Greetings from Fork Union Military Academy!
Here is your Friday Update from Fork Union Military Academy. Please make sure you read the entire email as this includes important information throughout the school year. The updates will also be posted on the Parent's Page of forkunion.com under Announcements.
In addition to this email, we have included this week's Front & Center, the bi-weekly newsletter that gives you updates from our Corps of Cadets and campus.
Click here to read this week's newsletter.
Below you will find all the new information that has been added this week.
Please make sure that you submit your leave and travel requests in Orah for the upcoming Thanksgiving Leave no later than November 3rd. Leave requests submitted after November 3rd will incur an extra daily administrative fee of $20 per day, so make sure you meet that deadline so we can organize all the transportation and arrange for the necessary drivers.
Keep in mind when making travel arrangements and scheduling flights or trains that cadets will be in class until 1230 on the departure day and shuttle buses will depart campus at 1:00 PM. All cadets must depart campus by 5:00 PM as the campus will be closed at that time. If you have questions about travel times to airports or train stations from campus or any other transportation questions, please contact Mr. B J York at .
Mark your calendars to attend our next Parents Association Virtual Town Hall on Monday, November 13th, from 7:00 PM to 8:00 PM. Our focus for this online event will be Athletics at Fork Union Military Academy, and our main guest will be Fork Union's Director of Athletics, John Blake. We hope to have a number of our coaches present as well to participate in a full discussion about the sports teams fielded by the Academy in the fall, winter, and spring seasons.
John Blake is in his first full year at FUMA, coming to the Academy from St. Anne's-Belfield School in Charlottesville where he was the longtime head coach of the varsity football program, one of FUMA's fellow Prep League members. In his 35-plus years of coaching, John has experience as a basketball coach at all levels of high school competition, and has led varsity-level teams to VISAA State Championship wins in lacrosse as well as football. Blake is spearheading the addition of Postgraduate Lacrosse to FUMA's athletic program with the program's head coach, Chris Panos, already on campus working to build his 2024-2025 lacrosse team.
Whether your son is a cross country runner, a soccer player, plays basketball or baseball, we encourage you to register for this webinar, bring your questions, and enjoy meeting Coach John Blake and learning more about his plans for the athletic program this year and for the future.
This online event will be recorded and all those who register for the event will receive the link to the video of the event on the following day by email.
Register today at this link: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/1309453912451463510
Jostens will be back on campus Monday, November 6th during the lunch periods for those cadets that still want to order a FUMA Class Ring. At this time, they can pick out a ring, get sized, and fill out an order form. Once this is completed then our Jostens Representative will call you for the deposit payment. These cadets will be presented with their rings at a special Ring Ceremony in the Spring.
Would you be interested in being a host family for an international cadet who might be unable to travel to his home for Christmas Leave? We are actively looking for families that would be willing to take one of our cadets under their roof to enjoy the holiday break with friends when they might not be able to get home to their families.
To learn more about being a host family for the Christmas Leave, contact Mr. B J York by email at .
Fork Union Military Academy is partnering with Rustic Pathways to arrange an exciting travel and learning opportunity for our cadets during Spring Break, from March 9 - 16, 2024. Cadets will learn all about turtle conservation and work to protect native sea turtles on the Nicoya Peninsula of Costa Rica. They will spend the days both enjoying the beach and working to keep it clean, helping protect the turtles during evening patrols spent looking for nests to relocate to safety. Experienced conservationists will lead our young men through service and teach them about the many ongoing efforts to save sea turtles. In addition to these daily shifts in the hatchery, they willcarry out beach cleanups with park rangers and marvel at the beautiful beaches.
Stay tuned for a Parent Orientation to be scheduled in the coming weeks at which you can ask questions and learn more about this travel and learning opportunity direct from our partners at Rustic Pathways.
Financial Aid season is just around the corner! We receive on average 550-600 new applications for admission each year. As these new applications from prospective students for the 2024-2025 academic year are beginning to roll in, we want to make sure that we do our very best to support our current families first!
You can apply for financial aid now to be prepared to re-enroll by our deadline of March 2024.
Here are important deadlines and discounts to consider in the next few months:
Learn more about financial aid here.
The Academy works hard to provide fun activities for the cadets. You can find a schedule of our major off-site activity trips for cadets in the Parents section of our website (https://www.forkunion.com/parents) or you may access the schedule directly at this link: https://www.forkunion.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/cadet-activities-2023-2024.png
Below you will find important archived information that has been released in previous weeks.
Due to logistical issues, cadets will wear the Class B uniform once a week from now until Thanksgiving Break (17 November 2023). The uniform of the day will be the DCU (camouflage pattern uniform) every day except the following dates/events:
Extra Duty: All Day Students are responsible for their own Extra Duty requirements. This year, Extra Duty will be performed from 6:30 PM to 7:30 PM daily. If a Day Student receives demerits with tours that require Extra Duty, it is the Day Student's responsibility to organize arrangements with their TAC Officer to work off their tours.
It's time to start thinking about ordering your cadet's class ring which will be presented to him at the annual Ring Ceremony at the Academy in the spring with parents invited. A Jostens representative will be set up in the dining hall during the Meet & Greet on Parents Day. Please stop by and get details and look at the sample class rings. If you have any questions, please contact Ms. White at .
Please review this handout about Class Rings.
The Commandant's Department works hard with each company to provide a private Facebook Group for Alpha, Bravo and Charlie Companies. These groups are great ways to interact with the company TAC Officer, network with families and see candid photos for your cadet.
If you have not joined your cadet's Facebook group, you can find the links below:
The Parents Association of Fork Union Military Academy is a voluntary association of parents who wish to support the mission of the Academy with their time, talents, and gifts. The Association provides direct support to the Academy's educational programs and technologies through their dues and fundraising endeavors. It also helps encourage parent participation and facilitates parent communication and networking.
Each year, the Parents Association helps with arranging Carpools for Cadet Transportation. Below is the Carpool List for the academic year. Please read the instructions provided in the document. If interested, submit your information to families in your area.
Please consider joining the Parents Association! Click here to become a member.
Fork Union Military Academy depends on the Orah App for all cadet accountability purposes. Parents must use Orah when requesting their cadet to depart campus for any reason. With the first Leave Weekend of the academic year approaching, please read the detailed information on how to set up your Orah Account below:
Do you want to do something special to surprise your cadet while at FUMA? Treat him to a birthday surprise, a pick-me-up, or just because treat from the list below.
Ms. Rhonda White, Coordinator of Assessments & Student Records, provides parents with the opportunity to treat their cadet with something special. Choose from the following:
For more information, please contact Ms. Rhonda White at .
It's time to schedule your cadet's portraits! We are pleased to be able to recommend Kristin Firewicz Studios to our cadet families. Kristin is a professional photographer contracted by the Academy to take campus photos throughout the year and has been specializing in high school senior photography for over 10 years. Kristin is local to Fork Union and has a studio on campus. For more information regarding booking your cadet's private session, please visit her website for special FUMA rates: Kristin Firewicz Studios.
Act fast so you do not miss out on the beautiful fall colors this season!
Please bookmark the link to our Academic Calendar for the 2023-2024 year. This calendar highlights all the major events on campus for the academic year, including dates of when each term begins and ends, leave weekends, SAT and ACT tests and all holiday breaks.
The easy way to find it on forkunion.com is under Academics - Academic Calendar.
Please bookmark the link to the FUMA Athletics website. The athletic website will be your home for all game schedules, rosters and news stories. Below you will find the direct link to the Athletics Calendar:
FUMA Athletics also offers a mobile app! Follow the link to download the FUMA Athletics App for all updates including, news stories, rosters, and schedule changes. The app allows you to receive direct messages on all schedule updates and changes, so please allow push notifications in your settings.
Fork Union Military Academy works hard to live stream most events that happen on campus for our parents to view. We stream all home athletic events on the Fork Union Military Academy YouTube Channel. We are also able to stream events that are in the Wicker Chapel and Parades.
Please subscribe to the Fork Union YouTube Channel to get alerts on when Fork Union Military Academy is live.
Should you have any questions regarding your son’s class options and graduation plan, please contact their respective academic scheduler:
You can view photos almost daily of your son throughout the academic year at: photos.forkunion.com.
Please always check the Academic Calendar for updates on events. Below are a few coming up in the next couple months:
Please let me know if you have any questions.
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