Twelfth Night is a romantic comedy about how in the midst of grief, loss, confusion, and unrequited love, a person can discover not only who they are meant to be with, but who they are meant to be.

After a shipwreck, Viola is separated from her twin brother in the land of Illyria, where she disguises herself as a boy named Cesario to ensure her safety. As Cesario, Viola works for Orsino to woo the Countess Olivia on his behalf. Hijinks ensue! Olivia falls for Cesario. Viola falls for Orsino. Orsino falls for Cesario?! Or Viola?! Malvolio pursues Olivia while Sir Toby and Sir Andrew shoot their shots with their various love interests. 

Love and attraction grows between the characters regardless of their exteriors. A change of outfit and behavior can’t hide who they really are underneath. The true identities of each character always shine through, and in moments of challenge, they learn something new about themselves.

Our one-act adaptation of this classic Shakespeare play is set in the 1950s to amplify how gender is explored in the script, and to emulate the ‘larger than life’ comedic style of classic ‘50s sitcoms. In the 1950s, gender roles were the foundation of American society. Men were the breadwinners and women the caretakers, and there wasn’t much deviation from those norms. Is this basis really so different from that of Shakespeare’s time? Our hope is that the spectrum of gender expression can shine through in our production, even during a time period with seemingly little wiggle room for exploration of gender. Let us be reminded that gender is expansive and has been for a long, long while.

Last Wednesday, the 5-6th grade students took a trip to the MFA for a guided tour and to investigate The Art of Ancient Egypt Galleries. Our trip had several goals: 1. to observe artifacts that students learned about during our study, and 2. to learn about the origins of these artifacts and how the story of Ancient Egyptians is being told at the museum. 

Upon our arrival, we were divided into four different tour groups. Each group toured a range of galleries and were presented with information about different artifacts. After the tour, students selected an artifact to sketch, read about, and interpret. 

Dear FSS Community, 

 

The Kindergarten Post Office is now open!  We welcome you to be part of this long-standing Fayerweather tradition and encourage you to write letters to your children, their friends, teachers, or staff!  

 

Dear FSS Community,

I hope this message finds you well. Happy 2024!

As we advance into the new year, I would like to provide you with an update on several significant initiatives we have been working on to enhance our school community and ensure the best possible experience for students. We have started the new year with excitement and joy as the learning has begun!

We recognize the importance of a positive school climate and culture and its impact on student learning and well-being. To this end, we are actively working on initiatives to foster a nurturing, inclusive, and respectful environment. This includes offering professional development opportunities to our staff in the realm of culturally responsive practices and establishing support and connections for both minoritized and dominant social groups within our community.

Did you know that at the start of the 2023-24 school year, almost 50% of Fayerweather students were also enrolled in Extended Day? Factoring in extracurricular classes and programs, we found that over 70% of enrolled students were participating in at least one of our afterschool offerings this fall.

What’s remarkable about these numbers is that they take into account roughly one third of the offerings available to students over the course of the school year. At the conclusion of the 2022-23 school year, we found that 83% of Fayerweather students took advantage of our Extended Day and Extracurricular Programs. If these stats are any indication, we’re in the middle of another record-breaking year of after-school programming.