Headmaster’s Message

message HEADMASTER’S

MESSAGE

This issue will arrive in the midst of unprecedented, challenging times—severe economic disruptions, massive unemployment claims, ugly racial discord, socioeconomic inequality, our divisive national election campaign, and not least the global pandemic due to the novel coronavirus. Allen-Stevenson has closed its building to students and employees for several months now, and how we should reopen safely next year is still an open question.

Everyone has been touched by these crises in significant ways. Without a doubt these are “VUCA” times. They are filled with Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity, not just for Allen-Stevenson but also for the world around us. Such conditions make people feel afraid and cautious, stressed and lonely, and large parts of our community have been sheltering in place. It is an understatement to observe that the present challenges are not easy for anyone.

In retrospect, closing the School in mid-March felt like a temporary move that would probably last only a few weeks. But we quickly realized that the duration would be much longer and that we would have to reinvent the way we educate boys during this period, because the building itself would be closed and we could not use it for instruction. Now we know that remote learning must be included in all of our educational planning.

For this spring issue of the Lamplighter, the feature article “A-S Bridge 1.0” describes how our remote learning platform evolved. Initially, we were not quite sure how remote learning would work, but we had to put a reasonably robust platform together for every boy quickly. The article describes the various components of the plan, as well as some unexpected outcomes. The most exciting aspects of this development are the ongoing creativity, innovation and ingenuity our community is showing. What wonderful opportunities it has created for the boys themselves!

Our mission to educate boys "to become scholars and gentlemen" has been Allen-Stevenson’s core purpose since its inception. So, Building Boys Who Make the World A Better Place, our recent 20/20 Vision Statement, begins as follows:

At Allen-Stevenson we help every boy achieve his best potential within an inclusive community of joyful learners and their families. We expect him to be active and engaged in his own learning, so that he becomes intellectually, socially and emotionally strong. We help boys learn that they can make a difference, that is, to make the world a better place.

In its history, Allen-Stevenson has survived many crises and challenges. Over the many years since 1883, the School has weathered a number of ups and downs—economic, global, pandemic, psychological, and political. As an organization, Allen-Stevenson has enabled its community to face these tests with courage, confidence and resolve, even to emerge stronger as an institution and as a community. What we do have at Allen-Stevenson is our robust sense of community and our mutual understanding that "building boys" is so important.

Surprisingly, Allen-Stevenson’s Centennial Album, its history from 1883 to 1983, makes little mention of the impact of World War I on the School and none at all of the Great Influenza of 1918. At that time, the School was half its present size, and the curriculum was a very traditional program rooted in Latin and Greek—the classics, so-called. For nearly four decades, Allen-Stevenson was housed at some six different but temporary sites, mostly small office buildings in the East 40s and 50s.

Out of those turbulent decades, Allen-Stevenson’s leaders came together to build a new purpose-built schoolhouse at 132 East 78th Street, where it has been for nearly a century. This first real home opened proudly in 1924. According to the Centennial Album, “The aim was to erect ‘a large and up-to-date school with five floors and an ample roof on top, covered with netting for playground purposes. Spacious school rooms, and a gymnasium, splendidly equipped and well laid out in every way, are to be provided.’”

At present, when the schoolhouse has been closed and our learning platform has been virtual, our goals for boys’ education have remained constant. Once again, we have been reminded how powerfully we are connected through the community of Allen-Stevenson. We have come to realize that our ties to each other are more than physical and that the excellent education that we provide for boys—balanced among academics, athletics and the arts—is needed as much today as it has ever been.

Being able to return to the schoolhouse will be exciting. We had already been using our renovated Assembly Hall and Dining Room on the lower level. The new Townhouse facilities and the Performing Arts Space were completed in January 2020 and have added over 14,000 square feet of new space directly connected to the 1924 building. The building project includes new science and engineering labs, extends the Library Tech Commons and integrates a renewed woodshop to the new Arts Suite.

The project also integrates administrative offices for Business, Communications and Development, as well as the brand new, commercial-grade kitchen adjacent to the Dining Room. We are closer to completing other planned facilities, because construction has been allowed to continue through this crisis. In addition to the facilities described above, we expect to deliver the new regulation-size North Gym and the Teaching Greenhouse in September. These new facilities will give AllenStevenson over 5,000 square feet of additional space in our schoolhouse.

The pandemic and other challenges in this short period of time have certainly been stressful, affecting the timetable for making additional plans and changes. However, I believe that there is no doubt that reflection and renewal in light of what the School has experienced recently can ultimately strengthen Allen-Stevenson to prepare our students for leadership in the decades to come.

Fortiter et Recte!

School Initiatives 4 Lamplighter Building Project > Opening of New Spaces The new Townhouse opened on January 6. This was a major milestone in our construction project. This building houses a magnificent art/woodshop suite, a new performing arts studio, flexible science and engineering labs, additional classrooms as an extension to the Library Tech Commons, our Business, Communications and Development Suite, and a beautiful new kitchen. All of Art Studio

the spaces are connected directly to the existing School building on each floor. Discovery Lab A

Lower School Science Lab

Administrative Offices

Dining Room hot food service

Middle and Upper School Science Lab

Performing Arts Studio

6 Lamplighter School Initiatives Building Project (cont.) > Progress on the North Gym The concrete was poured for the North Gym floor on March 3. We expect that this new spectacular athletic facility will be ready for use in the fall of 2020.

Rendering of North Gym

North Gym concrete floor

North Gym vibration isolators