2023 DHSPA Direct Appeal

Dear Parents,

We are thrilled to announce the 2023 DHSPA Direct Appeal Kickoff! This is our one and only direct appeal and we depend on your support heavily. This year, the appeal will run for just 28 days from October 23rd – November 20th. The support you provide allows us to continue with the opportunities that make Darien High School consistently ranked one of the top schools in the state! Your involvement and generosity have played a vital role in creating a fun and inspiring community for our students, teachers and administration!

The 2023 DHSPA Direct Appeal goal is $30,000. We are suggesting a donation of $125 per student, but we are beyond grateful for any donation that aligns with your family’s budget. Your contribution to this direct appeal will significantly impact our ability to support the following initiatives and many more!

  • Parenting and community programming with incredible speakers such as Mark Brackett, Lisa Damour and Joyce Sixsmith, as well as grade-level parent coffees and the DHS Alumni Panel
  • Mental health initiatives such as Wellness Week and our new Wellness Center, newly furnished!
  • Fun student initiatives such as the 100 Day Dinner, Battle of the Bands, Trunk or Treat and contributing to our junior and senior proms as well as other Student Government activities
  • Enrichment & Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives
  • Teacher initiatives and luncheons, including back-to-school, Teacher Appreciation Day, holidays, end of year and restocking of the faculty lounge
  • Graduation events like the college fair, rehearsal picnic, reception and the senior lawn signs

Please click here to donate via PayPal (QR code below!) or checks may be sent to DHS (payable to Darien High School Parent Association).

As always, thank you for your continued support.

Beth Lane & Kelly Scallon, Darien High School Parent Association Co-Chairs

Gina Gromelski & Ali Cherenek, Fundraising Co-Chairs

HOMECOMING WEEK EVENTS – Oct 16th to Oct 21st

Spirit Days
Monday  – Pajama Day
Tuesday  –  Twin Day
Wednesday  –  Country vs Country Club
Thursday  – Adam Sandler Groutfit
Friday   –  Blue Wave Pride


Pep Rally: We will end the school week with an all-school pep rally featuring the
band, sports teams, and games


Homecoming Bonfire: 6:00-8:00 in the Courtyard. Admission is free! All
students are encouraged to join us for a fun celebration.


Athletic Events:
Monday, Oct. 16: Girls Soccer – 4:00 pm
Wednesday, Oct. 18: Field Hockey – 4:00 pm; Girls Vball – 4:00 pm; 2:15 pm Cross
Country @ Waveny Park
Thursday, Oct. 19: Boys Soccer – 4:00 pm
Friday, Oct. 20: Girls Swimming and Diving – 4:00 pm @ Ridgefield Barlow Mountain
Pool
Saturday, Oct. 21: Football – 1:00 pm

A note from your new DHSPA Co-Chairs

We are thrilled to be joining the DHSPA as Co-Chairs. We are looking forward to working with all of you in creating amazing memories for our Blue Wave students, parents and staff.

Thank you to everyone who was able to join us at DHS’s Open House last Thursday. The night showcased our talented and dedicated teachers and staff. It was made extra special by our parent volunteers. We’d like to say a huge thank you to: 

-Treats and fabulous hospitality brought to you by Amy Barber, Amy Benedict and Chris Popson. Thanks to all of you who provided water and baked goods. 

-Neenu Sharma and Lauren Moir rocked our Spirit Wear table. A shout out to students Jess Moir and Inara Chickles for helping out too! If you weren’t able to shop there, be on the lookout for an October online spirit wear sale.

DHS DIRECTORIES: Online directories are still available for purchase for $20. https://dhspa.membershiptoolkit.com/newsletter/05607-20230817140242-033899300-1794351676

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED: The DHSPA is looking for a second chair for our student government events team as well as event committee members for all of the great events Student Government hosts. We also need a few more people to help with nominating in the spring—this is a job that is 100% online and done at home on your own time. Please email dhspaemail@gmail.com if you’d like to join these committees.

October events are in the works so please look for more information in the coming weeks.

We wish you all the best this school year! GO BLUE WAVE! 

Beth Lane and Kelly Scallon

A NOTE FROM THE DHSPA INTERIM CO-CHAIRS

Welcome to the 2023-24 School Year! We hope you all had a fun and relaxing summer.

Please read Principal Dunn’s sent to your email as it contains loads of helpful information.

We’d like to start by thanking the back-to-school lunch committee, Katherine Crouse, Liz Ezbiansky, Kim Huang-Kim, Alyson Johnson and Melissa Escajadillo, for welcoming the staff back with a wonderful lunch today.

Freshman and New Student Orientation is Tuesday, August 29th at 9:00 AM in the DHS Auditorium. We will be setting up spirit wear sales tomorrow for Freshman Orientation with our remaining inventory, but our online spirit wear pop-up store is officially live!! The link for the online pop-up store is HERE.

Stay informed about everything DHSPA by subscribing to our weekly DPN via directory or directly thru constant contact. Link to register to the directory and DPN HERE. Link to only register for DPN (not in the directory), HERE.

As you can see from the above heading, “INTERIM CO-CHAIRS,” we need a couple of volunteers to lead the DHSPA this year. We have several seasoned PTO members on the exec board so you would have plenty of guidance. Please reach out to us if you’d like to Co-Chair this year.

We look forward to a great year.

Best,

Lori Olson and Stephanie Maher

Social Media

For up-to-date information, don’t forget to follow our social media. Everything will be posted via social media and DPN. The buttons on the right of the page with link you to them!

A note from the DHSPA Co-Chairs

Welcome to families new and old to DHS! 

We hope you had a wonderful summer. The DHSPA is looking forward to a great year supporting our students, faculty and staff. We are working on ways to introduce fun, spirit filled events throughout the year. We will also be offering programming for students and parents. And we are so excited that these events will be in-person. 

We look forward to sharing news with you throughout the year. In case you missed it, here is Principal Dunn’s recent letter, which includes a lot of helpful information and resources. 

Please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions or concerns. 

Have a great week.

Antoinette Cowles & Leila Buckjune,

DHSPA Co-Chairs