3 minute read
From the Head of School
This winter’s Lamplighter features the many ways to be an Allen-Stevenson boy, alumnus, educator, and volunteer. In these pages, we look back at Closing Exercises for the Class of ’23, when each of our eighth graders stood proudly at the podium to deliver a message about what his time at AllenStevenson has meant to them. More recently, at this fall’s Founders Day, we celebrated Allen-Stevenson’s 141st school year and welcomed two young alumni, Will Pinkos ’20 and Luke Sarsfield ’20, as guest speakers. Both young men described their early exposure to service learning at Allen-Stevenson and spoke to our current students about how a love of helping others continues to play a central role in their lives.
Empathy is at the core of compassion as our A-S school psychologist, Dr. Beth McLaughlin, writes in her article highlighting the continued relevance and importance of integrating Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) into our curriculum. In another piece, we introduce new members of our Education Technology team and hear from our newly-founded AI at A-S Club, a group of faculty exploring the impact of AI on education.
While we remain focused on today’s best practices, we always keep an eye on tomorrow’s promise and obligations. With that in mind, we are delighted to have included an overview of AS2030, Allen-Stevenson’s Strategic Plan, which sets out our goals for the next several years. Kudos to the Strategy and Communications Board Committee and so many others for their extensive thought, research, and energy, which fueled this plan.
As A-S moves forward, we also honor our past. Please read the tributes to David R. Trower h’95 and David Kersey h’98, educators who devoted much of their rich professional lives to making Allen-Stevenson the school it is today. Their legacies endure as do our many traditions and spirit of continuous improvement.
For many, a highlight will be reading the alumni news. The features on Clarence Agbi ’02 and Townsend Crum ’90 are of particular note, as neither of these alums could have imagined the paths their lives would take following graduation from A-S. We are always proud of our alumni and the ways they remain connected to our community at 132 East 78th Street.
To that end, we encourage all of you to stay in touch and, if you find yourself nearby, stop in for a visit. Our doors are always open.
