Students in our D-E 360° Aftercare & Enrichment (ACE) programs—particularly our Chess and FIRST Lego League (FLL) Robotics teams—are off to a strong start! Earlier this month, we hosted the annual D-E Intersquad Chess Tournament in Hajjar Auditorium. Our Chess Team in Grades K-8, coached by Grandmaster Mackenzie “Mac” Molner, competed incredibly well. Winners were Chenning S. ’38 in the Kindergarten section, Kabir G. ’37 in Grade 1, Haajune C. in Grade 2, and Benjamin G. ’32 in the section for Grades 4 and up. “It was a great start to our chess season!” exclaimed Coach Mac. “Many of the students have come a long way with their chess play. It was great to see so much enthusiasm across all the age groups.”

Meanwhile, the Robotics Team, coached by Ms. Li and Ms. Larionoff, recently attended its first Robotics Scrimmage, hosted by the Somerville High School Robotics Team in Somerville, NJ. “This event offered our fourth- and fifth-grade students a wonderful opportunity to test their ideas, learn from other teams, and continue growing in both skill and confidence,” said Dr. Brown, Director of D-E 360°. “Throughout the day, team members presented their projects, tested their robots, and received valuable feedback from judges.” They are now gearing up for the regional FLL tournament on Saturday, Nov. 22, at Clifton High School. We’re incredibly proud of these passionate and hard-working ACE teams!