August 10, 2016
"Change is the law of life.
And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future."
-John F. Kennedy
Dear Gunston Community:
I hope that everyone has enjoyed a peaceful and restful summer. The start of the 2016-2017 academic year is upon us, and let me extend an especially warm welcome to all new Gunston families. We are excited to take this educational journey with you.
I begin my letter with John F. Kennedy's quote, but when one reflects upon the power of the Gunston experience, perhaps the word "change" is not the first term that comes to mind. In my experience, most families choose Gunston because it is a supremely stable environment. Each day, we maintain a rigorous, personalized, and nurturing student experience; we offer a peer culture where a focus on academics is normative; our picturesque campus provides a unique space for scholarship, sports, arts, and engagement with the natural environment; and our students, families, faculty, and staff maintain a community governed by a high degree of mutual respect and civility.
All of these Gunston elements are consistent and unchanging.
Yet when one considers the impact of the Gunston experience on students, perhaps the word "change" is not strong enough. A more appropriate word, I think, is "transformative." During their time at Gunston, students transform before our eyes. As exhibited by growing shoe sizes and lengthier pants―along with changing complexions and improved athletic skills-some of these transformations are physical. Other transformations are academic: each year students gain deeper insight, they unearth intellectual passions, and they forge deep connections with teachers who, through a combination of care and high expectations, guide them from the realm of concrete thinking to the universe of abstract reasoning.
Finally, perhaps the most significant high school transformation is each student's emotional transition from adolescence to adulthood. As the psychologist Erik Erikson (and others) have discovered, the high school years are the cauldron where personal concepts of identity and self-belief are forged. As I say to new students during orientation: "In four years, you will be unrecognizable to your current self, but you will be much more who you are." Indeed, the academic questions posed in AP Calculus, American History, or Spanish 2 seem almost comically straightforward when compared to the identity and emotional questions that are layered upon students during this phase of their lives: Who are my friends, and why? What does it mean to be a good person? What motivates me? What is important in life, and how and where will I make my impact on the world?
Throughout the Gunston experience, we attend to each of these transformations simultaneously, and as we always see on graduation day, the end-result is remarkable. Thus, let me encourage all of us to embrace this process of transformation, and to remember Bob Dylan's timeless adage: "Nothing is so stable as change."
With this in mind, Gunston as an educational institution commences its 106th year, and we continue to grow, evolve, and change. Our evolution is always guided by two questions: 1) How can we further the impact of our school's mission, and 2) Are we preparing students to successfully navigate the future? Here are some of our growth areas for us this year:
● Athletics Master Plan: Gunston's athletic program reflects our commitment to the health and development of every student, and our student-athletes achieve at high levels. The Gunston Tennis Center has been a tremendous campus addition, and as we move into the next phase of our athletic program's growth, our Board of Trustees-working closely with our Athletic Director, Mr. Jon Mellinger-is in the process of developing a comprehensive Athletics Master Plan. The plan will not only incorporate additional facilities upgrades, but also evaluate needs and resources in the realms of equipment, training, coaching, and interscholastic competition.
● College Guidance: As evidenced by the diverse and selective list of schools to which our students matriculate, Gunston is known and respected by top colleges and universities. However, the college process itself continues to increase in complexity, so we have decided to invest additional resources in order to provide our students and families with enhanced support. Our new Director of College Guidance, in partnership with our Executive Advisor for College Guidance (a newly created role), will ensure that every student receives an intensive and highly personalized experience, coupled with additional standardized test preparation, financial aid and scholarship outreach, and parent education.
● Health and Wellness: Last year, a number of our faculty were certified in Mental Health First Aid, and this year, in partnership with FCD (Freedom from Chemical Dependency), we will implement their Comprehensive Prevention Planning protocol. Using their research-based model, we continue to build a strong emotional support infrastructure for students, as well as reinforce a culture where healthy student choices are the norm.
● Educating for Sustainability: As you know, Gunston has become a regional and national leader in environmental sustainability education, building upon our innovative Bay Studies program. We recognize that, more than ever, students need to engage with the social, political, economic, and ecological questions that are emerging in our dynamic, globalized world. In response to this, our faculty and administrative team will be further integrating "Education for Sustainability" themes both inside and outside of the classroom. Thus, in addition to developing student mastery both within and across diverse academic disciplines, we will also ensure that they graduate with fundamental knowledge in the realms of economic development, environmental sustainability, and social justice. Some of these understandings include, but are not limited to: population trends and growth, air quality and global health, pollution and waste management, energy production and consumption, climate science, biodiversity and habitat, issues related to water quality and supply, ocean biochemistry, food production systems, patterns of natural resource consumption, sustainable governance, patterns of economic and social development, and technology's role in shaping the social and natural environment. By prioritizing these themes, we seek to prepare students to emerge as leaders in the world they will inhabit.
● New website: We are putting the final touches on an upgrade of our website, and we expect you will enjoy the enhancements in portals related to news, parent information, program details, admissions, alumni, etc.
Meanwhile, as we move towards the start of the year, I wanted to alert you to a few important dates:
● Host Family Orientation - August 15th: This event, starting at 6:30 p.m. is required for all host families, and will provide an excellent introduction to the dynamics of hosting and our school's international student/family guidelines.
● International Family/Student BBQ - August 21st: Held at the Headmaster's Residence at 5:00 p.m., this event brings together international students and their host families, and is designed to welcome all new international students to the campus.
● Student Leadership Institute - August 23rd and 24th: This will be Gunston's second annual leadership program during which elected student leaders identify and develop their leadership style and set individual and team goals for the year. Mr. Mike Weber of Southwestern Consulting will facilitate day 2 of the program. Mr. Weber has over 21 years experience working with student groups around the country.
● Freshman Retreat - August 23rd and 24th: Parents, please drop your children off in front of the Everdell Building at 8 a.m. (buses will run their morning pickup route that day). In regard to the retreat, please refer to the 9th grade mailing for details. Students should be picked up at 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday.
● Athletics Pre-Season Begins - August 26th: Another great sports season begins! Check the website for details.
● New Parent Orientation and Social - August 29th: This event starts at 6:00 p.m. in the Ryan Library and will end with light refreshments in the Konkel Atrium. This is a required event for all new families of incoming students. This event will be preceded by a meeting of our Gunston Parents' Association, so be alert for this invitation.
● Orientation for all new students - August 31st: This program of orientation, where students will connect with their advisors, receive their locker assignments, meet teachers, run-through class schedules, and learn the school's technology protocols, will begin at 10:30 a.m., and run until 3:00 p.m. It will be followed by afternoon athletics, and there will be bus transportation to/from school. Buses will depart at 4:30.
● First Day of School and Embarkation - September 6th: This is a unique and remarkable Gunston event, and your attendance is encouraged. All new students should report to the Centreville Wharf at 8 a.m. (buses will drop new students off at the wharf). School meeting begins for returning students at 8:10 a.m. All students should be in formal dress code (boys in a shirt-and-tie, no polos) and be prepared to attend all classes and athletics. Directly after school meeting, the Embarkation ceremony begins down at the waterfront. As this event draws near, we will send additional communication.
● Heron Family Tailgate- September 9th from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m: Join the entire Gunston community at the tennis pavilion for a tailgate to kick-off the new school year and show some Heron spirit! All families are asked to provide a side dish or dessert.
● Back to School Dance - September 10th: This is our first student dance of the year, and will be held in the Konkel Student Center/Atrium from 8:00 to 11:00 p.m.
● Picture Day - September 15th: Complete details to follow.
● Back to School Night - September 19th: An evening for parents, details of this evening will be in the Gunston Weekly. PLEASE NOTE THAT THE ORIGINAL DATE OF SEPTEMBER 22nd HAS BEEN CHANGED TO THE 19th.
● The Gunston "Bull & Oyster Roast" - Evening of October 15th: PLEASE SAVE THIS DATE. The Bull Roast serves as our most important fundraiser of the school year. Every family's support is necessary for this event's success, and we encourage every parent to attend.
Each year, we welcome new faculty members and administrators onto Team Gunston, and each new person brings their unique skills and talents to enrich the Gunston community. Please welcome:
● Our new Director of College Guidance is Ms. Kellee Webb. Ms. Webb served as the Senior Assistant Director of Admissions at the renowned Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, where she also earned her undergraduate degree, Magna Cum Laude, in Music. At Berklee, she was lauded for her intensively student-centered approach, her organizational innovation, and her superb external outreach. Before her tenure at Berklee, she served as an admissions counselor at Boston University, and beyond her extensive college guidance experience, Ms. Webb is also a certified personal trainer and an accomplished bass guitarist.
● Joining our Foreign Language department as a teacher of Latin is Ms. Erin Ferguson. Ms. Ferguson earned her B.A. in Comparative Literature, Russian and Classics from the University of Chicago, and she recently finished her M.A. degree in Classics from the University of Georgia. She has extensive classroom experience as a Latin Teaching Assistant and Tutor at the University of Georgia, and she teaches in the summer program at the prestigious Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire. Ms. Ferguson will also coach Crew at Gunston, assisting Mrs. Stimpson. She was a varsity rower at the University of Chicago, and during her time at Phillips Exeter, she served as a coach for both novice and experienced rowers.
● To support our incoming international students, Ms. Julia Burr Rovetti will be joining our faculty as a part-time as an EWL teacher and tutor. Ms. Rovetti is a highly trained ESL teacher, having taught as a second language instructor for 6 years at Chesapeake College. She is a Magna Cum Laude graduate of Middlebury College with degrees in English and Theater, and she is currently pursuing her Master's degree in English at Middlebury's Bread Loaf School of English.
● Gunston's new Fine Arts Center has allowed us to expand our art offerings, and this year we are seeing especially robust enrollment in our pottery course. As a result, our Art Department welcomes Ms. Jessica Coner, who will be joining us as a part-time pottery teacher. Ms. Coner is a professional potter, and she manages the RiverArts Clay Studio in Chestertown. She received her education at Washington College and Evergreen College in Olympia, Washington, and she has specialized pottery skill expertise in areas ranging from wheel throwing and handbuilding to glaze making and firing.
● Our College Guidance office also welcomes Mr. Jamie Kirkpatrick in the role of Executive Advisor to the College Guidance Office. He was most recently the Director of College Guidance for over 20 years at the prestigious Landon School in Bethesda, Maryland, where he gained regional and national recognition for his work in college guidance. A former Peace Corps volunteer, he earned his B.A. from Wesleyan University, and a Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy from Tufts University's Fletcher School of Government. In his advisory role at Gunston, Mr. Kirkpatrick will serve as a formal mentor to our College Guidance Office, helping to support the process, assisting in coordination and development of the calendar and parent education events, and providing strategic guidance for the school and our students.
● Finally, in the familiar faces, new places department, I am happy to announce that Dr. Mariah Goodall will now be working full-time at Gunston in both the Science and Math departments, having served in a part-time role last year. As a reminder, Dr. Goodall was formerly an Adjunct Professor in Biology at Washington College where she taught courses in Biology, Muscle Physiology, and Exercise Physiology. She earned her B.S. degree in Biology with a minor in Chemistry from the Virginia Military Institute, where she ran Varsity Track; meanwhile, she earned her Ph.D. from the University of Maryland School of Medicine, and she has published widely in the area of cardiovascular physiology.
I began this letter discussing the theme of change, so with September still several weeks away, let me offer a few final summer reading suggestions. For those reflecting on personal change, I love Sir Ken Robinson's The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything and Charles Duhigg's remarkable book The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business. For those interested in broad historical changes, I always recommend Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs, and Steel: Fates of Human Societies, or anything by the renowned scholar of the rise and fall of empires, Niall Ferguson. His books Colossus, Empire, and The Great Degeneration are particularly good. Dr. E.O. Wilson's Half-Earth: Our Planet's Fight for Life is an eye-opening chronicle about contemporary ecological change. Lastly, in the realm of fiction, I think Charles Dickens' Great Expectations is the master novel about personal transformation.
Finally, I am happy to report that The Gunston School's enrollment remains robust, and we will open this year with an all-time high of 186 students. Great communities attract great people, so I want to thank every member of the Gunston family for your continued support of this genuinely unique academic environment. As the school year approaches, please reach out to me if there is anything you might need.
Regards,
John A. Lewis, IV
Headmaster
jlewis@gunston.org
