Upper School Blast Dec 12, 2025

Key Dates
What to Know Now
Parent Community News
Announcements

Key Dates

Monday-Friday, Dec. 15-19 — Final Exams (see schedule below)
Friday, Dec. 19 — Spring Sports Registration Closes
Friday, Dec. 19 — Winter Break begins at 11:30 a.m.
Monday, Dec. 22-Friday, Jan. 2 — Winter Break
Monday, Jan. 5 — School Resumes

Photos of the Week

The Upper School chorus took part in their annual chorus tour.
Students work on their projects on the pottery wheels in the Upper School’s ceramics class.
The philanthropy class gave their final presentations to a panel of teachers and representatives from Magnified Giving, which awarded a $1,500 grant to Life Learning Center. The nonprofit was represented by seniors Evie Cooper and Laikyn Burton.
The Upper School instrumental and contemporary ensembles had their winter concerts in The Schiff Center.
The robotics team had an all-hands meeting to discuss upcoming compeitions and volunteer opportunities.

What to Know Now

Potential Snow Day Information

In the unlikely event of a snow day prior to Winter Break, we will observe the following protocols to ensure that students have access to their teachers for review and exam preparation:

All students are expected to check their email by 8:30 a.m. for information from their teachers about potential review sessions or check-ins.
Teachers will be available to answer student questions or review sometime during their regularly assigned class time.
Work due on Friday should still be submitted by the proper time on Friday (instructions on Canvas).
Students can expect a quick email response between the hours of 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m.

First Semester Final Exams

Upper School students will be taking their exams Dec. 15-19. Exams start at 8:30 a.m. each morning and end by 10:45 a.m. If your child has extended time, they will continue their exam past 10:45 a.m. in a separate room.

Students may leave after their last exam of the day and they do not need to be at school if they are not scheduled to take an exam. If students would like to stay at school to study, the Commons and Young Family Library are open for Upper students during normal school hours, and the cafeteria will be open.

Students are required to take the exams at the appointed time listed below. There is a makeup exam slot on Wednesday, Dec. 17 at 6 a.m. for students with conflicts. Please contact Rick Tate if you need to attend that makeup session. If your child is ill during an exam day, a doctor’s note is required. In case of inclement weather, exams will be moved to the afternoon slot of the next day.

Monday, Dec. 15

8:30 a.m. – History
12:30 p.m. – Computer Science

Tuesday, Dec. 16

8:30 a.m. — Science
12:30 p.m. — Double Science

Wednesday, Dec. 17

8:30 a.m. — English
12:30 p.m. — Double Computer Science

Thursday, Dec. 18

8:30 a.m. — Math

Friday, Dec. 19

8:30 a.m. — World Language

In case of inclement weather, the exam will be moved to the afternoon slot on the next day.

Spring Sports Registration is officially open!

All Upper School registration will exclusively register through Final Forms. If you have any questions about registration or need assistance, please contact Erin Wierzba. Registration will close on Dec. 19. We can’t wait to see your student-athletes out there this spring!

Parent Community News

First Program of 2026 — Roadmap to College

Please RSVP today for the Road Map Event to join us on Wednesday, Jan. 7 to discuss the Seven Hills Roadmap to College. There is an a.m. and p.m. offering. Please note that this is designed for current eighth, ninth, and 10th grade parents. Mr. Tate and the college counseling team will dive into the strategic roadmap to college in a year-by-year approach. They will discuss current trends in college acceptances, focus points, and expectations. This program does not include current 11th and 12th grade parents as they have separate programming. Please reach out to us.pa@7hills.org with any questions.

Harmony: Strength Together

This past weekend the students of the Middle School and Upper School had their Instrumental Concerts. These concerts are an elegant illustration of our community. Each instrument has a distinct sound that can beautifully stand on its own, but when played together they can create something transcendent. We can achieve more when we work together and support each other.

Neurodivergent Community Gathering

A number of families have reached out expressing interest in building community with other families and caregivers who identify as neurodivergent themselves and/or have children who identify as neurodivergent. Neurodivergency includes a wide range of experiences, such as ADHD, dyslexia, dyscalculia, autism spectrum, processing differences, and more.

We are exploring the creation of a community group to offer connection, shared resources, and space for learning across all four divisions. To help us understand interests and needs across our school community, we invite you to complete this brief interest form.

Happiest Holidays!

The Upper School PC wants to wish you a very merry everything! We hope that your holiday season is filled with joy, laughter, and all the things that bring happiness to you and your family.Wishing you good health and continued happiness in 2026! Thank you for all you do for our school community and we will see you in the new year!

Say Hi!

Reach out anytime at us.pa@7hills.org. We would love to hear from you.

Announcements

Tracking Community Service on Veracross

Parents can now view details of their children’s community service records. You will find this information on Veracross in the “My Children” section under the “Links” tab. Winter Break is a great time for families to serve together and for students to work toward fulfilling their 30 hour service graduation requirement. Please refer to the Community Service Graduation Requirement Overview for more information about the requirements and for a list of suggested organizations to serve. Please note that the list is not exhaustive and students can serve with organizations not on the list, as long as they are in keeping with the service purposes listed on the Community Service Graduation Requirement Overview.

LEAD Together: Jonathan Haidt Webinar Information

Thank you to those who were able to join us for the viewing and discussion of Jonathan Haidt’s webinar: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Impacted Everything + What We Can Do About It. Please use the Zoom link to watch at home. This will be available for all Seven Hills families to view until Dec. 31. Please see some follow-up resources as well.

College Counseling Junior Family Announcements

Parents and guardians of juniors are asked to please complete the family planning questionnaire by the end of Winter Break. See your email for more information.

Please save the date for our next college counseling presentation for junior families on Monday, Jan. 12, at 7 p.m. on Zoom. A meeting link will be posted to the Class of 2027 Canvas page.

Free Virtual Practice ACT for 10th and 11th Grade Students

When: Saturday, Jan. 24
Time: 9 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Where: Proctored online via Zoom
More Information and Test Registration

Revolution Prep, one of the nation’s leading test prep organizations, is partnering with SHS College Counseling to offer free practice exams to 10th and 11th grade students. Students can take these digital, full-length, proctored practice tests from home at no cost. As the preferred test prep partner of the ACT, Rev Prep offers a practice test that mirrors the new digital version of the ACT. After the test, Rev Prep will send a free, detailed score report and also offer a free 30-minute review with a Revolution Prep tutor to interpret the results.

Taking a practice ACT in 10th or 11th grade helps students become familiar with the test format, identify areas for improvement, and build confidence before the official exam. While some juniors choose to test earlier, most students take their first official ACT or SAT between December and March of 11th grade. Many then plan a second test in late spring or summer and, if needed, a final attempt in early fall of 12th grade before college application deadlines.

Additional free practice test dates for the ACT and SAT can be found at Revolutinprep.com.

2026 Summer Program — Priority Registration opens at 9 a.m. on Feb. 10!

Excitement is in the air as we gear up for another fantastic summer filled with fun, learning, and unforgettable experiences! We’re thrilled to announce that priority registration for our Summer Program will open at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 10, for Seven Hills families only. Use the priority registration code from the email sent on Dec. 3.

The Seven Hills School Summer Program uses Ultracamp to streamline registration.

New Ultracamp users: We recommend creating an Ultracamp account prior to registration if you don’t have one already. Here is the Ultracamp account registration link.
Returning Ultracamp users: Returning Ultracamp users will need their username and password to log in.