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Four student-artists have been selected to participate in the 2026 Connecticut Scholastic Art Awards Exhibition. Meadow Drakeley '26, Melissa Kang '27, Ahram Kim '26, and Cathy Yang '28 will have their original artwork featured in the largest juried student art exhibition in the state. Together, they garnered six Gold Key, Silver Key, and Honorable Mention awards.
 

Six Gunn Music students have been accepted to perform at the Connecticut Music Educators Association’s (CMEA) Northern Region Music Festival. These students were among 11 Gunn Music students who traveled to Avon High School on November 8, 2025, for auditions. The Northern Region Music Festival, which will include band, jazz band, choral and orchestral ensembles, will take place on January 16 and 17, 2026, at New Britain High School. 
 

The Frederick Gunn School Music Program will present its annual holiday concert, "Wizards in Winter," featuring Chamber Orchestra, Vocal Ensemble, Jazz Band, and special guests on Tuesday, December 16, at 7:15 p.m. in the Tisch Family Auditorium of the Thomas S. Perakos Arts and Community Center. The performance is open to Gunn students and faculty with a limited number of seats available for family and friends. Doors open at 7 p.m. Admission is free. 
 

The Highlanders defeated the Wilbraham & Monson Titans 48-29 to win the 2025 NEPSAC Eight-Person Football League Championship on November 16, 2025. The inaugural Eight-Person Championship game was played at home on Barnes Field on a brisk fall afternoon while students and families, led by the school’s new Highlander mascot, Scottie, cheered from the stands in front of the James R. Haddick Field House.
 

Having finished the regular season with a record of 6-1, Varsity Football is heading to the 2025 NEPSAC Eight-Person Football League Championship. The Highlanders are the #2 seed and will host #3 seed Wilbraham & Monson Academy at home on Barnes Field on Saturday, November 15 at 2 p.m.

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Gunn Varsity Field Hockey won the NEPSAC Girls Field Hockey Championship Quarterfinal on November 12, beating Pomfret School, 3-1. Goals were scored by Izzy Blake ’26 and Maddie Caramante ’29 (who scored twice). The #3 seed, Gunn will now face the #2 seed, King School, in the NEPSAC Semifinals this Saturday, November 15, at 1 p.m. at King School in Stamford. 

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Gunn Field Hockey will host the 2025 NEPSAC Field Hockey Championship Quarterfinal at home on Barnes Field on Wednesday, November 12, at 2 p.m. This is the fifth consecutive year that the Highlanders have earned a playoff bid. The #3 seed, Gunn will take on the #6 seed, Pomfret School, in the Class C bracket. The winner will advance to the NEPSAC Semifinals on Saturday, November 15.

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School spirit surged through campus on Friday, November 7, as Gunn’s new Highlander mascot took the stage at School Meeting and — with more than 500 votes tallied in a naming contest that was open to the entire community — students and faculty learned that our newest teammate will be called Scottie! A pep band played and Scottie danced as students and faculty rose to their feet in the Tisch Family Auditorium of the Thomas S. Perakos Arts and Community Center. Waving pom-poms in the air and ringing red and blue cow bells, they cheered and clapped along to the music. 
 

An extensive exhibit of Contemporary African Art opened October 28, 2025 in the Perakos Family Cares Art Gallery and the Richard C. Colton, Jr. '60 Art Wing, featuring more than 75 selected works from The Saidy Collection. The exhibit will remain on view in the Thomas S. Perakos Arts and Community Center (TPACC) through January 17, 2026. The gallery is open to the public free of charge. Hours are Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Parking is available in the Upper Lot off Kirby Road, with a limited number of accessible parking spaces outside of TPACC. Please refer to the Campus Map for details.
 

The Frederick Gunn School will honor Trustee Emeritus Leo Bretter ’52 P’88 with the 2025 Friend of the Green Award at the Washington Town Holiday Party on Saturday, November 22, 2025. All Washington residents and business owners, faculty, local alumni, and Frederick Gunn School families are welcome to attend. The Friend of the Green Award presentation will be held at 5:30 p.m. in the Tisch Family Auditorium of the Thomas S. Perakos Arts and Community Center on campus. The holiday reception will be held from 6-7:30 p.m. in the Norman R. Lemcke Community Room in TPACC.
 

This year's School Walk celebrated school founder Frederick Gunn's love of nature and the centennial of Steep Rock, which, as Associate Head of School Seth Low P'26 '28 noted, "has been the backyard of The Frederick Gunn School for 175 years." Current students and alumni regard the 1,000-acre nature preserve, established by alumnus Ehrick Rossiter, Class of 1870, almost as an extension of the campus. Generations of Highlanders know well the breathtaking view of the Clamshell and the Shepaug River from Steep Rock Summit, and many will recall passing the stone foundation of Holiday House along the School Walk route. In its centennial year, Steep Rock Association is seeking to raise $30,000 to bring the Holiday House ruins garden back to life with the aid of student volunteers from Gunn Outdoors.
 

Original photographs by four Frederick Gunn School students will be featured in the 15th annual Celebration of Young Photographers, sponsored by the Washington-based nonprofit ASAP! Work by Charlie Hutchinson '29, Johnny Bekov '26, Alex Saga '27, and Jenny Wang '26 will be featured in a juried exhibition this Sunday, November 2, from 2-3:30 p.m. in the Donald and Linda Silpe Gallery at the University of Hartford, 200 Bloomfield Avenue, Hartford. If you would like to attend the exhibition, admission is free but pre-registration is required.

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The Frederick Gunn School was represented at the 60th annual Head of the Charles Regatta in Boston by Michael Pratt ’28, a member of the Boys Varsity Rowing team, who finished in the top 20 in the Directors’ Challenge Parent/Child Doubles competition with his mom, former U.S. Olympic athlete Elizabeth Pratt P’28. The pair placed 18th with a time of 19:38 on October 19.
 

The Frederick Gunn School Theatre Program will present Peter and the Starcatcher, a prequel to J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan, on November 13, 14, and 15 at 7 p.m. in the Tisch Family Auditorium of the Thomas S. Perakos Arts and Community Center. All shows are open to the public. Admission is free and seating is by general admission.
 

This week, Sharon Playhouse will present the Writers Playground, an annual festival of new, 10-minute plays. Among the seven featured works is a short play titled “Box,” written by Gunn student Blake Baumgartner ’26. A professional actress, Baumgartner started her acting career at a young age and as a first-year student appeared in Gunn Theatre’s 2023 winter musical, Head Over Heels. She guest-starred in the film Love the Coopers, and later in Fosse/Verdon and City on a Hill. She wrote “Box” last spring for a new playwriting course taught by Kent Burnham P’29, Director of Theatre Arts at Gunn.