State of the School

From one successful year to another

From one successful year to another ▶

An interview with Head of School John D. Nozell

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Updates from the Offices of: ▶

Admission & Enrollment

▶

Development & Alumni Relations

▶

Marketing & Communications

▶

Academic Affairs

▶ Athletics ▶

College Counseling

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A look back at Commencement 2015

▶

Upcoming Events at Cheshire Academy

An Interview

with Head of School John D. Nozell

Q. Why Cheshire Academy?

I thought that this would be an opportunity to do something with a much higher purpose, and it has been. Other than my time at Cornell, most of my career was spent running businesses with a profit maximization objective; I often tell people, “I’m a banker, running a school!” I was confident that leading an institution with such a rich history would be very exciting, particularly in trying to figure out how to best continue that institution’s history into the future.

Q. As you said, you’re a banker running a school, which is a fairly nontraditional background for a head of school. What has the transition from banker to head of school been like this year?

Whether in education, where I have some experience, or in business, where most of my experience lies, there are many parallels in how an enterprise is run. I came in with a view that running an educational institution of this ilk will have the same joys and challenges as many other sorts of organizations.

I was expecting pretty much what I found, which is a community that by and large cares very deeply about its members, and whose members are very true to their purpose, which is to provide a unique and outstanding educational product to the students who attend the Academy. I expected to see a lot of passion, around executing against the mission of the school, and I found it. I also expected that this was a school that could benefit from some more tightly knit organizational fiber, and that my job would have, as its first order of priority, to provide just that.

There is one caveat, and that is that you have to be here, at a boarding school like Cheshire Academy, to understand the organizational ramifications of running an enterprise that is also a residential institution, for both employees and students. That is a dimension I have never encountered before.

As the 222nd academic year progresses at

Q. How has the Academy grown in the past year under your leadership?

Cheshire Academy, the community has much

In 2013, prior to my arrival, a Strategic Plan was created to help drive

to celebrate. From a fully enrolled academic

document is still driving the Academy’s growth. The strategic plan doesn’t

year to a wildly successful Annual Fund that far surpassed its goals, Head of School John D. Nozell reflects on his first year at the helm of our historic school.

school programs, leadership, and overall school advancement. That call for dramatic change, but rather calls for us to really hone in and continue to do what we do well, but do it even better.

An important initiative as we talk about the Cheshire community at large, is to build better engagement with our external constituencies, specifically, alumni and parents. As part of that initiative, we have added resources in some of our key administrative areas.

Shortly after my arrival, we reviewed a study prepared by a leading

Still of a more organic nature, I believe that transparency in decision-

development consulting firm, which made it clear that we were understaffed

making is absolutely critical to establish the credibility of the decision

in the Development & Alumni Relations Office, and from a fundraising

making process. I’ve tried to incorporate that transparency in how I

standpoint, we were under-performing relative to our peer schools. We

communicate, as well as be as much of a presence as possible vis-a-vis our

set out to correct that and so far we have delivered against an enhanced

students. My open-door policy applies to them as well as my colleagues.

staffing plan by hiring two-and-a-quarter full time equivalent positions into the group. At the end of our last fiscal year, our Annual Fund objectives were surpassed, with record-breaking funds raised. Further, having a more appropriately staffed development team allows us to look to the future and be more strategic about our capital raising plans.

We have also increased our resourcing in admission in order to align ourselves with the marketplace as fully as possible, and assist in attracting the most appropriate students to our school. Insofar as our school was at capacity this year, we have also felt compelled to once again fully staff our academic office and our office of student life in order to ensure that we are delivering the best possible academic and residential experience for our students.

Concurrently, we have augmented our resources in marketing and communications to better support alumni and development efforts, as well as admission and enrollment. With a skill-based team modeled after an internal marketing agency, we manage all marketing and communications projects in-house, resulting in more personal and higher quality outreach.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t also mention the excellence that we are seeing in some of our athletic programs: football, volleyball, and softball, to name a few. Of similar noteworthiness are the tremendous improvements that we have seen in our performing arts over the course of this year, especially the tremendous growth in our music program. Very proudly we can now boast the founding of a proper a cappella group.

Q. What have you enjoyed the most in your first year as head of school?

I have enjoyed working with the students the most. We have a student body that is wonderfully rich in diversity in all manner of speaking. In just one year, I saw the progress that the students have made academically, athletically, artistically, personally, and developmentally, which continues to be the most fulfilling thing for me. And every time we approach the end of many students’ Cheshire Academy career, with students preparing to go on to the next phase of their lives, it’s tremendous to see the varied and wonderful paths they will be taking.

Q. What drives your passion for private school education?

I did not have the benefit of a private school education myself. I had the chance, but didn’t capitalize on it; I opted to stay with my friends. Maybe I regret not doing it; that absence of experience can be a driving force later in life. However, all of my children had the benefit of exposure to private school education. In my son’s case, he spent the last seven years of his schooling, junior high and high school, in private education. And in all three of my kids’ cases, I saw that they came away with a much broader perspective, and heightened awareness of the world around them largely because of the way the education was provided to them in their schools.

In the case of Cheshire Academy in particular, I was also drawn to the

Q. Cheshire Academy has faced some challenges over the past several years. How are you working to lead the Academy in overcoming those obstacles?

fact that it’s an IB school. I became passionate about the International Baccalaureate® Diploma Programme through my son’s experience with the IB diploma at his school.

My passion for education also comes from the lack of opportunities we see

One of my biggest challenges at the Academy has been improving morale,

for many students. You don’t have to look too far to see budget cuts being

because as passionate as people were about what they did here, there

implemented in public school systems that are reducing the opportunity to

wasn’t as much as a sense of Team—yes, with a capital T— in going about

educate the whole child. I think independent school education still has the

and accomplishing their work. To improve that, I have been trying to

opportunity to emphasize things like the arts and other forms of creative

infuse more of a sense of shared purpose, another way of building a team

expression and athletic pursuits, and that’s just not the case in many public

mentality.

environments. Cheshire Academy provides all those opportunities and more for its students, giving them a meaningful and purposeful education. §

Stability, or lack thereof in the past, has also posed a challenge. We have worked hard to instill stability throughout the Academy, and the evidence is there to support that our efforts are working; we had a much lower faculty attrition rate than in previous years. The initiative is to infuse what, I believe, is the proper construct for management, which is giving people a sense of empowerment for their jobs at hand by creating the right balance between responsibility, accountability, and very importantly authority.

An Update from the Office of

Admission & Enrollment The Student Body

Ponthempilly ’18, Jameson, and Miura Wiley ’17) and his parents have

On August 30, Cheshire Academy opened its doors to a record enrollment

visited campus for years, learning about the Academy’s signature programs

of 418 students, welcoming 166 new students after one of the most

and course offerings in anticipation of applying for the Town Scholarship.

competitive admission seasons in recent history. The Academy saw record

Jameson said he was in disbelief when he walked into a surprise celebration

numbers of inquiries, applications, and interviews last year, a testament to

at his house on March 4, and learned he was the scholarship recipient. “I

the ever-growing interest in our historic school.

thought, ‘Did I really win Town Scholar?' Jameson was chosen from a pool of 32 other applicants, a 136 percent increase over last year’s numbers.

When the doors opened this year, the Academy was proud to still boast the same diverse community that we have been known for year after year. Our

Signature Programs

student body maintains a slightly larger population of boarding students -

The International Baccalaureate® Diploma Programme continues to be

63% - who hail from 20 states and 32 countries. Nearly 40% of the student

a draw for international students, allowing us to connect with a wider

body is comprised of international students, and 20% of domestic students

audience of prospective applicants, and our enrollment in this unique

are students of color.

program has grown significantly.

Meet our newest Town Scholar

Roxbury Academy Support is still a cornerstone component of the academic

Day students make up the remainder of the student body population, and

curriculum, providing personal attention to those students who need more

the Academy is proud to welcome our 137th Town Scholar, Jameson Hardy

than what is offered in the classroom alone.

from Cheshire, who earned the coveted Town Scholarship. Since 1937, Cheshire Academy has been offering the prestigious Town Scholarship to

Athletics continues to be a draw for many prospective students, and our

residents of the Town of Cheshire. Jameson Hardy ’19, our newest recipient

new Elite Hockey Program has seen great success, with our first Tier 1, full-

(pictured left with our three current scholars Danielle Putnam ’16, Nadya

season U16 team now formed.

A tradition at Cheshire Academy is to announce the winner of the Town Scholarship with a surprise celebration at the Scholar’s home. Members of the admission office, the Cheshire Cat mascot, and current Town Scholars all participate. Pictured below are our four current Scholars (l-r) Danielle Putnam ’16, Nadya Ponthempilly ’18, Jameson Hardy ’19 (the newest Scholar), and Miura Wiley ’17.

Our Student Ambassadors are ready to welcome families to our successful Open House events.

Admission Events

Financial Aid

Throughout the year, the Academy welcomed visitors to campus for tours

As part of our dedication to continuing to make Cheshire Academy

and interviews, in addition to a variety of on-campus events. Two Open

accessible to qualified students, we are proud to offer $4.1 million in

Houses in the fall attracted more than 263 people on campus, and our

financial aid, as well as merit scholarships. Our average financial aid award

Revisit Day for prospective students yielded an 83% enrollment rate.

is $24,283.

We also hosted events for consultants, including the Western Connecticut

New Recruiting Tools

Boarding School tour that welcomed 14 consultants from around the globe. Later in the spring, the Academy took part in “Speed Meetings� for placement directors, giving us a chance to share information about our school.

Student Ambassadors

In the past year, we have added a number of new tools for our prospective students to help them get to know our campus and our community even better. A new infographic-style school profile, an interactive online map, and a number of videos have been added to our admission marketing materials, including a campus video filmed by a drone that will be released later this year.

Our student ambassadors continue to help drive the admission process, spreading the word about Cheshire Academy with prospective families.

We look forward to another year of strong admission candidates, and

A total of 75 tour guides led more than 500 tours last year, with many

another opportunity to share the Cheshire Academy experience with more

families citing that these student ambassadors are part of the reason why

students as we enroll for the 2016-2017 academic year.

they choose to enroll. Our ambassadors speak several languages, allowing them to connect with families who may not always speak English well.

Sincerely, Scott E. Pottbecker, Associate Head of School and Director of Admission scott.pottbecker@cheshireacademy.org

An Update from the Office of

Development & Alumni Relations Last year was an exciting year in the Development and Alumni Relations Office with new hires and promotions, the overwhelming success of our Annual Fund, exciting matching gift opportunities, new alumni and parent events, and the establishment of our new appreciation societies.

Staffing After a year of searching, our office is fully staffed with both familiar and new faces. Christian Malerba ’04 was promoted to Director of Alumni Relations and Special Events, while Barbara Dupre Vestergaard has returned to our team as our Office Manager. We also welcome two new faces to our team: Maureen Madden as the Director of Annual Fund, and Chris Ferraro as our Assistant Director of Alumni Relations and Young Alumni Engagement. In addition, we are thrilled to have three part-time team members working as part of the team now. Leo Hiertz is helping us connect with our international families, and Former Senior Masters Bob Gardiner and Bevan Dupre ’69 will continue to reach out to friends of the Academy.

Annual Fund SUCCESS! The 2014-2015 fiscal year has closed, and I am ecstatic to report that we not only met our Annual Fund goal of $680,000, but that for the first time, possibly in Academy history, we surpassed it with a grand total of $730,292, coming from 707 donors, just shy of our 710 donor participation goal. This year has yielded a 15% increase in funds raised over last year, as well as a 20% increase in participation over last year. It is such a wonderful accomplishment for this community to come together in support of all the wonderful things the Academy has done for students, and will continue to do for future students in the years to come.

New Giving Initiatives I am especially excited about several of our new giving initiatives. Our inaugural “Giving Tuesday” challenge, which took place on December 2, 2014, was highly successful with donations reaching more than $30,000.

New Networking App

Those funds were generously matched by three trustees, doubling the

If you haven’t already, we hope you will

impact of the gifts given for a total of $63,710 raised. The original Giving

take advantage of our new free app,

Tuesday Simosa Challenge was to raise $25,000, which would be matched

EverTrue. This is a fantastic way to stay

dollar-for-dollar by Trustee Armando Simosa P’08. That goal was quickly

in touch with classmates or, if you are

exceeded, and additional matching funds for the challenge were provided

traveling, see if there are alumni living

by Trustees Dave Jepson ’59 and Richard Katz ’64, who matched all gifts

or working close by. The feedback we

beyond $25,000. For several donors, this was their first time giving to the

have received has been fantastic. Head to

Academy, while others took this opportunity to increase their support. We

the app store, both iTunes and Google

hope you will join us this year for Giving Tuesday on December 1. Follow

Play, to search for Evertrue, and after

us on Twitter for more details @CheshireAcademy #CAGivingTuesday.

downloading the app, scroll through to find Cheshire Academy.

That same week, we launched our inaugural Giving Tree, which took place at the Winter Reception and raised $20,000 to support numerous programs on campus. We look forward to offering the Giving Tree at our Winter Reception again this year, held on December 3.

Alumni pose for a group photo during Reunion 2015

To keep the momentum going, three more Trustees created additional matching gift challenges. Thanks to Frank Motter ‘61 P’97, Ron Feinstein ‘64, and Michael Mauro P’11, board treasurer, new and increased Annual Fund gifts were successfully matched for a grand total of more than $180,000 raised to support the Annual Fund.

Development Task Force We worked closely with a small development task force, comprised of parents, trustees, and alumni, to create a case for Annual Fund support,

Alumni headed out on a guided tour of the old campus on a trolley, led by former Senior Master Bob Gardiner.

revise our appreciation societies, and create new volunteer opportunities for parents and alumni to support the Academy. From this task force, a permanent development committee was created, which will play an integral role in helping us reach our goals.

Reunion 2015 For those of you who attended Reunion this May, we had a fantastic weekend, including a repeat of our popular trolley tours, an organized alumni lacrosse game, a wine tasting, some special events for our donors, and a roast for Bevan Dupre ’69 as he enters into his official retirement from teaching and coaching. Fortunately, he has agreed to attend our alumni receptions and do a bit of traveling for us. Visit the reunion

The Annual Alumni Lacrosse Game is always a fan favorite during Reunion Weekend.

webpage to view all the great reunion photos. www.cheshireacademy.org/reunion As you can see, we have had an incredibly busy year in the Development & Alumni Relations Office. To continue to make Cheshire Academy the best it can be, we hope you will stop by and visit; stay in touch with us and reach out to your classmates; and make a gift to support your school.

Sincerely, Barbara Davis, Director of Development and Alumni Relations barbara.davis@cheshireacademy.org

Alumni came back for a variety of events during Reunion Weekend, including our Annual 5K run/walk.

An Update from the Office of

Strategic Marketing & Communications (SMAC) In the past two years, the Strategic Marketing & Communications office has grown into a skills-based team modeled after a marketing agency. Focused on best practices in education and in marketing, we consistently work to find the right balance to promote the Academy.

Staffing As a whole, the team boasts a wide range of skills, including web

Since the launch, statistics have shown that the reformatted site has been a

management and design, email marketing, public relations, news and blog

successful endeavor. A snapshot comparison of last year to this year shows

writing, editing, publication production, graphic design, photography,

a 36% increase in new user traffic and 100% increase in traffic from search

videography, social media, and search engine optimization. In the past year

terms like “boarding school in Connecticut.” Over the course of the year,

we have welcomed two new team members, Cody Barbierri, our Assistant

the Academy’s website saw a 68% increase in new user acquisition through

Director of Social Media Marketing, and Alyssa Dillon, our Junior Graphic

organic search terms that did not include the word “Cheshire,” for a total of

Designer and Photographer. Caitlin Garzi was recently promoted to

24,333 new users.

Associate Director of Digital Marketing & Communications, and Leslie Hutchison serves as our Assistant Director of Public Relations.

Telling the Story of Cheshire Academy As a main component of the team’s function, we are committed to telling

Website Redesign & Enhancements

the story of Cheshire Academy. That means more stories are being written,

In August 2014, we launched a redesigned and optimized responsive

more photos are being taken, and more video is being produced. During

website. Created primarily for prospective students, the site focuses on

the academic year we typically feature five homepage news stories a week, a

the needs of our incoming audience. This effort included not only a new

471% increase in written content in two years. We added over 100 photo

design for the public portion of our site, but rewritten and optimized text,

albums to our website, and produced more videos. This increase in content

new graphics, and a new navigation architecture which makes it easier for

production means that we can boast a regularly updated website, thanks to

users to find what they need. We also integrated social media and various

dynamic content channels featured on pages, such as academics, arts, and

calls to action into every page of our site via headers, footers, and enhanced

athletics. The increase in content also means we can share more information

content.

on our social media outlets.

Webinars, Blogs, Podcasts, and Presentations Our team members are becoming known as leaders in the independent school marketing world. In the past year, we have led three webinars on best practices for managing content, independent school web trends, and driving website traffic. We also participated in two podcasts focused on best practices in email marketing.

We partnered with Blackbaud K12, our website content management system provider, at three different national conferences to present on independent school web trends, email marketing and communicating with international families. We presented at the 2015 NAIS Annual Conference, 2015 Blackbaud User Conference, and the 2015 TABS NAIS Global Symposium.

www.cheshireacademy.org

In addition to webinars, podcasts, and national conferences, team members are involved in industry blogs (EdSocialMedia.com and

InspirED Marketers), sharing best practices in marketing. We have also

Social Media

created our own blogs including the Boarding School Blog, which focuses

If you’re not already following us, please do! In addition to the student

on admission-themed content weekly, and the Social Media Teen, which

accounts mentioned earlier, you can follow us on these social media outlets,

tackles trends in social media, tips for parents, and marketing tips for

including:

schools using social media.

Student Interns The Academy began working with Academy students as ScratchUp

• • • •

Facebook: www.facebook.com/cheshireacademy Twitter: @CheshireAcademy and @CAFightingCats Multiple Blogs: blogs.cheshireacademy.org Visit www.cheshireacademy.org/mashup for all our outreach efforts

Interns in fall 2013. We started by launching a student-run blog and twitter account, known as The CA Scratchup. Featuring students of all

Email Marketing

ages, including both international and domestic students, as well as both

We have revamped our email

boarding and day students, these interns help us tell the story of Cheshire

marketing strategies, focused

Academy from the students’ perspective. In addition to blogging and

on seeing email as a marketing

tweeting, our student interns also have taken the lead to create content for

tool to drive website visits

our Instagram and YouTube accounts.

and opens. We send twiceweekly emails to current

Most recently, they have started helping the marketing team write articles

constituents, and bi-weekly

for the Academy’s homepage news, and have worked on designing

emails to admission and

advertisements, presentations, and graphics. In fact, student work has been

alumni constituents. If you

featured in numerous Academy print and digital publications, showcasing

aren’t receiving the Alumni

their strong skills in writing, photography, graphic design, and videography

Newsletter via email, reach out

across all our content platforms.

to us with your updated email address so you don’t miss the

Check us out on YouTube for our continually growing series of virtual

latest news!

campus tours — all of which are written, directed, produced and edited by students — that give in-depth guided tours of buildings on campus. New

COMING SOON! A New and Improved Magazine

videos are added regularly, so check back often!

Knowing how much the Academy community enjoys the Magazine, we’re working to improve that experience even more. Throughout the year, we

Follow these talented students online:

• • • •

have been learning about our audience in order to inform the redesign

Blog: blogs.cheshireacademy.org/cascratchup

process. This alumni-focused publication will feature more alumni stories

Twitter: @caScratchup

and profiles, and articles on the history of the school. As always, current

Instagram: @CheshireAcademy

school news and events, and class notes will be included. A new component

YouTube: @CheshireAcademyTV

of the Magazine will be a digital version that is released before the printed piece hits homes, granting readers early access to articles and class notes, as well as video content and photo albums.

This has been a busy and exciting year for our team, and we look forward to continuing to tell the story of Cheshire Academy. We welcome comments and suggestions at any time.

Sincerely, Stacy Jagodowski, Director of SMAC stacy.jago@cheshireacademy.org

An Update from the Office of

Academic Affairs Restructuring of the Academic Office

Science Department

Some new but familiar faces have joined the Academic Office for the

Students participated in the Connecticut Science Olympiad in March. The

2015-2016 school year. With our growing student body and expansion in

event is sponsored by a nationwide organization dedicated to promoting

curricular offerings, we are fortunate to have Sue Eident, longtime chair

science education through conducting competitive science tournaments.

of the mathematics department, come on board with us as Associate Dean

Two students received a bronze medal for the chemistry lab event, while

of Academics. She joins Julie Anderson who now serves the Academy

two other students finished in ninth place for the bungee drop problem.

as Associate Head of School for Academic Affairs. Sharyn Iadarola has transitioned from her role in the Roxbury Academic Support Program

This year, the science department offered four new courses: Engineering,

to the Administrative Assistant to the Academic Office and Classbook

Experimental Design, Earth Systems, and Science of Nutrition. In

Bookstore Manager. Ana Abbagnaro continues to support the students and

the 2015-16 school year, an additional IB course will be added to the

faculty in scheduling, grading reports and transcripts as our Registrar.

curriculum: IB Sports, Exercise and Health Management.

We welcomed several new academic department chairs to the Academic

English Department

Committee: Marc Aronson, English Department Chair; Rachel Wright,

Ninety percent of our junior class students were enrolled in International

Mathematics Department Chair, and Ray Cirmo and Lauren Kelly as

Baccalaureate® (IB) English courses. The teaching and homework process

Co-Chairs of the Science Department. In addition, we are thrilled to have

in many courses has been elevated to a paperless system by utilizing tools

a dedicated full time Director of the Writing Center. Wendy Swift has

offered online in the Academy’s Learning Management System, known as

transitioned to the position and has already lined up several authors for the

MyCheshire. English classes also utilize Google Drive, and custom-made

school year, including Harriet Chessman and Wally Lamb.

digital course reader PDFs.

Students in Science Teacher Ray Cirmo’s Advanced Physics class last year examined a piece of a hand-made propeller, part of a human-powered helicopter project that will take two or three years to complete. Students are currently in year two.

A new and dynamic freshmen course was added this year on American

Connecticut Association of Independent Schools.

Literature. The curriculum is focused on diverse, regional voices. Our senior English classes also undertook a challenging project in producing movie

The student-learning experience was enriched by guest speakers Colonel

trailers for the novel, The Orphan Master’s Son.

Paul Ingram ‘44, who visited the history class twice. Author David Leeming, father of history teacher Max Leeming, also spoke to students

The English department expanded its course offerings this year. The Writing

during Black History Month about the life and works of novelist and

and Composition Class has been redesigned to focus more fully on a

poet James Baldwin. Additionally students in AP US History and

genre-writing based program. A new class, IB Literature and Performance,

African American history classes attended presentations about slavery in

is offered as well to provide a multidisciplinary course, which will count for

Connecticut and women in the Civil War held at the at Cheshire Public

credit in both English and art.

Library.

History Department Highlights

The department also launched our first Mock Trial Team, which competed

The history department spearheaded the Academy’s annual Martin Luther

for the first time in December. Two teams of eight were assigned a mock

King Day observance. Classroom lessons focused on King’s statement,

felony murder case in which the students acted as both the prosecution

“in justice anywhere, is injustice everywhere.” The theme was applied in

and defense teams. Club Advisor Jennifer Guarino said students portrayed

all subject areas to help students to imagine solutions to global problems.

lawyers who questioned, cross-examined and redirected witnesses, delivered

Events on the national holiday culminated in a school-wide presentation by

opening and closing statements, and voiced objections during the trial. My

Judge Glenn Woods P’14, who, as a teenager, met Dr. King. Judge Woods

Doan ’15 delivered two closing statements and was commended by a judge

said the civil rights leader believed in the fundamental good of humans.

for her effective speech.

“It led him to support nonviolent civil disobedience to achieve civil rights of all citizens,” he told the students. The day was capped off with a special

Our growing Model United Nations team saw success at three separate

showing for 250 students of the film “Selma” in which the civil rights

conferences at Yale University; Haileybury College, an independent school

theme was also addressed.

in Hertford Heath, England; and Choate Rosemary Hall. Our teams took home two Best Delegate Awards, two Honorable Delegate Awards, one

In our Military History class, taught by Christine Monahan, students

Most Improved Award, and two Highly Commended Delegate Awards.

created an iBook based on World War II artifacts loaned to our school by the Smerczynski family. Mrs. Monahan gave a presentation about the

This year, new history courses were added to the curriculum. Three

project called, “Teachers Helping Teachers,” at a recent conference for the

new electives are: The Holocaust, Comparative World Religions, and

As part of the ongoing dedication of teachers to find the best student-centered teaching methods, History Teacher Christine Monahan is piloting a blended-learning class that puts students in the driver’s seat of the educational process.

Contemporary Issues in a Global Society, which will serve as a new

own Lorenz curves to illustrate possible alternative distributions of wealth

blended-learning option for students. We also expanded our IB offerings to

in the United States. Throughout the year, students in Rachel Wright’s

include History of the Americas SL.

classes learned how to use Notability to organize math assignments on their iPads. Students also went paperless by using the onCampus LMS to submit

Math Department

assignments which are accessible by the teacher and class members to review

The Academy placed second last year in the New England Math League

comments and grades for each submission. Students in Stephen Moody’s

New Haven County division, only three points behind Choate Rosemary

Advanced Topics in Math class programmed Excel to model Euler’s Method

Hall. The Academy also posted a record final point tally to achieve status

for differential equations. Students in Rachel Cohn’s math classes learned

as a high scoring team in New England. As many as one third of the

her “flipped classroom” approach by using their iPads to create instructional

Academy’s students participated in the after-school contests, which were

videos for right triangle trigonometry.

held six times during the year.

Eighth Grade For the twelfth consecutive year, Cheshire Academy was recognized

The redesigned eighth grade curriculum offered a number of exciting

for achieving a team score of over 300 points in the annual American

projects both on and off campus last year. The curriculum featured two

Mathematics Competition. In addition, six students participated as

themes focused on inquiry: Adventure and Survival, which took place in

“Mathletes” in the Math Majors of America regional tournament held

the fall; and Space Exploration during the spring semester. The topics were

at Yale University on March 26. The six-student team made the national

applied to interdisciplinary study across English, history, and science classes.

scoreboard during one of the rounds. Bohan Yang ‘16 advanced to the American Invitational Mathematics Exam and scored in the 99th percentile

Students learned teamwork, leadership and cooperation during the biweekly

becoming the first Academy student and one of only 12 students from

trips to the Ropes Course, and were immersed in art, natural history and

Connecticut eligible for the United States of America Mathematical

science during field trips to the New Britain Museum of American Art and

Olympiad held in the spring.

the Yale Peabody Museum in New Haven.

In our classrooms, math studies are just as exciting. Last fall, students in AP

The eighth graders also made their own ten-minute interdisciplinary videos

Calculus applied their skills to develop mathematical models to track and

in the style of the famed TED Talks. The students engaged in long-term

predict the spread of the Ebola virus in West Africa, On MLK day, Tom

research to produce the videos which were related to space exploration.

Gilpin’s math students learned about the Gini Coefficient and created their

The classes focused on such topics as Voyager II, Kepler, the Hubble

Roxbury Instructor Jodee Heritage works with a student on his iPad. Roxbury continues to be a signature academic program at the Academy, providing academic assistance to students who need more than just the typical classroom experience.

telescope, black holes, and the Sombrero Galaxy. Students used techniques they learned in their Research and Design class about citation and visual presentation.

Languages Department A record number of students prepared in the spring for the final portion of their International Baccalaureate® (IB) assessment exams for French, Mandarin, and Spanish.

Our eighth graders used an iPad app called Notability to create cartoon stories and also illustrated scenes and responses to My Family and Other

Language teachers attended a number of professional development

Animals.

workshops such as:

Computer Science Trustee Andy Moss P ’15 ’14 shared his expertise in computer programming and coding with the eighth grade students in the Research Design class taught by Library Director Claudette Hovasse. The students experimented with coding using the site Code.org, a non-profit

• The National Chinese Language Conference • The COLT Conference for Language Teachers at Central Connecticut State University

• The IB Conference of the Americas in Washington D.C. • The IB teacher training workshop for Language ab initio, and online IB training for Language B for both standard and higher level courses

organization founded to expand computer programming skills for students.

Our ELL course, American Culture, became a semester-long course for About 20 students participated in the National Hour of Code event

the first time during the 2014-15 school year. The change in this spoken

in December 2014 and 10 students representing grades 8-12 attended

immersion course allowed students to move more quickly into mainstream

Yale’s “Code Blue” a one-day learnathon for high school students. It gave

courses and electives.

participants access to mentors and exposure to a number of programming languages.

Fine and Performing Arts During the annual Arts Weekend, students and faculty attended

This year, we reintroduced a Coding/Web Design course for the fall and

performances and presentations from percussionist Jon Allen, the Yale a

spring semesters as part of a developing computer science curriculum. In

cappella group “Spizzwinks,” the punk/Celtic rockers “MacTalla Mor,” and

this introductory course, students will learn coding concepts, how to write

graphic novelist and artist Ira Marcks.

algorithms and programming languages.

Unique arts offerings at Cheshire Academy include a variety of digital arts classes, including digital photography, digital imaging, and animation taught

by Erin Gleason

Nearly 100 students participated in music classes and various ensembles in the spring and for the first time at Morning Meetings, musical performances were shared with the student body during the year. A new a cappella group was launched and two students were honored for their talent in the All State Music Festival.

The annual Winter Concert featured the debut performances of the Cheshire Academy chamber orchestra, CATS, the Jazz Band, and the Rock Band. Check out our website to see the performances. www.cheshireacademy.org/music The afternoon drama program staged three productions last year with “Galileo” presented in the fall with 23 cast and crew members. The winter musical, “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” showcased 40 singers, dancers, and musicians while the spring play brought together a cast and crew of 23 students to present “Bone Chiller,” a mixture of comedy and mystery with a quirky plot that kept the audience guessing who was the culprit until the very end.

A new photo studio and digital media lab was created in the Art Building, and student art was displayed for the first time in the O’Connor House, home of the head of school.

Cheshire Academy student artwork isn’t just on display on campus, either.

Student work was featured in the annual Greater New Haven Area High School Art Exhibition, the Perspectives Gallery Show “Side by Side” at the Whitney Center in Hamden, and Cheshire Coffee right here in town.

Two members of the class of 2015 were honored in the annual Connecticut Scholastic Art and Writing Competition, while five students completed their work for IB Visual Arts. In addition, graduating senior art students were accepted into programs at Art Center, California College of Art, Parsons, Pratt Institute, New York University, and Wesleyan University.

We are looking forward to this year being an equally exciting and successful academic year!

Sincerely, Julie Anderson, Associate Head of School for Academic Affairs julie.anderson@cheshireacademy.org

An Update from the Office of

Athletics Staffing Updates

With the new year came some new faces to the Athletics team. Dean of Students and Head Varsity Football Coach David Dykeman joined the team and added Dean of Athletics to his title.

Working with him is Edward Banach, who now serves as the Director of Athletic Operations.

Ryan Hunter returns for his second year with the Cats as the Assistant to the Director of Athletic Operations.

Last year was another banner year for the Cats, with Volleyball, Football, Swimming, and Boys Basketball all taking home top honors. Here are some highlights:

Fall 2014 Championship Weekend Championship weekend in November brought

The Fighting Cats prevailed over Winchendon

House came after an ace by Hoivala brought

hundreds of fans to campus to watch a double

School with final scores of 25-19, 25-13, 25-10.

the score to 23-10. Then, a Winchendon player

dip of athletic acumen from the girls varsity

The game on November 16 was led by setter

attempted to block Holmes’ spike and the ball

volleyball team and the undefeated varsity

Kelly Ryan ’15 of Marlborough, who had 30

ricocheted out of bounds. The home bench

football team.

assists and two aces; by Elina Hoivala ’16, of

erupted in celebration as the Fall 2014 season

Finland, who had 14 kills and five aces; and by

made Academy sports history.

Volleyball: NEPSAC Class C Champions

Lexe Holmes ’18 of Hamden, who had seven

In a shutout win of 3-0, the volleyball team won

kills and four blocks. The Fighting Cats’ path

Football: Colonial League Champions

their first ever NEPSAC Class C championship.

to the winning point in the Arthur Sheriff Field

The varsity football team took to Simosa Field to compete in the O’Keefe Bowl Championship game. The team won the bowl bid after claiming the Colonial League Championship by defeating the Canterbury School on November 9. The win moved the team to an 8-0 record with strong play coming from quarterback Patrick Kehoe ’15, who threw four touchdowns and rushed for one.

Chris Rodgers ’15 had eight carries for 115 yards and two rushing touchdowns. MJ Kehoe ’15, Patrick’s brother, had a touchdown reception.

To support the team at the bowl game, fans were asked to wear all white to create a “Whiteout Weekend.” The Cats hosted Suffield Academy, who had a season record of 6-2. The final score had the opponents winning by just 3 points.

Some called this game one of the best in recent Academy history.

Winter 2014-2015 Varsity Boys Basketball The Cats moved up to the NEPSAC Class AA level this year and still finished the season with a strong record of 18-9. The team wasn’t notified until late November that they would move up from Class B, said Head Coach of Varsity Basketball Kevin Kehoe. “It’s the most competitive prep school conference in America,” he said. Despite being new to the division, the team still made it into the quarterfinals of the conference tournament. A highlight of the season for many was the team’s participation in the Hoop Mountain Holiday Challenge, which took place at the famed TD Garden in Boston. The team took on Lawrence Academy of Groton, Mass., defeating them in a class match, 86-81. The showcase benefited the ARC of Massachusetts, a non-profit group that supports individuals and families dealing with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Swimming The Cheshire Academy varsity swim team competed at the NEPSSA DIII Championships where both the boys and girls teams earned strong 8th place finishes overall and multiple school records were broken.

The 200 Medley Relay team of Kate Davis ’18, Jenna Molnar ’18, Dia Gawronski ’18 and Hannah Gailey ’17 lowered their school record time by another second and earned a 4th place

finish. The Boys 200 Medley Relay team of Matt

Jenna Molnar also swam a great race in the 200

Molnar ’17, Ben Song ’16, Simon Semyachkin

Freestyle and came in 3rd place. She earned a

’15, and Leo Wang ’18 also scored points for the

2nd place finish in the 100 Breaststroke. Another

team with their 8th place finish.

standout of the meet was Davis who swam lifetime best times in the 200 Freestyle and 500

Matt Molnar had an awesome meet and lowered

Freestyle earning 12th and 13th place finishes

his school record in the 200 Individual Medley

respectively. She also swam fantastic races in the

with an exciting 2nd place finish. Later on in the

200 Medley Relay and 400 Freestyle Relay.

meet, he won the 100 Breaststroke and lowered his existing Division III record and school record.

Semyachkin earned a 16th place finish in both the 200 Freestyle and the 100 Butterfly. Luca

Gawronski capped off a stellar season with

Mazzella ‘19 came in 14th in the 200 Freestyle

another school record in the 200 Freestyle with

and helped contribute to the 200 Medley and

a time of 1:59.06, which earned her a 2nd

400 Freestyle Relay teams. Gailey came in 12th

place finish. She lowered her school record in

place in the 100 Freestyle and shaved off 12

the 100 Butterfly and earned a 3rd place finish.

seconds from her personal best time in the 500 Freestyle. Wang had a successful meet and came in 15th in the 50 Freestyle, and 13th in the 100 Freestyle. Song capped off a great season with a 14th place finish in the 100 Breaststroke. Zach Kenesky ’17 swam a personal best in the 100 Backstroke and earned a 16th place finish.

Coaches Rachel Cohn and Samantha Reuss both noted that it was an excellent meet overall and that they were very proud of all the team’s accomplishments this season.

The varsity swimming team ended their regular season with a 3 - 8 record.

Elite Hockey Cheshire Academy is proud to offer a U16 Elite Hockey Program in the 2015-16 school year that plays a full season of games during the fall and winter. Most prep schools only compete in winter. The team will play in a Tier 1 league with as many as 20 students from the Academy participating in the inaugural year.

“The program opens up a new admission avenue and also helps with spring sports,” said Associate Head of School and Director of Admission Scott Pottbecker. “It gives us the opportunity we’ve not had before to help build lacrosse, baseball, and golf,” he said.

The hockey program will give national prominence to the Academy through players who are drafted by the United States Hockey League.

Collegiate Level Athletics Not only did our teams perform well in competition, but this past year also saw another banner year for graduates who went on to play at the collegiate level.

Of particular note, the varsity football program saw a record number of players receive athletic scholarships to college. Here are the institutions that recruited our student athletes for collegiate level play:

Baseball Vanderbilt University

Members of the Class of 2015 who were recruited to play sports at the collegiate level gathered for a photo. The Academy has seen two consecutive years of a significant number of the graduating class pursuing athletics at D1, D2, and D3 colleges.

Trinity College University of Connecticut, Avery Point

Football

Men’s Soccer

Duke University

St. John’s University

Men’s Basketball

University of Delaware – 2 players

University of Pennsylvania

College of the Holy Cross

Softball

Central Connecticut State University

Bryant University

Curry College

University of South Alabama

University of New Haven

Colby College

Pace University

Women’s Tennis

Allegheny College

Trinity College – 4 players

Salve Regina University

McGill University

Hobart and William Smith Colleges

Rhodes College

Follow us online @CAFightingCats for all the

New England College

Men’s Lacrosse

Catholic University of America

St. Leo University Wheaton College

athletics action. #GoCAcats #ringthebell Sincerely, David Dykeman, Dean of Students and Athletics david.dykeman@cheshireacademy.org

An Update from the Office of

College Counseling Staffing

Most Competitive:

Villanova University, 1

Joanne Letendre, Director of College

• 89 colleges ranked as top 6.5% in the USA

Wake Forest University, 3

Counseling, and Laura Dempsey, Associate

• Admitted students rank top 10-20% of class

Washington University in St. Louis, 1

Director, welcomed Daniel Monahan

• Cumulative A to B+ average

Wesleyan University, 1

to the college counseling office as a very

• Test scores in top 10%

much needed third college counselor. Dan

• College admits fewer than 33% of

Highly Competitive:

immediately put his 15 years of college

applicants

• 112 colleges ranked as top 15% in the USA

admission experience to good use. As Dean of

• 71 Academy Graduates Attending

• Admitted students rank top 20-35% of class

Admission, most recently at Stonehill College, Dan was able to bring a new perspective to Laura’s ten years of experience at Cheshire Academy and Joanne’s 32 years as a college counselor and various other student service positions which she has held in independent schools. As financial aid and the increasing need for it continue to influence college choices for many students, both domestic and international, having a third counselor to share the growing senior and postgraduate student load has allowed each counselor to spend more time as needed on individual cases.

International students comprised 44% of the Class of 2015; filing applications to American colleges can be a daunting and difficult

Bates College, 1 Boston College, 5 Bowdoin College, 1 Brandeis University, 2 Brown University, 3 Bucknell University, 1 Carnegie Mellon University, 1 Case Western Reserve University, 3 Colby College, 2 Colgate University, 1 College of the Holy Cross, 1 Connecticut College, 2 Cornell University, 2 Davidson College, 1 Duke University, 1

process for students whose first language is

Emory University, 3

not English. Having more counselors allows

George Washington University, 3

students easier access to assistance and the

Johns Hopkins, 1

attention they need to smoothly navigate what

Kenyon College, 2

can be a confusing array of hurdles. Dan also

Lehigh University, 2

assumed roles as a Dorm Parent in Markin

Middlebury College, 1

Hall, assistant football and track coach, and

New York University, 6

teacher. This year, Dan became Head of House

Occidental College, 2

at Markin, lead teacher for the Postgraduate

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 3

Seminar, and assumed the title of Senior

Rhodes College, 1

Associate Director of College Counseling.

Tufts University, 1 US Naval Academy, 1

College Matriculation A look at the college choices for the last five years shows a wide range of schools, with many students choosing to attend the most competitive colleges and universities nationwide.

University of California, Berkeley, 1 University of California, LA, 1 University of Pennsylvania, 1 University of Richmond, 1 University of Rochester, 6 University of Southern California, 1 Vanderbilt University, 1

• Cumulative B+ to B average • Test scores in top 25% • College admits 33-50% of applicants • 94 Academy Graduates Attending Agnes Scott College, 2 Allegheny College, 3 American University, 3 Babson College, 3 Bentley University, 2 Binghamton University, 2 Boston University, 10 Bryant University, 5 Clark University, 1 Dickinson College, 2 Elon University, 3 Emerson College, 2 Fordham University, 3 Hampshire College, 1 Indiana University, Bloomington, 1 Northeastern University, 3 Rollins College, 2 Rutgers, the State University of NJ at Brunswick, 1 Sarah Lawrence College, 2 St. Lawrence University, 3 Skidmore College, 1 Syracuse University, 5 The Ohio State University, 1 Trinity College, 8 Union College, 1 University of California, Davis, 3 University of California, Irvine, 1 University of Connecticut, 11 University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, 4

University of Maryland College Park, 1

Pace University, NYC, 1

California College of the Arts, 1

University of Michigan, 2

Pace University, Westchester, 1

Parsons School of Design, 1

University of San Diego, 1

Pennsylvania State University, 6

Rhode Island School of Design, 3

Wheaton College (MA), 1

Purdue University, 1

School of the Art Institute of Chicago, 3

Quinnipiac University, 2

Westminster Choir College of Rider University

Very Competitive:

Richard Stockton College, 1

• 273 colleges ranked as top 35% in the USA

Rochester Institute of Technology, 2

• Admitted students rank top 35-50% of class

Roosevelt University, 1

• Cumulative average no less than a B-

Salve Regina University, 2

• Test scores in top 40%

Simmons College, 1

• College admits 50-75% of applicants

Saint Edwards University, 1

• 63 Academy Graduates Attending

Stetson College, 1

Brigham Young University, 1

University at Albany, State University of New York, 1

DePaul University, 1

University of California, San Diego, 2

Drew University, 1

University of Colorado, Boulder, 2

Drexel University, 2

University of Dayton, 1

Earlham University, 2

University of Delaware, 4

Fairfield University, 3

University of New Hampshire, 2

Florida State University, 1

University of San Francisco, 1

Hobart & William Smith Colleges, 5

Wagner College, 1

Iona College, 1 Loyola Marymount University 1 Manhattan College, 1 Miami University (OH), 4 Michigan State University 6

Unranked, Specialized Colleges Academy of Art University, 1 Art Center College of Design, 1 Berklee College of Music, 1

Unranked, Located Outside of the US Concordia College Montreal, 1 The Stage School-Hamburg, Germany 1 London Contemporary Dance School, 1 McGill University, Canada, 2 University College London, 1 University of St. Andrews, Scotland, 1 University of Toronto, 1 University of Waterloo, 1 Singapore Management University, 1 We look forward to another year of helping our students find best-fit colleges.

Sincerely, Joanne Letendre, Director of College Counseling joanne.letendre@cheshireacademy.org

Commencement 2015 M

ore than 90 seniors received

their diplomas at the 221st Commencement Exercises in June. They were joined by faculty, family, friends, and fellow students to celebrate.

In her Valedictory Address, co-valedictorian Laura Curras Sanchez of

Furman wrote the first business plan for Ben & Jerry’s and has been

Madrid, Spain, encouraged her classmates to learn to grow and become

involved with the company since 1978. “I’m blessed and privileged to see

better people. She talked about the weekly morning meeting question

the world as one of compassion, sacrifice and courage, not just sadness,” he

concerning “the good of the community.” For commencement, Curras

said. The Class of 2015, Furman said, should “open channels of creativity

said, the good of the community is being “loved and caring.”

and support our beloved democratic community.”

Co-valedictorian My Doan of Hanoi, Vietnam, used wry humor in her

“I’ve seen this award presented for 40 years,” said Senior Master Bevan

Valedictory Address which centered on failure and success. She said failure

Dupre ’69, as he accepted the John Bowden Distinguished Achievement

teaches people to appreciate hard work. “If I’m laughed at for failure, I can

Award. Dupre, who retired in June, said he was honored to join the list of

say ‘there are other people who think I’m awesome.’ And that’s amazing.”

recipients. “Sometimes it seems as if life is just creeping by,” Dupre said.

Salutatorian Chung Keun Shin, of Ulsan, South Korea, gave his address at

“But, it’s all happening so fast. I won’t say goodbye, just hasta luego.”

the Senior Reception on Friday night.

Senior Class President Emmanuel Poku, of Newark, New Jersey, mentioned in his commencement speech that he was baffled when he came to the Academy as a freshman. “I was a frail, shorter, younger version of myself. I was from a city, and I’d never been away from home for more than a week at a time.” But he said the term “alma mater,” which means “nurturing mother,” proved to be true. “I made every effort to be happy,” Poku said, and he was.

Perhaps the loudest applause during the event came during a speech by Alumnus Jeff Furman ’61 who spoke about social outreach programs and environmental sustainability. The topics were at the core of the Commencement Address by Furman who is Chairman of the Board of Directors for Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream.

“We should stand up in solidarity,” Furman said. “There is a growing effort by your generation to support the organic food movement, racial equality and sustainable communities.” Furman believes corporations have great power and should use it to engage in positive change.

Check this out!

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Reunion is coming!

May 13-14

www.cheshireacademy.org/reunion

10 Main Street, Cheshire, Connecticut 06410 www.cheshireacademy.org