watched the adventures of these little puppet creatures!

Ash Wednesday

Parents, faculty, staff, and students celebrated Ash Wednesday Mass with Father John. The Mass was hosted by the 1st grade and they did a fantastic job! They also raised donations for the DC Diaper Bank helping to reach the Diaper Bank’s big milestone of 25 million diapers being distributed to those in need in our area.

Open House

We hosted more than 100 families through our Open House and admission initiatives this year. Many 7th and 8th grade students took time out of their weekend to come to The Woods to show these prospective families how special our school is. Parent ambassadors also showed up to answer questions and walk alongside their students in private tours. Thank you to our families for the continued support and for spreading the word about The Woods!

We Are The Woods Auction

Thanks to our community, we were able to hit our fundraising goal for this year’s auction. We had loads of wonderful items to offer The Woods family from a Greek dinner to Head of School for the day. We Are The Woods and we couldn’t be prouder!

8th Grade Leadership Donates to SOME

The 8th grade leadership team at The Woods Academy worked together to donate over 1,000 items of food to So Others Might Eat (SOME) this past holiday season. After collecting the donations, the students delivered the items themselves to SOME.

Advent Mass

The Woods community continued to live their faith out through religion class, Chapel, and, of course, Mass. Father Van Dyke joined us to celebrate our Advent Mass and reminded us that God is always with us, and that we should always be there with and for each other.

Owls Give Back

Montessori families did a drive for items to be sent to Poland to help Ukrainian Refugees. Hundreds of items were collected like first aid items, pacifiers, toothbrushes, and more.

Fat Tuesday Celebrations

Students celebrated Mardi Gras in French class from Lower School to Upper School enjoying King’s Cake and fun games to learn more about this holiday.

Wellness Day

We hosted our first annual Woods Wellness Day on March 17th – a day to wear green AND eat green! The day was to promote student and faculty health and well-being as well as empower all with some health education and lifestyle skills that enable them to achieve their best possible health. Students spent the day doing yoga, learning about nutrition from Nurse Washington, doing Zentagle with Assistant Head of School Jodie Shoemaker, doing meditation with Lower School Guidance Teacher Jane Pontius as well as enjoying the outdoors. The day also started with Director of Guidance Dr. Andy Rhein who did a wonderful keynote address on mental health.

Tech Savvy with Mr. Smith

Students are learning how to code, grow plants through hydroponics, and create their own video games among other exciting lessons in Director of Technology Mr. Smith’s classes.

We Are The Mighty Owls!

Woods student athletes have worked hard since the start of school on teams for soccer, basketball, volleyball, and more. Visit page 20 for more information on this year’s athletic program!

Make Your Mark!

Students, faculty, and staff made their mark on The Woods before the renovations began. Students, faculty, and staff each put their thumbprint in the shape of a W on the library floor. Years from now, our community will always be remembered by their fingerprint love!

Alumni Owls Visit Campus

We love seeing our alumni on campus throughout the year. We often see our former students pop by just to say hello and see their former teachers. This past May, some students from the Class of 2019 toured the school before the renovations began. We also hosted the Class of 2018 for our Prayers and Pizza Event!

Scavenger Hunt for Parents

The Woods parents took to the streets of Bethesda to complete a scavenger hunt! This combination of Amazing Race, DaVinci Code, and Goonies all rolled into one was a hit. Thanks to WAPTO for organizing!

Head of School for the Day

Lily and Luc L. were The Woods’ Heads of School in April. By decree, they issued a free dress day, no homework, and shaved ice cones for ALL. As Mr. Powers said, wise leaders know that snow cones are a great way to celebrate the end of the week.

Spirit Week

In early May, we hosted our annual Spirit Week with days like Pajama Day, Hero Day, and, pictured here, Wacky Wednesday. Upper School Teacher Mrs. Kish surprised her students with a wacky classroom set up.

First Holy Communion

The Woods community celebrated our 2nd graders and their First Holy Communion with Mass in the gym celebrated by Father John Enzler.

Spring Sports Wrap Up

Our Upper School students gathered in the gym the last week of school to recognize our student athletes and their successful sports seasons!

Teacher Appreciation

WAPTO brought out all the love and stems for our teachers to thank them for all their hard work. They arranged flowers for each teacher and also put together a flower arrangement station as well for those that wanted to create their own.

Arts Week Celebrations!

The Arts Week Celebrations were a smashing success this year! The full week of the arts included a kick-off concert, lunchtime performances by students, a wine & cheese night for parents, and, of course, the annual spring musical. This year, 7th and 8th grade students performed Shrek JR.

Girls on the Run

Our Lower School Girls on the Run team has had quite the season! They finished this past Sunday with a successful 5K race in Bethesda.

@TheWoodsAcademy

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WHY 1:1 device program WE for students in grades 1–8 to support our comprehensive LOVE THE WOODS of our 8th graders are accepted to their STEAM program Over 98% first choice high school

Over

$200,000

awarded in merit based scholarship for high school to the Class of 2021

Over 25 competitive sports teams

with offerings in fall, winter, and spring An explicit technology curriculum beginning in kindergarten not only teaches students how to use technology, but also how to create with technology The average class size in grades 1 to 8 is 15 students

Our student to teacher ratio is

7:1

Over 70%

of our teaching faculty have

advanced degrees

Daily world language

instruction in either French or Spanish begins in kindergarten

We offer a full day,

five day per week preschool

with a Montessori philosophy beginning

at age 3

Over 30 after school offerings

available for students providing an enriching Read more about one here!Woods experience

Our innovative program includes courses in

entrepreneurship and leadership development

62% of The Woods

is Catholic with 38% non-Catholic

10 all-school Masses throughout the year and almost 20 annual

community service

projects completed each year by students

Over 30 countries are represented

by The Woods community and almost

20 different languages

are spoken by students