Bellows Free Academy is holding a Parent Informational Night this week. The Mercury was able to talk to the event coordinator, Jamie Bristol, about the event and why it is being held.

According to Bristol, the event, taking place Oct. 6 from 5-6 p.m., is being held with the purpose of answering any questions that parents of BFA students might have about the new school year.

Bristol said that “there’s quite a lot of parents who still have questions” about certain aspects of BFA, such as how to use Powerschool and what different extracurricular activities their children can participate in.

Bristol added, “Especially the fact that we are coming off of a pandemic where there was very limited access to the school, and all of our communication was primarily through email, or through announcements… there’s a lot of places where communication can be missed.”

Bristol said there will be event tables in the connector and the library dedicated to specific opportunities at BFA. For example, the connector will have tables for athletics, wellness support and the Northwest Career and Technical Center. There will also be a section in the library, led by math teacher Luke Cioffi, dedicated to answering any questions about Powerschool and a section in the cafeteria for planning and paying for college.

But wait, there’s more:  Bristol said that BFA drama teacher, Susan Palmer, will be holding an informational session about the performing arts in the Performing Arts Center. Also, student musician William Austin (‘23) will be accompanying the event with piano, and light refreshments will be served.

Rachel Ledoux (‘24) will be in charge of the extracurriculars table. She said she hopes she will be able to print out flyers representing different clubs at BFA, and she will have copies of BFA’s school newspaper, The Mercury. Ledoux said that she will “be advertising all of those things so that parents can get a little more aware of what their kids are involved in.” 

Bristol and Ledoux are both excited to participate in the Parent Informational Night and hope that it will make parents feel more informed about their children’s school and the many different activities they can get involved in there.