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6-6-08 - We had the last day of our first year of school today.  We had an excellent year and we are looking forward to having everyone back in just several months to continue our work.  I want to thank Jen Brouse for the plaque she made and contributed to the school to recognize the boys, and Becca Covert for making us a beautiful flag to fly next year.  I look forward to seeing all of you just around the corner in August.  

The Boys Peruse the Yearbook	Ned Oldham and Sixth Graders Perform
Darrel Rose and Our Drummers Perform	Brooke Dezio Directs the Choir

5-31-08 - Thanks to all the individuals and businesses who contributed to last night's auction.  It was a big success, with perhaps the boys stealing the show, singing in the choir, playing drums, and playing guitar on a number of songs.  We appreciate the work everyone put into pulling it off, and we look forward to doing it again next year a week before school is out.  

5-24-08 - We spent the last two days camping in Callao, Virginia, and going sailing with the Weems on their ketch.  We had a great time learning about sailing, following up on our Chesapeake Bay unit, and working as a team to carry out the many tasks of the trip.  Thanks to all those who contributed to the experience.  

Setting up tents by the Coan	Peter Weems was Captain
Setting Sail

5-16-08 - Thanks to all those who joined us today for Grandparents Day.  It was great to have you here and we hope you enjoyed the classes and the luncheon.  

5-15-08 - Congratulations to Field School's English/Latin teacher, Ned Oldham, for becoming Charlottesville's new (and only) food critic.  Read his review of Maya for the Hook by clicking here.

5-15-08 - Thanks to Allan Thompson of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation for taking us canoeing today on the Rivanna Reservoir.  We thoroughly enjoyed the trip and appreciated the lesson on watershed health.

5-9-08 - Congratulations to the boys who won election this week and last for positions on our Student Council.  Our President is Daniel Pisano, and the Representatives are Willem Brikkenaar Van Dijk, Riley Covert, Nick Egan-McCoy, and A.J. Harper.   

5-5-08 - Click here to read the feature article in Field School in today's Daily Progress.

4-25-08 - Thanks to all the parents who joined us on Mothers' Day, particularly to Stephanie Satterly for again providing us with food.  We did a few service projects for the school and the park and finally fixed the flagpole out front and hoisted the American Flag.  The highlight of the day was the kickball game in which the boys bested the Moms.  We look forward to this becoming an annual tradition.

4-22-08 - Thanks to Dr. David Rekosh and Dr. Lou Hammarskjold for helping us today to set up a lab of microscopes to view specimens we have collected from our pond.  We are studying Water Resources in Science during our current Chesapeake Bay unit.  

4-19-08 - Congratulation to 3 boys--A.J. Harper, Parker Miller and Caelan Weems--for finishing this weekend's 5K Run for Autism with excellent times.  

4-3-08 - Click here to read Dr. Todd Barnett's April 3 Hook Cover Story on Martin Luther King, Junior's 1963 visit to Charlottesville.  

3-5-08 - Thanks to Pete Vigour for his fiddle and banjo playing presentation today.  We are doing a unit on traditional music, and our English teacher, Ned Oldham is carrying much of the weight of teaching us old-school songs.  But Pete came out this afternoon and gave us an introduction to a few new instruments, ones he plays so well in his band Uncle Henry's Favorites.  

2-15-08 - We spent the penultimate day of our civics unit in Richmond at the Statehouse.  We had a wonderful tour of the facility, and along the way, we pointed out the busts and paintings of the Founding Fathers whom we had been reading about.  We had been following and reporting on the Republican and Democratic primaries and caucuses over the course of the month, watching Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton battle for one nomination while John McCain seemed to prevail over his rivals on the other side.  We enjoyed visiting the floor of the House in Richmond where bills on development and tobacco made their way through the system later in the day.  We stopped at the Science Museum in the afternoon, primarily to visit the state-of-the-art Virginia Tech solar home.  Since we are planning to build an environmentally responsible home for ourselves soon, we took notes on all we saw.  Thanks to all the parents who helped to chaperone and rode along on the bus.   

12-20-08 - Thanks to everyone who helped and came out Tuesday night for Joe Ehrmann's presentation.  It was a wonderful event, and we particularly appreciate Stephanie Satterley's catering help.  He lead a rapt audience through his understanding of our culture's misguided understanding of masculinity, of what it means to be a man.  His emphasis on relationships was one we will take to heart at Field School and we know his remarks will become a part of our ongoing school narrative.  Please join us again next winter for the next speaker in our Series. 

Ehrmann begins his remarks in Field School's Meeting Space	Reverend Ehrmann with Dr. Barnett
Our "Parkers"	Sporting Reverend Ehrmann's Super Bowl Ring

12-6-07 - We are proud to announce that Reverend Joe Ehrmann will be speaking at Field School on Tuesday, January 29th.  Reverend Ehrmann is the head of Building Men and Women for Others, a Baltimore-based group that ministers to young people.  A former professional football player, he has appeared widely in the media and is truly a very inspirational and motivational speaker with a strong message about our culture's misguided messages about masculinity.  Co-sponsored by Woodberry Forest School, this is another installment in our annual speakers series event which last year featured Dr. Michael Thompson.  The speech will take place at 7 p.m. at Field School.  

Reverend Joe Ehrmann

12-4-07 - Field School had its first-ever sports victory this afternoon, posting a 28-10 basketball triumph over Grace Christian.  Congratulations to all the boys for their hard work on the fields this fall and their dramatic improvements as a team.  

The Choir at the Holiday Party	Pete Vigour Teaching Guitar
Sam Wilson and Students	The Sixth Grade Basketball Team
The Newly Renovated Kitchen	Darrell Rose and Student Art
Sixth Graders in Study Hall	Our Father's Day Planting Project
Hiking at Sugar Hollow	Mr. Oldham and the Sixth Grade

10-4-07 - Field School had its first soccer match vs. Tandem on Friday, October 1st.  It was a well played game on both sides, and for the record, the Falcons lost the first game, 5-0.  We appreciate Tandem coming out to play us on our home opener.  See more photos below.

9-18-07 - We are proud to announce that Lady Keller has joined our staff as Office Manager.  A graduate of the University of Southern California with a B.S. in Business Administration, her professional experience includes work in media relations, political campaigning, and project accounting, and most recently, as the general manager of Footlight Players Workshop Theatre in Charleston, South Carolina.  She and her husband Karl are the parents of four children, including William, a fifth grader at Field School.  We are very happy to have her join our team.  

9-4-07 - I would like to thank everyone who participated in our Opening Day ceremonies.  Special thanks to Rydell Paine for speaking, and to all the supporters for coming out and joining us on our first ever day of school. 

Singing the school song during the ceremony	Exploring the campus
Meeting outside prior to the ceremony	School Founder Todd Barnett with his parents Bob and Sonja Barnett
Our first day group photo	Playing soccer during recess

6-17-06 - Field School parents, students and supporters met today and chose our school mascot and colors.  We are the Field School Falcons and we will be proudly wearing Silver, Blue and White.  Go Falcons!

The Field School Boys, 6-17-06

6-12-07 - Bama Works Fund of Dave Matthews Band at the Charlottesville Area Community Foundation announced today that Field School has been granted $8,500 to fund two partial scholarships for low-income students to attend Field School.  We appreciate the generosity of DMB in supporting our work.  

6-7-07 - Several new teachers have been hired for for next year.  Scott Rubinow will join us as a full-time teacher in Math and Science.  Scott has a B.A. in Math from Tufts University, and an M.B.A. and M.A. in Education from Columbia University.  After a successful career as a Senior Technology Officer, most recently as Vice President in Domestic Brokerage at AIG New York, he and his family moved to central Virginia in 2005, and he has since been working as a 9th Grade Algebra and Geometry teacher at Waynesboro High School.  In addition to serving on the Discipline and Career Portfolio Committees, he initatiated a successful after-school basketball program at WHS.  He has also worked for UBS Warburg, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, Datronics, the College of Mount St. Joseph, and Sylvan Learning Center in Charlottesville.  He and his family live in Keswick.   

Brooke Dezio will teach our choir.  Brooke has a B.M. and M.A. in Music and Music Education from James Madison University and is currently working on a doctorate in Piano Performance through the University of Memphis.  She has taught piano and choir at the University of Memphis, Rhodes College Music Academy, Northwest Mississippi Community College, J.M.U., the Music Education Center in Charlottesville.  She currently teaches at Village School.  

Darrell Rose is a well-known local performer and artist who will tech Art at Field School.  A master drummer in the West African tradition, he is a solo artist both as a drummer and a painter who has taught at a variety of area schools including Brownsville Elementary.  

We are excited to have all of these new teachers join our staff.  

5-3-07 - The Albemarle County Board of Supervisors approved our Special Use permit yesterday to use Claudius Crozet Park as our first year site.  Thanks to all those supporters who came out to the meetings.  A special thanks goes out to Kelly Strickland and Brian Campbell of the Claudius Crozet Park Board for their extraordinary support.   

5-2-07 - We had a great evening last night at Starr Hill Music Hall.  Four bands played, and supporters and music fans filled the room.  Our Silent Auction, with about 50 items donated by supporters and local businesses, helped us to raise over $6,000 for the event.  Special thanks to the Mariana Bell Band, Sons of Bill, Clarence Green and Downbeat Project, and Corey Harris.  

Sons of Bill (Gabe, James and Sam Wilson)	Volunteers Ralph Geilker, Erin Hendrix, Adam Geilker, James Duva and Catherine Wilkerson
Downbeat Project (Zach Blatter, Paul Rosner, Clarence Green and Gerald Soriano)	The highly coveted signed guitar

5-1-07 - Todd Barnett was the featured speaker yesterday at Woodberry Forest School's Cum Laude Ceremony.  Todd spoke to the entire Woodberry Forest student and faculty body after the ceremony naming the new honorees in the academic honor society.  

4-30-07 - Todd Barnett appeared on Rick Moore's "Wake-Up Call" call-in radio show yesterday on Charlottesville's WNRN-FM.  Click here for a podcast of the show.  

4-24-07 - We are proud to announce that Ned Oldham has joined our faculty.  A graduate of the University of Virginia with a B.A. and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing, Ned has ten years of teaching experience at the University of Virginia, Samford University, Loyola College, University of Alabama Birmingham, St. Paul's School for Boys, and most recently at Roland Park Public Middle School in Baltimore where he teaches English.  He has also had a variety of other experiences that he will bring to Field School, including freelance journalism, trip leadership, authorship, composer and lyricist, and musician.  As a musician, he has recorded with his band the Anomoanon and with his brother Will for their bands, Bonny Prince Billy and the Palace Brothers.  We are excited to have Ned full-time as part of our first-year faculty.  

4-19-07 - Look for articles on Field School in the current issues of Crozet Gazette and Albemarle Family.  

4-9-07 - We have had lots of good news recently with the school.  We have had 22 students apply this spring, with continuing interest from new families.  We had the Albemarle County Planning Commission unanimously approve our use of Claudius Crozet Park next year.  We are also in the midst of a fundraising campaign for scholarships for next year which is going quite well.  If you're interested in learning more about the school, plan to attend the April 21st Information Session at Village School at 10 a.m., and please come out on Tuesday, May 1st to our Music Benefit featuring Corey Harris and the 5x5, Sons of Bill Acoustic, Downbeat Project and Mariana Bell.  It will be a great show and a good opportunity for you to support the school.  We hope to see you there.  

2-27-06 - Thanks to George Craddock for help in crafting a school motto-- omnis puer scitus et frater --or, "every boy known, every boy a brother." 

2-21-07 - We had a great evening hearing from Michael Thompson last night at PVCC's Dickinson Auditorium. 

Todd Barnett, Michael Thompson, Dennis Campbell	Dr. Thompson speaks at the Dickinson Auditorium
Dr. Thompson on stage

 Dr. Thompson spoke and answered questions for nearly two hours on "The Nature of Boys" to an audience of parents, teachers, and Field School and Woodberry Forest School supporters.  Dr. Thompson is the author of a number of books on parenting and child development and clearly knows the subject well.  He is a particularly gifted speaker, and though he began his remarks by discussing the Columbine tragedy, his presentation was laced with humor.  A "restless boy" himself, he strode back and forth onstage making the case that boys need our attention.  Whether their learning and emotional differences are a function of biology or culture, our boys are struggling and often unsuccessful in maturing into responsible men of character.   Dr. Thompson, who works as a school psychologist at Belmont Hill School in Boston, questioned several of the children in the audience directly, asking them if his remarks were on target.  Field School and Woodberry Forest School would like to thank the following individuals and organizations for their support of the event:  A Pimento Catering, Bank of America, Beck Grimm, Olivia Branch, Dennis Campbell, Kimrie Donovan, Cathy Eberly, Embarq, Field Camp, Ralph Geilker, Greenberry’s, Shirlee Grody, Bill Hurd, Lena Lewis, Mincer’s, Meredith Montague Photography, Piedmont Virginia Community College, Mimi Pohl, Judy Robinson, State Farm Insurance, Timberlake’s, and Catherine Wilkerson.  We appreciate all those who came out to support us with their attendance and we hope everyone enjoyed the presentation. 

1-26-07 - Todd Barnett made a presentation at Landon School's Leadership and Ethics in Our Schools Conference yesterday.  Todd established the conference at Landon in 2006 while serving there as the Banfield Endowed Chair for Ethics and continues to be its Program Director.  This year's keynote speakers were former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor as well as Charles Lane of the Washington Post.  The conference featured workshops from regional high school and college Honor Councils and student activities leaders including Washington and Lee University, Woodberry Forest School, St. Christopher's School in Richmond, and the University of Virginia.  

Justice Sandra Day O'Connor speaks at Landon's Ethics and Leadership in Our Schools Conference, photo courtesy of Landon School

1-22-07 - Thanks to all those who showed up for yesterday's information session at Village School despite the inclement weather.  We have scheduled another for Sunday, February 4th at 3 at Village School as a make-up date for those who could not make it yesterday.  

1-4-06 - We are featured in this week's Hook cover story, written by Courteney Stuart.  Click here for the text.  

12-15-06 - We are currently pursuing a location in Crozet--Claudius Crozet Park--that provides us with approximately 4,000 square feet of classroom space and ideal outdoor play and field space on over 20 acres.  Pending county approval, the site meets all our needs for a starter facility for the first 3-5 years.  We will provide a daily shuttle to and from the site from Charlottesville--a 15- to 20-minute ride.  Below are several renderings of a general design we are considering for the building made by Rob Winstead of VMDO as well as an aerial map of the site showing its field space. 

The Commons Area

A view of the entrance area

A typical classroom

The fields surrounding Claudius Crozet Park make up over 20 acres and include a soccer/lacrosse field, several baseball fields, basketball courts, and a pond.

12-5-06 - Thanks to Woodberry Forest School for their participation in and co-sponsorship of the Michael Thompson presentation on Tuesday, February 20.  Woodberry Forest School is a boarding school for 9-12 located near Orange, Virginia.  We are proud to have their participation in this event.  Other sponsors for the evening include Bank of America, Embarq, Field Camp, and State Farm Insurance.

10-25-06 - Thank you to all those who came to our developmental gathering last night at Starr Hill.  Special thanks to Olivia Branch for her invaluable help and to Cynthia Smith of Starr Hill for her support.

10-7-06 - We were featured today in a front-page Daily Progress article.  Click here for the text.

9-10-06 - We have planned a series of events for the fall in order to promote our school plans, including a series of information sessions and a boys' education series.  The first information session will be held at 10 a.m. on Saturday, October 7th at the Village School.  Also, please consider joining us on Monday, October 9th to watch the PBS documentary Raising Cain: Boys in Focus.  It was first shown in January 2006 and it features Michael Thompson (shown below) as he discusses boys' developmental issues with parents, teachers, psychologists, authors and ordinary boys.  It's a fascinating and often eye-opening perspective for parents of boys.  We hope you can join us.  For a complete list of our upcoming events, click here. 

6-5-06 - Please visit our Summer Reading Book Fair, to be held at the Village School at 211 E. High Street from 1 to 7 p.m. on Friday, June 16th, and from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday June 17th.  We will feature high quality elementary and middle school titles in a variety of subject areas.  Todd Barnett and other school representatives will be hosting the event, providing information on the books, and sharing the vision for the school.  Please spread the word and consider joining us next weekend. 

5-27-06 - Photos of Our New Bus!  Look for it this summer around town!

4-17-06 - We are proud to announce our 2006-2007 Field School Boys Education Forum.  The forum is designed to provide the Charlottesville community with a better understanding of the benefits of single-sex education for boys as we anticipate the Fall, 2007 opening of Field School.  On four evenings starting in October and ending in February, we will host a variety of experts and speakers, including Michael Thompson. 

Michael Thompson, Ph.D. is a consultant, author and psychologist specializing in children and families. He is the clinical consultant to The Belmont Hill School and has worked in more than two hundred fifty schools across the United States, as well as in international schools in Central America, Europe and Asia.

He and his co-author, Dan Kindlon, wrote the New York Times best-selling book, Raising Cain: Protecting the Emotional Life of Boys (Ballantine Books, 1999). He is the author of Speaking of Boys: Answers to the Most-Asked Questions About Raising Sons Ballantine, 2000), and co-author (with Catherine O’Neill Grace and Larry Cohen, Ph.D.) of Best Friends/Worst Enemies: Understanding the Social Worlds of Children (Ballantine, 2001) and Mom, They’re Teasing Me: Helping Your Child Solve Social Problems (Ballantine, 2002.) About Best Friends, Worst Enemies the Publishers Weekly review declared, “Not since Dr. Spock and Penelope Leach has there been such a sensitive and practical guide to raising healthy children.” Dr. Thompson’s latest book, The Pressured Child: Helping Your Child Achieve Success in School and in Life (with Teresa Barker, Ballantine, 2004) was written to help parents understand the complex journey of children through school, from Kindergarten through senior year. He is currently writing, It’s a Boy!, a comprehensive guide for the parents of boys.

A dedicated speaker and traveler, Michael Thompson has appeared on The Today Show, The Oprah Winfrey Show, ABC 20/20, CBS 60 Minutes, The Early Show and Good Morning America. He has been quoted in the New York Times, The Washington Post, Newsweek, Time and U.S. News and World Report and has been a guest on NPR’s “Morning Edition” with Susan Stamberg, “Talk of the Nation” with Ray Suarez and the Diane Rhem Show. He has written, narrated and hosts a two-hour PBS documentary entitled “Raising Cain,” broadcast in January of 2006.  For more information on Dr. Thompson, please visit www.michaelthompson-phd.com.

3-15-06 - We are currently moving into our second stage of the school's development.  Our first stage included establishing a non-profit corporation, assembling a board of directors, soliciting support from potential parents and community members in developing plans, and starting our fundraising program.  Our next stage includes further development of fundraising, researching Charlottesville sites, and implementing a boys' education awareness series to be held during the 2006-2007 school year.  Please let us know if you are interested in providing your support.  More details will follow soon on the fall boys education and school information programs. 

P.O. Box 4234

Charlottesville, Virginia  22905

 

Todd@

fieldschoolcv.net

 

(434) 923-3435

FIELD

SCHOOL

of CHARLOTTESVILLE