News

Congratulations to the following grade level winners that participated in the Fuqua School class spelling bee in January. 4th Grade: Lena Salamo and Wyatt Tucker (Collins Easter- alternate); 5th Grade: Mary Reagan Phaup and Murphy Witko (Cameron Pace- alternate); 6th Grade: Ashlyn Ligon and Corbin Tinsley (Rudee Atkinson- alternate); 7th Grade: Taylor Elmore and Luke Jarrett (Hannah Whaley and Joshua Milligan- alternates); 8th Grade: Noah Cole and Carter McCarty (Austin Frazier- alternate).

After 34 rounds, 4th grader, Elena Salamo, became the Fuqua School 2020 winner with 6th grader, Corbin Tinsley, placing second. Elena will move on to the Scripps Private School Regional Spelling Bee held in Richmond on February 3rd. Good luck, Elena!

Fuqua School’s PK and K/1 classes enjoyed celebrating the 100th day of school on January 24th. Students used their imaginations to create projects representing 100 items. From 100 lollipop plants, to 100-piece LEGO builds, to 100 pennies- students had a lot of fun showing off their counting skills.  Classroom activities included making a special snack of 100 pieces of various crackers, cereals, and candy, and making and wearing crowns throughout the day with the number 100 on them. Students also participated in various counting exercises, as well as special math and art lessons to celebrate the day. What a wonderful way to spend our 100th day of school! 

Fuqua School students in grades PK-8 joined other local schools for Longwood University’s annual Education Day. Education Day is an opportunity for area children to get onto Longwood’s campus and learn more about the university. During the 2020 Education Day, students were invited to cheer on the Lady Lancers basketball team as they took on Radford University. This gave students a chance to cheer on their hometown college team, while also being able to visit parts of the Longwood campus. Students enjoyed the halftime games, the towel toss, and the cheerleader’s performance in addition to the game. 

To apply their study of wind and its impact on the environment and weather, fifth graders created their own anemometers. An anemometer is a scientific tool used to measure wind speed and direction. The students took their anemometers and experimented with them at different places across the Fuqua School campus. 

Middle school students, Vivian Eason, Marissa Dempsey, Marina Morris, Joshua Milligan, Bradley French, and Julian Price, attended the Virginia Center for Inclusive Communities Prejudice Awareness Summit at Randolph College in Lynchburg, VA. The summit was a one-day program that is designed to bring together approximately 100 Central Virginia 7th and 8th grade students to help equip them with the necessary tools to assist in areas of conflict resolution, prejudice and stereotype reduction, multicultural communication, leadership, and advocacy. The students worked in teams to develop achievable and concrete solutions to the tough challenges that they may face during their middle school years. This group of student leaders will now work alongside Mrs. Tucker and Mrs. Rostan to create a campaign bringing awareness about verbal dehumanization, bullying, and deliberate avoidance to our middle school students. Stay tuned for further information regarding their campaign! 

The Lower School SCA had a mission as they began the 2019-2020 school year. They wanted to create change.  One way they sought to create change was to improve their current 4/5 playground. Through a lot of planning, designing, selling Fuqua blankets, and parent help and support, they not only improved their playground but they also moved it! Be sure to stop and check out their new space for play and fun featuring a Gaga pit and all!!! 

Grades 2 through 5 recently participated in the Rozzy STEAM Challenge. For the challenge, students had to select a tourist attraction and build a small model. Then, they had to select 1 of 5 attractions, each with specific requirements, to add to the attraction. Finally, students presented their newly revamped attraction explaining why this would bring more people to the location.

Mr. Boswell has added a living collection to his Environmental Science classroom. The students can now interact and observe some of the lesser known species that share our world with us. We now have a colony of Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches; they are one of the largest species on the planet and should reach about 3-4 inches in length when mature. They are very docile and are slowly getting used to being handled.

Another specimen Mr. Boswell has added to his classroom is a Vinegaroon. This arachnid belongs to the order Uropygi. They look like scorpions, but they lack venom and a tail. Instead they have a whip like tail called a flagellum that they can use to excrete acetic acid (vinegar) as a self-defense mechanism. Despite it’s scary look, it is quite docile and prefers to hang out in its burrow until feeding time.

Visitors are welcome to meet some of our new creatures.