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2008-2009 School Year - Opening Days

September 4

Arrival for Seniors and New International Students

This day is primarily planned as a time for International Students to arrive and tour Grier's campus with their families. It is a good time for these girls to begin to set up their rooms and for parents to make the tour of some important offices. (Headmistress, Business office, Infirmary) Most girls opt to spend the night with their families in local hotels if they are travelling together. Students arriving alone may plan to stay in the dormitories.

September 5

Arrival for New U.S. Students

This is the busiest move-in day at Grier. Headmaster, Andrew Wilson, will greet families as they come up the driveway. The tried-and-true arrival sequence is the following:

a) Mr. Wilson greets you near the colonnade.

b) We ask families to unload their things quickly on the porch or in nearby Ivy Court. Once the car is unloaded, the parent should drive the car off to Grier's parking lot.

c) The parent returns to join the student for the registration process. Various tables are set up on the porch where new students check in. Some of the information exchanged includes room assignments, roommates, mailbox combinations, vacation trips being offered, sports, music and other matters.

d) Once the family has moved through these tables, it is time to move into the dorm! This requires a bit of carrying. Please remember that Grier does not have elevators and our maintenance men are not available for carrying items. Students generally bring too much to school. If a student has too many things, it is hard to keep a neat dorm room!

e) There is a luncheon served at mid-day. This is a wonderful time for parents to meet each other.

f) The Parent Orientation meeting is at 1 PM.

g) Most parents plan to leave campus by 5 PM. Students tend to begin developing friendships after their parents have left campus. In some cases, the girls themselves let their parents know when it is time to go!

September 6

Arrival for all other returning Students/Rockfest

There is a short shopping trip on this afternoon. The main purpose of this trip is to demonstate to Grier students what type of expectations we have for off-campus trips. This also provides students with a chance to purchase things for their dorm rooms which they may need.

Area hotels fill up very quickly for weekends in the fall (mainly because of football games at Penn State University). We suggest that you try to book your hotel rooms immediately for your visits to Grier. We have contacted the following hotels to reserve blocks of rooms. Please note the hotels have dates after which they will no longer hold the blocked rooms!

For September Opening 2008—when making reservations—mention that you are a Grier Parent making reservations for the "Grier School September Opening".

Ramada Inn, Altoona, PA—814-946-1631—15 rms. blocked—reserve by Aug. 4, 2008

Holiday Inn Express, Altoona, PA—814-944-9661—15 rms. blocked—reserve by Aug. 14 2008

Comfort Inn, Huntingdon, PA—814-643-1600—6 rms blocked—reserve by Aug. 14, 2008

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For Oct. Parents’ Weekend 2008—when making reservations—mention that you are a Grier Parent making reservation for the "Grier School October Parents’ Weekend".

Ramada Inn, Altoona, Pa—814-946-1631—15 rms. blocked—reserve by Sept. 10, 2008

Courtyard by Marriott, Altoona, PA—814-312-1800—15 rms blocked—reserve by Sept. 10, 2008

Holiday Inn Express, Altoona, PA—814-944-9661—15 rms blocked—reserve by Sept. 13, 2008

Hampton Inn, Altoona, PA—814-941-3500—10 rms blocked—reserve by Sept. 19, 2008

Ramada Inn & Conference Center, State College, PA—814-238-3001—reserve by Sept. 10, 2008

Comfort Inn, Huntingdon, PA—814-643-1800—5 rms blocked—reserve by Sept. 19, 2008

PARENTS! PLEASE NOTE THAT THERE ARE LINKS OFF THE PARENT PAGE FOR ALL OF THE IMPORTANT PRE-REGISTRATION INFORMATION AND TRANSPORTATION INFORMATION!

Dudana '95 stops by Grier in the fall for a recital. Concert information below

Dudana Mazmanishvili
Piano Recital

SATURDAY, JULY 19TH, 2008 AT 6 PM
150 West 85th Street, New York
www.dudana.com
www.ikif.org
TICKETS (212) 580-0210 ext. 4858

June 23, 2008

Dear Parents,

I am seated on my porch on a Sunday morning, listening to the chant of a Mourning Dove and the rumble of a train going down our valley. Every few minutes I am joined by a hummingbird who comes to check out our hanging plants. Drawn to color, the last one that stopped by also checked out our purple pillow on the hanging swing and the tail lights of my car in the garage. Everything is sparkling. There is a pitter patter of drips from trees as the moisture from last night's thunderstorm makes its way back to earth.

At 11 PM last night, I was returning from Tyrone where I had gone to see the musical my wife and daughters were in, "Oliver." As I drove back to school, the sky was bright with the flashes of lightning in all directions. Loud, crashing reports of thunder filled the night with a terrifying roar. I was very glad that this night was a quiet night at school. The youngest campers in the Mother-Daughter session had just left yesterday and the "Rookies" are not due in until today at noon. Hopefully, the storms of last night have ushered in a calm stretch of cooler summer days.

The campus looks lovely this morning. Our spring has been just about as perfect as I could have wanted. The lawns are brilliant and the flowers are healthy. As I went for my morning walk this morning, I stopped by Grier's vegetable garden to assess the progress of the plants. I encountered a rabbit inside out fencing. I walked around and chased him as he followed the fence, realizing that his breakfast of bean plants had come to an end. He looked at me in panic as I kept following him around and then he dashed through the fence. I went to investigate and found that there was a spot where the fencing afforded him just enough space to nudge his head and body through. I found a small rock over by our 1812 house and used it to better anchor the fence.

The 1812 house is one of the projects taking place this summer. It is the log home across the street from my house. It has sat unoccupied for some years but now it is being refurbished in preparation for our college counselor, Katie Kingera. She plans to move on campus so she can be closer to her work. Her work this year has been outstanding so all of us are very happy that she will be nearby. Another new neighbor will come in across the street at the other home facing mine. Our biology teacher, Jessa Watters, is moving on to a job at a college. The home she has been living in, will become the home of Chris Flanagan, our kitchen director. Chris has been an impressive force in the school, dramatically transforming our school's menu and presentation in a fabulous way. The small garden was her idea. Though we already use fresh produce from Pennsylvania farmers, she thought it would be nice to add some home grown produce. My family and I have been enjoying the spring onions already and are preparing for the harvest of potatoes, carrots, tomatoes and squash to come.

Other projects around campus include an expansion of the dorm space in Rexroad House and the addition of a living room on the ground floor, the continuation of the construction of the home for Harriet and Doug Grier (Their former home we converted into dorm space!), and an addition of an 18 stall stable to the indoor equestrian center.

Combine all the activity from these projects with the fact that our camp has a very full enrollment and you have a very active scene here at school.

We are super-excited to welcome new students and returning students to school in September. In preparation, we hope that all girls have taken the time to read some of the summer reading as posted on the English page of the Grier website. This year Parents can find all the most important pre-registration forms on-line linked to the Parent page of the website. We hope that this is a convenient improvement for all.

It is not too early to plan for lodging for the start of school or for Parents' Weekend. Hotels fill up quickly in Central PA so please make your reservations early. We have blocks of rooms reserved in Altoona and in State College. Information about those will be on the website later this week.

I hope you are all having a fabulous summer!

Regards,

Andrew Wilson, Headmaster

Headmaster Andrew Wilson with his family.

STUDENT COUNCIL OFFICERS 2008/2009

President Chelsea Peterson-Salahuddin

Vice President Hye Young Hwang

Secretary Marissa Williams

Treasurer Franny Yuan

PARENTS! PLEASE NOTE THAT THERE ARE LINKS OFF THE PARENT PAGE FOR ALL OF THE IMPORTANT PRE-REGISTRATION INFORMATION AND TRANSPORTATION INFORMATION!

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