Belmont Day Magazine: Rising to the Challenge

2021 | 2022

magazine

Rising to the

Challenge

magazine

2021 | 2022 Head of School Brendan Largay Editor, Director of Communications and Marketing Koreen McQuilton Graphic Design Good Design, LLC gooddesignusa.com Writer Cheryl Bardoe Photography Jim Walker BDS Faculty Send alumni news to: Pati Fernández Belmont Day School 55 Day School Lane | Belmont, MA 02478 or email bdsalumni@belmontday.org Comment?

We’d love to hear what you think.

Please write to Koreen McQuilton, Editor Belmont Day School 55 Day School Lane | Belmont, MA 02478 or email communications@belmontday.org

ON THE COVER Soaking up nature stimulates young brains for healthy learning and growth.

Founded in 1927, Belmont Day School is a bold, remarkable, inspiring community of learners and leaders in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade.

mission

Inspire and challenge.

At Belmont Day School, we foster intellectual curiosity, honor differences, and empower meaningful contribution with excellence, respect, honesty, responsibility, caring, and joy.

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Faculty share how teaching during a pandemic shapes their perspective on education.

Our beautiful, 11-acre campus offers students many places to thrive.

Voices from the Classroom

Green Spaces and Happy Faces

22

Heroes Behind the Scenes Meet community leaders who play a critical role in making in-person school possible.

contents

66

2020–21 Belmont Day Annual Report Recognizing the inspiring generosity of our community in challenging times.

2 | From the Head of School 28 | Lower School 31 | Middle School 35 | Diversity, Equity & Inclusion 38 | Arts Spotlight

42 | Athletics 46 | Faculty Focus 50 | Parent Perspective 54 | Alumni in Action 58 | Class Notes 62 | Presenting the Class of 2021 B E L M O N T DAY

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FROM THE HEAD OF SCHOOL An even deeper sense of caring and responsibility “ emerges as we sustain our commitment to community safety amid the still-shifting landscape. ”

Focusing on Today and the Future Brendan Largay We bring you this magazine with enormous gratitude and respect. As the articles throughout this issue illustrate, the entire Belmont Day community—students, faculty, parents, alumni, and friends—have rallied to ensure the success of our mission throughout this challenging time. I particularly appreciate the patience and grace that our community continues to show in the current phase of the pandemic. This is a moment when everyone feels exhausted from already having run a marathon, only to find that the finish line has been moved. An even deeper sense of caring and responsibility emerges as we sustain our commitment to community safety amid the still-shifting landscape.

The recent disruption brought by the Omicron variant is a reminder that there are no clear, concrete answers to questions about how much longer we can expect pandemic conditions to last. And yet, there is also good news, such as the recent approval of COVID-19 vaccines for children as young as 5 years old. I’m proud to share that as this magazine goes to press, the vaccination rate in the Belmont Day community

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is 83 percent and climbing. In addition, our community has demonstrated inspiring strength, flexibility, and resilience.

This is critical because our world is in the process of creating something new. As COVID-19 eventually becomes endemic, our students will need to thrive in a new reality. Alongside direct health impacts, this pandemic has also highlighted issues relating to equity and life balance. As a result, we must now prepare our children with a newly refined set of skills that are a byproduct of growing up in a pandemic. This includes a better understanding of communication and collaboration, a more sophisticated appreciation of both technology and human connection, a new vision of what it means to be a global citizen, and the ability to find purpose and joy while living amid tremendous uncertainty.

The work that we have been engaged in since 2020 is not just about how to live through a pandemic; it is also about developing a new launching point for our children’s future.

FROM THE HEAD OF SCHOOL

While we have been responsive to the pandemic, we also have never let go of imagining what a healthy future might look like for our children and designing an education to promote their success. Perhaps the greatest test of a strategic plan is whether it can endure a pandemic and still be relevant. Throughout this experience, the three pillars of our strategic plan— excellence, community, and strength—have remained insightful guideposts for our work.

Even amid the pandemic, we have been making steady progress toward our goals in these areas. We have brought creativity and purposefulness toward continuing excellence and deepening community during this time.

And, in the area of strength, our school is fully enrolled, our annual fund is robust, and we have paid down $5.5 million in debt from construction of the Barn. As a result, our school’s ratio of debt (less than $10 million) to endowment ( just over $14 million) has changed for the better. This is critical because our endowment is the platform on which everything that we do at Belmont

Day is built. A healthy endowment affords us the opportunity to think strategically, keep faculty salaries competitive, and offer financial aid to be an equitable and diverse community. You will continue to see work on each of our strategic pillars as we strengthen our community now and with an eye toward the future.

This brings me full circle back to gratitude.

If Belmont Day wasn’t such a vibrant, caring, close community, then this chapter of our school’s history could have been a very different story. As always, we are profoundly thankful for each and every one of you, and we find pride and joy in creating the school that brings us together.

Throughout “ this experience,

the three pillars of our strategic plan—excellence, community, and strength— have remained insightful guideposts for our work.

”

In September, the community was invited to draw or write an expression of hope for the year for display throughout the school to inspire one another.

Voices

FROM THE CLASSROOM Teachers reflect on the experience of adapting and overcoming the challenges of current times

BETTY PRYOR

Kindergarten Teacher 21 years teaching, joined Belmont Day in 2008

In what ways did you use technology differently last year?

Meeting virtually with parents for conferences was the biggest benefit of technology because it helped everyone get together despite work and travel schedules. In the early childhood years, we don’t traditionally use a lot of technology in the classroom. Last year, we used an app called Seesaw as a way for students to document their work, whether we were on-site or off. It turned out to also be an easy way to assess student learning, to provide instant and meaningful feedback to students, and to communicate with parents. Sometimes students even sent us notes or recorded messages themselves—commenting on their work or confirming their understanding of an activity for instance.

What was something that surprised you last year?

Building mask breaks into our day gave us new insight into students. Without masks on, students couldn’t talk during these times, but they could choose from a variety of activities such as playing with dominoes, reading books, drawing, or just laying their head down to rest. Because they got to

make personal choices, that time helped me to see what each student is naturally interested in, and I could build on that in planning our lessons. Those breaks also gave students a second wind to refocus on what came next.

What are some adaptations you made during the past year that you might continue?

We saw students take ownership of materials differently. When we created a tool box for each student with hands-on materials for math, we noticed that some students used the materials more often.

During our butterfly unit, we gave each student a caterpillar to reside at their desks, rather than having a group of ten caterpillars whose habitat was in a shared space. Because students could observe the caterpillars more often, they had a stronger sense of connection and responsibility—and they enjoyed naming their caterpillars.

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Voices

LANA HOLMAN P ’21 Grade 4 Teacher

26 years teaching, joined Belmont Day in 2002

How did you approach planning your lessons for last year?

Each year I revise classroom activities in some way, but last year required change on a different scale. I started by listing all of my classroom projects on a whiteboard and highlighting the important skills students learned in each. I asked: What are the most important skills students need to learn?

And, what are the key things that motivate them? Then I started categorizing things, focusing on projects that would accomplish those goals and fit within the safety guidelines. I’m confident that students’ experiences were just as valuable even though they were different from what students did in past years.

What impressed you during the last year?

Our students make excellent connections between classroom topics and the broader world. We talked about democracy in ancient Greece, which opened students up

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to talking about modern day democracy in the United States. The students appreciated learning about who could and couldn’t vote in Athens and discussing whether that was “fair” and what “fair” means. Being in smaller cohorts, rather than in a full grade, was very productive for tackling challenging conversations.

What are some ideas about effective teaching that were reinforced last year?

Our students have strong instincts for wanting to be respectful of others. I read our school DEI Ally Pact to students at the beginning of the year and also to parents at back-to-school night. I indicated my interest in making that a living document, and that led to some wonderful teachable moments throughout the year.

Planting the Seeds of Community Fourth graders sold more than 100 planting kits last spring and donated their profits to Trees for the Future, a nonprofit organization that helps farmers plant trees in sub-Saharan African nations to protect healthy soil. Teachers conceived of the seed kits as a way to replace the annual plant sale in which fourth graders sprout and sell seedlings. “We wanted to create an entirely new, as well as safe, community service project,” says teacher Angela DeVecchi ’75 P ’13 ’17, “that all the students could be a part of, whether they were learning on campus or remotely.”

Each kit contained everything families needed to sprout a garden, including growing containers, dried soil pellets, instructions, and seeds. Families could purchase the floral kit with sunflower and marigold seeds or the herbal kit with sage, basil, and chive seeds. All the students helped assemble the kits and also chose from a variety of jobs, including promoting the sale, designing packaging, and tracking orders and payments. “Fourth graders are wonderful worker bees when they are excited about

something,” Angela says. “This project gave students an opportunity to think about how they wanted to contribute, to collaborate and work independently, and to develop their natural leadership instincts.”

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In what ways did you use technology differently last year?

Fifth grade is a good year for students to build their understanding of how to organize themselves on the computer, so getting used to Google Classroom helped them build technology fluency. We also made good use of an app called Pear Deck, which has a lot of flexibility for students to collaborate and respond when we are working together as a class.

What was something that surprised you last year?

Students learned to work in a variety of situations and not be distracted by what’s around them. We really embraced having class outside, which is a bit less formal, so students often interacted more. I observed that just being outside supported students in speaking out in different ways. I also noticed that having mask breaks in the day also gave us some “brain breaks” that refreshed students.

How did you approach planning your lessons for last year?

Current events are an ongoing part of the dialogue in my classroom. Studying current events and multiple perspectives allows students to think critically as a whole, which hopefully allows them to be more sensitive and aware of people’s needs. For example, we talked about the treatment of minorities and inequalities of genders. We also watched President Joe Biden’s inauguration speech and Amanda Gorman present her inaugural poem. Among our history units, we studied the Great Migration and read a graphic novel about an immigrant coming to New York City.

We started off last year with a unit on identity—talking about race, gender, and other aspects of identity. That provided a foundation for talking about events in the past and present. Fifth graders are at an age where they start to notice what is happening around them. They want to speak up about their beliefs, and we want them to feel empowered to see themselves as changemakers.

VANIECIA SKINNER Grade 5 Teacher

7 years teaching, joined Belmont Day in 2020

Voices

ELINOR KLEIN

Middle School Math Teacher, Department Chair 6 years teaching, joined Belmont Day in 2019

What are some adaptations you made during the past year that you might continue?

We did more work with a program called Desmos because it allowed students to work independently and also virtually in groups to collaborate. Students like Desmos because they can apply the functions we learn in math class to make images of a cello, or the Boston skyline, or a mountain scene—and they are able to add movement and sounds to their images. Desmos is used a lot in high schools, so exposure to the program now will help students in the future. It also offers fun opportunities for problem-solving.

What impressed you during the last year?

Our students really made the best of things to make this experience their own. I know it was hard for them to be in cohorts, without switching classes to see other friends. By the end of the year, however, students were glad for the opportunity to bond with students with whom they may not otherwise have gotten close to. With everything so restricted, our advisories were some of the most flexible moments in students’ days. Whenever possible, I gave them time to play games, talk, dance, and listen to music to be sure they had unstructured time each day.

What are some ideas about effective teaching that were reinforced last year?

This year was a good reminder of something teachers already knew, which is that kids need time to be kids. They really benefit from going outside, from getting up and moving around in between classes, and from unstructured time together.

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Voices

JONATHAN DRUMMEY Middle School English Teacher, Department Chair 10 years teaching, joined Belmont Day in 2018

In what ways did you use technology differently last year?

Standardizing our approach to digital spaces was very effective for students. Last year prompted us to be more consistent in how we organized and used Google Classroom so that students could easily find assignments, submit work, and access teacher feedback.

Using this tool meant providing each middle school student with a Chromebook and following up to ensure that everyone had internet access and a printer at home. So, we were able to create a more inclusive and equitable environment.

What are some adaptations you made during the past year that you might continue?

I let each student choose their own book for our novel study, with the goal of increasing engagement during the remote learning period that was scheduled between Thanksgiving and the new year.

They were very enthusiastic and made excellent choices.

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Also, as students virtually welcomed teachers into their homes, we learned more about them, reinforcing how we see each child as an individual. Offering students choice in their reading is a way to honor who they are as individuals. Talking about literature that resonates with them is really important to students.

What are some ideas about effective teaching that were reinforced last year?

Belmont Day is very strong at teaching the whole child. Using technology to increase our connection with parents demonstrates that we really value how that partnership gives us insights to reach each learner.

We discovered how resilient we are, how willing we are to change to keep people safe, and how important it is for children to be together, face-to-face. The community of care that comes from being in person and interacting in meaningful ways is important for them to grow as people.

Integrating Student Support Systems into Classrooms Even before the pandemic, school and health officials nationwide had been observing rising levels of anxiety and social-emotional challenges among students of all ages. Belmont Day began strategizing several years ago, in partnership with McLean Hospital, a Belmont neighbor, about expanding our capacity to support students around these issues. Thus, we were prepared to implement multiple new initiatives as stressors multiplied last year. “Our goal is to provide more support for teachers to identify and respond to issues at the classroom level,” explains our School Psychologist Dr. Leesa Mercedes. “Then we can address smaller issues before they grow into bigger concerns.”

The foundation of this work is providing teachers with more training to recognize the clues of an emerging challenge and to try various strategies to adjust classroom dynamics. If needed, teachers can then elevate the discussion by bringing it to a team meeting that includes grade-level teachers, plus Leesa, a learning specialist, and the head of either lower or middle school. In addition to having new ideas, team members may observe the class to offer more feedback. “Having someone observe who isn’t also busy teaching often can help to identify the nuances of a situation,” Leesa explains. Teachers could also reach out to the new social-emotional learning teams—one for each of the lower and middle schools—that bring together faculty

across grade levels to consult with one another. The top tier of response is for students to meet with Leesa, who can apply more specialized approaches. And, of course, if a student is in crisis, the situation is elevated right away.

Faculty have been positive about how these new systems increase their impact by working behind the scenes or by initiating conversations with students as individuals, in small groups, and in classroom settings. As a result, the majority of challenging situations identified in the past year were resolved at the classroom level. “We are helping teachers better distinguish between situations that are within the developmental range for children and where some intervention is needed,” Leesa says. “Teachers also feel more confident responding as needed in the moment of a class or recess, so students are practicing skills in context and the course corrections can have a direct impact.”

Leesa has presented about the success of these initiatives at two recent conferences. In January, she and Head of School Brendan Largay joined two representatives of McLean Hospital in presenting at a virtual roundtable called “Fostering Resilience in a School Setting: Perspectives on Implementing Evidence-Based Practices.” In March, Leesa and McLean consultants presented to more than 1,000 virtual attendees at the conference organized by the Anxiety and Depression Association of America.

“The challenges facing Belmont Day students are the same as their peers across the nation ,” Leesa says.

“Our new systems are allowing us to support a broader range of students and a broader range of needs.”

Design Thinking for Real world Challenges With a fifth grade cohort occupying the IMPACT Lab, our digital arts classes have been meeting in the Downing gym, where student workstations can be well-spaced. In this setting, the eighth graders in last year’s Global Goals class used micro:bits, computer programming, and design thinking to explore real-world challenges. “The students were very motivated by current events and generated creative solutions,” says digital arts teacher Kurt Robinson.

One student designed a contact tracer, using the communication radio function that allows micro:bits to ping each other when in close proximity. Another student envisioned using a micro:bit to activate body cameras worn by police. Using the second-generation micro:bit released in 2021—the first to have capability for machine learning— the student taught the device to recognize the word “help” as a cue for turning on cameras. A third student prototyped a water bottle that would produce clean water. First, a paper filter removed large materials, and then a turbidity sensor triggered a UV light to kill microbes in the main part of the

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water bottle. “The projects may not be as finished as we can achieve using the specialized tools in our lab,” Kurt says. “But our students are still building the critical skills of generating ideas, planning, and understanding the steps needed to make something work.”

Voices

ANNE ARMSTRONG Visual Arts Teacher and Arts Coordinator

28 years teaching, joined Belmont Day in 1999

How did you approach planning your lessons for last year?

Because we were unable to teach in the studios, our arts classes were upended last year; we were challenged to reimagine and create from a very different starting point for every element of visual art classes.

Fortunately, we had recently completed a curriculum review—besides being transformational for the arts team as a whole, the curricular review work was pivotal and served as a guide during an unusual year.

The newly created curricular maps outline the core concepts that are most important in each of our disciplines and at each grade level. This work served as an anchor, making our learning goals clear and visible as we developed new projects and lessons.

As art teachers, we shifted to seeing everything as an opportunity, which led to trying things that we would probably never have done otherwise. We explored how to make the most of a limited range of materials and tools so that we could inspire students and help them continue to grow in their skills and confidence.

What impressed you during the last year?

The guidance, support, and reassurance from our core administration team was the foundation of our success. They provided strong leadership, clear communication, and clear expectations for our community of teachers and learners. That allowed teachers to focus on our students. I feel so fortunate to be at Belmont Day with my colleagues and with our students and families.

What are some ideas about effective teaching that were reinforced last year?

Students just want to create, no matter where they are, which is an affirmation of how important that act of creation is for all of us. The studio isn’t the base of a creative identity. That comes from creating with purpose: How are you going to express your idea or message through your work— through what you get to make?

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Voices

LEAL CARTER Middle School Science Teacher

3 years teaching, joined Belmont Day in 2019

In what ways did you use technology differently last year?

Converting to a digital format for quizzes and classroom handouts was a big change.

Also, providing printed copies of materials in class let students choose what mode works best for them. Students handed in their assignments—and I gave feedback—digitally through Google Classroom.

My colleagues and I heard from many students—particularly those working on executive-functioning challenges—that this made it easier to keep track of their work.

What are some adaptations you made during the past year that you might continue?

I met with each student to ask them about their goals and potential areas of growth.

We talked about topics like turning in assignments on time, participating in class, and working well with others. We started off with a collaborative tone because the students and I had agreement on their goals

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and how they wanted to be supported.

Meeting virtually helped to create space for that, and I’d love to keep doing that even with everyone in the classroom.

I also was constantly on the lookout for how I might adapt a lesson into an outdoor activity or something we could do in a larger space. When we were learning about natural selection, we did a simulation in which students were “crabs” that moved about and had different tools with which to pick up beans. There was a lot of lively discussion afterward.

What are some ideas about effective teaching that were reinforced last year?

I’ve learned a lot from teaching remotely, but I love being in the classroom. I get a lot of energy from my students. I feed off their passion, and I have newfound gratitude for being in the physical classroom with students.

Got a Worry ? Ask Bel “Dear Bel, I’m stressed!

Please help!”

During a year of many ups and downs, middle school students appreciated having a new resource to which they could turn— our beloved school mascot, Bel. Middle school students asked Bel’s advice on topics of concern by submitting their questions via an Ask Bel submission form. Responses were developed in Bel’s tripartite brain, composed of one part Director of Equity and

Inclusion Dr. Carlos Hoyt, one part School Psychologist Dr. Leesa Mercedes, and one part School Nurse Liz LaRocque. “Students really responded to having a safe place to post their questions,” Carlos says, “and this format allowed us to offer substantive responses.”

Students inquired about a wide range of subjects: How can I help a friend who is struggling with body image? What can I do when I don’t feel like I fit in? How do I interact with a parent who is against social issues that I believe in? Responses, which were shared by advisory teachers, included a letter from Bel, a prompt for self-reflection, and links to additional resources. At the end of each discussion, students completed a feedback form in which they indicated on a scale of 1 to 10 how relevant the day’s topic was for them and if they wanted to talk with someone more specifically. “Only a few students took us up on that,” Carlos says, “but what is most important is that they know the opportunity is there if they need it.”

The Ask Bel resource may evolve going forward. “Every question we received will come up again in the future,” Carlos says. “So, we have a bank of answers from which to draw and be responsive to students.”

green spaces +

happy faces Faculty and students make the most of our scenic campus The benefits of fresh air and sunshine were evident last year as teachers and students took full advantage of Belmont Day’s 11-acre campus. Research has long shown that being in nature is good for children’s development, and Belmont Day has always made use of our beautiful outdoor setting for athletics, nature walks, learning in the school garden, and unstructured play. Our faculty stretched themselves and our students to expand use of the campus in exciting ways: Lunches were eaten al fresco, lower school physical education (PE) classes and middle school athletics occurred almost completely outdoors, and classroom teachers found new ways to take students outside while studying core subjects.

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Converting our traditional familystyle dining approach to a menu that can be produced and packaged to enjoy picnicstyle was a monumental effort. But it also has been worth it, says school Chef and Kitchen Manager Tara Lightbody P ’20 ’22.

“With the birds chirping, and the children laughing and talking, it’s wonderful to see students enjoying each other and enjoying the food.” Throughout last year students ate outside whenever weather permitted, and some middle schoolers chose to eat outside even on colder days because doing so presented an important and safe opportunity to connect with friends across cohorts. Decisions about when and how meals return to the dining hall will be made as conditions allow. Nonetheless, eating outside has been such a hit that Tara may look for ways to continue offering that opportunity. “This experience has opened us up to envisioning lunch differently,” she says. “In addition to planning the food itself, we are always thinking about ways to offer students a variety of social experiences.”

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The great outdoors also has been a key component of transforming our physical education and athletics offerings to activities that keep students moving in healthy, joyful ways without the close contact that is part of many traditional sports. For example, middle school students last year enjoyed going “off-road” with orienteering, a sport in which students use maps and compasses to navigate a terrain.

“Orienteering is a thrill,” says PE teacher Alex Tzelnic. “The goal is to find a series of checkpoints within the shortest time, so students have to move fast and make strategic decisions about what route to take.”

Students could choose to work solo, in pairs, or in small groups to vary their level of challenge and their pace. The new activities developed will expand the variety we can offer in our afternoon athletics, even as interscholastic sports return.

In 2021, physical education for lower school students also occurred primarily outside. Classes sometimes completed a warm up in the Barn gym—with the garage doors open to maximize ventilation —before going outside to enjoy games on the Osborne tennis courts or fields. “This past year has opened our eyes to how much we can implement our curriculum outside,” Alex says. “With the right clothing, there isn’t a lot of weather that prevents students from getting out there and getting active.”

Alex took his first and second grade classes on mindfulness walks where students used their senses to observe nature and set up an orienteering minicourse that let the younger students have the fun of exploring while always being within eyesight. A game of speed and strength called “Hunter Hawk” was a favorite, partly because of the raptors that hunt in the woods around campus.

“Students are excited when they are pretending to be hawks, and this incredible wild animal soars past us,” Alex says.

green spaces + Happy Faces

“With the

birds chirping,

and the children laughing and talking, it’s wonderful to see students enjoying each other and enjoying the food.

”

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“Being outside

during this past year has brought students so much joy. And as the joy meter goes up, the stress meter goes down, and students are in the best place for learning.

”

ILLUSTRATIONS ©SHUTTERSTOCK.COM/BIBADASH & IRINA_QQQ

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green spaces + Happy Faces Even before COVID, co-teachers Kate Oznick and Alice Henry began to convert our pre-kindergarten program to emphasize the outdoors, making excellent use of the early childhood courtyard, the school garden, the deck, and an area of the nearby woodlands that students have named Nature’s Playground. This emphasis has expanded, with students going outside nearly every day and for longer stretches of time. This work was supported by a professional development grant and funds for supplies, such as a set of explorer backpacks and a lending library of items like mittens and rain pants to ensure that every child has what is needed each day.

This model is influenced by the Reggio Emilia educational philosophy that describes the environment as being a third teacher. “Feeling connected to nature helps our young students see themselves as citizens of the world,” Kate explains.

“The natural world provides a wonderful learning environment for young children to take risks, push beyond their comfort zone, and start to advocate for themselves.

It also inspires tremendous curiosity.” Kate recalls a time when students discovered a salamander in its habitat, which led to a dynamic conversation, followed by imaginative play. “Whenever we go outside,” she says, “students are instinctively learning about cause and effect, communication, and problem-solving. All of these are the foundations of future academic skills.”

Even though some outdoor spaces were shared in rotation, each cohort was also designated an outdoor space for its exclusive use, which made going outside possible at any time. Third grade teacher Leigh Twarog estimates that she tripled the amount of learning time that she taught outside, using a small speaker headset so that students could easily hear her.

“Students recognized that the logistics of going outside so often required a lot of cooperation,” she says. “But they were highly motivated to work together because there’s such a spark to being outside.”

Leigh and co-teacher Larissa Rochford ’93 P ’18 looked for meaningful opportunities to take every subject outside.

During reading time, students sat on yoga mats, safely and comfortably spaced apart to work with reading partners. To study fractions, they used cones to mark off number lines on a larger scale than would have been possible in the classroom, and students ran

and leaped as they moved from numbers like 1/8 to 3/4. They made leaf rubbings in science and responded to freewriting prompts in language arts. Being in the open air also expanded opportunities for collaboration, with students working on teams for scavenger hunts or building fairy houses.

At every grade level, developing more outdoor educational experiences has played a vital role in helping Belmont Day students grow and learn—and will continue to be a critical component of the current and future school years. Looking ahead, faculty plan to continue integrating the outdoors strategically, even when pandemic conditions improve. “We are always thinking about the whole child,” Leigh says. “Being outside during this past year has brought students so much joy. And as the joy meter goes up, the stress meter goes down, and students are in the best place for learning.”

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Behind the Scenes Maintaining a healthy school environment where students can thrive during a pandemic is an all-in effort. Here are the stories of just a few of the people working tirelessly behind the scenes to ensure that learning continues in person on Belmont Day’s campus.

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As we entered the third school year to be impacted by the pandemic, the opening of school this fall seemed deceptively straightforward. All students returned to campus, with remote learning being reserved for use when specific pods must quarantine. Plus, students, faculty, and parents were already familiar with the procedures around mask wearing, pooled testing, and other safety protocols. Behind the comfort and confidence of this routine, however, was the mad dash needed to return to campus in the fall of 2020. Our vigilance continues as we monitor evolving pandemic conditions relating to vaccines and variants—always with an eye for prioritizing community health alongside our educational mission.

Belmont Day’s success in navigating pandemic challenges is a result of the solid foundation that Board President Jill Finnerty ’84 P ’17 ’20 has observed since becoming a trustee ten years ago. “The children are thriving because of Belmont Day’s ongoing focus on innovation and intentional design,” she says. “For the past two years, that has played out at an incredible and impressive pace, with

decision after decision needing to be made and then revisited as more information becomes available.”

Jill is part of a small group of trustees who have served as a sounding board for administrators during this time. The group launched during the summer of 2020, convening virtually at 7 a.m. every weekday for months to meet with Head of School Brendan Largay and Assistant Head of School Deborah Brissenden.

Bringing a variety of expertise, the group included Jill; former board president Tom Hancock P ’09 ’26; past board president and trustee Brit Dewey P ’19 ’21; and

trustee Sasha Ebrahimi P ’22. The goal of this forum was to discuss how to fulfill Belmont Day’s mission during the COVID era and contend with unforeseen variables and innumerable details. Collectively, these advisors offered invaluable counsel to ensure that Belmont Day administrators were asking the right questions, making valid assumptions, leveraging key resources, and mitigating risks.

Working in the Harvard Business School Dean’s Office, Brit was already immersed in these questions relating to higher education. “Since April 2020, I had been eating, sleeping, and breathing questions related to how schools could bring their communities back to campus safely,” she recalls. Brit had spoken with leaders from other universities, as well as other types of organizations worldwide to find out how they were planning to bring people back together in various settings. The Belmont Day advisory group, she says, helped to define the context within which the school could operate by identifying possibilities and outlining related risks. “Our most important goal was keeping everyone safe. We needed to be thorough so that all community members would trust the process and the people making the decisions.”

Sasha was glad to bring a scientific background—a doctorate in biology from MIT—to this effort. In particular, she provided critical diligence to exploring testing options and moderated a virtual panel discussion to help parents understand the many safety protocols being put in place.

“A lot of thoughtful communication was required to get the community comfortable,” Sasha says. “We were working with a diverse population, and each family had its own specific circumstances and level of concern.”

To add to the complexity, information and diagnostic tools changed almost daily during the summer of 2020 and have continued to evolve ever since. Sasha was motivated to be so involved partly by the dedication of faculty and staff to serving students. “I am in awe of all the people involved in this process,” she says. “The school has been able to give families peace of mind, and I’m so grateful that my child was able to attend school in person.”

Tom acknowledges that at any given point throughout the school year, some

families likely felt Belmont Day was too conservative in its safety protocols, while other families likely felt that the exact same protocols were not conservative enough.

Overall, however, the school’s response has been embraced by the community as a tremendous success. “Our strong community is a hallmark of Belmont Day,” he says. “Families love the school and feel very engaged.” This support was evident in the community’s support of fundraising efforts to offset unexpected COVID-related costs. “Because of the community’s generosity,” Tom says, “we were in a position to say ‘yes’ in granting funds for testing, additional staffing, and other needs.”

Tom also points out that Belmont Day is now at full enrollment, including the goals that had been set for the recent middle school expansion. “Our enrollment is a vote of confidence from both current families and from those who are now joining the school,” he says.

As the 2020–21 school year got under way, this core advisory group gradually reduced its schedule to twice a week, then weekly, then monthly. The group met again over the summer to review plans for the current school year and remains in touch as needed. Keeping everyone in school safe continues to be the foremost priority. In addition, the board is eager to boost initiatives relating to Belmont Day’s Strategic Plan. Thanks to our supportive community, Belmont Day has continued to make incremental progress toward these goals, even during the pandemic. Task forces are currently being established to engage people throughout the community to develop more specific plans around the three pillars of Excellence, Community, and Strength.

The amount of time, thinking, and planning—during the last two years and looking ahead to the future—speaks volumes about how much people care about the Belmont Day community. “Keeping a school open during a pandemic has been an all-consuming effort—for the administrative team, faculty, trustees, and volunteers,” Jill says. “It has been humbling to see how hard people are working to make this happen for Belmont Day students.”

“The children are thriving because of Belmont Day’s ongoing focus on innovation and intentional design.”

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School Nurse Liz LaRocque’s job has changed dramatically since the pandemic began. After having a previous career providing nursing care to adults, Liz became a school nurse in 2004. She began working with Belmont Day’s summer camp in 2006 and joined the team year-round in 2013.

“I love taking care of students because every day is different,” Liz says. “The children come with such breadth of personalities and needs. They are kind and sweet, and being able to care for them is a joy.”

Traditionally, Liz’s role at Belmont Day was to respond to clinical issues that intersected with the school day, as well as teaching health and wellness. Throughout the pandemic, however, Liz also has been busy developing, implementing, and monitoring a variety of public health protocols.

24 | 2021–22

Since the fall of 2020, Liz has coordinated the testing routines that play a critical role in families feeling confident about bringing students back to campus. Before pooled testing eventually became available, testing every student, faculty, and staff member filled up three days of each week.

Establishing other safety protocols— including a stacked approach of masking, social distancing, cohorting—also required a lot of strategic thinking. Since vaccines were approved for students as young as age five, Belmont Day has also hosted two vaccine clinics on-site, and within just weeks of the vaccine’s availability for younger grades, 82 percent of eligible Belmont Day students were vaccinated.

Thanks to the multiple layers of caution, Belmont Day has had very few cases identified within our school.

“What has made us so successful is that the whole community is bought in to prioritizing safety,” Liz says. “This has been an all-for-one and one-for-all experience.”

“I love taking care of students because every day is different.

The children come with such breadth of personalities and needs. They are kind and sweet, and being able to care for them is a joy.”

“When everything is working, that helps people be excited to come to work, and then they pass that energy on to the students, who are the number one priority for all of us.”

In June 2020, Director of Operations Anderson Santos P ’26 celebrated the birth of his daughter on a Thursday and was back to work on the following Monday. In fact, for months Anderson was the only person who reported to campus almost daily while our region was in COVID lockdown. “Mechanical systems can’t stop being maintained just because people aren’t present,” Anderson explains. “Some organizations temporarily abandoned their buildings during the lockdown. Then when people came back, those facilities didn’t work properly.”

Anderson managed a routine of flushing toilets, running hot water, and maintaining baseline temperatures to ensure that plumbing systems did not decay from disuse. He tracked the regularly scheduled inspections that ensure

functioning of security, fire alarm, and sprinkler systems. He also was a critical member of the task force that developed plans to reopen campus and managed the large- and small-scale details of upgrading facilities to match new safety parameters.

Even when Anderson was joined by colleagues Lino Medeiros and Mike Faretra, tasks took longer because physical distancing meant that people had to work individually, despite some jobs being more efficient to complete as a team. Throughout the summer of 2020, this seasoned crew completed numerous upgrades to promote student and faculty health. Every faucet, soap dispenser, and paper towel dispenser throughout campus was replaced with models that operate hands-free. Sneeze guards were installed on desks, sidewalks were painted with dots to illustrate distances of six feet, and hallways were marked with arrows

to support new traffic patterns. Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems were reviewed and upgraded to improve air filtration. The effective implementation is especially impressive because the latest guidelines kept changing. “Some days you would hear information in the morning, and by the afternoon it was different,” Anderson recalls. “Then by night it was different again.”

In addition to maintaining facilities, Anderson’s role includes supervising the front desk, kitchen operations, transportation, and summer programs—each of which required its own adaptations for pandemic operations. Anderson came to Belmont Day in 2000 and likes that his job brings him into contact with people throughout the school. He sees every aspect of his job as an opportunity to make a difference in people’s lives. “By making operations better, we help people love Belmont Day even more,” he says. “When everything is working, that helps people be excited to come to work, and then they pass that energy on to the students, who are the number one priority for all of us.”

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Producing and delivering more than 300 healthy, nutritious lunches is a logistical triumph—as well as a culinary feat—on any day. Doing so during pandemic conditions has required Chef and Kitchen Manager Tara Lightbody P ’20 ’22 to rethink everything from soup to nuts.

Tara joined the Belmont Day team in 2010 when the school wanted to transition its “heat-and-eat” lunch style to a program that emphasized preparing food from scratch onsite. “We are very intent on our food being fresh,” Tara explains, “because we want to entice students to explore good, healthy food.” When Tara first came to Belmont Day, however, just cooking enough

“The level of planning throughout the pandemic has been phenomenal.

Belmont Day was ahead of the curve at every step.”

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As a specialist in infectious diseases, Ingrid Katz, MD, MHS, P ’22, is among those who have been alert about the potential for a pandemic for years. The Harvard Global Health Institute, where Ingrid is the associate faculty director, even had an event in 2018 to mark the 100th anniversary of the 1918 influenza pandemic.

As early as February 2020, Ingrid was offering invaluable perspective to Belmont Day administrators, helping our school be well prepared to deliver on our educational mission even as the campus closed abruptly in March. “At the beginning, information was evolving in real time,” Ingrid recalls.

“Those felt like 30-hour days because everything was happening so fast.”

As the framework of the situation shifted from being seen as a short-term interruption to a global pandemic, Ingrid became Belmont Day’s physician of record and has since played a key role in advising the school from a medical and public health perspective. Looking back now, returning to campus for the 2020–21 school year may

seem like it was the obvious path forward.

As Ingrid points out, however, success was not a foregone conclusion. As a result, the school prepared for multiple scenarios, each with a myriad of questions. “The level of planning throughout the pandemic has been phenomenal,” Ingrid says. “Belmont Day was ahead of the curve at every step.”

Ingrid began her career in public health and later went to medical school, because she was so moved by having lived through the AIDS crisis, when people died of HIV in large numbers. “I realized then that I wanted to be part of movements that addressed social justice, health, and equality,” she says. Ingrid hopes this pandemic will be a wake-up call for society to focus on preparedness, to build up infrastructure, and to address inequality.

Ingrid has also served as part of an advisory team to the Biden administration in developing its COVID response plan.

She describes public health as “a field that encompasses all the things we do to keep people safe.”

“I used to joke that no one knew what I did,” Ingrid says. “This situation changed all that.”

“Lunch is a very important part of the day for students because sharing a meal is about good food and good conversation. Our goal is always to get the best quality of food to students, and this team has taken that to a new level.”

pasta for a lunch period took three hours due to outdated equipment. Under Tara’s guidance, the school has made significant upgrades, including a new stove and oven, plus walk-in coolers to make fresh fruits and vegetables accessible.

The improved infrastructure turned out to be essential during the pandemic, when Tara and her team converted food service from self-serve buffets to individually packaged meals that are delivered to class cohorts. Throughout the summer of 2020, Tara regularly joined virtual meetings with nutritionists and food-industry professionals who were planning for school settings. Every aspect of food preparation had to be revisited, beginning with sourcing of ingredients amidst supply-chain disruptions and ending with how to offer students choices in their meals. Concerned about sustainability, Tara also explored what

kinds of containers could be reused or composted. The end result is a finely tuned system of stackable trays with lids that can be kept warm in thermal bags and delivered throughout campus.

Colleagues Ellen Brandt, Vladimir Hucko, and Bohdan Kupka work alongside Tara as an efficient unit to prepare and distribute food. “Lunch is a very important part of the day for students because sharing a meal is about good food and good conversation,” Tara says.

“Our goal is always to get the best quality of food to students, and this team has taken that to a new level.”

Even as plans for how to reopen campus began to crystallize, successful implementation depended on many factors.

Particularly important were securing resources for testing and communicating clearly so that families would feel supported and united in Belmont Day’s public health approach. Susannah Rowe, MD, P ’21, helped address both of these issues by connecting Belmont Day to CIC Health to access testing and by being a resource to educate our community.

As September 2021 drew near, Susannah realized that she and her son, Ben ’21, had valuable experience to share during a moment when the prospect of weekly testing loomed large for students and parents. “There had been so much buzz about testing being uncomfortable that many people were anxious about it,” Susannah says. Luckily, tests had already evolved so that Belmont Day could use short swabs instead of the long swabs from

the early tests. And because Susannah works on the front lines of health care, she and Ben were both tested multiple times for COVID during the first six months of the pandemic. So together, they demonstrated what a COVID test looked like during a live virtual meeting. “I wanted to demystify the process and let people see that it wasn’t scary,” Susannah says. “It was helpful for people to see how easily I could do this procedure on my own child.”

As an ophthalmologist and the associate chief medical officer for wellness and professional vitality at Boston Medical Center, Susannah was in the thick of things when Boston emerged as one of the pandemic’s first U.S. epicenters. “I cannot express how much it meant to know that my son had the school looking out for him during remote learning, and again when we returned to campus,” she says. “It was important to know that his needs were met so that I could provide care for other people.”

Susannah also answered many parent questions during virtual information sessions and was impressed at how the entire Belmont Day community—students, parents, faculty, staff, administration, and trustees—worked as a team. “One of the

Many people did things behind the scenes to make it possible for our children to be in school. Everyone contributed what they could, and there are many heroes.”

hardest challenges in a pandemic is motivating everyone to work together,” she says, “because everyone has their own risk tolerance, based on their own personal circumstances.” “I have so much gratitude for the Belmont Day community,” Susannah says. “Many people did things behind the scenes to make it possible for our children to be in school. Everyone contributed what they could, and there are many heroes.”

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LOW E R S C H O O L Strengthening Connections,

Inspiring Joy Minna Ham

Lower School Head Since the pandemic began, lower school teachers have been working nonstop to create a strong sense of connection with our students despite highly unusual classroom conditions—and we have been successful. Our students bonded tightly with peers and teachers in their designated

cohorts, while also feeling part of the broader Belmont Day community. In fact, these cohorts were so successful that we kept class sizes of 13 or so students in our early childhood division this year. These young students previously had been in classrooms that accommodated a complete

Every day our students remind us that “school is still school—and they love it here.

28 | 2021–22

”

grade, led by two teachers and an associate teacher. Currently, they are enjoying the experience of this smaller class size and getting to know others in their grade through shared time at recess and in other whole-grade activities.

Parents have told us how grateful they are for Belmont Day. And as we developed and communicated our safety measures and teaching strategies, they appreciated how we thought of everyone. In 2022, our faculty continue to be flexible and creative.

We are closely following the continuously shifting safety guidelines and look forward to increasing opportunities for our students as conditions allow.

In the meantime, we are proud of how faculty and staff are delivering the core academic program and nurturing social and emotional skills for our youngest students.

Every day our students remind us that school is still school—and they love it here.

Whether they are wearing a mask or not, students still have those same feelings of being a kindergartener on the first day of school, or of being a fifth grader putting the final touches on a project. They are still learning what it means to be students and what it means to be a friend. Our teachers recognize this, and they are dedicated to making each child’s first day or school year as special as possible.

We know we can do it. And with the approval of vaccines for children beginning at age five, we know that it will eventually get easier.

LOW E R S C H O O L

Third Graders Shine Light on

Notable Women

Courage and persistence are character traits that help people achieve their goals—and they are also common characteristics that third graders identified in the notable women they studied.

With social justice as a significant theme of the third grade curriculum, teacher Larissa Rochford ’93 P ’18 leads students in discussions about why women are less represented in history books, when women got the vote, and how women of color face additional bias in society.

Students read picture book biographies about

women from a variety of backgrounds— such as twentieth-century seamstress and labor leader Clara Lemlich, mathematician Katherine Johnson, Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, and scientist Temple Grandin. Students then choose one individual to be the subject of a biography study, drawing research from longer biographies and creating posters, skits, and slide shows to teach classmates about their research subject. “Students really appreciate the level of choice they get in this project,” Larissa says.

“Becoming the class expert on this person gives them a sense of pride and inspires them to go the extra mile.”

Houndsley or Catina for President?

Second grade students headed to the polls in November 2020 to cast their ballots, choosing between the main characters from James Howe’s beloved Houndsley and Catina children’s book series. Since 2008, Nancy Fell has staged this mock election during presidential elections to introduce students to the democratic process.

“Students realize that it’s important to be informed and for everyone to have an equal voice,” Nancy says.

Students began the unit by brainstorming what characteristics make a good leader. Their list included kindness, being a good sport, being a good listener, making fair rules, and being fun. Students also developed a platform for each candidate, based on

reading their books. In the 2020 election, the feline Catina promised to encourage people to try new things and to provide ginger tea, cookies, and yoga to everyone. The canine Houndsley promised to keep people from fighting and provide canoe lessons. “We talk a lot about whether students prefer cats or dogs, and if that should affect your vote,” Nancy says. “Students come to understand that it’s important to know a candidate and see if their platform fits with what they believe is important.”

After all the votes were counted— including a mail-in ballot from a remote student and an absentee ballot from a student who was sick on Election Day, the winner in 2020 was—Houndsley!

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LOW E R S C H O O L

An Abundance of

Author Visits Belmont Day students met more than a dozen children’s book authors and illustrators through virtual visits, with most scheduled for lower school grades.

Librarian Amy Sprung arranged the visits, working in collaboration with Belmont Books and classroom teachers who brought a lot of enthusiasm and creativity for connecting the lessons shared by the authors to their curricula. “There are so many ways an author visit can inspire,” Amy says. “This was a way to be expansive, especially in a year when safety guidelines were making our world smaller.”

Heather Lang, author of The Leaf Detective visited first, second, and third grades to talk about nonfiction writing. She was joined by Dr. Meg Lowman, the tree canopy scientist whom her book is about.

Kyandreia Jones, who has written for the Choose Your Own Adventure series, led fourth and fifth graders in writing workshops in which students invented some gripping and hilarious story ideas, on which Kyandreia gave feedback. “Knowing that a professional is listening to your words is

30 | 2021–22

very special,” Amy says. “It’s an opportunity for students to feel seen and be supported as emerging writers.”

Although Belmont Day has always created such opportunities for students, decreased travel schedules, combined with increased familiarity with virtual meeting formats, meant that authors were more available than ever last year. Other virtual author visits for the lower school included: Remy Lai, author and illustrator of Fly on the Wall; Greg Pizzoli, author and illustrator of the Baloney and Friends series; Sherri Duskey Rinker, author of Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site; Jodi Lynn Anderson, author of The Memory Thief; Sam Wedelich, author of Chicken Little and the Big Bad Wolf; Melissa Cristina Márquez, author of the new Wild Survival series; Kim Tomsic, author of The Elephants Come Home; Tracy Marchini, author of Princesses Can Fix It!; and Hena Khan and Adam Gidwitz, authors of The Secret of the Himalayas, in the Unicorn Rescue Society series; Ammi-Joan Paquette, author of Mucky Truck; and Kit Rosewater, author of The Derby Daredevils series.

MIDDLE SCHOOL

Engaging Gratitude, Building Belonging Liz Gray

Middle School Head We are so proud of how our middle school students find ways to make every year great and take advantage of everything we offer.

The importance of human connection has never been more apparent. Particularly for middle schoolers, the more peers and caring adults with whom they can interact, the better. We have heard so much gratitude from parents for offering the opportunity for students to be together in person throughout this time. As faculty, we are grateful for the commitment parents and students have demonstrated to keeping our school community safe.

In addition to teaching core academics, our faculty have paid especially close attention to social-emotional learning.

We have implemented a variety of strategies to strengthen our infrastructure for promoting mental health and also introduced a series of discussions to help middle school students explore identity development and how we can all be active citizens for social justice. In May, we released our first comprehensive feedback survey to all middle school students, soliciting input on their experience in the classroom, with each of their individual teachers, and in school life in general. We are proud to report that 92 percent of middle school students felt well or very well known by their advisors, and 87 percent felt well or very well known by their academic teachers.

We are excited to launch the current school year with most of our middle school students vaccinated, which expands the options for student interactions. Like you,

we are also pleased about the availability of a vaccine for students as young as age 5, and we will continue to adhere to safety guidelines as they evolve. For now, we are thrilled to bring back the chance for seventh and eighth graders to choose their arts electives and to kick off the fall with seventh graders climbing Mount Cardigan and eighth graders enjoying a day at Project Adventure. We hope that our eighth graders will be able to take their overnight trip to the Grand Canyon in the spring. These milestones are just a few of the important moments of bonding and personal growth for students that we look forward to throughout the year.

are so proud “ofWe how our middle

school students find ways to make every year great and take advantage of everything we offer.

The importance of human connection has never been more apparent.

”

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Capstone Projects Inspired by Current Events With an interest in economics, Alice Shu ’21 discovered her Capstone topic by following the news. Throughout the summer of 2020, she read about small businesses struggling to survive and generated this question to guide her research: What is the impact of the pandemic on small businesses and how could the government help? Alice’s mentor, Belmont Day Business Manager Sarah Barrow, recommended that she reach out to a nearby business in Belmont Center for an interview, and the project grew from there. Alice conducted nine interviews, including owners of businesses such as Rancatore’s, Belmont Books, Stone Hearth Pizza, Champions Sporting Goods, and Wheelworks.

In addition to focusing on her main topic, Alice asked business owners what motivated them. “The unifying idea was

32 | 2021–22

that the customer relationship is a favorite part of being in business,” she says. “They like meeting people and sharing their love of something through their business.”

Alice has her own passion that she imagined sharing with customers by developing a business plan and sample website for a new bubble tea company called Boba Buddies. “I’m a passionate believer that boba tea is one of the best drinks to ever exist,” she says.

Now having completed her Capstone journey, Alice recognizes that she learned as much about herself as she did about the topic. “I learned how to make use of many different resources,” she says, “and how to set a roadmap for myself.”

Isaac Frehywot ’21 first became interested in uranium when he studied the periodic table in sixth grade. “I’m intrigued by how such tremendous energy

can be extracted from something as microscopic as an atom,” he says. When it came time to choose a Capstone project, Isaac decided to go deeper into this subject because of the critical need for energy alternatives to fossil fuels. “Renewable energy sources are great options,” Isaac explains, “but wind and solar sources alone can’t generate enough energy.”

So, Isaac focused his Capstone research on identifying misconceptions about nuclear energy that are impeding its development. “A lot of people see nuclear energy as evil,” Isaac says, “because they connect it to the destruction done by bombs used in World War II or depicted in movies and media.” Isaac points out that the uranium used in nuclear reactors is different from what is used for bombs. He also clarified that technology has changed since the famous nuclear accidents at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania and at Chernobyl in Ukraine. “Tuning into the scientific details is important,” he says.

Isaac funneled his research into a presentation designed to debunk common myths about nuclear energy. He is particularly proud of designing a 3D digital model of a nuclear reactor. The hardest part of the Capstone process for Isaac was figuring out where to start. He credits his mentor, Belmont Day Chef and Kitchen Manager Tara Lightbody, with helping him organize the steps of the project. “I learned that it’s important for me to brainstorm and harvest ideas,” he says. “Once I lay things out, I can stay focused and keep going.”

MIDDLE SCHOOL

Student Cookbook Focuses on Food Deserts Eliza Kuechle ’22 didn’t know much about food deserts until a social studies unit last year examined how food is developed and delivered to communities. “I was surprised to learn that some people rely on fast food restaurants because they don’t have grocery stores nearby,” she says. So, when the class was assigned to apply design thinking to address an issue relating to food availability, Eliza took on the challenge of creating healthy, affordable meals from ingredients that can be purchased at a convenience store.

When cooking with her family, Eliza tends to use a variety of fresh ingredients.

When she visited a family-owned convenience store, however, the shelves were stocked with less familiar boxed and canned goods. Bananas were the only available fresh fruit. “After that, I had to take a step back

Model UN Makes Although many interscholastic activities were put on hold during the pandemic, Model UN activities moved online. Belmont Day students attended three virtual Model UN conferences last year, joining hundreds of students from throughout New England and around the country to discuss world challenges and devise possible solutions.

“I am always inspired by the students who participate in this club,” says French teacher and Model UN club advisor Jennifer Friborg. “They are so committed to curiosity and engaging with the world beyond themselves.” Before taking part in conferences, students meet regularly during club periods to research such topics as the rights of asylum-seekers, economic barriers for women, and drivers of climate change.

and rethink my recipes,” Eliza says. Soon, she developed a seven-day meal plan using these ingredients. Eliza’s most expensive recipe is a pasta salad, for $2.56 per serving.

Most of her recipes, however, cost less than $2.00 per serving, such as the tuna noodle casserole ($1.42 per serving) and the shredded wheat parfait ($1.37 per serving).

Eliza compiled the recipes into a cookbook, alongside nutritional data and the higher cost of a comparable fast food meal.

The cookbook has been distributed at the store where Eliza did her research and a variety of other places. It was also featured in the Lexington Colonial Times, as part of an article bringing visibility to the presence of food insecurity in that town and its surrounding area. “I’m proud that the word is getting out about this issue,” Eliza says.

Connections

The topics are challenging, but, as Margot Klug ’21 says, “I like talking about topics that affect the future of the world and thinking about what our generation can do.” Margot participated in Belmont Day’s Model UN club from fifth through eighth grade, making many friends here and at other schools. “When you spend a lot of time together talking about important topics,” she says, “you really get to know people.”

Margot says that being a part

of Model UN has also developed her writing and speaking skills—and it has helped her enjoy many lively debates with her family around the dinner table.

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MIDDLE SCHOOL

MAGAZINE

Burst of Creativity Echo-es Through Lit Mag Belmont Day’s literary magazine recently published its largest volume ever. The Winter 2021 issue presented 128 pages of original art, photography, poetry, and short fiction from dozens of students, some of whom submitted multiple items.

“Publishing in Echo is about middle schoolers’ quest for and assertion of identity,” says social studies teacher and magazine club advisor Dean Spencer.

“When a student publishes their poem or artwork, they receive validation from their peers that makes it worthwhile to take a risk and share their ideas.”

34 | 2021–22

Echo accepts submissions from any middle school student, and some students choose to work on the magazine as a club activity, which met virtually during the last school year. Audrey Wu ’21, a member of the Echo staff since sixth grade, particularly liked helping choose themes for each issue.

The theme for Winter 2021 was “The Edge,” she explains, because “we were getting used to COVID protocols and it was great to channel all those emotions into something beautiful.” The theme for Spring 2021 was “Roots and Routes” to “think about where we come from and where we are going.”

Audrey also appreciates how the weekly Echo meetings establish a fun atmosphere to develop one’s own work. “It’s magical to be surrounded by people who are so creative,” she says. “There’s an understanding that we are all open to feedback on our work and that we are all being brave here.”

SCAN to read the

latest issue of Echo

A Responsive, Whole-Child Approach to

Honoring Differences Dr. Carlos Hoyt

Director of Equity and Inclusion During this past year, the world challenged us to really define what it means to be a school that honors differences, and Belmont Day rose to the occasion. Amid the public health crisis of COVID-19, the public health crisis of racism, and the volatile nature of current public discourse, we created opportunities for students to be respectfully heard and to practice using their voices clearly and constructively. The lifelong skills of listening and speaking up for oneself and standing up for others are essential to building and maintaining vital communities and democracy.

For our middle school students, we piloted the Honoring Differences Seminar, a highly interactive course to help middle school students get to know themselves and their peers in the context of the meaningful exchange of perspectives on social issues. These sessions empowered students to be good friends and community members by equipping them with a deep and meaningful understanding of diversity, equity, and inclusion, alongside social-emotional learning. I also had the opportunity to lead mini “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) seminars” in first, second, and fifth grades, where we read a variety of excellent children’s literature to prompt learning about critical thinking, empathy, and being an upstander.

Even as we responded to the urgent needs of last year in real time, we also planned ahead to launch a new curriculum that synthesizes important topics relating to DEI work, social-emotional learning, and health and wellness. We want every student at Belmont

Day to build competency in self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, responsible decision making, and relationship skills.

Woven throughout this framework can be many questions relating to personal and social identity, how we interact with others, nutrition, exercise, and how we deal with stress. We are taking a whole-child approach to this work so that our students understand how one aspect of life might affect another. We are launching this curriculum this year, with lessons at each grade level.

We are so proud that our students continue to exemplify critical thinking, thoughtfulness, candor, and caring in their consideration of issues and dynamics of social identity, social bias, and social justice that are perplexing to people of all ages.

“

We are so proud that our students continue to exemplify critical thinking, thoughtfulness, candor, and caring in their consideration of issues and dynamics of social identity, social bias, and social justice that are perplexing to people of all ages.

”

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Author Shares His LGBTQ Story Debut author Robbie Couch virtually joined middle schoolers in April to discuss his young adult novel, The Sky Blues. This romantic comedy follows Sky Baker, an openly gay high school senior from a small town who is planning the ultimate promposal. When Sky’s plans are threatened by a deeply homophobic e-blast, he almost skips town—but instead leads a school-wide hunt to expose the perpetrator.

During the Q&A session with students, Robbie shared his own lived experience of identifying as a gay teen in a small town.

The book explores themes discussed

by Belmont Day’s Gender and Sexuality Alliance (GSA). “Belmont Day students appreciate seeing lots of perspectives represented in books and media,” says librarian Amy Sprung. “And it’s incredibly valuable for students to see themselves reflected in the full variety of stories that are published.” The visit was arranged

by Amy, in collaboration with the middle school English department and GSA advisors Blair Fross, Liz LaRocque, and Koreen McQuilton.

Seminar Helps Students

Discuss Important Issues At Belmont Day, we are committed to helping students learn how to discuss important—and sometimes difficult— topics in ways that are scholarly, civil, and constructive. We introduced the Honoring Differences Seminar to help our middle school students do just that. “We knew students needed a regular space to talk about the many events happening in our world,” says Dr. Carlos Hoyt, director of equity and inclusion. “We want to establish a culture in which talking about important issues, even if complex and controversial, can be done with civility, empathy, and grace.”

Carlos led the seminar, along with Dr. Leesa Mercedes, school psychologist, and Dean Spencer, grade six social studies teacher. Students were introduced to foundational frameworks, such as the components that make up identity and what is meant by terms like social bias and

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D I V E R S I T Y, E Q U I T Y & I N C LU S I O N

Conference Connects

Students of Color Fifteen Belmont Day students found fellowship and affinity in February by attending the Middle School Students of Color Conference presented by the Association of Independent Schools in New England. The conference, for fifth through eighth grades, was hosted virtually and attended by about 300 students from throughout the region.

Spanish teacher Ana Maria Restrepo chaperoned students online, and our school psychologist, Dr. Leesa Mercedes

facilitated a Latinx affinity group as part of the day’s agenda.

Students enjoyed a day packed with socializing and workshops on topics such as the Art of Protest, Representation and Identity in Politics, and Activism in Athletics. “Students found the day inspirational,” Ana Maria says. ”This is a positive environment to talk about race and stereotypes, and the core message is that students can be anyone they want to be.”

The keynote speaker was Mykee Fowlin (Dr. Michael Fowlin), a psychologist, performer, and poet. “I really enjoyed his performance because it made me laugh and cry at the same time,” says Sahana Miduturu ’23. “I liked meeting people and hearing their experiences, and I also enjoyed the dancing and trivia at the social meetup.”

We want to “establish a culture in which talking about important issues, even if complex and controversial, can be done with civility, empathy, and grace.

”

—Dr. Carlos Hoyt

equity. They also had the opportunity to ask questions about and discuss current events, such as effects of the pandemic, the Black Lives Matter movement, the presidential election, attacks on people of Asian heritage, and the attack on the Capitol building on January 6, 2021.

Underlying all of these discussions was a focus on empathy. “Empathy is like a

feelings x-ray,” Carlos says. “Once you know what another person is feeling, you know what’s informing their behavior. When you understand that there is a psychological logic to what people are doing, then it is harder to just dismiss them, and you can try to engage in a more constructive dialogue.”

For at least two terms, each middle school cohort met with facilitators over

Zoom. “Discussing DEI topics in the virtual classroom is very challenging,” Carlos says. “I applaud the students for pushing through that and making the best of this opportunity.” Going forward, the seminar format is evolving, and will become part of our sixth grade program.

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t Ar s

In the

Studio Anne Armstrong Arts Coordinator and Visual Arts Teacher

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S P OT L I G H T

A paradox about art is that working within limitations unleashes—rather than restrains—creativity, and the last school year bears this out. Because of space allocations, our art teachers were separated from their studios. Because of cohorting, we couldn’t move from one grade level of students to another. Despite the many safety restrictions, however, our arts teachers found exciting new possibilities… and our students made wonderful, meaningful connections and creative work.

We began with a redesigned arts program to unfold in each grade through a series of six-week intensives in our core disciplines of music, theater arts, visual arts, woodworking, and digital arts.

Within these intensives, students met with specialist teachers daily, exploring concepts, techniques, and skills as they worked. As faculty used materials, space, and technology in new ways, students were appreciative for the opportunities to express themselves in every medium. They also found the artistic process to be stress

relieving, and activities such as kumihimo (a Japanese braiding technique), soap carving, and mime became big hits.

As part of this process, we also developed new strategies to culminate each intensive. In visual arts, students documented their work daily with photographs and notes. At the end of the session, students reviewed these “process-folios” to reflect on what they had learned.

Meanwhile, our theater arts faculty created videos to share student work. The Theater Arts Highlights videos took the place of class plays, and music teachers created several tightly choreographed videos of our young musicians. These video performances generated strong responses from students and parents because they helped our community feel connected.

We are thrilled that most of our arts classes are now taking place back in the studios. As safety guidelines continue to evolve, our teachers will continue to adapt.

Most important, Belmont Day students will continue to create and thrive.

The most important thing to “remember from this evening is that your voice matters, whether you use it through an instrument, through an essay, or through listening and helping to lift other people up.

”

Alumna Inspires at

Ensembles Celebration Our Ensembles Celebration in February 2021 celebrated the power of music to energize and inspire. Simulating a virtual coffee house performance, ten eighth graders each performed a song and recounted their favorite moments of learning and having fun in their ensembles.

The event culminated with a live performance from Alisa Amador ’10, an independent singer-songwriter who also performs with the nationally touring Latin band Sol y Canto and works as a multilingual voice-over actor. “It is very special to have been a student at Belmont Day, and to have studied music here, and to now be playing for you,” Alisa said. She fondly recalled singing in the chorus and wearing a teapot costume as an eighth grader to perform in Beauty and the Beast. “It was a special experience because of the respect all the students had for each other,” she said.

Alisa began studying guitar when she was 10 years old and writing songs at age 15.

She advised budding young musicians to not let perfectionism get in the way of believing in and sharing their art. “Never let go of music, art, and your creativity,” she said.

“These are portals to connect with yourself and with others.” Growing up, Alisa was inspired by her parents, whom she described as devoted to performing and using music to start a conversation. “The most important thing to remember from this evening is that your voice matters,” she said, “whether you use it through an instrument, through an essay, or through listening and helping to lift other people up. You matter, and I’m so happy to be part of a celebration of your own artistic and human voice.”

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Creative Woodworking

Leads to Clean Carving How can students learn woodworking skills outside the studio? With flexibility and creativity, alongside paper, popsicle sticks, and a lot of soap. “Woodworking is fundamentally about problem-solving,” says woodworking teacher Bill Smith. “Wherever you are, you are always working toward a finished project, focusing on how to engage with the resources you have and what you can do at this moment.”

Needing to work with materials that were portable and could be easily available at home, if needed, Bill’s classes last year worked with paper to create optical art, playing around with concepts of symmetry and positive and negative spaces. Using popsicle sticks, second graders built bowls, fourth graders made lanterns, and middle schoolers crafted boxes. Each project involved spatial awareness, planning, and attention to detail.

“With each project, students are learning that you have to put time into a project to achieve a goal,” Bill says.

Soap carving turned out to be a surprise hit, offering an opportunity to work in 3D space. Using spoons, knives, and clay molding tools, students created turtles, snails, dogs, and other animals. “Students love creating with their hands,” Bill says. “It is very satisfying as the soap gently carves away and something emerges right there in front of you.”

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A R TS S P OT L I G H T

Digital Animations Explore Empathy The seventh graders in last year’s Soundscapes class used digital arts as a new way to explore the social identity prism that is at the foundation of our diversity, equity, and inclusion curriculum.

Taught collaboratively by technology teacher Kurt Robinson and music teacher Yui Kitamura, the elective began last fall

with students discussing how age, race, gender, sexual orientation, and other attributes are all vital parts of identity. Students then programmed short animations to illustrate how various qualities might relate to interaction that individuals have with society. They also composed original music to underscore the feelings—positive,

The Show Must Lights, camera, action! In lieu of the traditional class plays last year, faculty launched a series of Theater Arts Highlights videos to showcase student performances to the broader community while also adhering to safety guidelines.

“We wanted every child to have a chance to be center stage and be seen,” says theater teacher Chris Parsons, who led intensive units for first through fifth grades.

At each grade level, the theater intensive focused on distinct aspects of performance. First graders studied how animals move and sound and then performed skits to transform themselves into snowy owls, turtles, bats, Siberian tigers, and red pandas. Second graders wrote and produced scenes relating to

negative, or in between—that people may feel around those situations.

“This was an ambitious project,” Kurt says. “We asked students to think about how they would educate others about these elements. Then we combined storytelling, coding, and music composition to reflect on the different aspects of identity.”

Go On

elements of theater, such as the curtain call, backstage, or blocking. Third graders studied famous mimes and silent films and then developed their own scenes. Fourth graders developed monologues, and fifth graders presented a variety show. The individualized nature of all the projects put students in the roles of being writers, directors, and producers, as well as actors. “The spark was obvious in what the students were doing,” Chris says. “They really took ownership of all the details of their performances and were proud of themselves.”

Chris taught two sixth grade cohorts, in collaboration with fellow theater teacher Susan Dempsey, who taught the other middle school cohorts. Middle school students delivered a variety of performances,

including original monologues and public and persuasive speaking by sixth graders and “Sonologues”—popular songs presented as dramatic monologues—by seventh graders.

Eighth graders studied subtext and recorded micro-scenes on Zoom that portrayed fully developed characters and suspense with just a few words and sound effects. Other activities included improv, costume/set design, as well as developing monologues from the perspectives of different types of shoes. “Students were challenged to work within unique parameters,” Susan says.

Because of their willingness to take risks, collaborate, and think creatively, they developed authentic and unique theatrical pieces that they were proud to share with each other and our community.”

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B E L M O N T DAY On the Field John O’Neill

Athletics Director Despite the absence of interscholastic competition last year, athletics played a more important role than ever in the lives of Belmont Day students. The value of exercise, fresh air, and play has been particularly evident during the pandemic, when many have become more sedentary and more confined, and are experiencing more of our world through screens.

With safety guidelines limiting the parameters of gameplay, our PE and athletics faculty stepped up to completely redesign our program. Instead of offering middle schoolers three athletic seasons focused on a roster of traditional sports,

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we divided the year into six five-week seasons during which we focused on skill-building, basic fitness, and being outdoors. Our students navigated the nearby woodlands with orienteering, flew over dirt trails on mountain bikes, and went hiking even in the winter.

They also improved their passing, kicking, and catching skills with a ball sports boot camp; learned to calm their bodies through yoga; and increased their strength, agility, and aerobic fitness with almost every activity. Through it all, these students came to see themselves as overall athletes, rather than sport-specific players.

They came to see fundamental fitness as its own desirable goal, rather than a means to an end. And they had a blast.

Our faculty applied this same approach to lower school PE classes. These were held outside as much as possible, and, on days when weather forced us indoors, we opened the garage doors of the Barn to maximize ventilation. We are so proud of how Belmont Day students in all grades rose to the occasion to challenge themselves in new ways. The need for students to complete their activities spaced apart was balanced by an instinctive drive to build connection, emphasizing how each individual’s pursuit of excellence is an important contribution to the larger team.

Now that interscholastic competition is back this year, our athletes are ready to bring their A-games, making the most of the athletic opportunities that we do have each and every day. Go BDS!

B E L M O N T DAY AT H L E T I C S

Focus on

Fitness + Fun With interscholastic sports on hold in 2021, Belmont Day coaches developed a full rotation of activities emphasizing life fitness and fun. Activities designed to build athletes’ physical endurance and mental toughness included the timed-mile run, a high-intensity spin class, and a dynamic crossfit circuit. Students also challenged themselves in a different way with mindful yoga, where they practiced moving with precision, gentle stretching, and guided breathing. Playful experiences included badminton, Pillow Polo, and—when the powder was just right—shredding it on the sledding hill on Claflin Field.

“Athletics are so important in helping students to de-stress,” says coach Eric Ridoré. “We planned activities to challenge students and to promote the sense of freedom and joy that comes from being in motion.”

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Sparking

Friendly Competition Understanding how healthy competition motivates students, middle school coaches and lower school PE teachers converted the infamous “beep test” into a tournament that inspired every grade to show its hustle. The beep test, in which athletes have increasingly shorter amounts of time to run a distance, with time being marked by beep sounds, is frequently used by colleges and high schools to measure athletes’ aerobic fitness. At Belmont Day last year, teachers tracked the collective performance of cohorts on a tournament board, giving cohorts the opportunity to compete against each other as teams, even though only one cohort came into the gym at a time.

The activity was a good balance of individual effort and team ethic. “The score on the test is yours, and yours alone,” explains teacher Abbey Nyland. “So, students were working to improve that, and they were being cheered on by their cohort.

The tournament was a nice showcase of what makes athletes great on the field when every individual gives their best effort at the same time that a group comes together as a team.”

tournament was a nice “Theshowcase of what makes

athletes great on the field when every individual gives their best effort at the same time that a group comes together as a team.

”

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B E L M O N T DAY AT H L E T I C S

Mountain Biking Offers New

Thrills

With legs pumping and wheels bumping, middle school students hit the trails in fall and spring in our new mountain biking elective.

Coach Alex Tzelnic describes this as a perfect sport to introduce during a pandemic because bikers are spaced apart, exploring nature—and enjoying a healthy adrenaline rush. “Mountain biking puts you in the moment,” he says. “For the time that you’re doing it, you’re fully immersed in the experience of the bike meeting the terrain.”

The athletics department received some bike donations and purchased others to build a fleet of about 20 bikes, plus helmets and related equipment. Students used trails adjacent to campus. Everyone had the opportunity to build skills and feel successful because students with experience were challenged and those who were new to the sport really got their wheels under them. “With mountain biking, even our most experienced riders are coming out of the woods covered in dust and with a wide-eyed look of amazement at what they just did,” Alex says. “The experience is the draw, and students don’t even realize they are exercising.”

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FAC U LT Y FO C U S

Mission Driven:

Deborah Brissenden Leads by Example What does it take to inspire learners and leaders? To deliver on our mission, Belmont Day relies on faculty who exemplify learning and leading themselves—people who view teaching as a craft—and who continuously engage in new ideas with the goal of educating students. For nearly three decades, Deborah Brissenden has been just such a person at Belmont Day. She began her work here in 1994 as a kindergarten teacher, and then became a division head and an admissions director before taking on her current roles of assistant head of school and director of curriculum and instruction. In all of these roles, Deborah has been an ongoing force for promoting a growth mindset. “My approach is to honor the things that we do incredibly well,” Deborah says, “while also keeping an eye out for opportunities to improve—and then creating systems within which that growth can happen.”

Launching a career

Growing up in Australia, Deborah came from a family of teachers. “I’ve always been surrounded by that commitment and those conversations about possibilities in children’s learning,” she recalls. Deborah appreciated her own education, particularly teachers who made learning feel creative and engaging, and who built strong connections with students. “I didn’t always know that I wanted to be a teacher,” she says. “But as I grew older, I understood more deeply how you could make a difference in a child’s life by creating that space to discover and be curious.”

Deborah graduated from the University of Canberra with a degree in education and art and began teaching students in

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pre-kindergarten through second grade.

The first school where she taught took a progressive, open-plan approach to education, focusing on project-based learning and collaboration in a floorplan that makes use of large, open spaces. In this environment, Deborah found strong mentors and encouragement to develop as a young teacher.

“I’ve always taken the path of finding the community and challenges that would help me grow,” she says.

In 1991, however, Deborah encountered a temporary roadblock when she moved to the United States because of her former husband’s job. At that time in Massachusetts, only US citizens could teach in public schools—a law that has since been changed. Undaunted, Deborah began taking graduate-level classes, which introduced her to educators working in independent schools. Thanks to that professional network, she soon was back in the classroom.

Cultivating a broad outlook Moving into the realm of independent schools was a smooth transition because Deborah found significant overlap between the educational philosophies of these institutions and the public schools where she had taught in Australia.

“Independent schools complement the beliefs I had already built about being a teacher,” she says. “Those ideas are that curriculum should be dynamic, that teachers in schools are professionals who are serious about their day-to-day practice, and that parents are a critical part of the process of education.”

In comparing the United States and Australian educational systems, Deborah

observes that early childhood is honored in a different way here. “Play and discovery are respected for longer in an American child’s education,” she says. “There is also more emphasis here on choice, responsibility, and the child as a partner in learning.” Deborah points out that in many other educational systems around the world, students reach their secondary or college years before presenting in classrooms and undertaking as much individual initiative as students do here. “Particularly in independent schools,” Deborah says, “we encourage students to be comfortable speaking and to be an active part of directing their own learning process.”

Deborah continues to track educational trends and developments around the world, cultivating a deeper understanding of what strategies are available and where various decisions can lead. “I’m a firm believer that we shouldn’t think we are the only people doing a great job or who are struggling with a question,” she says.

“Being open to different ideas and systems allows us to incorporate the best ideas that are happening elsewhere in the world.”

Deborah also reads widely for new perspectives on engaging students and adults. Recent bestsellers that made an impression on her include Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action, by Simon Sinek; Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can’t Stop Talking, by Susan Cain; and Improv Wisdom: Don’t Prepare, Just Show Up, by Patricia Ryan Madson. To process ideas, Deborah is a fan of journaling and sketchnoting, which is a style of notetaking that combines text and simple illustrations.

“When I’m thinking about systems and

how things connect, being able to put that in a visual form is helpful,” she says. “The notes help me to organize information, and there are important benefits from regularly pausing to reflect.”

The Art of Leadership

Deborah’s current role at Belmont Day relies on this ability to balance big-picture thinking with attention to daily details.

Facilitating ongoing curriculum development is a major area of focus, as is organizing daily schedules. Deborah also attends to the strategic priorities of each school year and plays an important role in communicating with parents. During the pandemic, for example, she helped to coordinate the organization-wide effort to keep our campus open for in-person learning.

She also played a key role in maintaining morale and consistency as faculty adjusted to rapidly shifting constraints. “There’s an emotional toll that comes with enforcing new safety measures with such high stakes,” she explains. “It was important to reinforce that we were doing the right things. Providing the support to maintain a system is as important as designing it.”

Despite the challenges of this time, Deborah has been impressed with how

“

My approach is to honor the things that we do incredibly well, while also keeping an eye out for opportunities to improve—and then creating systems within which that growth can happen.

”

the situation both benefited from and reinforced the role of having a growth mindset among Belmont Day faculty. “This situation was so disruptive that we didn’t have a choice in making some changes,” Deborah says. “That brought us to a few positive discoveries that may otherwise have taken a long time to see.” As an example, Deborah points to the faculty’s increased use of virtual space to build relationships with parents.

Outside school, Deborah continues to be artistically inclined and enjoys drawing, painting, sewing, and knitting. She also is an aficionado of walking and forest bathing, which means using all of one’s senses to soak up a woodland’s atmosphere. She is especially proud of her son, James, who graduated from Belmont Day in 2011 before

attending Belmont Hill School for high school, followed by Bates College. James recently got married, and he and his wife moved to San Francisco, where James works in operations for a firm that offers online life coaching and wellness services.

“It’s so wonderful to see their journey starting,” Deborah says.

Back at Belmont Day, Deborah remains uniquely situated to understand how all the dominoes fit together. “An important part of my role,” Deborah says, “is having the ability to listen, to learn from people around me, and to iterate. I’m so fortunate to work with a lot of incredible experts within our school. I’m a person who can help people problem-solve and do their work efficiently and in the best way that they can.”

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2021 Bellwethers Faculty Milestones

Traditionally, a bellwether was a sheep with a bell around its neck that led the rest of the flock. In a more modern context, bellwethers are celebrated as people of influence and insight who are at the forefront of trends.

At Belmont Day, we mark tenure milestones by celebrating the dedication and expertise of our colleagues, each of whom is a bellwether when it comes to making a difference in the lives of our students.

Ten Years

Fifteen Years Blair Fross

For 10 years, Blair Fross has led the Belmont Day auxiliary program—after school, enrichment classes, and vacation week camps—with a clear-eyed dedication to the excellence of the programming offered and the students and families who benefit from it.

Dedicated to Belmont Day School families and those who take advantage of our community programs, Blair ensures that with each decision she considers, and, indeed, any decision issued by the school, that families are at the center. The upshot: a phenomenal array of after-school and enrichment offerings that have helped distinguish the program and further advance the mission to inspire and challenge students.

Blair has advocated thoughtfully for students and her team for 10 years, and Belmont Day is a better place for her efforts.

Blair Fross is a true school leader, and we are ever grateful for her 10 years of service to Belmont Day.

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Sandra Trentowsky

Ask just about any Belmont Day alum how their high school years are going, and they will lead with this: “I’m crushing science. Ms. Trentowsky prepared me so well.”

Dig deeper, and you will discover the source of their confidence, pride, and enthusiasm: It is the relationship that Sandra forged with each of them, with student-centered care, passion for the subject matter, and a belief that every child is a scientist at heart.

A beloved teacher and advisor, Sandra has, throughout her 15 years at Belmont Day, served the school in myriad capacities: as science department chair, a grade-level coordinator, a collaborator with the arts faculty for the school’s first art installation in the Barn, and as one of the rock-steady voices of the middle school throughout its earliest years.

Sandra’s commitment to the sciences, hands-on education, and the precision required for a worthy lab report is matched only by her respect and admiration for her students.

Congratulations, Sandra, on 15 years of service to Belmont Day.

FAC U LT Y FO C U S

Twenty Years Lino Medeiros

Lino Medeiros arrived at Belmont Day under heartrending circumstances. He joined the buildings and grounds team to assist the school when Director of Buildings and Grounds Lenny Corso’s health began to fail.

Lino dove right in and started what he continues to do now— commit himself every day to making Belmont Day a more beautiful place. For 20 years, Lino has arrived each day with a smile on his face and has set to work maintaining our buildings and campus for students and families alike.

A proud man deeply devoted to his own family and his roots in the Azores in Portugal, Lino is an important member of our school family, kindly welcoming and caring for each of us and always seeking ways to make Belmont Day a better place.

Lino, for your 20 years of service, we are ever grateful.

Susan Dempsey

Deeply devoted to her students and her craft, Susan Dempsey knows what it means to sing the song in her heart. After twenty years of directing plays, musicals, and choral ensembles, Susan leads by example with a passion and conviction matched only by her beautiful singing voice and fearless willingness to perform.

A scholar of her craft, Susan has used each of her 20 years to challenge herself, study, nurture her talent, and tease out the best in students. To witness the power of her

impact, one must look only at the long line of Belmont Day graduates who have gone on to act and sing in high school, college, and beyond.

Poet and philosopher Kahlil Gibran once noted that “Music is the language of the spirit. It opens the secret of life bringing peace, abolishing strife.” If music is the language of the spirit, then Susan is the teacher who has given voice to that language for more than 20 years, bringing peace and abolishing strife for countless students along the way.

Twenty-five Years Heather Smith

For 25 years, at the start of the early childhood hallway and the very heart of our school, Heather Smith has brought calm, steady care, kindness, and love to her work at Belmont Day. Heather has served as the reading specialist for kindergarten, first grade, and second grade students—greeting them with a welcoming smile and a gracious heart and guiding them with steadfast patience and determination. Students come to cherish their time with Heather, as she deftly and carefully provides them with the necessary skills to embrace or discover the reader within—a reader that Heather knows is simply waiting to be discovered.

Faculty see Heather as a true expert in her field and turn to her regularly as a resource to help access a particular learner or to guide them in their literacy instruction. Parents trust and respect her guidance, experience, and expertise and see her work as a wondrous mix of scholar and magician. Heather can synthesize and utilize data and compassionately challenge and inspire a child even as she unlocks the mystery of their learning profile with apparent ease.

For 25 years, our school has been fortunate to have the wisdom, care, and kindness of Heather at the start of each student’s journey.

Congratulations, and thank you, Heather, for 25 wonderful years.

ILLUSTRATION ©SHUTTERSTOCK.COM/BABICH ALEXANDER

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PA R E N T P E R S P E C T I V E

Creativity and Continuity Keep Community Strong

Parents raise $15,000 to show appreciation During the many challenges of the pandemic, Belmont Day’s Parents’ Association (PA) has stayed as active as ever. Parents have been particularly thrilled to return to campus this fall to socialize at outdoor events such as grade socials and autumn walks. “Belmont Day has always had a strong emphasis on community,” says PA President Kelly Baker P ’25 ’28. “As the PA, our goal is to keep the culture of Belmont Day vibrant through this, for our students, for each other, and to support the faculty and staff.”

The annual pumpkin sale was one of the first schoolwide events where parents could connect in person since the pandemic began. “It was so nice for people to be able to get out of their cars and talk to each other without their masks,” says PA Secretary Michele Walters P ’27 ’28. With the latest COVID safety guidelines indicating that socializing outside is relatively low-risk, the parent community also enjoyed the Halloween parade around Claflin Field and the Friday Night Lights soccer competitions, both of which were canceled last year. “Of course, everyone craves getting back to what we had in 2019,” Michele says. “But the differences between what we are able to do this year, compared to last year, is so refreshing.”

Prior to the 2020–21 school year, students had been off campus for 187 days—including time they were in remote learning and during summer months— before school resumed. Returning to campus involved both excitement and anxiety for students, and parents truly

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appreciated how quickly the school helped students regain their routine and then thrive throughout the year. “Our students always felt safe,” Kelly says. “They were so comforted by their teachers. The kids responded to the fact that the staff was so confident. As a parent, I responded to that too.” Parents particularly appreciated the commitment and adaptability that faculty demonstrated in reopening campus.

“Whether school was on-site, or remote, my boys know that their teachers care and that they can rely on them,” Michele says.

“That is something that has always been apparent to us throughout our experience at Belmont Day.” Flexibility and dedication were also key last year to connecting parents with each other and the school, says Elise Bayard Franklin P ’24 ’28, who was PA president during the 2020–21 school year. “Keeping the community involved required a lot of reimagining to translate favorite school traditions to fit new circumstances,” she explains. The fall pumpkin sale and December book fair were converted to digital events. The parent book club continued to be popular in a virtual forum, and grade parents got creative about hosting online parent socials—meeting online to play icebreaker games such as Two Truths and a Lie, compete in trivia contests, and organize virtual beer tastings from local breweries. In the spring, the Cradles to Crayons clothing drive was streamlined to occur on one day, with the theme “Jam a Van.” Also in the spring the PA Friendraiser Committee organized in-person woodland walks.

As a result, parents enjoyed opportunities throughout the year to connect with old friends and also make new ones.

“What I love about our community is how welcoming it is,” says Alex Min P ’27, PA treasurer for 2020–21. “You could tell during the online meetings that returning families were making a special effort to get to know new families.”

PA meetings also moved to Zoom and were recorded so that they could be viewed later by those who couldn’t attend.

Overall, parent participation has continued to be strong. “We’ve found that moving PA meetings online has brought us some new faces of people who had interest but less flexibility,” Elise says. “The PA will be taking that into consideration going forward because the more people we can reach the better.”

Strong parent engagement was also reflected in the PA’s initiative to show appreciation to faculty and staff for reopening campus and supporting Belmont Day students. Recognizing the importance of self-care during stressful times, last fall the PA offered every faculty and staff a $100 gift card, chosen from a list of businesses with books, tea, and other products and services that might promote relaxation. “Within a fortnight of the announcement going out, we raised over $15,000,” Alex says. “The number of people who responded and the amount raised so quickly just shows how much parents love the school, especially our faculty and staff!”

Day has always had a strong “Belmont emphasis on community. As the PA, our goal is to keep the culture of Belmont Day vibrant through this, for our students, for each other, and to support the faculty and staff.

”

New Format

makes auction an event not to be missed On three sunny Saturdays last spring, Belmont Day families could be found throughout the Boston metro area solving riddles and completing “missions.” They waved hello to the seals living outside the New England Aquarium, they skipped across the cobblestones of Beacon Hill’s historic Acorn Street, and they ate cannolis in the North End. They explored Boston Public Garden, photographed swans at Whipple Hill, and sang “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” (complete with rowing motions) at Crystal Lake in Newton. From Burlington to Norwood, from Framingham to East Boston, families visited landmarks in the 30 different towns from which Belmont Day families hail. Some hearty souls even took a Boston cream pie to the face as part of their adventures!

Everywhere they went, and whatever they did, families had fun on the scavenger hunts, which were organized by Carolyn Atinizian P ’27 ’31, Crissy Straub P ’20 ’24 ’28, and Maribel Sandoski P ’20 ’23. At the beginning of 2020, these parents, along with the development team, were on deck to organize our next biennial auction, a festive event that traditionally draws more than 300 attendees. Then the pandemic began.

Knowing how much our community enjoys coming together, the team decided to go forward … somehow. “For a while, it was hard to get into the mental space of thinking about a celebration,” Maribel

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recalls. “And we knew that we would have to plan for something completely different in terms of logistics.” Then the team hit on a strategy that could unite the community while respecting safety protocols. The BDS Quest and Fest offered three scavenger hunts culminating in a virtual event that included a community-wide celebration and auction.

The quests were organized around three themes: Boston and Beyond, Nature, and Belmont Day. Each theme contained more than 100 missions—mostly written in riddles—that offered the opportunity to explore new spaces and revisit old favorites. For those who were staying close to home, some missions consisted of trivia or challenges that could be fulfilled almost anywhere. Even though our traditional auctions have been adult-oriented events, the quests were intentionally designed to appeal to all ages. “The circumstances required us to think outside the box,” Crissy says. “What seemed like a wild idea in the beginning came to fruition and definitely accomplished our goal of engaging the whole community.”

More than 130 teams participated, sharing their activities by text, photo, and video through an app called GooseChase.

Scavenger hunt details were released first thing in the morning on designated quest days, and teams had 8–12 hours to earn points for each mission they completed.

PA R E N T P E R S P E C T I V E

1998

Teams could choose to pursue just one or all of the quests. Because participants wore BDS Quest and Fest t-shirts, teams often spotted each other about town and could earn points by posting a well-distanced photo. Such chance encounters were an exciting opportunity to see familiar faces and make new friends, particularly for families who had just joined Belmont Day. “The quests brought people together in ways we hadn’t even imagined,” Crissy says. “When teams spotted each other in downtown Boston, or in the middle of the woods, it made our community feel within reach.”

Winners of the quests, based on points accumulated, were announced at the Fest, which was hosted virtually in late May. The Fest included a weekend-long silent auction for school-based experiences or themed baskets. Parent captains within each class organized the baskets, which demonstrated a lot of thoughtfulness and creativity. Sample baskets included a Taste of Belmont theme, with gift cards purchased to support local businesses and a School Spirit theme that included beach chairs, a fleece blanket, and even a utility wagon that sported Belmont Day branding. The evening also featured a live, paddle-up fundraiser to help defray the expenses related to reopening the Belmont Day campus during COVID-19, including the cost of winter and spring pool testing for all students and faculty. In total, the event raised $170,000. “In a challenging year, we were

thrilled to raise such a wonderful amount,” Carolyn says. “That was icing on the cake, because our foremost goal throughout this process was to bring people together.”

The funds raised were a testament to the strength of the Belmont Day community, and the appreciation families felt particularly during a challenging year.

“The teachers here are incredible in their positivity and their devotion to students,” Maribel says. “They’ve even helped me be a better parent because they know my children, and we can work together in areas where they need support.”

The community also showed its appreciation for the event through many emails of thanks to the co-chairs. In passing on their compliments, parents mentioned how much they learned about our school and about the Boston area—and some said that the BDS Quest and Fest was the most pure family fun they had had since the pandemic began. The enjoyment that the co-chairs felt in planning had clearly translated to the event itself. “We didn’t anticipate how much joy planning this event would bring into our lives,” Carolyn says. “Then, it was very fulfilling to see our families and community embrace the event and find so many moments of joy and connection themselves.”

To complete the circle of appreciation, Belmont Day is grateful for the dedication of these parent volunteers and the whole community for its enthusiastic participation.

didn’t anticipate how much joy planning “thisWeevent would bring into our lives. Then, it was very fulfilling to see our families and community embrace the event and find so many moments of joy and connection themselves. —Carolyn Atinizian P ’27 ’31

”

A LU M N I I N AC T I O N Spotlight on Making a Difference

Pursuing Computer Science for

Community Impact

54 | 2021–22

alphabet. “Computer science is cool and has an inherent beauty,” Zeke says, “but I’m most interested in applications that use it to help people. Helping people is the goal, and computer science is the medium.”

From Belmont Day, Zeke attended Milton Academy, where he received multiple honors at graduation last June.

He earned the Head of School Award, which celebrates graduating seniors who have demonstrated a spirit of self-sacrifice, community concern, leadership, integrity, fairness, kindliness, and respect for others; the Louis Andrews Memorial Scholarship Award, which honors a student who has best fulfilled their potential in the areas of intelligence, self-discipline, physical ability, concern for others and integrity; the Science Prize; and the Donald Cameron Duncan Prize for Mathematics.

At Harvey Mudd, Zeke is considering majoring in computer science and physics. He also enjoys playing tennis and basketball, hanging out with friends, and pursuing the classic college student pastime—trying to get enough sleep.

Reflecting back on his experience at Belmont Day, Zeke appreciates how the school’s six core values outline a solid foundation, and he can still recite them from memory: excellence, respect, honesty, responsibility, caring, and joy.

“The best thing that Belmont Day does is shape students’ character,” Zeke says.

“They teach that who you are as a person and your impact on other people is the most important thing about you. I appreciate those core values even more as I get older. They set me up well for anything I could do or be in the future.”

PHONE ©SHUTTERSTOCK.COM/ZINETRON

Applying computer science to social justice, Ezekiel (Zeke) Yarboi ’17, currently a freshman at Harvey Mudd College in California, has created the app Muvment, which offers a vision for collecting and aggregating data about police interactions nationwide. Zeke began working on the app as a high school junior in the wake of George Floyd’s death. “Computer science is a passion of mine and I thought maybe I could use that to evoke change,” he says.

Noticing how some wayfinding apps map user input about traffic obstacles, Zeke imagined an app that allows users to create a citizen-reported database about police interactions. After an encounter with law enforcement, app users can complete a 13-question survey about the location and nature of the contact. Muvment inquires what prompted the interaction, whether any force was used, and if so, then the extent of that force. The questions are multiple choice or scaled ratings for easy coding, and responses are stored anonymously. Users can view all recorded interactions on a map.

Zeke has recently launched an iOS version of Muvment on the The App Store and has plans for more versions and further development depending on feedback from future users. “After working on this for so long, I’m excited about how the project came together,” Zeke says. “The next step is to put the idea out there and see how people respond.”

Zeke’s love of computer programming started at Belmont Day, where he learned Scratch and Java in Kurt Robinson’s classes. Zeke fondly recalls collaborating with a friend to design an American Sign Language translator that used motion sensors to recognize a few letters from the

A LU M N I I N AC T I O N

Inspiring the

Next Generation Julia Kostro ’12 has wonderful memories of her middle school experience at Belmont Day, and now she’s passing that experience along to the next generation by teaching science to eighth graders at KIPP Academy, a public charter school in Lynn, Massachusetts. “I love working with middle school students,” Julia says. “They have deep, complex thoughts, and once you break through their outer shell, the connections you form are so powerful.”

Julia always knew she wanted to work with children. She first began doing so as a counselor at Belmont Day Camp, where she continued to work in the summers throughout high school at Concord Academy and her years at Colby College.

In college, Julia led outdoor orientation trips for first-year students and served as student head of the Best Buddies chapter that connected college students with mentally challenged persons for social activities. Julia also worked in Colby’s Office of Civic Engagement, coordinating campus-wide volunteer events.

During her senior year, Julia accepted a position with Teach for America, which places new teachers in low-income schools.

Through this program, Julia builds classroom experience, receives professional mentoring, and takes online classes in the evenings and summers. At the end of her two-year contract, she will be fully certified with her teaching license in Massachusetts and also have a master’s degree in

education. “I’ve got long days,” she says, “but I really do love it.”

Having finalized her postgraduation plans in the fall of 2019, before COVID struck, being a first-year teacher last year was a very different experience than Julia had imagined. She taught remotely last year and is now teaching in person, which makes it easier to conduct the hands-on lessons she prefers. “I’m trying to focus on process more than on sheer information,” Julia says. “My goal is for students to come out of this year liking—maybe even loving— science and having confidence that they can do it as they go on to high school.”

Julia recalls her Belmont Day teachers, particularly Sandra Trentowsky, taking a similar approach. “Obviously we covered content,” she says. “Even more important, though, I remember Belmont Day teachers emphasizing forming good habits. So, when I got to high school, I knew how to write a five-paragraph essay or a lab report, and I had a great organizational system.”

A big difference between Julia’s experience as a student and as a teacher is the size of the classes. Being at Belmont Day from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade, Julia recalls being in classes with about 16 students and sometimes multiple teachers. In her current job, Julia teaches four sections with 30 students in each.

What remains consistent between the schools, however, is the students’ enthusiasm to learn. “I see so many similarities

“

Even more important, though, I remember Belmont Day teachers emphasizing forming good habits.

So, when I got to high school, I knew how to write a five-paragraph essay or a lab report, and I had a great organizational system. —Julia Kostro ’12

”

between my students and myself as a middle schooler,” Julia says. “The kids have so much energy. They have lots of interests and ask very good questions.”

Despite the numbers, Julia works intentionally to build strong relationships with her students. “It can be challenging with so many students,” she says. “But I got into teaching to form meaningful connections, which I felt like I had in my own school experience.”

With that in mind, Julia stepped forward to become an assistant crosscountry coach as a way to get to know students outside the classroom. Only recently had she taken up running herself during the COVID era, and she is now introducing students to the sport. “We’ve formed a strong community, and seeing the eighth graders cheer on the fifth graders is very heartwarming.” Her favorite part of the season is seeing students improve and recognize how their own hard work improved their running times from the beginning to the end of the season. “It has been a blast,” Julia says. “I love seeing the kids grow so much.”

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New Business Model

Reduces Plastic Use

Imagine how much plastic could be removed from the waste stream if purchasing shampoo in refillable bottles was as easy as stopping by the corner store. Welcome to the brainchild of Petros Palandjian ’09, founder of the Boston-area company Good Filling, which provides home delivery and neighborhood-based trading posts for household necessities such as dish soap, hand soap, shampoo, laundry detergent, and multisurface spray cleaner. “Convenience is the reason that single-use plastic originally won in the marketplace,” Petros says. “My goal is to marry sustainability with accessibility. To be effective, sustainable options must be available to everyone.”

Good Filling distributes such name brands as Seventh Generation, Puracy, and Oneka in bottles that are later returned to be refilled, much like the system that was once common with glass milk bottles. The savings that comes from purchasing in bulk allows Good Filling to sell these products for a discount—while still covering the costs to collect and sanitize bottles for reuse.

The company currently delivers anywhere within the Route 128 corridor within a day, including to homes and partner locations where customers exchange empty bottles for filled ones. “Having one central location of inventory and then distributing through a network is very cost effective, compared to having separate retail locations in different towns,” Petros explains.

Since operations launched in early 2021, Good Filling has already grown its headquarters from 500 to 1500 sq. ft. and has expanded its trading posts from

56 | 2021–22

three to 22 locations, including an apartment complex in Belmont. The company was recently awarded a $5,000 grant from the Massachusetts Department of Environment and is planning to reach 50 locations within the state over the next two years. Good Filling is now adding self-serve stations that let customers refill their own bottles, further streamlining the process. “Wouldn’t it be great if residents of high-rise apartment buildings could go downstairs and not only grab a cup of coffee in their lobby, but also could grab the spray cleaner they need?” Petros says.

Before launching his own business, Petros worked at Audax Group, a Bostonbased private equity fund where he helped entrepreneurs scale their businesses and focus on areas of growth. Petros believes that the Good Filling model is scalable and replicable in cities nationwide and could have an impact on a grand scale. “Everyone needs soap, so that’s 300 million people nationwide who use these types of products,” Petros says. “There is tremendous opportunity for disruption by taking the plastic being used for these purposes and give it more life by preventing it from entering into waste streams.”

Petros sees a lot of potential for new business models to change how people use the world’s resources, and he is a member of the Sustainable Business Network of Massachusetts and other coalitions

working to build more green and fair economies. “There are opportunities in every industry and I’ve seen entrepreneurs have a lot of success in this space,” he says.

Petros attended Belmont Day for pre-kindergarten and kindergarten before transferring to The Fessenden School because his father and uncles had a family tradition of attending that nearby boys’ school. Petros has three sisters and several cousins who graduated from Belmont Day, so he attended many school events during his elementary school years and still keeps in touch with several longtime friends from his class. Among his favorite memories of Belmont Day is having music class with teacher Frank Toppa. “He was the friendliest person I had ever met,” Petros recalls. “He always was so positive, and I loved his rubber duck collection.”

After Fessenden, Petros attended Belmont Hill School, where he graduated in 2013. He then attended Duke University, where he majored in economics and computer science. Along the way, Petros took as many classes as he could in environmental sciences.

“Figuring out how to live sustainably is the issue for my generation,” he says.

“I always knew I wanted to make some impact in this arena. I just didn’t know that it would be by starting a business.

Life takes you in a lot of directions, and it’s been a great journey so far.”

A LU M N I I N AC T I O N

Alumni Counselors

Mentor Summer Campers After a break in the camp action in 2020, we were thrilled to welcome campers back to Belmont Day in 2021. The energetic, positive, and talented alumni who returned as members of our camp staff made summer 2021 even more special. They become an essential part of the team that creates a fun and supportive environment for the children who spend their summer days at BDS. (Left) Sami Awad’ 18 and Natalie Murphy ’17 (Below) Front row, from left to right: Elisabeth Pitts ’16, Sophie Rothman ’13, Alice Morton ’19, and Jiao Jiao Scott ’16.

Back row, from left to right: Colton Largay ’19, Alex Tobias ’18, Amani Gottlieb ’15; A’Nye Everett ’16, Ben Clossey ’15, Ronan Mullan ’19, and Stella Balter ’19.

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class

notes

As we continue to expand the class notes section of this magazine, we are looking for class representatives to help oversee the collection of news and updates from former classmates and friends. If you are interested in serving as a class representative, please contact Director of Development Pati Fernández at pfernandez@belmontday.org.

1970s

1990s

ANGELA DEVECCHI ’75 was an integral member of the BDS fourth grade faculty team during the past school year. She has returned as an interim fourth grade teacher for the 2021–22 school year. When not at Belmont Day, Angela tries to keep her hands in clay whenever she has a spare moment! See photo below of creamers she made in her home studio during COVID.

NICKI HUNTER SCHWAB ’99 and Michael Schwab welcomed their first child, Peter Hunter Schwab on December 12, 2020. They’re currently living in Hoboken, New Jersey. Nicki is the artistic producer at Manhattan Theatre Club and is thrilled that their Broadway theater reopened in September.

2000s QUINN FITZGERALD ’01 is co-founder of Flare, a womenowned company that makes bluetooth-enabled safety jewelry. Flare was named the best invention of 2020 by TIME. Belmont Day middle school students were inspired by Quinn’s entrepreneurship when she returned to campus as our 2017 Alumni in Action Speaker.

ANGELA DEVECCHI ’75

58 | 2021–22

AMY MCDERMOTT ’05 married Dennis Lazar on July 31, 2021 in Maui.

BRIGITTE LAUKIEN KOFOS ’06 writes “There is nothing sweeter than this little apple with honey.

We couldn’t imagine a better way to enter the New Year than by welcoming our Rosh Hashanah baby Levi.”

KATY VOLLUM ’08 began a residency in obstetrics and gynecology at ChristianaCare, a community and teaching hospital in Delaware. In Katy’s first 20 days in labor and delivery she helped to bring 37 new lives into the world!

BEN CEREL ’09 is one step closer to his dream of becoming a physician. He recently celebrated his White Coat Ceremony surrounded by family at the University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine in Maine. Ben was inspired to pursue medicine after his own experiences with an acute illness when he was 18 years old. He was awestruck by the dedication of the doctors, nurses, and residents who helped him recover and regain his strength.

He hopes to emulate their lifelong commitment to serving others in need.

AMY MCDERMOTT ’05 and Dennis Lazar

BEN CEREL ’09 with his parents Amy and Adam and brother ANDREW ’13

C L ASS N OT E S

ZOE SARASON ’09 is a nursing student at Simmons College.

On January 20, 2021, Zoe shared: “I’ve been working at Gillette [Stadium] administering vaccines this week and the positive energy is out of this world.

Everyone is so hopeful and appreciative. The inauguration of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris played on the three 20-foot TVs today, and so many people cried thinking of the positive changes that are ahead. I’m feeling proud, fortunate, and so excited for the future!”

SARAH MCCLUSKEY ’14 is a student at NYU studying acting and production. She is the vocalist on “Resilience”

by Renewed Restored Reclaimed (RRR), a music and video production entity led by Scott J. Gagnon, Creative Force.

RRR’s mission is to bring inspirational, hopeful, and positive works to everyone.

ZOE SARASON ’09

HARPER MILLS ’12

CATHERINE DICARA ’12

SOPHIE SMYKE ’13, ANGELA DEVECCHI ’75, AND ETHAN SMYKE ’17

2010s CATHERINE DICARA ’12 received the Lesley University’s Graduate School of Education June T. Fox Scholarship Award in April 2021. A member of the 2020–21 Belmont Day associate teacher cohort, Cat was selected from a competitive pool of graduate colleagues. The June Fox committee recognizes only one student for that individual’s outstanding work with children, academic scholarship, effective collaboration with peers and colleagues, and their potential for leadership in education. This marks the third year in a row that a participant in the Belmont Day Associate Teacher Program has received this award.

Third grade teacher Larissa Rochford ’93 P ’18 who is herself an alumna of the program, served as Cat’s mentor teacher.

And even more remarkably, Larissa was one of Cat’s teachers when she was a student at BDS! In her nomination letter to the June Fox committee about what Cat brings to the classroom, Larissa wrote, “Cat encompasses all aspects of a thoughtful, qualified, and energized teacher who leads with empathy, enthusiasm, and respect for her students and colleagues. As my mentee, Cat has taken on all of her work, along with challenges that have come her way, with poise, confidence, and perseverance. It is

clear that she has the skill set, flexibility, calm demeanor, and passion for the profession to succeed and continue to grow in the field.”

Cat is now a second grade teacher at Bowen Elementary School in Newton.

HARPER MILLS ’12 is a regional organizing director for the Michelle Wu campaign for mayor of the city of Boston. She was a speaker at a recent Get Out The Vote Rally for Michelle along with elected endorsers and Senator Elizabeth Warren.

On November 2, 2021, Michelle became the first woman and the first person of color to be elected mayor of Boston.

EMMA WEISS ’12 is working as a paralegal in the Philadelphia district attorney’s office.

SUSANNA MONROE ’13 was the music director of The Vassar Devils, a coed a cappella group at Vassar College during the 2020–21 school year, known for its tight harmonies, polished sound, and complex arrangements. The Devils released “Words Unsaid,” their first studio album in 2021. Be sure to check it out!

SOPHIE ROTHMAN ’13 graduated from Skidmore College in May 2021 with a bachelor’s degree in education studies.

As an undergraduate student, Sophie’s main involvements included being the president of Skidmore’s Big Brothers Big Sisters Club and a head guide in the admissions office.

Belmont Day was delighted to have Sophie back on campus for another summer working at our summer program. In fall 2021, she joined the Belmont Day after school teaching team.

ALICIA SIEKMAN ’13 graduated from Connecticut College with a double major in government and psychology in May 2021. She recently joined Crayon Marketing Intelligence Company as a competitive insights analyst.

We are pleased to welcome Alicia back to BDS this fall to support alumni relations.

SOPHIE SMYKE ’13 graduated from Barnard College in 2021 and has headed back to NYC to work in early-childhood development research at Barnard.

After graduating from Buckingham Browne & Nichols School in May 2020 SARA BAUMAN ’16 took a gap year filled with adventure and hard work—she worked at Morning Glory Farm in Edgartown, Massachusetts, as a field hand; at a permaculture tropical fruit farm in the jungle in Puerto Rico; and at a dog sled mushing ranch in Glacier National Park, Montana.

During that time she also participated in a Marine ecology program at Forfar International Field Station on Andros Island where she received an advanced PADI open-water certification and worked at a sustainable vegan hotel in the USVI and earned a rescue and first aid diver certification.

RAY BAUMAN ’16 is a 2020 graduate of Cambridge School of Weston and is in his second year at the University of Vermont as an education major. He loves being in Burlington and is working at a restaurant on UVM’s campus. He made some great connections despite the COVID-19 restrictions of freshman year.

NICK DE VALPINE ’16 graduated from Lawrence Academy in May 2020 and was one of two senior class speakers at the graduation ceremony. He was awarded The David Thomas Kinsley Prize for Public Speaking.

Currently, he is a sophomore at George Washington University, studying at the Elliott School of International Affairs. He is also studying Japanese and took a two-week online course at Kyoto University.

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GRACE KOLIS ’16 is in a dual program at Endicott College where she will earn a master’s degree in athletic training and a bachelor of science degree in exercise science. She was named to the dean’s list in the fall of 2020 and spring of 2021. Grace is the photographer for the athletics department at Endicott, and she is a women’s wellness bodybuilder currently preparing for her first competition in the summer of 2022.

MARGO DANAHY ’17 is a member of the Belmont High School Class of 2021. During her senior year, she was a member of the four-person BHS team that won the Season 12 State Championship on WGBH’s High School Quiz Show. Margo is currently a freshman at Bates College.

GABE MCCREATH ’17 was selected by the Massachusetts Poetry Festival as the under-18 poet to open their final Headline Reading in May 2021 that featured professional poets Jos Charles and Martin Espada. Gabe was also the valedictorian at Chapel Hill-Chauncey Hall School in June 2021, receiving a certificate of distinction in poetry.

Gabe is currently a freshman at College of Wooster.

JAMIE MCCREATH ’17 is a freshman at Kenyon College.

ETHAN SMYKE ’17 graduated from Beaver Country Day School in 2021 and is now a freshman at Iowa State University. (See photo on page 59.)

EZEKIEL YARBOI ’17 graduated from Milton Academy in June 2021. At the school’s Prize Assembly, he was recognized with several awards: the Head of School Award celebrates graduating seniors who have demonstrated a spirit of selfsacrifice, community concern, leadership, integrity, fairness, kindliness, and respect for others; the Louis Andrews Memorial Scholarship Award honors a student who has best fulfilled their potential in the areas of intelligence, self-discipline, physical ability, concern for

60 | 2021–22

others and integrity; the Science Prize is awarded to students who have demonstrated genuine curiosity, enthusiasm, as well as remarkable scientific growth in physics, chemistry and/or biology; and the Donald Cameron Duncan Prize for Mathematics, awarded to seniors who have achieved excellence in the study of mathematics. Zeke is currently a freshman at Harvey Mudd College in Claremont, California.

NAOMI STEPHENSON ’18 was a facilitator at the Global Leadership Conference sponsored by the United Nations Association of Greater Boston in October 2020.

BREE LEGRAND ’21, ELLORA ROY ’21, NEBIYOU ELIAS ’23, and SAHANA MIDUTURU ’23 attended the conference.

2020s ELIZABETH AMARATUNGA ’20, a sophomore at Belmont High School, writes, “I’m playing field hockey right now, and I’ll be doing basketball and lacrosse in the winter and spring, respectively. Fortunately, I’ve been able to play each sport with minimal modifications, so I’ve had a relatively normal experience in terms of sports. I’m taking four honors classes (English 10, Algebra II, Chemistry, and Spanish 4) and two AP classes (Physics and US History) this year, and I’m still playing the cello, though not through school. I can take only one elective as a sophomore due to graduation requirements, so I can’t play in the school orchestra because I’m taking AP Physics.

Last year, I took Photography I as an elective and enjoyed it.”

MILES SANDOSKI ’20

Carrying on his commitment to service in high school, DAVIN ROY ’20 was a co-leader of Belmont Hill School’s drive for art and school supplies for Cradles to Crayons this past January. Davin was a recipient of the Edward M. Burt ’74 Community Service Award, which is given to students who exemplify a commitment to service. Davin also has a passion for Spanish and he earned a Level 2 Gold Medal in the 2021 National Spanish Exam.

MILES SANDOSKI ’20 competed at the NSAF Outdoor Track National meet, held in Eugene, Oregon with his Belmont Hill School team members. After qualifying for the freshman mile race, he joined a group of the top Class of 2024 milers in the country in a tightly packed race.

With a finishing time of 4:39, he was thrilled to compete with his peers at the national level at the prestigious Hayward Field, site of the Olympic Trials a week prior.

Miles has ambitious goals for the 2021–22 cross country and track seasons at Belmont Hill.

Anne Armstrong, visual arts teacher, arts coordinator, and cross-country coach is dedicated to supporting her runners, even after they graduate. Anne was on hand to cheer on DAVIN ROY ’20 (Belmont Hill School), MILES SANDOSKI ’20 (Belmont Hill School), HENRY BUCKLEYJONES ’21 (Rivers School), and ALEX TOBIAS ’18 (Brooks School) at a recent meet at The Governor’s Academy. It is great to see these former BDS athletes blazing a trail as leaders on their high school teams.

ASSOCIATE TEACHER ALUMNI In January 2021 the Associate

Teacher Program held its first online alumni job panel and welcomed back these members of the associate classes of 2019 and 2020 as panelists: • ERIN PAK ATP ’20 teaches fourth grade at the Maria Hastings School in Lexington.

• EMILY DAVIS ATP ’19 teaches second grade at Milton Academy.

• SOPHIE JOHNSON ATP ’19 teaches fifth and sixth grades at Alexandria Country Day School.

• TATIANA COCHIS ATP ’20 teaches kindergarten at the Willard School in Concord.

They offered up their wisdom and advice about resumes, interviews, and demo lessons for members of Belmont Day’s 2021 cohort of associate teachers who were about to embark on their own job searches. Thank you to Sophie, Emily, Tatiana, and Erin for supporting the Associate Teacher Program.

FORMER FACULTY & STAFF SUZANNE CARUSO | Former Belmont Day middle school social studies teacher Suzanne Caruso and her fiancé welcomed baby Jeremiah, in June 2021.

Suzanne continues her work with

Coach Anne Armstrong at with DAVIN ROY ’20, MILES SANDOSKI ’20, HENRY BUCKLEY-JONES ’21 and ALEX TOBIAS ’18 representing their high schools at a track meet at The Governor’s Academy.

C L ASS N OT E S

the school as a DEI facilitator of the anti-racist allyship group for White-identified parents.

KATHY GRUZYNSKI | After two years teaching STEAM and mathematics at St. Johnsbury Academy in Jeju, South Korea, Kathy Gruzynski, former Belmont Day math specialist stepped into the role of dean of students. St. Johnsbury Academy was founded just four years ago and has been growing its enrollment each year. The position is newly created and Kathy writes that she “is excited about the opportunity to oversee all aspects of student life—academic, advisory, attendance, and discipline—and run some programming for

students as well.” Kathy looks forward to the 2022–23 school year when she will take on the responsibilities of high school assistant principal.

MEG LLOYD | Former faculty member Meg Lloyd has been named dean of students at Cardigan Mountain School. Meg also teaches English/Humanities at Cardigan. This summer, she pursued studies at Teachers College at Columbia University on practical ways to enhance learning and cultivate equity and inclusion in her teaching.

Former middle school Spanish teacher WILLIAM YEPES AMAYA, now world language department chair and middle

school Spanish teacher at Shady Hill School, earned a master’s degree in educational administration from the University of Massachusetts Boston. William was selected by program faculty to receive the Melissa Quan Higher Education Social Justice Book Award. Immediately upon completion of the master’s program, William embarked on a doctoral degree program in urban education, leadership, and policy studies, also at UMass Boston. “It is very intense, but stimulating, eye-opening and challenging at the same time,” he reports about the program.

PLEASE EMAIL US . . . . . . so we can return the favor and keep you up-todate on all things BDS. Share your news—your classmates will be glad you did!

Reach out to the alumni relations team at development@belmontday.org

FOLLOW US! @bdsalumniandfriends

@bdsalumni

IN MEMORIAM Alumni ANDREW (DREW) KEEGAN ’06 passed away in August 2020.

Drew was appreciated for his strength and accomplishments as a student and contributions to a class that thrived when working together to reach community and team goals. We knew Drew for his kind spirit and gentle manner with younger students as he was an excellent partner to his pre-k buddy.

Drew and his family joined the Belmont Day community in 2004 when he had the distinction of being the first of his three siblings—Chris ’10, Colin ’14, and Aliza ’16—to be part of the Belmont Day middle school. Although he was with us for only two years, Drew made his mark as an athlete, participating in lacrosse, the running club, and soccer. Drew returned to BDS as a camp counselor in the summer of 2008.

A graduate of Concord Academy and College of the Holy Cross, at the time of his death, Drew was working as an information systems manager at Red Beard Restaurants in Atlanta.

His loving family established a fund to give all those who knew Drew a meaningful way to honor his life in the weeks, months, and years ahead. His parents Kevin and Deborah, will support evidence-based, nonprofit programs that help emerging adults build emotional resilience and mental health and well-being skills through this fund. Financial contributions of any amount are welcome. (charitysmith.org/memorial-funds/ drew-keegan-compassion-fund) We hope that the joyful memories of Drew in life provide a measure of comfort to his BDS classmates and their families.

Grandparents Three members of the extended Belmont Day community—AMORY HOUGHTON JR., JOSEPH LEO BOLSTER JR., and RUTH WEST HOUGHTON—passed away in 2020. The school has fond memories of hosting these grandparents of Kate Bolster-Houghton ’07 and Michael Mac Bolster-Houghton ’10 at grandparents’ and special friends’ visiting day events during the years.

Parent of Alumni TAMMY THIBAULT P ’17 ’19 passed away on February 3, 2021. Tammy’s devotion to her family— sons, Ethan Skenderian ’17 and Dylan Skenderian ’19, and her husband, Robert Skenderian—and to the importance of education were remarkable and had a profound and lasting impact on our school, its students, faculty, staff, parents, and alumni.

Tammy joyfully took on responsibilities to contribute to her sons’ learning environment at Belmont Day. She was a passionate advocate for reading and access to books. She volunteered countless hours in the Erskine Library, rolling up her sleeves to dust, clean, shelve books, and train other parent volunteers. For more than a decade, Tammy served as co-chair of the Erskine Library Committee. In that role, she forged relationships between BDS and the Dever and McCormack schools in Boston to donate furniture and technology to those schools’ libraries.

Tammy was also focused on the environment and served on our school’s greening committee—advocating for and promoting our no-idling campaign and composting programs and volunteering in the BDS garden. She was a constant keeper of recyclables and many classes benefited during the years from her bags of donated items that were turned into student projects.

Beyond her hard work for our school, we remember Tammy for her kind-hearted nature, her calming presence, her wonderful wit and humor, and her thoughtful advocacy for her children’s learning.

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CONGRATS Elijah Allen

Zephyr Borisy

Noah Brauner

Ripley Bright

Henry Buckley-Jones

Clio Burger

Cody Casanave

Dana Chang

Kendree Chen

Vivian Chuang

Alexander Colangelo

Cameron Colbert

Isaac Frehywot

Toby Gauld

Devon Holman

Susanna Kelman

Margot Klug

Noah Kokinos

Claire LaFarge

Brooks Largay

Bree Legrand

Thierrence Mathurin

Charlotte McIntosh

Sarah McPeek

Henry Monroe

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2021 GRADS Lucy Myers

Milly Noble

Aviva Pearlmutter-Bearson

Harry Reitshamer

Ben Rowe

Class of 2021 Secondary Schools Ellora Roy

Kenna Schneider

Rosie Schrag

Gemma Shoor

Alice Shu

Rain Stephenson

Sophia Tang

Erika Tinmouth

Jake Walsh

Bonnie Wang

Audrey Wu

Amanie Yusef

Arlington Catholic High School Arlington High School Belmont High School Boston University Academy (3) Buckingham Browne & Nichols Cambridge Rindge and Latin School (2) Cambridge School of Weston (2) Commonwealth School (2) Concord Academy (6) Concord Carlisle High School Dana Hall School Gann Academy The Grove School Lawrence Academy Lexington High School Maret School Meridian Academy Middlesex School Millbrook School Milton Academy (2) Minuteman High School Newman School Noble and Greenough School (2) Phillips Andover Academy Rivers School Roxbury Latin School Walnut Hill School Winsor School (2)

B E L M O N T DAY

magazine | 63

Class of 2021 Graduation Speech Excerpts Audrey Wu

When I think of leaving this school upon the hill, I think of the thousands of footprints that have left a mark on these hallways, and I think of each of us, imparting a piece of ourselves as well. I like to think as we continue to roam these halls, we continue to traverse through past footprints, each one containing stories and memorabilia, unraveling under our feet.

Empathy is often described as putting yourself in someone else’s shoes—but my definition of empathy after my 10 years here, would hold a different meaning. Empathy is in all the little acts of kindness that have the power to command conflagrations, a single glow that ignites this fire, waiting to be unleashed within us.

One of my first memories of this inexplicable feeling was sitting in the PAC, everyone in the entire school packed together in one room, singing along and waving glow sticks in the dark for the annual Share the Warmth assembly. I’d never seen as many lights, and I traced them in my head, hoping that they might be stars, scintillating off in the distance. In this moment, I was one of those lights, and it was the most exhilarating feeling in the world to be a part of something, to be a piece of that galaxy. Of course, there will be so many more little moments that will have me feeling this way.

These are the day-to-day instances that make this place so magical. Out of all the things I’ve seen here, I’m most surprised

by the trivial things each of you do to make this school glow with what I can only describe as life and empathy.

Cody Casanave

When I first came to Belmont Day School in sixth grade, I was terrified. Everything was so new.

There were new people and new places, and nothing was familiar to me. I felt so alone during my first months at BDS, and I dreaded going back to school every day. Even though I had such a challenging time at the beginning of sixth grade, I made it through, and here I am now, three years later, a significantly changed, much wiser person.

So, if I were to give you the most important lesson that I have learned from my years at BDS, it would be that difficult times usually seem much worse and hopeless in the moment, but more often than not, you emerge from those experiences a better person in some way.

I have had so many fantastic classes, and there is no way that I could talk about all of them, so let me just say this to all of my teachers: You have been amazing, and I have learned so much from each and every one of you. You all work so hard to create engaging, thought-provoking, and informative curriculums, so thank you all for your dedication, caring, and hard work. It has truly been a pleasure to learn from you.

Where are they now?

Members of the Class of 2017 are attending the following colleges and universities: American University Bates College College of Wooster Cornell University Denison University Duke University Harvey Mudd College Iowa State University

64 | 2021–22

Johns Hopkins University Kenyon College Methodist University Middlebury College (2) Northeastern University (3) Notre Dame University Tufts University University of California, Davis

University of California, San Diego University of Vermont Vassar College Washington University in St. Louis (2)

2 02 1 G R A D UAT I O N

So, I want to leave you with another lesson that I have learned from my BDS experience: Trying new and challenging things may seem daunting, and you may want to quit what you are doing, but just remember, you will usually come out of those experiences as a smarter, harder-working, more skilled, and overall better person. Even if you dread what you have to do, push through and you will make it.

Ellora Roy

When I was in pre-kindergarten, our class made paper roses for our graduating eighth grade partners.

Ms. Anderson asked me which kind of flower I wanted to make; I immediately chose a rose. It has always been my favorite flower.

The complexity amazed me and the layers and structure held such an intricate beauty; I was in awe.

Ms. Anderson laid out the tissue paper pieces that would morph into petals and dabbed on glue for me. After a while, I wanted to quit.

My rose looked kind of weird, and it wasn’t all that I had hoped, but Ms. Anderson kept me going. I eventually turned my paper into a flower. When it finally came time to present my flower to Sarah Jane, my eighth grade partner, at the Moving Up Assembly, I proudly held out my rose to her. On that day, I wondered why she was so sad to leave. Now I know.

You may be wondering what this has to do with my BDS experience. I look at the creation of my paper rose as a metaphor

for growing up at BDS. My petals are my core memories that I have accumulated throughout my time here. They layer on top of each other to create my BDS rose: my childhood. The BDS community has been a part of my life since I was four. My earliest memories are intertwined and a bit foggy; I can’t even distinctly remember a time before I went to school here. Just like a rose, it is hard to pinpoint where my petals begin. The stem Ms. Anderson held out for me is the school community. My life has revolved around Belmont Day School for as long as I can remember. Everything from my closest friendships to my daily schedule and routine has centered around BDS. The glue Ms. Anderson dabbed on for me represents my friends, teachers, parents, and brother. My flower would have fallen apart if it wasn’t for them giving me advice, eating Welch’s fruit snacks with me, and comforting me over the past 10 years.

I would like to come back to my analogy of roses. You may be wondering where my peers fit in, and my answer is that I believe we all created our BDS memory roses during our time at this school. Although our roses are all different shapes, sizes, and colors, they make a pretty nice bouquet. My friends and classmates have impacted my life and my memories in ways I cannot describe.

While growing up simultaneously, we are bound to influence each other’s experiences, but my peers have also given me comfort and support over the past 10 years that I am extremely grateful for.

SCAN to visit

the graduation website for videos and more.

The Class of 2017 at their Belmont graduation

2020–2021

Annual Report

See this year’s Annual Report on the Publications page of our website.

inspired

learners & leaders M A R K YO U R C A L E N DA R S !

Third Annual March Madness Alumni Giving Challenge For the month of March 2022, join fellow alumni for a friendly competition between decades to reach the highest participation to the Belmont Day Annual Fund.

The challenge is all about participation, so every gift of every size makes a difference. For more information, visit www.belmontday.org/give/alumni-giving.

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