Activity Clubs

The Foote School Chorus is a singing ensemble, open to students of all different musical backgrounds and levels of experience. While fostering a sense of community and encouraging self-expression are still the primary goals of Chorus, we’ll offer exciting additions this year. Chorus members will have the opportunity to be recording artists and learn audio production skills. We’ll release music videos and singles throughout the year as a fun, new way to share music with the Foote community. Students who are interested in developing their audio engineering skills are also encouraged to join to work on the technical side of audio production.

Faculty Advisor: Deadra Hart

The Coding Club focuses on computers and the software that makes them work. Students explore the basics of coding, and major topics may include Scratch or Javascript, depending on club members’ interests. The club is open to grades 6 through 9, and no prior experience with programming is necessary.

Faculty Advisor: Drew Sweet

The Community Council is an open organization for students in grades 6 through 9. The student-run council partners with the faculty and administration on a variety of initiatives. In addition, the group plans and executes activities for the Middle School and larger school community.

Faculty Advisors: Laura Stanley, Trevor Rosenthal

Environmental Action Group raises awareness about environmental challenges and how the school community can work toward solving them. The group sponsors a range of activities—from the local field trips (composting station) and movie afternoons to neighborhood cleanups and school recycling initiatives—developing students advocacy and leadership skills. EAG is responsible for leading the annual Earth Day Assembly in April and selecting a recipient for Foote’s Environmental Stewardship Award.

Faculty Advisors: Kelly Small, Katie Larsen

F-STAND spreads the message of the importance of being kind and inclusive and treating others with respect. The group is open to grades 7 through 9, and its goal is twofold: to help spread a positive message throughout the school and make Foote an even better place; and to encourage everyone in our community to grow in their understanding of diversity and inclusion. The group meets weekly to discuss topics such as stereotypes, prejudice, and identity, as well as current events and school issues. Club members are invited to apply to attend the Student Diversity Leadership Conference in their 9th grade year. All students are encouraged to attend the CAIS Student Diversity Leadership Conference in April.

Faculty Advisors: Megan Williams, Kossouth Bradford

Footenotes is the school’s literary magazine and welcomes students in grades 6 through 9 who enjoy sharing and promoting student poetry, prose and artwork. Members of the Footenotes editorial staff review literary submissions from all grades. They read, discuss and select pieces of publication, and put together the magazine for publication in the spring. Footenotes has existed as a student-run publication at Foote School since 1931.

Faculty Advisor: Anna Stover

Foote Steps, the school’s yearbook, is created by a hardworking group of 8th and 9th graders. Working in small teams that take responsibility for particular sections — sports, activities, faculty, etc.—students take photos and use a desktop publishing program to design pages that create a representation of our school year.

Faculty Advisors: Amy Sudmyer, Erika Villa

The Foote School Jazz-Rock Ensemble is a truly creative "fusion" group. The band consists of instrumentalists and singers in grades 6 through 9 who love to make music and perform at school gatherings. Rehearsals involve improvisation and student input, resulting in encouraging collaborations that are energizing and fun.

Faculty Advisor: Max Heath

Students in MathCounts work together to solve challenging math problems and prepare for competition with schools around Connecticut. The club offers students in grades 6 through 8 a fun way to enrich math skills and learn new methods of problem solving. Each December, there is a school MathCounts competition, and the top 10 finishers are selected to compete in a regional championship at Yale. From there, high performing students can go on to state and national finals. In the past two years, Foote has finished first and second in the state MathCounts competition.

Advisors: Megan Williams, John Hay, Andrew Metrick

In Model Congress, students in grades 7 through 9 learn to argue more effectively, learn about formal debate structure, and research and draft bills for consideration at the Packer Collegiate School’s Model Congress Summit in New York City in May. Through this activity, students learn about the formation of U.S. law, develop a greater understanding of causes they believe in, and begin to feel more empowered as emerging citizens. Students experience stimulating interactions and form friendships with other Model Congress participants from the metropolitan New York area.

Faculty Advisors: Liam Considine, Mike McCabe

SPI is the school’s student-run newspaper. SPI members hone writing, interviewing, and creative skills while producing news articles, editorials, interviews, surveys, sports columns, book and movie reviews, photography, cartoons, recipes, and puzzles. SPI is published several times each semester for the middle school community.

Faculty Advisors: Ozler Kayaarasi, Lara Anderson

WAAG is the wildlife animal action group. The club is open to all students in the middle school. We connect with local animal shelters in the New Haven area to ask what their needs are and what we can do to be of help. We will host animal food drives and create items such as animal beds, toys, and treats to help benefit the local shelters.

Faculty Advisor: Katie Hackenberg