A new initiative of the Alumnae office is to gather alumnae by region and area of interest for networking and dialogue, sharing with each other, and hearing from Stuart students when possible. Seventeen Stuart alumnae gathered in New York City on Thursday, October 22 for the first of this type of event at Blue Park Kitchen, a new restaurant from chef and entrepreneur Kelly Fitzpatrick '04, serving "nourishing, honest and delicious" food. For this "Women in Business" networking event, we welcomed Trish Donelly Gilbert '74, Organizational Development and Learning Manager at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, as our featured speaker to discuss her Sacred Heart experience and how it informed her life and career path.

During this 2018-19 fiscal year, Stuart will hold #TartanTuesday on Tuesday, February 12, 2019. In keeping with our tradition, we will have matching funds again this year. Increases in donations to the Stuart Fund from now through February 12, 2019, will be matched by a group of generous donors! Thank you for considering a larger gift to the Stuart Fund - your increase will be doubled!

While Middle and Upper School parents were on campus for conferences last week, students in JK-4 were happy to welcome alumna Stephanie Punnett '74 to campus for a program on habitats and wildlife with New Jersey Audubon. Ms. Punnett is the program director at the NJ Audubon Scherman Hoffman Wildlife Sanctuary in Bernardsville. She has been in the field of environmental education for 17 years, and with NJ Audubon for 8 years.

Last week, Kate Leahy '88 visited Jan Baldwin's Upper School architecture class for the third year in a row to discuss her journey and experiences with the class. Ms. Leahy shared her passion for architecture with the girls by leading them on a thought exercise to consider specific spaces at Stuart, including the separate entrance to the Pre-K area.

Thank you so much to the Stuart field hockey team and coaches, the awesome cheering section, and the ten Stuart alumnae who returned on Saturday, September 15 to battle for bragging rights in the Alumnae Field Hockey game!