I would reach out to the counselor listed for 9th grade on the course selection page, I have a couple times and she gets right back to me. When my DD decides what she wants I am going to make her call her to discuss before submitting. We are anxiously awaiting more official communication also. Such as how and when drop off occurs in the fall as we will have to find accommodations.
Hello & Welcome!
The latest communications about drop off should be available soon from the Deerfield Parents Network (DPN) and via the Deerfield Family FYI emails. Here is a link to some videos and information. I believe the new 9th grade students check in on August 30th. Be sure to make hotel and car reservations early. The school events schedule is out, so make your hotel reservations for Fall Family Weekend.
What about kids who go early? Like athletes etc? Should we contact someone? (Non-freshman)
I see that Fall Family Weekend is Th-M. Are there activities all weekend? If we plan to go on Thursday and return Sunday (driving 9 hours each way) will we miss things?
Hello@AnonMomof2 - Itâs been our experience that Varsity athletes for certain Fall sports arrive early - but please check with the DA Athletics Department on how this will work for the coming term. In the coming days/weeks you will be hearing from a Host Family and your student will hear from their Green Key.
Fall Family Weekend has traditionally started on Thursday Evening or Friday morning and runs through Monday late afternoon. In past years, that Friday has included classroom observations, visits with teachers, a class welcome reception for parents, performance and sporting events. Saturday has included meetings with teachers and/or advisors, parent seminars on college applications and/or recruiting, performances and sporting events. Most students we knew in pre-COVID times, would leave campus on Saturday and either head home for a couple of days or go on a trip. There were no campus activities on Sunday and no school on Monday. One year we went to Boston, another year we rented a house for the weekend and went on day trips to see New England sites.
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Hmmm, coming home isnât an option. And we have a sibling who will not want to miss 2 days of school. This will be fun to figure out. Are they allowed to stay at the dorm Sunday night of family weekend?
My son is a new 9th grader. I wonder anyone knows if the orchestra ( either 320 academy strings or 403 advance chamber ) can be selected as the sixth course ( counted as the art credit). If he selects English, Math, history, French and Physic 1 plus orchestra, is the workload too much? Thanks for any input.
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Similar question- my DD is repeat 11th and wants dance to be her 6th, thinking that there will not be homework (or much) for dance, and with the new schedule of not having every class every day, it may be more manageable? She is used to having 7-8 academic classes at once.
Trying to decide between Physics 200 (algebra-based) and 210 (trig-based, seemingly the honors version of PHY200).
My 8th grader is strong in Math and in a local public school environment would have automatically gravitated to 100% honors options.
Any opinions on Physics 200 vs 210?
I have the same question about physics course as well. Thanks. Also can anyone share about history workload?
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I donât have the answer to that question @ Sunday night in the dorm. FWIW, one year DH stayed home and I went alone, then took Kiddo to Boston.
There are students who go home with friends who live in NE that weekend. Iâm sure something will work out!
Dance is very do-able⊠not sure how the schedule will work out this Fall as there is a new schedule coming out, so you might want to contact the Academic Deanâs office about how that works.
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@zqwang88 - the Physics workload can depend on which level course you are taking. Have you had Physics before? It was our observation that the students who had already had Physics could manage the work load easier and did better on tests. The Honors Physics had tricky test questions - but the work load wasnât that bad. It was a lot of application of theory to experiments and contextual questions - not just âwhat isâ, but needing to know how to apply concepts to different hypothetical situations. It was a challenging course also because of the teacher who was not very consistent about office hours or explaining things well. So, I will say it depends on who you get. The AP Physics course is great, I hear.
AlsoâŠat DA and other boarding schools, be prepared to apply knowledge or material that was never covered in class. Do go the âextra mileâ and read beyond what was expected for class work. Unlike middle school, where much that was demanded on tests was from rote learning or memorizing, in high school you have to understand and apply concepts. There is more complex information in math, also, that demands application on tests. I frequently heard âBut, that wasnât even covered in classâ. Tough lesson to learn - so be prepared to learn it.
Also, as I have said many times on CC, do take advantage of office hours no matter where you end up. Students who attend office hours and work with the teacher have an advantage.
Feel free to DM me about physics specifics
So my daughter just received an email to her Deerfield email that there are results for her Chinese Language Placement. She never took a Chinese language test and has never had Chinese. Then she tried to log into her Deerfield portal and her password/username (that we have written down) does not work. Password help button says it canât help and to contact system administrator. Would that be the help desk? I found a help desk email address. If not, then any idea who to email?
You can email the Academic Deans office, or phone them on Monday. SOmething crazy like this happened to my kiddo coming into Freshman year - they had kiddo mixed up with another student with a similar name. This happens - they will fix it. Please 
donât worry - it will get addressed. Call the Academic Deanâs office.
I am sure they have somewhere to print if they need to, but we have an extra printer- should we send it with kiddo?
There are many places to print at DeerfieldâŠ.most items are turned into teachers via their web platform (Canvas) or some other system. It is not too often now that printers are needed. We got kidddo a small printer - other kids on the hall occasionally wanted to use it. There are small portable printers you can get for not much $$.
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