The Fessy Den Blog

A Magical Story About Community

In February, Fessenden families once again gathered in the Performing Arts Center for an event that has become an annual crowd pleaser — the Staffulty Cabaret. This tradition has become a staple of the Fessenden experience, with countless staff and faculty performing in front of hundreds, even thousands, of Fessenden students and parents over the...
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A Growth Mindset in the New Year

The start of each new year often comes with a pledge to accomplish those things we have struggled to conquer in the past. The tradition of New Year resolutions requires us to reflect on our weaknesses and focus on how we can overcome them. Typically, we recycle our pledges each year, hoping to get the...
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It Is A Wonderful Life!

Each holiday season, a favorite tradition for many of us is a viewing of the classic film It’s a Wonderful Life. Frank Capra’s beloved story about the fictional town of Bedford Falls, and of George Bailey’s despair over his meaningless life, does more than merely warm our hearts during its yearly showing. It prompts us...
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The New and the Tried and True

We recently asked Dan Kiley, one of Fessenden’s most beloved and longest-tenured faculty members, to share his thoughts on the start of the 2016-2017 academic year. For me, the opening of a new school year always conjures feelings of excitement mixed with trepidation and anxiety. After nearly forty years of teaching, I still get “butterflies”...
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The iLab: A Space for A Boy’s Imagination

“Raise your hand if you would like to go to the iLab.” Throughout the Schoolroom, hands dart into the air, each boy hoping to secure one of the ten available slots that will allow him to spend the next forty-five minutes in our popular iLab Makerspace. The opportunity to collaborate on a new project or...
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The Importance of Family-Style Lunches

This week Lower School Head Stephen Billhardt share’s his perspective on why family-style lunches are a unique and important part of the overall Fessenden experience.  I would venture to guess that at 10:55 a.m. most people are thinking about things other than lunch! But in the Lower School, that is the magical time when boys in...
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The Art of Mrs. Gobbi

Each Wednesday, boarding students flock around the large bulletin board in the Gathering Room to check the more than 25 activities scheduled for the coming weekend. From Friday night to Sunday afternoon, Fessenden boys choose from an extensive array of options, ranging from an evening of movies and popcorn in a dorm parent’s apartment to...
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Fessy Lip Dubs

A “lip dub” is a musical video that is filmed in one continuous shot as the camera travels through a location, capturing the members of a community in the act of performing to a piece of music. Fessenden’s ‘Lip Dub’ has become an eagerly anticipated annual event that involves every member of the community –...
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