Dear Students and Parents,

I hope you all have been enjoying the summer and have taken advantage of the time away to rest and relax. Summer is quickly setting, and the new school year is on the horizon. We have been hard at work in Presnell to prepare for your return. This will be a unique year for a number of reasons, and the information below will help outline the course of the year. If you haven’t already completed your summer checklist, please do so as soon as possible. You can access that information HERE. 

Our first day of school is a half day on Wednesday, August 14, with dismissal at 12:30. Our first full day of school is Thursday, August 15. On Wednesday, August 14, we will run a condensed schedule and have grade-level expectations meetings from 10:05 - 10:50. Please see the schedule below. We will also have a special schedule on August 15th to account for our All School Welcome Assembly held in Webster Gym. Please remember to dress more formally for this day. Stay tuned for more information during your grade level meeting. Finally, as it relates to daily schedules, we will have our new seven day rotating schedule this year. Your individual schedules can be accessed via FACTS. 

We are excited to continue our focus on curiosity this year at SDS and in the Upper School we will be focusing our inquiry on honor and all that the word encompasses. We will be spending time seeking understanding about how honor manifests itself in our everyday lives through our values of excellence, leadership, individuality, passion, and curiosity. As our mission clearly states, we are in the business of preparing students for lives well lived, and beginning a journey with clarity around what an honorable life looks like is important. 

Lastly, as you can see from my title below, I am the Interim Upper School Head - meaning I will be leading the upper school only for the 2024-25 school year. We have engaged Carney Sandoe & Associates to partner with us in our search for a new Upper School Head for the 2025-26 school year. The pool of candidates is coming together, and the Search Committee will be interviewing candidates in the semifinal pool as school begins. You can expect that we will be bringing three to four candidates on campus over the course of the fall to meet you all and engage in conversations around what it means to be a part of the SDS community. I will keep you all informed as this search progresses. 

In the meantime, as I said, I will be acting as Interim Upper School Head. Mrs. McGrath will continue as an Upper School History teacher and will be the Assistant Head of Upper School for Faculty Life, helping to support the operations of our faculty in the division. Ms. Sorrenti will continue in her VISTAS position and take on the role of Assistant Head of Upper School for Student Life, which will focus on supporting students in the various experiences available to them across the upper school while also running point on holding our community members accountable to the guardrails we’ve established so that we can all collectively thrive in this learning community. Ms. Spearman and Ms. Wesneski will be your point of contact for schedule changes, and transcript needs in addition to their work in college counseling. Finally, Ms. Gladson will solely focus on supporting our upper school students' social and emotional needs for the 2024-25 school year. 

To the Class of 2025, a special reminder: the tradition of capturing “Last First Day” photos will take place outside Stone Gym on Wednesday, August 14, starting at 7:30 AM. Senior breakfast will also be served in the Crowley Concourse. Seniors, we look forward to capturing a snapshot of the final leg of your journey at Spartanburg Day School. Please refer to the reminder email sent earlier today from Ms. Sorrenti for more details. 

If you have any questions or need further information before school starts, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me, Ms. Sorrenti, Mrs. McGrath, or individual teachers. We are so looking forward to having you back with us on campus! 

Sincerely,

Dave Skeen

Interim Upper School Head

Head of School