Student Life

When you ask current students about their favorite time of the day on The Frederick Gunn School campus, they invariably talk about time spent with friends, whether they are hanging out in the dorm or creating their own fun outside. School days are busy. Students move from academic and co-curricular commitments to dinner and evening study hall. But there are opportunities for friends to gather throughout the day. It might be grabbing a table together for lunch in the dining hall, hosting a movie night in your dorm room, or meeting up for an impromptu baseball game on the Quad, spikeball on the turf, or sledding on the hill behind Teddy House in winter.

Weekend activities include Open Skate and Open Hockey times at Linen Rink, trips to the Danbury Fair Mall and other local shopping centers, movie theaters, and area restaurants as well as the ever-popular Arethusa Farm Dairy for ice cream. Sign-ups are available for excursions to try bowling or visit a trampoline park, and some weekends are just good for sleeping in and going to brunch in the dining hall, where chocolate chip waffles and a fruit and yogurt bar are usually on offer. Students can also take advantage of dances, the fitness center, open gym times, seasonal activities (carve your own pumpkin, anyone?), movie screenings and guest performances right on campus, and cheer their fellow Highlanders at home.

Meet you at The PO

Student Life News

Spring Concert 2022_Community Date ONLY

The Frederick Gunn School Music Program will present its annual spring concert, Swing Into Spring! featuring students in String Ensemble, Vocal Ensemble, and Jazz Band under the direction of Ron Castonguay, Director of the Arts and Music Director. Family, friends and the community are invited to attend the performance on Wednesday, May 18, at 7 p.m. only in the Tisch Family Auditorium of the Thomas S. Perakos Arts and Community Center. Admission is free with general admission seating. All guests are required to adhere to the school’s Visitor Policy.
 

The Frederick Gunn School Announces $25 Million Gift

The Frederick Gunn School is excited to announce a $25 million gift from Lizzie and Jonathan Tisch ’72, the largest philanthropic commitment in the 172-year history of the school. Inspired by a nearly 60-year connection to The Frederick Gunn School, the gift demonstrates the family’s tremendous philanthropic partnership with the school. 
 

TPACC Ribbon Cutting

On April 23, The Frederick Gunn School community gathered to officially celebrate the opening of the Thomas S. Perakos Arts and Community Center. It was an exciting and historic day for the school, notable in that it allowed students, faculty, administrators, Trustees and alumni to honor and thank in person lead donors, including Trustee Emeritus Jonathan Tisch ’72 and Thomas Perakos ’69, and all who helped to make this remarkable, 32,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art building possible.
 

Love, Loss and What I Wore graphic

The Frederick Gunn School Faculty will present a staged reading of Love, Loss, and What I Wore, written by Nora Ephron and Delia Ephron and directed by Gunn faculty member Sarah Rose Archer. The performance will be held on Saturday, May 14, at 7 p.m. in the Tisch Family Auditorium. Students, faculty, staff and the community are welcome to attend. Admission is free with general admission seating. All theatre patrons are asked to comply with the school’s current Visitor Policy.
 

Rooted Research 2022

On Sunday, April 24, The Frederick Gunn School hosted the 2022 Rooted Research Conference: An Exploration of Heritage and History, featuring illustrated, place-based and primary-source research presentations by this year’s Gunn Scholars, Robin Wright ’22 and Grace Noh ’22. The conference, held in the Thomas S. Perakos Arts and Community Center, also featured special presentations by five Gunn seniors, who spoke about their Civic Changemakers Projects for the Center for Citizenship and Just Democracy, and six students in the Original Civic Research and Action program (ORCA) at Mamaroneck High School in New York.
 

Rabbi Andy Bachman P'19_TPACC Opening Celebration
  • The Highlander Hub

Rabbi Andy Bachman P’19, who is perhaps best known as the parent of Lois Bachman ’19, spent two days in residence in April, getting to know the community and being available to the community, through one-on-one meetings with faculty, and a Passover dinner with a small group of students and faculty. Bachman also presented at School Meeting on April 22, and offered words of blessing at the opening celebration for the Thomas S. Perakos Arts and Community Center on April 23. Throughout his visit, he spoke about the convergence of Passover, Easter, and Ramadan this spring, explaining the similarities between those faith traditions, and how our interconnectedness reinforces the idea that “there is more that unites us in the world than divides us. It’s a phase that I try to think about, carry with me, live with each day,” Bachman said.
 

FoundersDayRegatta2019

After a two-year hiatus during the global pandemic, the Founder’s Day Regatta will return to Lake Waramaug on Sunday, May 8, 2022. Some 500 student-athletes representing more than a dozen teams from independent and public high schools throughout the region are scheduled to participate. Heats begin at 9 a.m., when the top four boats from each school will line up at the starting line. Grand and petit finals will be held in the early afternoon. 
 

Girls lacrosse vs. Canterbury April 2022

Four members of the Girls Varsity Lacrosse Team have been selected to represent Connecticut at the 2022 USA Lacrosse Women’s National Tournament, which will be held May 28 and 29 at Cedar Lane Regional Park in Maryland. Congratulations to Maya Sellinger ’23, Ashleen Hay ’23, Caroline Marich ’24, and Viv Boucher ’23.
 

Two Left Turns by Lilly O'Farrell '22

The Washington Art Association's Second Annual High School Emerging Artists Expo features original work by several Frederick Gunn School students. This juried art show is open to all high school student-artists in the area who design and create original work. The exhibition, which will remain on view through April 24, features over 80 pieces in the mediums of painting, drawing, photography, sculpture, mixed media and digital art, WAA said.
 

Living with Friends

Getting Involved 

Weekend Activities

Health and Wellness

Dining at FGS

Community Traditions

For New Students