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 around campus.
Click here for the Front & Center newsletter.
Below you will find all the new information that has been added this week.
Day Students should arrive as normal for the class day on Tuesday, October 24, 2023. The Uniform of the Day for Tuesday will be the Class B uniform.
For the forseeable future, cadets will wear Class B uniforms on Tuesday only. They will wear DCU uniforms the remainder of the school week. Our goal is to have the cadets wear their Class B uniforms twice each week. Due to the current laundry schedule, however, we will wear the Class B uniform on Tuesdays only.
In our third Parent Association Town Hall we will be learning more about the process and procedures for major leaves such as the upcoming Thanksgiving Leave in November, and how to navigate the various transportation options available to help cadets get home and back again safely. We will also learn more about the activities and facilities available for cadets to enjoy on the weekends and during their free time.
Our primary guest will be Mr. B J York, FUMA's Activities Coordinator and Director of Summer Camps, who will be able to answer your questions about major leaves, how to use the Orah software platform to fill out leave and transportation requests, and what transportation options are available for cadets going on major leaves. Mr. York will also be able to fill us in on all the special activities that he has planned for cadets this year, as well as what facilities and entertainment options are available for cadets on campus.
This event will be held on Monday evening, October 23, 2023, from 7:00 PM to 8:00 PM. You may attend this event online, or--for those parents who will be on campus after returning their cadet from leave--you may join us live in the Vakos Board Room on the lower level of the Beatty Library. Shannon Higginbotham and B J York will both be hosting the webinar live from that location and, if you are on campus at that time, you are invited to join them live at that location to participate in person.
The webinar will be recorded so that those in different time zones around the globe, or who might otherwise be unable to attend the live event, are able to view the webinar on demand.
You must register for the webinar to have the video emailed to you following the event.
Visit this link to register for this event: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/3919995782664547424
This emailed update to parents is typically sent out each Friday by our Director of Communications, Kelly Barnette. This week, however, Kelly is now on maternity leave spending time with her husband Reggie, her daughter Mikya, and her newborn!
At 2:01 PM on October 18, 2023, the Barnette family welcomed Leni Evelyn Grace Barnette to the world.
Congratulations to Kelly and Reggie! Enjoy your family time!
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. On this Parents Day Weekend, a number of cadets will be traveling to Virginia Military Institute to watch their football game against the Samford Bulldogs at 1:30 PM on Saturday, October 21, 2023. Accompanying the cadets to the game will be FUMA's President, Capt. Mark Black, USN (Ret.), and Coach Benda, both of whom are alumni of VMI.
Below you will find important archived information that has been released in previous weeks.
The Uniform of the Day: On Tuesday's the Corps of Cadet will wear the Class B Uniform. On Monday's, Wednesday's, Thursday's, and Friday's DCU's will be the Uniform of the Day, unless otherwise announced.
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 whiter@fuma.org.
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:
Please note that all cadets need to depart campus on Friday, November 17, 2023 for Thanksgiving Break Leave. This is the first Major Leave of the academic year. Since all cadets must depart campus, the Academy does offer FUMA Transportation from and to campus for Thanksgiving Break. Thanksgiving Break starts on Friday, November 17 at 12:30 PM and ends on Sunday, November 26 at 7 PM.
Cadets are able to depart campus after 12:30 PM. If your cadet needs to take a FUMA shuttle to an airport, please arrange his travel to allow proper time to arrive at the airport. All FUMA shuttles depart campus at 1:30 PM and it take approximately 1 hour to arrive at an airport.
All transportation and leave requests for Major Leaves must be done through Orah. If your cadet needs FUMA Transportation, please reach out to Mr. BJ York at yorkw@fuma.org. All FUMA Transportation request must be submitted to Mr. York two-weeks in advance. Please have all FUMA Transportation requests for Thanksgiving Break to Mr. York by Nov. 1.
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 whiter@fuma.org.
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.
Best regards,
Dan Thompson
Director of Strategic Communications and Marketing
Office of the President
Fork Union Military Academy
Email: thompsod@fuma.org
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
