Tandem Friends School

This year we're excited to welcome a new college counselor to Tandem Friends, Dr. Johnathan Harris. Johnny brings a wealth of independent school experience and wisdom to Tandem and the college counseling office. Johnny was the founding head of school at Lynnhaven in Richmond where he also created and ran their college counseling program. Johnny earned an Ed.D. from Marymount University, an M.Ed. from Grand Canyon University, and a B.A. from Lynchburg College. He is the founder and CEO of Harris Education and has also found time to serve as an adjunct assistant professor in the University of Richmond's School of Continuing and Professional Studies. Welcome, Johnny!

We are delighted to welcome Dave Levy to TFS as our new Athletic Director. Dave comes to us from Maryland, where he grew up and worked in independent schools for many years, including The Barrie School, Lowell School, and Green Acres School. While at Lowell, Dave created a no-cut athletics program for the school, which he led for twelve years. Dave has coached basketball, cross country, and track and is a Washington Wizards enthusiast (he has a Sports Ethos Washington Wizards podcast). He has also been a senior leader and board member for the DC chapter of the Hugh O'Brian Youth Leadership program for many years and is currently finishing his master's in Athletic Administration at Ohio University.

As student-athletes and families return to campus today for pre-season sports practices, you'll meet Dave! Another friendly reminder to make sure you've submitted all required athletic forms 🏅

Happy 400th Birthday, George Fox!

To celebrate the Founder of Quakerism, gives these suggestions for play and restoration:

✏️Sharpen your pencil to solve an homage in puzzle form to the Society of Friends founder: see the link in our bio
📖Crack open the spine of a new journal to support your spiritual practice
🏔️Visualize a climb up the original Pendle Hill
🎤Loosen your vocal cords to sing along with contemporary musical tributes ("The Ballad of George Fox" performed by Jon Watts, "What Does George Fox Say (a Quaker parody of Ylvis' 'What Does the Fox Say')" by Ben Guaraldi)
🔍Learn more about Friends school history

⚽🏐We are seeking coaches and drivers to support our fall athletic programs

🏅 For inquiries regarding coaching positions, please email your resume and a description of your experience to our Athletic Director at [email protected].

One of the highlights from last fall was when the Cross Country team brought home a State Championship! Tandem's XC program continues to grow each year, becoming more competitive while keeping the fun-loving, team spirit burning bright.

Cross Country is an all-gender/co-ed sport with a Middle School and Varsity team. We can't wait to see what this season brings!🏃🏃‍♀️🏃‍♂️

For those of you who've caught the bug playing beach volleyball this summer, you're in luck. Tandem offers Girls Middle School, JV, and Varsity Volleyball in the fall🏐!

Learn the skills of the sport and join a vibrant and supportive community of athletes!

As the countdown to the school year begins, one of the most exciting things to look forward to is fall sports! Whether you can't wait to rejoin your teammates and coaches or you're considering joining for the first time, there's a place for you in Tandem Athletics.

⚽Inspired by the Euro Cup to get out on the pitch? Boys Soccer is offered at the Middle School and Varsity level! Varsity pre-season practice begins on August 6th and Middle School practices will start on August 21st after school.

🚨An important reminder: make sure you've submitted all required forms so you can participate on the first day of practice! 🚨

Calling all Tandem Alumni! Did you receive the Alumni Survey? If not, it's probably because we don't have your contact information. Email us at [email protected] with your info and we'll send you the survey!

We want to hear from you. This brief survey will ask you to reflect on your time at Tandem and how it prepared you for college and life. It will also ask you to share your alumni engagement preferences. You are an essential part of our community and we want to hear your voice.

Congratulations to the class of 2024! You can make a gift in honor of a grad or teacher at https://www.tandemfs.org/giving/make-a-gift . Your support of Tandem Friends School before June 30th will help us to have a strong finish to the year!

Summer at Spectrum continues with fiber arts, doodling, and farm fun!

It's summer and that means school's out and swimming and softball are in! featuring the 1980 Tandem softball team and Spring Day shenanigans at Chris Greene Lake! 🌞

📸Photos from Letty Macdonald, Math teacher from 1979-1987

Moments of community and connection with the Class of ‘99 at their 25th reunion 🌲

The school year may be over, but we're keeping busy on Tandem Lane! Spectrum Summer Camp and Courses are fun and educational programs that offer a safe and nurturing environment where children can learn different art forms, express their creativity, and develop their artistic skills through hands-on activities and projects. Today, campers were engaged in crafting felt art animals, borax crystals, popsicle stick boxes to hold magic jewelry and talismans, and Mexican bark paintings! Which room would you choose?

This summer we'll be revisiting years past

Today we're taking it back to 1999 in honor of the class of '99's return to campus this weekend for their 25th reunion! (featuring Antonio with an epic potato launcher 🥔)

Some more memories from the class of 2024 Commencement ceremony! Commencement is a time for friends, family, alumni, current and retired faculty, and staff to come together and celebrate all the magic that goes into making Tandem graduates.

After their grand entrance, we heard from Upper School Science teacher Casey Reed whom the seniors selected as their faculty speaker. Reed shared a powerful speech about the beauty of the ordinary. Then, the graduates had an opportunity to express gratitude and share final comments with the Tandem community at large. This expression of thanks continued in the Ritual of Gratitude, where each graduate bestows roses on their loved ones and mentors in the audience.

Lastly, as each graduate received their diploma, Director of Upper School, Russel Combs, and Assistant Head of School for Mission and Values, Peter Gaines, spoke about their unique identities as students, athletes, friends, leaders, and community members and shared memories from their time at Tandem.

Congratulations to the Class of 2024! On Saturday, we gathered to celebrate this incredible group of 37 seniors. They entered with a pop of color and the ceremony was a wonderful recognition of their time at Tandem. Look out for more photos coming soon! 🎓

Yesterday, we gathered to celebrate our graduating 8th graders, the class of 2028! Advisors shared personal acknowledgments for each student in a grade full of talent, kindness, and humor. Congratulations, class of 2028!

Happy last day of school, TFS! Today campus was abuzz with yearbook signing, cleaning up and out of lockers, and goodbyes, before we settled into silence one last time in Meeting for Worship on the front lawn. In the coming days, we'll be celebrating the class of 2024 as they approach Commencement. Thank you for a wonderful year!

Here are some more highlights from last week's Emphasis offerings! Emphasis is an experiential education program that allows our community to put the Quaker values, or "SPICES" (Simplicity, Peace, Integrity, Community, Equality, Stewardship), into practice.

In "Goat Farming," students stretched themselves with goat yoga, made mozzarella cheese, and learned to milk dairy goats.

Emphasis is a chance for rest, reflection, and restoration. Embodying the Quaker values of Peace and Simplicity, "Peace in the World" took a yoga, nature, and art retreat and explored how to be forces of good in the world.

Badger Builders particularly exemplified the Quaker value of Stewardship. This group spent the week building benches for the athletic fields, replacing rotting boards on our campus benches, and creating a new, covered receptacle for dishes from the cafe.

Those with an adventurous spirit took excursions to West Virginia's New River Gorge to learn and/or develop their rock climbing skills; or undertook the Virginia Triple Crown on the "Ganongathon," backpacking for 4 days and 3 nights and working together in Community on basic survival skills while being good stewards of the land.

Students interested in archaeology had the opportunity to get their hands dirty and engage with the complexity of archives, using archaeology as a lens to more deeply understand how people from all levels of society lived and worked at Montpelier, Monticello, and right here at Tandem.

Emphasis is underway and everyone's up to something! Some students take a crash course in the art of filmmaking while others explore Broadway and backstage.

Many groups embark on adventures off-campus to explore cool, hidden, and unusual spots in Virginia, like this healing labyrinth, or to learn about the history of Virginia and the American presidency, by visiting sites like Mount Vernon and Monticello.

Another group attempts to play their way through the great board games of history. Some stroll off the beaten path to find waterfalls in Shenandoah National Park and George Washington National Forest. Others learn to skate fast and hit hard from !

It's Emphasis Week! Emphasis offers an opportunity for experimental and experiential learning. It's a chance for students, faculty, and staff to step outside the classroom, and often, their comfort zones. Over the years, Emphasis programs have ranged from sailing, guitar building, horseback riding, mural painting, backpacking on the Appalachian Trail (known as the Ganongathon, named after beloved math teacher, Steve Ganong), rock climbing, goat farming, and so much more! What's your favorite Emphasis memory?

Art Capstone is a year-long class open to seniors who have shown exceptional skill in visual art classes during their school careers. The work currently on display in the Blue Room is the product of students' time and effort invested in developing skills, refining their craft, and materializing their vision.

"I am passionate about the human experience in nature and worry about the lack of appreciation for the natural world around us." -- Luxi (images 1-2)

"My hope is that my work can invoke gentle emotions in the people who observe it. I want them to see the tiny details that would otherwise go unnoticed." -- Caroline (3-4)

"The implementation of mixed media is meant to achieve a scattered yet congruent appearance, or in one case, a modern twist on an old painting-- an evolved connection between past and present times." Kaia (5-6)

Also on display are pieces created in the Color Independent Study (images 7-9). Students who have taken 2D and 3D expanded their understanding of color in the semester-long course.

It's been a big year for TFS Athletics! May 14th was Senior Sports Recognition and Signing Day.

Tandem teams that won conference season or tournament championships were presented with banners that will hang in the gym (volleyball regular season co-champs, cross country regular season and tourney champs, cross county state champs). Conference Coaches of the Year Scottie Chambers, Megan Pimentel (volleyball), and Jason Farr (Cross Country) were honored.

Two of our seniors will be playing varsity sports in college - Matt will play lacrosse at Georgian Court, and De'Angelo will play soccer at Mary Baldwin. We couldn't be prouder of these Badgers!

All of our senior athletes were celebrated in the ceremony. Athletic Director Sarana Hyatt presented each senior athlete with a nice memory of their sports time at Tandem. Finally, this year's Sportspersons of the Year were announced - seniors Alden and Desteny, both committed, multi-sport athletes throughout their many years at Tandem.

Congratulations also to our spring varsity athletes who have been selected as recipients of GPAC All-Conference Honors. In Varsity Girls Soccer, Tessa and Emma received 1st team all-conference honors and Maggie received honorable mention. In Varsity Boys Lacrosse, 1st team all-conference honors were given to Matt, Alden, and Luca. Way to go, Badgers!

Will you be the one to push us over the finish line? We are ONE donor away from our goal.

Remind your Tandem friends to make a gift today! If we get to 74 alumni donors, members of the class of 1974 will give $10,000!!

Tandem teachers work hard every day to come up ways to bring abstract concepts to life. This Day of Giving show them you care with a gift to the fund that supports not only their professional development but all they do at Tandem.