Connections Magazine Winter/Spring 2023

Connections

Head of School

José M. De Jesús leads his first Candlelighting Ceremony

Board of Trustees

2022–2023

Aly Jeddy President

José M. De Jesús

Head of School

Jennifer Glassman Treasurer

Ronnie Abrams ’86

Anne-Carmène Almonord ’99

Michelle Awuku-Tatum

Sheree Chiou

Ariela Dubler

Becka Vargus Katz

Alan Klein

Erica Klein

Bruce Menin

Durre Nabi

Justin Richardson

Alex Robinson

David Sambur

Ishaan Seth

James Simmons

Ashley Smyth

Rob Speyer ’87

Deirdre Stanley

Alicin Williamson

Angelica Estevez

PA President

Leslie Chang

Dalton Council Chair

Joseph Franken ’03

Alumni Council President

Shira Kohn

Faculty Representative

Tenzin Sangmo ’23 Student President

Leo Yu ’23

Senior Class Representative

Julie Young ’24

Junior Class Representative

Honorary Trustees

James Block *

Susan Ravitch Buksbaum ’56 *

Lawrence Buttenwieser ’49

Cheryl Cohen Effron ’83

Joan Kaplan

Robert Kasdin

Robert Menschel *

Nancy Fuld Neff ’72

Richard Ravitch

Robert Rifkind

David Rudnick ’58

John M. Shapiro

Stanley Shuman

Gordon H. Smith

Jerry I. Speyer

Michael Steinhardt

Roy Swan

Merryl Tisch

Robert Tishman *

Ellen C. Stein

Head of School Emerita

Alumni Council 2022–2023

Joseph Franken ’03 President & Trustee

Representative Wynter Lastarria ’11 Vice President

Emily Mindel Gottlieb ’91 Secretary

Samuel Browne ’11

Warren Burgess ’90

Casper Caldarola ’77

Dayna Campbell ’13

David Cremin ’78

Andrew Eaddy ’15

Wendy Foster ’81

Jimmy Frischling ’86

Zachary Goldstein ’01

Maxime Glass Harnik ’05

Melissa Frey Levine ’00

Ann Salfeld Lewyn ’53

Parijat Samant ’09

Jillian Saperstein ’04

Marjorie Cohen

Scharfspitz ’59

Patricia Braun Silvers ’68

Michael Stillman ’98

Susan Lewis West ’56

Terrence Winston ’89

Arun Yang ’06

Nicholas Lechich ’06

Faculty Representative

Annie Dosik ’01

PA Representative

Jameeiah Domercant ’23

Student Representative

The Dalton community donned their blue and white to cheer for the Tigers in early February at the School’s annual Warren Hines Night — a yearly event commemorating the legacy of the late Dalton student-athlete Warren Hines ’88.

photo: Al Pereira

front cover: Head of School

José M. De Jesús leads his first Candlelighting Ceremony.

photo: Asher Dorlester

* deceased

Co-Editors

Linda N. Schapiro

Beth Softness

Staff Coordinator

Debbie Freeman

Associate Director of Alumni Relations

Faculty & Staff Contributors

Andrew Glassman (Former Teacher)

Deirdre Mingey

Andrew Preston

Alumni Contributor

Marjorie Cohen Scharfspitz ’59

Photography

Asher Dorlester

Debbie Freeman

Bryan Jackson

Cibele Vieira Newman

Al Pereira

Beth Softness

Connections is a forum to communicate information and ideas between The Dalton School and parents, alumni, and friends. We welcome letters, photographs, and suggestions for future issues. We reserve the right to edit all submissions. Please email the editors at lschapiro@dalton.org or bsoftness@dalton.org, or send materials to:

Editor, Connections

The Dalton School

108 East 89th Street New York NY 10128-1599

www.dalton.org

Contents

In Every Issue

2 Letter from the Head of School

4 Community Alumni Panel Shares Insights and Stories in “Broadway: From Page to Stage”

6 The Dalton Journal

12 From the First Program Dalton’s Youngest Students Explore Sustainability and the World Around Them

14 From the Middle School Lessons on Sustainability: Making a Difference by Taking Action

16 From the High School High School Intersession 2022: A Deep Dive into the Climate Crisis

Letter from the Head of School

by José M. De Jesús, Head of School

Since my arrival in July, I’ve received the warmest Dalton welcome and have been energized by our remarkable students and inspiring faculty and staff. Each morning, as I walk through the front doors of 89th Street, there’s no place I’d rather be.

It continues to be my privilege getting to know Dalton community members, including our many Alums. When I speak with Alums they often ask how their Dalton education compares to today’s student experience. They understand that curricular and co-curricular offerings must evolve to prepare our students for an ever-changing world, and they’re happy to hear that the extraordinary teacher-student relationships and the Dalton Plan — both hallmarks of a Dalton education — remain a constant.

Innovation is central to Helen Parkhurst’s brilliant, educational philosophy and is an intrinsic part of Dalton’s DNA. Fortunately, our inventive, dynamic faculty and staff are always up to the task of developing new curricular initiatives to best serve our students.

Our newest spaces, opened in Fall 2019, facilitate 21st century learning. The entire 13th floor is dedicated to Engineering, and I’m astounded to see our students’ creations in our Makerspace — from building intricate robots for competitions to mastering laser cutters and 3D printers. It’s especially heartening when students translate these skills to engage beyond the classroom in kind and empathetic ways; a standout example is the high school’s Helping Hands club where members built wheelchairs and prosthetics for animals with disabilities and donated them to local shelters. Up in the 14th floor’s Teaching Kitchen, another transformative, heavily-used facility, students are enjoying food centric explorations into different cultures — from baking cornbread and making chutney with visiting chefs to preparing breakfast tortillas for Spanish class.

Throughout the year, visitors share their perspectives and stories, enriching our students’ educational experience. Our librarians collaborate with the Creative Writing department to host impressive annual Poetry and Prose Festivals bringing luminaries to Dalton such as Ukrainian-American Poet Ilya Kaminsky and Pulitzer prize-winning Author Colson Whitehead to do readings and student workshops. High school students recently welcomed Vijay Vaitheeswaran who discussed Global Energy and Climate, middle school students heard from Holocaust survivor Susan Kalev, and First Program students enjoyed the music of Latin Grammy awardwinner Silvana Estrada.

Yet while some things may look a little different to previous generations of Alums, beloved Dalton traditions and special events endure. Mainstays continue such as the 6th grade Greek Festival, the 3rd Grade Archeology Dig, the Parent Association’s annual First Program Multicultural Festival and Homecoming Family Fun Day, and Warren Hines ’88 Night at the Phys. Ed. Center. I participated in my first Candlelighting Ceremony in December and look forward to Arch Day in June.

Looking ahead, as I partner with Dalton community members, faculty, and staff in service to our wonderful students, what’s clear to me is that we must always work to connect the school’s mission and values to our student experience. Part of my mandate this year is holding conversations and conducting data analysis to create a clear roadmap to sustain the Dalton Plan for generations to come. I’m also focused on incorporating equity, inclusion, and belonging into the very fabric of our school and am taking a close look at our health and wellness resources and structures to make sure that our students feel supported as they navigate their often complex world. Most importantly, my priority is simply to continue reconnecting as a broader community in common purpose.

Our students’ curiosity, humor, and humanity never cease to amaze me. From our Kindergarteners’ ingenious 100th-day museum exhibits using Fruit Loops and marshmallows; to our talented middle school thespians performing in the latest original mainstage musical “Every Inch an Earl”; to 180 high school students engaging with our youngest Daltonians in a fun week of coding (picture drones flying in the First Program’s gym!) — Dalton students go forth unafraid every day making my job the best in the world.

Community

Alumni Panel Shares Insights and Stories in “Broadway: From Page to Stage”

Following warm welcomes and introductions from Assistant Head of School Celeste Herrera and Alumni Council President Joe Franken ’03, more than 100 audience members — including high school students — enjoyed hearing from illustrious panelists in “Broadway: From Page to Stage” on December 1 in Dalton’s Martin Theater. Moderator Michael Shulman ’00, a producer, began the conversation by saying that the process of putting on a show is a little enigmatic when art intersects with commerce. He observed that he and his fellow panelists are dreamers who all crave community.

Community was a recurring theme. Actor and Director Joel Grey P’78, well known for his award-winning performance in Cabaret, said that the value of theater in our community is that it can change lives, and it offers the possibility of people thinking differently. Actor and Writer Sharon Washington ’77 said, “I love the community that we, as artists, share” and she noted that when we share stories in community, we become less foreign to each other.

In talking about the process, Composer Julián Mesri ’05 talked about his approach to writing music and lyrics and then, to the delight of the audience, sat down at the piano (the same one he played as a Dalton student) and sang “Hasta Mañana.” Director Sam Gold ’96 said when he puts people on stage he wants to create something that reflects the real world: “I like theater that says you better sit forward on your seat. Something dangerous may happen. You have to be up for it.”

In discussing the role of producers, Arielle Tepper ’90, P’20, P’26, P’28 said her favorite part of producing is, “All of it!” She said that she enjoys putting together wonderful teams and believes that theater work “summons you” — those who love the work feel that they have no choice but to be a part of it.

Panelists shared memories about when they first fell in love with theater and what lit that spark including European art films, Annie, Angels in America, Two Gentlemen of Verona, and Death of a Salesman.

All of the panelists agreed that performing in real time is a vulnerable process. Sharon Washington ’77 said that the room has to feel safe for actors to do their best work. When she feels trust, she said that she will go to the edge for the director who creates a safe space.

Alumni Council President Joe Franken ’03 said, in his opening comments, that this year, the Alumni Council hopes to harness the power of the Alumni network to bring the community together. If this riveting programming was any indication, the Dalton community has much to look forward to!

Thank you to panelists Sam Gold ’96, Director of Fun Home; Joel Grey P’78, Actor, Cabaret, Director of Fiddler on the Roof (in Yiddish); Julián Mesri ’05, Composer and Writer of Favaloro: A Heart in Pieces ; Arielle Tepper ’90, P’20, P’26, P’28, Producer of Annie; Sharon Washington ’77, Actor, Richard III (Public Theater/ Shakespeare-in-the-Park 2022 & 1990 productions) and Writer of Feeding The Dragon; and Moderator Michael Shulman ’00, Producer of The Lehman Trilogy.

Scan to watch "Broadway: From Page to Stage":

The Dalton Journal

Dalton’s Class of 2022 Goes Forth Unafraid!

Dalton's Commencement ceremony returned to the Rose Theater at Jazz at Lincoln Center to celebrate the Class of 2022 — after a virtual and outdoor celebration the previous two years.

Following the traditional “Then and Now” slideshow, Senior Class Speaker Shravya Pant ’22 said that this year’s school t-shirt emblazoned with the slogan “House, Assignment, Lab, Repeat” was her favorite Dalton apparel. Of the three Dalton Plan tenets, Shravya said that House and the community it fostered were particularly meaningful to her. Shravya said House opened her mind to her fellow students’ character and helped members of the Class of 2022 find a community within their grades.

Commencement Speaker Joe Scarborough, co-host of MSNBC’s Morning Joe and best-selling author, said that his daughter, Kate, who attended Dalton’s First Program, would have been in the Class of 2022 if they hadn’t relocated out of NYC. He said that Kate is a better student and person because of her time at Dalton. Joe went on to say that as a young congressman, he followed his hero Bobby Kennedy’s directive to question initial assumptions.

He encouraged the Class to try to understand others, learn about their worldviews, show intellectual grace, and find common ground. Joe also urged the Class of 2022 to be open to dialectical thinking, where two things can be true at the same time, and work to find the middle path of seemingly impossible problems.

In her remarks, Interim Head of School Ellen C. Stein acknowledged that the Class of ’22 had witnessed many defining moments including Covid, race riots, and a contentious election. And while this group of students missed out on a lot during the lockdown, she noted that they returned to school with energy and enthusiasm; they were fully engaged, both curricularly and extracurricularly, and made an impact on the community. Ellen reminded the Class of 2022 that community is more than accomplishments: A community allows its members to express opinions without being judged. She encouraged this class to listen to the other side, probe both sides of the argument, engage in multiple perspectives, and be respectful of each other.

An especially poignant moment was a beautiful student rendition of the Electric Light Orchestra’s song “Mr. Blue Sky” in memory of Armando Zimmerman ’22. After moving their tassel from right to left, singing “The Dalton School Song,” and a spirited mortarboard toss, the Class of 2022 officially became Dalton graduates.

School Spirit Abounds at Homecoming 2022

Dalton community members gathered at Randall’s Island in September for the annual Homecoming celebration. The week-long excitement began with Spirit Week as High School students, faculty and staff participated in daily dress-up activities including pajama day, individual House dress-up themes, and Dalton sportswear day.

The community was abuzz from the outset as the Tiger athletic teams competed Wednesday through Saturday. The week of competition began on Wednesday with Cross Country racing at the Ivy League Meet and featured Thursday contests for Girls’ Varsity and JV Tennis. On Friday, supporters descended on the 87th Street Gym to cheer on Varsity and JV Girls Volleyball and participate in the annual Dalton Pep Rally.

The beautiful fall weather on Saturday set the stage for the fun-filled gathering at Randall’s Island which kicked off with a DJ performance and included both Boys and Girls Soccer facing Trinity and Football taking on Horace Mann. Off the field, attendees enjoyed fun runs and coach-led games for the younger students, while noshing on catered picnic lunches and the alwayspopular ice cream truck!

In addition to the school festivities, our generous alumni restaurant owners provided special offerings for community members at NYC restaurants Isabelle’s Osteria, Mel’s Burger Bar, and Quality Eats.

Celebrating his first Dalton Homecoming, Head of School José M. De Jesús remarked on the abundance of school spirit and electric energy inside the 87th Street Gym on Friday and at Randall’s Island on Saturday.

Dalton Celebrates Kindergarten Teacher Mary DiCarlo

Dalton community members gathered in the First Program gym on May 12 to celebrate Teacher Mary DiCarlo, who taught Kindergarten at Dalton for 49 years.

A long reception line snaked out of the gym as former students and families waited to extend best wishes to Mary. Attendees shared remembrances and feelings of gratitude. One parent recalled Mary’s reassuring advice to children worried about skills not yet acquired: “I can’t read!” “You can’t read YET!” Another said that Mary taught our children, but our parents as well, recalling Mary’s advice to “Fill someone’s bucket every day.” A former associate teacher said that Mary was the reason that she became a Kindergarten teacher.

Interim Head of School Ellen C. Stein said Mary inspired generations of Dalton Alumni, and Director of Admissions, K-12 Babby Krents said that Mary truly understood the little ones who “puffed out their chests” until they were bursting with confidence. Mary told her former students that they’re the VIPs of the evening: “You’ll always be my Kindergarteners, and I’ll keep you in my heart always.” The surprise appearance of former student Anderson Cooper ’85 topped off a warm and wonderful evening.

Girls’ Basketball Standout

Mary Ashley Groot ’23 Signs National Letter of Intent

In early November Dalton Girls’ Basketball Standout Mary Ashley Groot ’23 signed a National Letter of Intent to play basketball at Purdue University.

In front of a jam-packed room full of family, friends, teammates, faculty, and staff, Mary Ashley officially announced her intention to continue her basketball career at the NCAA Division I institution.

During the ceremony, Mary Ashley thanked the Dalton community for supporting her throughout this journey. She remarked how meaningful it was to share this special moment with them and appreciated their guidance in the decision to attend Purdue.

The reigning New York State Class C Player of the Year, Mary Ashley helped lead the Tigers to consecutive NYSAIS Championships, averaging over 24 points and 10 rebounds per game her senior year. The future Boilermaker had a phenomenal season helping the Tigers go 23-3 and finishing her high school career with 2,550 points and over 1,500 rebounds. She was nominated for the prestigious Miss Basketball New York and the state’s Gatorade Player of the Year awards.

In addition, Mary Ashley earned the distinction on a short list of 25 students in the country for the 2021–2022 Naismith High School Trophy Underclassmen Girls Watch List, an award given annually to the nation’s top boys’ and girls’ high school basketball players.

right: NYSAIS Champions 2023!

Code Lab ’22 Unites Big and Little Dalton for a Week of Coding and Collaboration

Coordinated by the New Lab, Engineering, and Science departments, Code Lab ’22 featured 180 High School students collaborating and coding with the First Program!

Working together, students from Big and Little Dalton engaged in a week of fun coding Assignments. Together they programmed drones, a robot, and a mouse robot and even built a marble-powered computer.

With each Assignment, students learned computational ideas, such as variables and conditions; shared problem-solving strategies; persevered when faced with unexpected bugs or challenges; and developed cross-divisional connections.

Students’ Canoe Building Project Underway

This semester a community boat-building project — a new, exciting endeavor on the 13th floor of 89th Street — began with High School students constructing a 12-foot wood-planked solo canoe. The project is part of the HS woodworking class but is also an open community-build for students and faculty during designated times. We will continue to post updates and photos on our website as the project takes shape!

Scan the QR code for video footage!

High School Thespians Shine at this Year’s Musical Urinetown!

Out & About in NYC

NYC serves as an extension of our campus with community members taking advantage of all our city has to offer.

Dalton Represents at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade

Led by Director of Facilities and Balloon

Captain Mike Mezo, intrepid faculty and staff members served as balloon handlers for the Pillsbury Doughboy float at this year’s Macy’s Day Parade. Great Job team!

A Colorful Afternoon

Organized by the PA’s Community Service Committee, Dalton students and families teamed up with Publicolor to paint the outside of PS 194 to beautify the school with fun splashes of color.

All Aboard!

First graders in Goodman House took a ride on the Staten Island Ferry as part of their transportation unit. They took in the impressive views from the fleet’s newest ferry — with its huge capacity of 3,600 people!

High School History Students

Explore NYC’s Food Systems

Students taking the elective “You Are What You Eat: A Critical Investigation Into Food Production, Consumption, and Justice” class and several members of the History Capstone Program explored aspects of NYC’s complex and wonderful food systems. At the Union Square Greenmarket they shopped for ingredients to prepare in Dalton’s Teaching Kitchen. Then they learned about the evolution of a unique food culture and its culinary and cultural significance at the NY Historical Society’s exhibition, “I’ll Have What She’s Having: The Jewish Deli.”

Pictured: The Pillsbury Doughboy; Mike Mezo with Diane DiMuro and Danielle Schnitzer from Dalton’s Business Office.

Dalton’s Youngest Students Explore Sustainability and the World Around Them

Each year, our youngest students explore sustainability and the environment, actively and creatively, and learn how they can promote a greener world. Guided by House Advisors and through the First Program’s robust service-learning program, students in Grades K-3 develop empathy, increased awareness, and a sense of shared responsibility.

To celebrate Earth Day, first graders hand-deliver reusable grocery bags, purchased with funds raised from a Walk-A-Thon, to a local grocery store. Last year, after learning about best practices for keeping the community and environment clean, students included “green” tip sheets with the grocery bags with ideas on ways to protect our planet.

Second graders are the First Program’s “Sustainability Superheroes.” Each fall, after learning how their daily choices impact the world, second graders teach fellow students about the importance of reducing waste. Each November, students launch the Green Challenge to track classroom recycling efforts using bins for garbage, paper, and plastic. If the correct items are in each bin, the class receives 3 points. Classes with a perfect weekly score get a shout-out on the Green Tip — announced every Friday morning over the PA system. On Earth Day in April, second graders lead a House 91 Assembly to celebrate the earth and explain how everyone can support sustainability. In addition, each House learns about a type of pollution (e.g., land, water, air, noise, and light) and works together, usually

by making a video or acting out a skit, to explain steps to take to reduce pollution.

Third graders head further afield to Clearpool’s Outdoor Education Center in Carmel, New York. Founded in 1901, the Clearpool campus spans 264 acres of privately-owned forestland. Students explore the Center’s ecological resources and extensive wildlife including its protected woodlands, conservation site, forest trails, lake, marsh, and stream system. The students also enjoy a sensory nature walk for an immersive nature experience.

Last spring, one 3rd grade House visited the Beczak Environmental Center. This was a happy return to an excursion (paused during Covid restrictions) — the entire grade usually goes in the fall. The Center is known for its impressive seining (i.e., fishing with a huge net) program, and students enjoy wading into the river to catch and release fish using a large net. After seining, the class returns to the classroom to record their data and analyze the different species they collected. The students also embark on a scavenger hunt to see how many Hudson River treasures they can find, encountering Spartina (i.e., marsh grass), driftwood, and seashells along the way.

First Program students enjoy partnering with the High School Wildlife Club which presents to the entire FP community at the House 91 Assembly. At the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) last spring, Kindergarteners saw the ocean animals and shark exhibit and then focused their research on a specific ocean animal. Afterward, High School Wildlife Club members met with the Kindergarteners to talk about their sea creatures and their habitats.

Whether in the classroom or on field trips, First Program students’ enthusiasm for learning about nature, the environment, and their commitment to finding solutions to address climate change is nothing short of inspiring.

From providing reusable bags to the local Morton Williams grocery store, to analyzing data following a nature preserve visit, Dalton’s youngest learners learn how they can have a positive impact on our environment.

Lessons on Sustainability: Making a Difference by Taking Action

By Deirdre Mingey, 7th Grade House Advisor, MS Social Studies Teacher, and MS Social Studies Department Chair and Andrew Preston, 4th Grade House Advisor

Middle School students and faculty routinely find ways to engage and serve the community around us through division-wide service learning opportunities. As with all things, the pandemic created a challenge for this aspect of our normal Dalton life: The Dalton community became a bubble, and we could not physically contact the communities just outside our doors. So, as a community, we looked inwards and investigated how we can serve right here at school, while hopefully creating positive effects for our surrounding communities. Well, actually, we looked up: The High School had earlier declared “Sustainability” the theme for Intersession and we liked it, too.

The Service Learning Department worked closely with the History, Engineering, and Science departments to run a series of lessons on sustainability, loosely using the theme of “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.” With the support of House Advisors, students examined school policies to see what further changes could be made to reduce our school’s carbon footprint (Grades 4–6), debated whether employees should remain at a company with poor environmental practices or work to change it from within (Grades 7–8), worked to reuse recycled materials to make art projects and feats of engineering, and learned about conservation and the effects of recycling.

Individual classes, knowing of our efforts, joined in as well. For example, the Middle School Dance Department offered older Middle Schoolers an opportunity to look into the Korean Pop artists in the group BTS and discuss how they use their art and influence to have a positive effect on climate change. One 4th grade House set up a table outside of Dalton East for an entire day to collect signatures for a petition and to facilitate letter writing, urging politicians to take action now to create a world with more sustainable practices.

A highlight of the Sustainability Series was the remote presentation from the Climate Museum. The Climate Museum is the first museum in the United States dedicated to the climate crisis with the mission to “inspire action on the climate crisis with programming across the arts and sciences that deepens understanding, builds connections, and advances just solutions.” The Service Learning Department had the wonderful opportunity to collaborate with Jasmine Wynn ’23 and Audrey Liu ’22, who had been working with the Climate Museum following their passion to address the climate crisis. Middle School students heard from Jasmine and Audrey and the Climate Museum on how they could affect the climate crisis. The presentation focused on how students can use their voices within the political spectrum to influence the decisions of their district’s politicians.

The sustainability work was a powerful reminder that to make a difference in the world around us, we do not need to look much further than the room we are in.

High School Intersession 2022: A Deep Dive into the Climate Crisis

Last May, high school students participated in the Climate Crisis Initiative. This was the culmination of a year-long focus on climate change, a generation-defining issue, and its relationship to society. Interdisciplinary programming included small group sessions led by Dalton faculty and outside experts, two inspiring keynote speakers, and field trips in NYC and beyond.

“Our Intersession programming provided students, faculty, and House Advisors with an opportunity to join as one learning community around our vital topic: Climate Crisis,” said Assistant Head of School Celeste Herrera.

Keynote Speaker Karen Washington, a community activist, and New York Botanical Gardens board member, kicked off Intersession at a topical HS Assembly on Tuesday. As an activist who promotes community gardens in NYC, Karen’s work has helped make NYC a better place to live. Karen educated the HS audience on the importance of sustainable food growth and best practices. In addition, she emphasized that supporters should empower those in need by asking what they want instead of what they need. Karen concluded her remarks with a call to action, urging the students to seek ways to help because homelessness and hunger are unacceptable.

At Wednesday’s One Book/One Day/One Community event, the entire division read essays from the book All We Can Save. After a book discussion in House, students chose two sessions based on their interests from 30 thought-provoking sessions. “The presenters shared their work as it relates to climate change and sustainability around topics such as fashion and textiles, regenerative kelp farming, eco-anxiety, government

transportation policies, food and identity, architecture and biophilic buildings, health, environmental justice and equity, business investment, and more,” said Director of Library and Information Services Christy Payne. Taken together, the wide-ranging perspectives and knowledge represented in the day reflected the diversity of topics and essayists from All We Can Save. Topics included “Emotional Resilience in the Face of Climate Distress,” “From Sandy to Ida: How NYC Needs to Step Up to Address its Climate Vulnerability,” “Does Climate Change Affect Us All Equally,” “Introduction to Ecomusicology: Music and the Environment,” and more.

The day began with Keynote Speaker Alexandria Villaseñor in conversation with Dalton Science teacher Katherine Kartheiser, Ahlay Hussain ’23, and Jasmine Wynn ’23. Zooming in after presenting at a recent NATO meeting, Alexandria spoke with students about her journey from curiosity to activism and encouraged students to be confident in bringing their activism to adults in positions to make change. She said to “always bring your authentic voice. We are the moral voice in adult spaces” and suggested reminding those adults in power that many of them have children and grandchildren to whom this will matter. Students and faculty alike were impressed by this 16-year-old activist and learning about her past work and future plans was inspirational to all.

On Thursday, students chose from workshops such as “DIY Climate Change Kimchi,” “Improv: The Ladies Who Ranch,” “Passive Housing Architecture & Movement Workshop,” or “Zero Waste Cooking.” Students also took to the field: A fungal foray in Central Park to forage, learn about mushroom diversity, and prepare mushroom-centric dishes; a “behind-the-scenes” scavenger hunt at the Museum of Natural History; an excursion to Governors Island to hear from Earth Matter about composting and a wide selection of other educational outings.

To close out the week, students gathered in the Martin Theater to see the presentation Hurricane Diane. This “explored how myth, complacency, and capitalism have contributed to the climate crisis and asks how much are you willing to give up to save the planet?”

In House on Friday, students debriefed and shared the impact of their experiences with one another. “We’re grateful for the many guest presenters who enriched our community with their presence and expertise,” said Celeste.

It was an eye-opening few days. Said presenter Jack Rusk, “Thank you so much for the opportunity and honor of speaking to Dalton students yesterday. They were an engaged and intelligent group of students, whose participation in the session added subtlety to the conversation and made it really fun! Heartening, for me, to talk to a group of young people with interest in the climate crisis. If one of my goals was to message hope to them, they messaged it right back.”

Giving Highlights 2022–2023

Dalton’s Annual Fund is Going Strong

After a historic $6.5 million Annual Fund last year, this year’s fundraising efforts are going strong. At this year’s parent volunteer kick-off at the 89th Street Cafeteria, Head of School José M. De Jesús thanked the Annual Fund volunteers for the essential role they play in the school’s Advancement efforts.

The Advancement office is working in partnership with this year’s Annual Fund Chairs Nandita Glazer, Nicole Sambur, Debra Singer, and Tracy Weber-Thomas, and the 85-person committee (and growing) from Kindergarten to 12th grade.

If you’re interested in making a big impact with a small time commitment, become an Annual Fund Volunteer! To learn more, please reach out to Annual Fund Director Colleen Grimes at cgrimes@dalton.org.

2021–2022 Scholarship Snapshot

Senior Parents Gather for Celebration

Senior Class parents gathered together in the new year on Thursday evening, January 26, on Dalton’s 14th floor to kick off the beginning of many celebratory Senior Class events, introduce the Senior Class Gift, and share fundraising updates.

Head of School José M. De Jesús thanked the Senior Class Gift Chairs Jessica Barkoff, Nandita Glazer, and Sandy Mancini for leading this effort with the help of the Senior Class Gift Committee: Hilary Addington, Melissa Beyer, Miriam Challenger, Ellis Wood & Peter Nakada, Kulsoom Saeed, Lori & Zachary Schreiber, and Tanya Taylor.

As a parent of a recent high school senior, José humorously commiserated with parents about having mixed feelings as their children approach the end of their Dalton student journey. He also shared that the Senior Class Gift’s thoughtful choice – “The Class of 2023 Endowed Financial Assistance Fund” – resonated with him personally as he received financial assistance as a student.

Volunteers are reaching out to fellow parents and hope that all Senior parents will support the Annual Fund and Class of 2023’s legacy gift. To contribute online, visit www.dalton.org/senior-class-giving, where you can indicate what percentage of your donation should be allocated between the Class Gift and Annual Fund. Questions? Contact Annual Fund Director Colleen Grimes at cgrimes@dalton.org or 212-423-5458.

left: Students visited the MoMA during Intersession as part of the Climate Crisis Initiative.

– 1:5 Dalton students received whole or partial tuition assistance

– Dalton provided $12.3 million in financial aid

Alumni Notebook

Alums Return to Campus for a Joyful Reunion 2022

The festive blue and white balloon arch was back in front of Dalton’s 89th Street Building for Reunion 2022 on June 3. Dalton’s Alumni Office was thrilled to see celebrants in person from Classes ending in 2 and 7 after last year’s virtual reunion.

In the Martin Theater, Interim Head of School Ellen C. Stein welcomed Alumni back to Dalton and noted that alums came from near and far, including 19 states and London. Alumni Council President Joanna Stone Herman ’88, who was completing her 3-year term, said she was happy to return to in-person Reunions. She thanked fellow Alumna Ellen C. Stein for serving as interim head of school for the year.

After the Alumni Chorale sang “Jerusalem” and all joined in for “The School Song,” the traditional close to the Martin Theater programming, Alumni dispersed throughout the building to individual class celebrations.

From the spirited get-togethers on our new 14th floor, to the 60+ person turnout for the Class of 2017’s 5th year Reunion in B06, to the Class of ’52’s successful hybrid (in-person + Zoom) approach, each gathering had its own unique flavor.

Planning is underway for this year’s Reunion on Friday, June 2, 2023! If your Class year ends in 3 or 8, why not get involved and join your Reunion Committee? Just let us know if you’d like to help by emailing alumni@dalton.org.

above, clockwise from top left: Class of 1952; Classes of 1957, 1962, and 1967; Class of 1972; Class of 1987; Class of 1982; and Class of 1977.

right, from top: Class of 1992; Class of 1997; and Class of 2002.

opposite right, from top: Class of 2007; Class of 2012; and Class of 2017.

For more reunion photos, log in to www.dalton.org.

Alumni DEI Committee

Hosts Discussion

“The Soul of Black Health and Wellness”

The Alumni Council Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Committee, with support from the Black Alumni Task Force, hosted an informative discussion on “The Soul of Black Health and Wellness” last February 2022 for alumni, current parents, faculty, and staff.

Last year’s Alumni Council DEI Committee Chair Wynter Lastarria ’11 moderated the event, focusing on the 2022 Black History Month national health and wellness theme. Tanya Leake ’88, certified health and wellness coach, instructor, consultant, speaker, and author, led the virtual discussion featuring Janel Coleman ’09, MSW candidate and health educator; and Dr. Bertram Strachan ’08, a pediatric dentist.

The theme for Black History Month 2022 focused on the importance of Black Health and Wellness. Some of the questions posed during the discussion were: What does Black Health and Wellness mean historically vs. currently? How can we embrace the past and provide light for the future? What is the single, most important thing we can do to reach, create a positive impact on, and recapture the ‘soul’ of Black health and wellness?

Alumni Council Hosts

Virtual Book Discussion with Former HS English Teacher

Andrew Glassman and Author Margot Livesey

By Andrew Glassman, Former HS English Teacher

The Alumni Council hosted an Alumni book discussion in April 2022 that featured The Boy In the Field by Margot Livesey. Former High School English Teacher Andrew Glassman led a discussion that included a Q&A with Livesey. The Boy in the Field was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year (2019) and an O Magazine Book of the Year. Here’s his report:

Recently retired, I was invited to plan a Dalton Alumni Discussion event. How could I refuse my former student, Joe Franken ’03, Vice President of the Alumni Council?

First, some background:

In the late ’80s to early ’90s, I taught reading electives on classic and recent fiction to 6th to 8th grade students at Dalton. A connection to Pen America helped bring in contemporary writers who treated students as people with complex feelings and sharp minds. At the end of one session, Ann Beattie exclaimed, “What great students! What a wonderful school!” Three years later, one of those students ran back to 89th Street from Barnes & Noble to say, “I just saw Ann Beattie’s photo on the jacket of her new novel. We met her! She came to our class!” He is now a writer himself.

In an especially warm session, circa 1989, Livesey responded to questions about stories taken from her debut volume, Learning By Heart. In Acknowledgements to The Boy In The Field, her ninth novel, I found this stunning gesture:

My thanks to the pupil at the Dalton School who, years ago, asked why the animals in my stories don’t talk. Very belatedly, this is an attempt at an answer.

Then came Joe Franken’s invitation. After many years, I wrote to Livesey through her publisher, inviting her to close the circle by returning to discuss The Boy in the Field, a novel focused on adolescents’ complex lives, and she immediately accepted.

In a virtual session, with alumni from 1954 to 2017 RSVPing and 15 attending, I opened by asking, how does a dog, who seems to “talk,” relate to growth in awareness among sensitive siblings, following their discovery of a boy left wounded and alone in a field they were passing?

Livesey spoke of her interest in “a life jumping the tracks, moving into dark shadows.” In their uncertainty, the three protagonists seek guides for their journeys to adulthood. The dog, with its finely tuned instincts for reading human feelings, becomes one of those guides. The protagonists

Livesey (cont.)

learn to follow instinct and intuition to help others and secure their own relationships.

Throughout the hour-long discussion, Livesey answered questions about character, setting, an art motif, philosophical models alluded to in the narrative, and her play on the detective genre. Did we close the circle opened decades earlier with the question about animals talking? Yes and no. Livesey did explain how she saw her characters’ reacting to their dog’s gestures. And yet, privately, Livesey indicates that questions from this recent event have stirred her again as she works on a new novel. Has the spirit of Helen Parkhurst become a modern muse?

Short Takes@Lunch: Dalton and the Court

Short Takes@Lunch, Dalton’s Alumni Speaker Series, featured an impressive group of community members with experience serving as clerks for Supreme Court Justices. Attendees enjoyed a riveting conversation detailing the panel members’ experiences and their thoughts on the appointment of new U.S. Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson.

Participants at the well-attended virtual lunch hour conversation were: Jesse M. Furman ’90, who clerked for the Honorable David H. Souter and is a Federal Judge on the Federal District Court in Manhattan; Daniel Herz-Roiphe ’06, who clerked for Justice Stephen Breyer and is the Senior Vice President, Finance, Operations & Technology at Priovant Therapeutics; Olatunde Johnson P’22 who clerked for Justice John Paul Stevens and is the Jerome B. Sherman Professor of Law at Columbia Law School; and Richard L. Revesz P’09 who clerked for Justice Thurgood Marshall and is the AnBryce Professor of Law and Dean Emeritus at the New York University School of Law.

Yale Law School’s Alfred M. Rankin Professor of Law Abbe R. Gluck ’92, P’25, P’25, P’31, moderated the discussion and is a certified expert in her own right. She clerked for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and recently worked for the Biden-Harris Administration as the lead lawyer for the White House Covid-19 Response.

The informative and timely session concluded with a lively Q&A with the engaged attendees.

Out On The Town with the Senior Alumni Committee

The Senior Alumni Committee organizes outings for Alumni (over age 65) to enjoy city culture. They recently visited exhibits at the Asia Society and The New-York Historical Society. Committee Co-Chair Marjie Cohen Scharfspitz ’59, who provided the following reports, says, “Seniors: We’d love to have you join us on our next adventure!”

Senior Alumni Committee Enjoys the Asia Society Exhibit — Rebel, Jester, Mystic, Poet: Contemporary Persians

I was deeply moved by the openness, beauty, and subtleties of the show “Rebel, Jester, Mystic, Poet: Contemporary Persians.” Because the Asia Society had no docents, I became the presenter during our Senior Alumni group’s visit last March 2022.

The works featured in the recent exhibit Rebel, Jester, Mystic, Poet: Contemporary Persians, are part of the collection of Iranian financier and philanthropist

Mohammed Afkhami. The show featured 23 Iranianborn artists across three generations, and the exhibition revealed the Iranians’ extraordinary histories and identities. Many of these artists live outside of Iran, with several working in the New York area. The word Persians was used deliberately in the title because it harkens back to the cultural identity of the artists, as opposed to the current complexities and hostilities toward the Iranian regimes.

Every artwork in this exhibit illustrates ingenuity, dexterity, and flair. In addition, each is thoughtprovoking — using humor, spirituality, contradictions,

or cynicism. The Persian artwork outside of Iran shows defiance, a refusal to surrender in silence. All of the art pieces were created between 1998 and today. The Iranian artistic climate in the diaspora, and even in Iran itself, has grown exponentially during this time. Currently, women own many of the 150 galleries thriving in Iran. After spending a few minutes in the beautiful gift shop, we came together at Brasserie Cognac East, just a block away, for lunch. The museum gave us lots to think about, while the brasserie gave us time to become reacquainted and reminisce.

Alums Meet Dalton’s New Head of School José M. De Jesús In Person & Virtually

All-Alumni Reception with Head of School

José M. De Jesús

Alumni from the 1950s-2000s gathered for drinks, food, and conversation on the 14th floor of Big Dalton for the All Alumni Reception with José M. De Jesús, Dalton’s new Head of School in early November.

It was an exciting opportunity for alums to meet José and to check out the renovated 14th floor with its Teaching Kitchen and Green House — along with classrooms with the best New York City views in the school!

Alumni Council President Joe Franken ’03 introduced José. To give alumni a sense of his daily activities, José shared a typical “day in the life.” This schedule included reading to 3rd graders, meeting graduates of the Prep for Prep program, working with the library team, and much more.

Another Dalton School Alumni Council Senior Committee Adventure: Curator-led tour of Black is Beautiful: The Photography of Kwame Brathwaite at The New-York Historical Society

The Senior Alumni Committee visit to the New-York Historical Society in late October provided a fascinating look at Harlem in the ’50s and ’60s through the extraordinary lens of Kwame Brathwaite, an influential activist for Civil Rights. The exhibit was entitled Black Is Beautiful: The Photography of Kwame Brathwaite

Our tour guide, Curator Marilyn Kushner, a scholar and a historian, talked about the enormous changes that emerged in Harlem, the influence of Brathwaite, his family, and a small circle of talented friends. Brathwaite’s son Kwame S. Brathwaite graduated from Dalton in 1992. Following the tour, we had a relaxing and enjoyable lunch at Storico Restaurant.

José shared his goals for the year — including a deep dive into the Dalton Plan’s past, present, and future — so that the school can execute the plan at the highest possible level. He shared an inspiring story of a young alum who credits “Lab” as the secret sauce to her success. He said he’s excited to work closely with our new Chief of Equity and Belonging Johára Tucker so that all students feel they belong and can be their fullest selves. José also explained that our new Director of Wellness Jenna Sumner is consolidating counseling, nursing, and learning support in one office to help us better anticipate and respond to student health needs.

José reiterated the importance of reconnecting as a broader community in common purpose. He urged Alumni to get involved — their engagement is key, and their presence matters.

Alumni Meet New Head of School José M. De Jesús at Zoom Gathering

Close to 40 alumni from across the country — California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia — joined the All Alumni Zoom to hear from José M. De Jesús, Dalton’s new Head of School on Tuesday, November 29.

Vice President of the Alumni Council Wynter Lastarria ’11, a Dalton HS English teacher, welcomed Alumni and introduced José, who shared his background and gave school updates. A former History teacher, José talked about how much he enjoys engaging with community members, especially having labs with students. José also spoke about the importance of Alumni connection and engagement with their alma mater

José provided an overview of his institutional priorities, including the important work being done at Dalton around DEI.

At the close of his remarks, José answered a range of questions — including what it feels like to be the first Head of School from the Prep for Prep program.

Dalton Hosts a BIPOC Affinity Gathering in Washington, DC

Dalton’s Chief of Equity and Belonging Johára Tucker hosted a gathering in Washington, DC in early January to connect with BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) Dalton Alumni in the area.

Alumni from the Classes of 1978 to 2018, who all live in the Washington, DC area, gathered at a local restaurant. Johára said that she enjoyed hearing everyone’s stories, and commented that among attendees there was lots of great energy, connections, and momentum to get further involved with Dalton.

Dalton is hosting BIPOC Regional Events across the country to help the school achieve its goal of having every community member feel like they belong and ensure that all voices are heard. Creating these affinity spaces provides an opportunity for BIPOC alumni to connect, engage, and deepen connections, which, in turn, strengthens our entire school community.

Head of School José M. De Jesús Hosts D.C. Area Alums Regional Gathering

The room was abuzz as an enthusiastic group of Alumni from the Classes of 1973 to 2018 joined Head of School José M. De Jesús, Head of School Emerita Ellen C. Stein, and Chief of Equity and Belonging Johára Tucker at Mission Navy Yard in Washington, DC on Monday, January 9.

Following Ellen’s welcome, José shared school updates, described enjoyable interactions with students, and talked about the essential role that alumni play in the school’s vitality. Along with the opportunity to meet José, Alumni were thrilled to discover so many other Daltonians living in the area — some even in the same field and the same employer. It was a wonderful way to kick off this year’s Alumni regional gatherings.

Chief Advancement Officer L.J. Mitchell, Director of Alumni Relations Samantha Koss and Associate Director of Alumni Relations Debbie Freeman also attended the gathering and provided administrative support.

from top: BIPOC Affinity Gathering, D.C. Regional Gathering

Dalton Connects

Alumni Gather Together for a Night of Networking at Barbuto

Monday night, November 7, marked the return of the first in-person Night of Networking event for Alumni since November 2019.

It was a wonderful evening and the perfect opportunity to socialize and meet fellow Alumni from the 1960s to the Class of 2022. Almost 70 alumni and guests gathered at Barbuto from industries that included advertising, arts, communications, consulting, education, entertainment, finance, government, health care, hospitality, law, media, music, non-profit, publishing, real estate, and technology. Alumni Council President Joe Franken ’03 introduced our new Head of School José M. De Jesús, who warmly welcomed Alumni and talked about his background.

Thank you to Joe Franken ’03, Alumni Council Vice President Wynter Lastarria ’11, and the Alumni Council’s Dalton Connects Committee and Chairs Arun Yang ’06 and Melissa Frey Levine ’00 for bringing back this signature event.

New Career Series for Dalton Young Alums Launches

The Alumni Council Dalton Connects Committee and the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Committee launched our new Virtual Dalton Connects: Young Alumni Career Perspective Series in early 2022. These small group conversations provide young alums with an opportunity to seek advice and learn about others’ experiences. Most sessions are recorded and posted on the School’s website under the Resources Page in the Dalton OnDemand section. Please email alumni@dalton.org if you’re interested in sharing your expertise with young Alums at a future session.

Graduate School: Alumni Council Member and DEI Committee Chair Wynter Lastarria ’11 was the first speaker and host of this new series in February 2022. She discussed the process of applying to graduate school and deciding whether this is the right choice for individuals.

Careers in the Impact & Sustainability Field: In late-February 2022, Zachary N. Goldstein ’01 shared his expertise and discussed careers in the Impact & Sustainability field within the context of his own professional experience.

Business School: This November Dalton Alumni panelists discussed their different paths to business school and addressed questions regarding the application process, finding jobs after business school, and other experiences from their respective journeys.

Alumni Council Member and Dalton Connects Committee Member Parijat Samant ’09 served as moderator for the panel, which included Michelle Katz ’06, Olympia Portale ’06, Tanvir Gopal ’09, Phin Lambert ’00, Eric Walpert ’09, Karim Hutson ’92, and Rachel Orol ’11.

Thank you to the Alumni Council’s Dalton Connects Committee and its Chairs Arun Yang ’06 and Melissa Frey Levine ’00 for hosting this event.

Medical School: A panel of Dalton Alumni shared their different paths to medical school at the Young Alumni Career Perspective Series on December 7.

Alumni panelists provided insight from their respective journeys. They addressed questions relating to Medical School with topics such as: are gap years recommended before applying to medical school, does the college you attended matter, are shadowing experiences helpful?

Alumni Council Member and Dalton Connects Committee Chair Melissa Frey Levine ’00 served as moderator for the panel with Emily Lebowitz ’08, Emily Mei ’17, Jeremy Orloff ’09, Rachel Kasdin ’15, and Brian Zhao ’15. Thank you to the Alumni Council’s Dalton Connects Committee Chairs Arun Yang ’06 and Melissa Frey Levine ’00 for hosting this event.

Sports

Alumni Reunite for the Annual Thanksgiving Basketball Game

More than two dozen alumni returned to Dalton’s Phys. Ed. Center to play in the annual Thanksgiving basketball game on Saturday, November 26.

The game featured players from five decades, with alums divided into two teams, youngsters and vets. From the outset, the game was tight, with Julian Schlesinger ’18 and Peter Haas ’20 pacing the young group from behind the 3-point line and Brian Cromwell ’19 dominating inside the paint. Michael Schlesinger ’87, Matt Inra ’02, and Julian Pavlin ’10 tried to keep the veteran team close, but in the end, the youngsters pulled away for the victory. Both teams celebrated with pizza afterward. Thank you to everyone who came out to play and who cheered on the teams from the sidelines!

5th Annual Alumni Varsity & JV Basketball Game Watch

Alumni were invited to attend the 5th Annual Alumni Varsity & JV Basketball Game Watch in February 2022 at the 87th St. Phys. Ed. Center. Over 20 Alumni spectators cheered for players competing against Horace Mann at the Girls’ JV Basketball, Girls’ Varsity Basketball, and Boys’ Varsity Basketball games. Alums then gathered post-game at Dylan Murphy’s Bar.

Alumni Leadership Updates

Thank you to Outgoing Alumni Council President

Joanna Stone Herman ’88 and Welcome to New Alumni Council President Joe Franken ’03

The Alumni Council celebrated Joanna’s three-year term as the Alumni Council President at the Alumni Council meeting last May. Incoming Alumni Council President Joe Franken ’03 thanked Joanna for all of her work keeping the Alumni connected during these challenging years. As Head of School José M. De Jesús recently shared with the community, “Dalton graduates go forth unafraid. But, thankfully, many return as active community members. My thanks to Joanna Stone Herman ’88 for her service as Alumni Council President. When we were unable to gather in person, Joanna was passionate about encouraging fellow alumni to take a moment simply to check in on former classmates; if they managed to increase attendance at one of the many virtual Alumni events…even better!” Thank you, Joanna!

A warm welcome to our new Alumni Council leaders President Joe Franken ’03 and Vice President Wynter Lastarria ’11. You may have seen Joe and Wynter in Alumni Blast videos or at one of the many Alumni events this fall. They are introducing new programming, including Dalton Connects’ career-related sessions to support younger Alums and encourage Alums to reach out to them with any programming suggestions at alumni@dalton.org.

Dalton Welcomes New Director of Alumni Relations

If you’ve attended any Alumni events this year, you may have met Samantha Koss who joined Dalton as the new Director of Alumni Relations last spring. Samantha previously worked at Hebrew Union College, where she was Director of Development, Eastern Region. Her past Advancement also experience includes Pace University and Allen-Stevenson. Before she moved into Advancement, she spent over a decade working as an HR consultant with APTMetrics. Samantha is an active volunteer for Hamilton College, her alma mater, serving in a variety of roles including Chair of the Hamilton Career Network (Education and Nonprofits). Samantha looks forward to meeting Dalton alums at various upcoming events. And a fun fact — Samantha also graduated from the Culinary Institute of America. She’s always happy to talk about food — especially desserts!

from left: outgoing Alumni Council President Joanna Stone Herman ’88, incoming Alumni Council President Joe Franken ’03, incoming Alumni Council Vice President Wynter Lastarria ’11, and Samantha Koss, Director of Alumni Relations

Alumni Council

Alumni Association Welcomes the Class of 2022 at an End-of-Year Luncheon

Alumni Council members welcomed the Class of 2022 to the Alumni Association at a well-attended lunch held in Dalton’s Library last May.

In attendance were outgoing Alumni Council President Joanna Stone Herman ’88, Alumni Council Vice-President Joe Franken ’03, P’34, and Council members Emily Mindel Gottlieb ’91, P’22, Wendy Foster ’81, P’22, Wynter Lastarria ’11, Nicholas Lechich ’06, Marjorie Cohen Scharfspitz ’59, and April Kim Tonin ’88, P’22.

Along with remarks from Senior Class Grade Coordinator (and MS Librarian) Roxanne Feldman, P’17, and Alumni Council leadership, Wynter Lastarria ’11, Claire Jiang ’20, and Lily Feldman ’17 shared their college experiences with the high school Seniors and answered their college-related questions.

Dalton

Celebrates

Alumni Class Officers at Spring Gathering

Dalton Class Officers, and those interested in learning more about the role, gathered on the Upper Roof at Little Dalton last May for an outdoor reception (photos above).

Along with thanking Class Officers for their efforts to engage with their classmates and providing school updates, outgoing Alumni Council President Joanna Stone Herman ’88 shared her perspective on the value of volunteering which she found to be gratifying and rewarding. Incoming Alumni Council President Joe Franken ’03 said that he was looking forward to adding programming including small gatherings where Alums with similar interests could meet and connect. Joe also introduced Wynter Lastarria ’11, as the new Alumni Council Vice President.

To learn more about the Class Officer role, please reach out to Director of Alumni Relations Samantha Koss, skoss@dalton.org, 212-423-5246.

Alumni Council Holds the 3rd Annual Open Meeting Highlighting Opportunities to Engage with Community Members

The 3rd Annual Open Alumni Council Meeting took place virtually in February 2022 with close to 60 alumni from the Classes of the 1950s–2015 in attendance.

Joanna Stone Herman ’88, who was Alumni Council President at the time, said, “We love to have alumni engage in the Dalton community in a meaningful way. We appreciate all of your efforts to continue to find ways you can connect and support other alumni to help make our Dalton community stronger than ever.”

Among the many ways to support Dalton include becoming a Class Officer, joining one of the Alumni Council Committees, including DEI, Events, Annual Fund, Senior Alumni (for Alumni over 65), Internships and Dalton Connects (our Alumni career networking task force) or offering an internship or informational interview to a high school student or young alum.

Joe Franken ’03, who was Vice President at the time, spoke about the importance of Alumni support for the school’s Annual Fund and announced The Parkhurst Giving Challenge in honor of Helen Parkhurst’s 135th birthday.

Celebrating Class Officers on the Upper Roof at Little Dalton last spring.

Class Notes

Why not stay connected with your classmates by sharing your news in Class Notes? We would love to know what you’re up to — marriage plans, new babies or grandchildren, career and grad school updates, retirement plans, travels, gettogethers with fellow classmates? Please send your notes and any photos (a high-resolution jpg is best) to alumni@dalton.org, and we’ll include your news in the next Connections magazine!

Class Officers

Enjoy keeping in touch with classmates? Consider becoming a class officer! Please contact Associate Director of Alumni Relations Debbie Freeman at dfreeman@dalton.org for more details.

1943

Barbara Beller Seligmann b.seligmann@verizon.net

1946

Ronee Herrmann: I am the first female Dalton graduate to attend medical school. Even at the age of 92, I am still working as a consultant. I have fond memories of Dalton — a completely different school from today. Very small classes and only girls.

1953

Ann

Salfeld Lewyn

annslewyn@aol.com

1955

Lynn Gottlieb Gilbert: These last several months have been some of the most exciting of my life. My portrait of Louise Nevelson, taken more than four decades ago for the Pace Gallery, was used by the gallery as the face of the Nevelson exhibition at the 2022 Venice Biennale. Art News wrote their lead editorial on the Nevelson exhibition. The first four paragraphs were about my portrait. It described how the portrait, plastered on posters all over Venice, had become the face of this year’s Biennale. To document the ongoing story of how this portrait has grown into its iconic status, a filmmaker went to Venice with me. In December, I was invited for the second time to speak at a large photography symposium in Turkey. The topic was “Roots”

because I’ve spent almost a decade documenting the interiors of Traditional Houses that no one had documented before. Every day, I learn and I’m challenged.

Anne Markham Schulz: I have dedicated my latest book to two Dalton teachers who influenced my career in fundamental ways — Rhys Caparn and Dora Downes. My book is entitled Late Gothic Sculpture in Northern Italy: Andrea da Carona and i maestri caronesi and was recently published in November 2022 in two volumes by Brepols, Turnhout, and Harvey Miller, London. This, as well as all my other books, centers on Italian Renaissance sculpture. I credit Miss Caparn, a sculpture teacher (1946–1972), for my unique appreciation of sculpture and Miss Downes, an English teacher (1934–1959), for the ease and pleasure I take in writing. Their instruction underpins everything I have done in my 60 years as an art historian, and I only regret that my tribute is so belated.

1956

George Liebmann’s new book Journal of Two Plague Years has been published. This is a collection of 70 op-ed pieces appearing in the Baltimore Sun, The American Conservative Online, the Washington Examiner, Chronicles Online, the Washington Times, and the Calvert Institute website in the two years beginning with the presidential election in January 2020. It reflects the views of a writer discouraged by the indifference to

constitutional values of former President Trump and the devotion to identity politics and moral nihilism of too many of his opponents. It includes articles on President Biden’s proposals, voting rights, abortion, the minimum wage, conservation measures, New Urbanism proposals, drug and criminal justice policy, various Maryland political issues, and reflections on past political actors, including William Howard Taft and Felix Frankfurter. The book is available on Amazon in paperback or Kindle. It is a sequel to Vox Clamatis In Deserto, a collection of 110 short op-ed articles written over a 25-year period encompassing the Clinton, Bush Jr., Obama, and Trump administrations; included are a few longer pieces on welfare, reapportionment, Palestine, and civil rights’ consent decrees. This collection is followed by 20 book reviews, including works by Gary Hart, Hillary Clinton, Gabriel Schoenfeld, Victor Klemperer, Donald Rumsfeld, Frank Costigliola, John Paton Davids, Constance Jordan, Richard Evans, and Jill Lepore, and three longer essays on the original design of the United Nations, the Kennedy administration, and the aftereffect of Naziism.

1958

Whitman Knapp wknapp@gtbinsights.com

Judith Markham Hughes: In 2016, after 40 years as a professor of history at UC San Diego, I retired from teaching. I continued to write, and in 2022, my tenth book, The Perversion of Holocaust Memory: Writing and Rewriting the Past after 1989 was published by Bloomsbury Academic. For the past 30 years, I have also been a psychoanalyst. My practice is now much reduced, but I still enjoy the work a great deal.

1959

Marjorie Cohen Scharfspitz marjorol@hotmail.com

1960

Edwin Stern ehs111@aol.com

1962

Ann Tanenbaum anntanenbaum44@gmail.com

1963

Mary Bartos marybartos@gmail.com

1964

Thea Volpe-Browne thealbrowne@gmail.com

Margaret (Peggy) Rosten Muir’s first children’s book is just out. Luca and the Bookstore Standoff (Author House) is a true story of her four-year-old grandson taking her to the local bookstore and refusing to leave because “We haven’t read ALL the books!” Many strategies were tried unsuccessfully. Getting this book out is a major check on Peggy’s bucket list.

1965

Joan Brodsky Schur jbschur@gmail.com

1967

Penny House pencilh@gmail.com

1968

Deborah Markewich Lazarus deborahlaz@aol.com

Nancy Roth Remington nancy.remington@gmail.com

Patricia Braun Silvers pbsny86@gmail.com

Peggy Rosten Muir ’64 and her illustrator/former student Lauren Almarode with the book jacket.

Candlelighting 2022: Patricia Braun Silvers ’68, Alumni Council member, lit a candle in honor of her 55th Reunion.

1969

Wendy Weingarten Miller wmiller528@aol.com

Annette Miller annettemiller@comcast.net

Carol Flaxman Richter carol.t.richter@icloud.com

1970

Garrett Glaser and his life partner, David Schmerler, recently celebrated 22 years together. They have returned to their new home in La Jolla, California, after a three-week cruise to North Africa, Portugal, and Spain, which Garrett described as “spectacular.”

1972

Ellen M. Iseman emitqo@aol.com

Jonathan Miller jonathan.david.miller@verizon.net

1973

Gita Mehta gmehta1148@gmail.com

Alan Forrest: I was on Antiques Roadshow. I received the first appraisal, was on camera for a long time, and then you see both me and my wife, Wendy, at the end of the episode in the feedback booth. It was so much fun!

1979 Kenneth Lane kglane@mac.com

Jon Ross: Since moving back to New York from Los Angeles a few years ago, I have been able to reconnect with many of my old friends from Dalton. I go to museums with Clark Wakabayashi, who lives in Brooklyn, and I see Karen Strauss when she is in from Arizona. Daisy Friedman and I recently enjoyed a delightful afternoon at MoMA. And Brad Roaman and I have gotten together for pizza and traded construction sagas — he just finished building his dream home on Long Island. When Aaron Mack is visiting from Minnesota we try to have tea and a catch-up. Recently, I visited Oren Clark in Rhinebeck. As a true city kid, I had never taken the train that far north—it’s a gorgeous ride along the Hudson. Kele Baker lives up there, too; she came into the city and joined me for lunch at a favorite spot, Via Quadronno, on the Upper East Side. And Bennett Levine treats me to a four-star restaurant experience on occasion.

I’ve also crossed paths with Neil Kornfeld ’81, Mike Melkonian, Madeleine Dreyfuss, Vanda Jamison, and Suzanne Sunshine Mendel ’81. Ken Lane, Alan Spalter, Scott Galin and I have a lunch date pending.

As a base of operations for me and my nonprofit, MicroAid International, microaidinternational.org — which rebuilds permanent houses for disaster survivors around the world — New York City is great. While I oversee our ongoing projects in Nepal, and between my own travels to the field, I’ve been enjoying the city for all the culture and other opportunities that exist here. It’s also a good place to do fundraising. Many Dalton alums are donors, including Jenny Blum, Hildi Rosenfeld, Jan Elsbach ’78, Michele Abeles ’80, Suzie Palitz, Jamie Lawrence, and Bart Elsbach —thank you. And fellow Daltonian, Rico Williams ’81, recently joined the MicroAid board of directors.

1974

Sita Sarna princesssita@me.com

1978

David Cremin david@frontiervc.com

Linda Saxl Minton purpleny@verizon.net

Ivy Abrams Silverman ivy.abrams@usa.net

Last year, I was in Mexico for five months building a house for an earthquake-survivor family, and two years before that I revisited Nepal to personally meet all the families we have helped over the last five years. It was such an honor to be given presents of fruit and flowers and blessings. It reminded me of the time in Samoa, where they made me a chief in the village where we were building canoes to replace the ones they lost in a tsunami.

As always, my Dalton education and connections inform my experiences… and follow me around the world. I will be in New York City for the next couple of months. One of the great little-known things to do here during the summer is lawn bowling in Central Park. Amy Farber ’91 is a lawn-bowling regular.

Alan Forrest ’73, and his wife, Wendy, Antiques Roadshow

1980

Stephen Hermanos stevehermanos@yahoo.com

Christopher Lee chrisleedalton@yahoo.com

Kathy Dicks McNicoll km1@dalton.org

Leslie Weingarten Singer lsinger@bhsusa.com

Michele Abeles works with the New York State Attorney General reviewing transactions for not-forprofit corporations. Her daughter is a freshman in college, and her son is a junior in high school. They both learned to drive last year.

Jason Abrams: Following his tenure at the State Department and United Nations, Jason joined Perry Gershon’s campaigns for the U.S. Congress. Jason is now looking for professional opportunities to indulge his passion for writing and editing.

Kayla Schwartz Burridge is a psychotherapist in New York, married to a Broadway musician, and has a 20-year-old basketball-playing son.

Melissa Eisenstat is living mostly in Colorado, teaching music and English and studying jazz piano.

Alex Epstein lives in Montreal and writes video games and loves it. He made a game called We Happy Few.

Lisa Hunter Epstein: Greetings from Montreal!

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I invite any of our other schoolmates to join me on the bowling green one of these weekends. I would love to catch up.

Jon Ross ’79 and Les Winter, a MicroAid board member, on the lawn bowling green in Central Park.

The Class of 1980 had a lovely gathering at Daniel Epstein’s home on April 30, 2022. Back row from left: Brad Peck ’80, Danielle Epstein ’80, Nola Lopez ’80, Kathy Dicks McNicoll ’80, Charles Garner ’80, Alison Levy Schlesinger ’80, Alex Epstein ’80, Melissa Eisenstat ’80, and Chris Lee ’80. Front row from left: Julia Kossack ’80, Amy Rappaport Koreen ’80, Kayla Schwartz Burridge ’80, Lisa Hunter Epstein ’80, Michele Abeles ’80, Lorraine Garcia ’80, Jennifer Low ’80, Jason Abrams ’80, and Leslie Weingarten Singer ’80. Not pictured: Michael Rosenfeld ’80

October’s gathering entitled, “Small Group, Big Fun” with members of the Class of 1980 at The Jewish Museum on Saturday, October 1. Left to right: Amy Rappaport Koreen ’80, Jason Abrams ’80, Kathy Dicks McNicoll ’80, Kayla Schwartz Burridge ’80, Chris Lee ’80 and Nola Lopez ’80

Class of ’80 — Lisa and Alex Epstein.

Danielle Epstein founded and runs Marble House Project, a multidisciplinary artist residency in Dorset, Vermont. In her spare time she makes art, designs houses, and spends a lot of time driving between New York, Vermont, and Sag Harbor where she lives with her partner and her two sons.

Charles Garner was thrilled to see everyone at the reunion. He lives on the Upper East Side where he’s been forever. His daughter is living in Detroit and working hard and life is good.

Lorraine Garcia: I received my MSW from NYU in 2016 and now live in Williamsburg, Virginia. I am a mom of a stunning and brilliant 23-year-old daughter who is a caring nurse and a 10-year-old Morkie. I am a mental health counselor at Health Brigade in Richmond, Virginia. Health Brigade was previously known as the free fan clinic and offers low-cost mental health and clinical services to the surrounding community. When I am not busy with these aspects of my life I still find time to sew and quilt and volunteer in my community.

Chris Lee: I am proud to be included in Pierogi 2000 Gallery’s Make Art Not War, a collection of artists, mostly from the Williamsburg, Brooklyn scene in the 1990s who came together in a show to benefit Ukrainian relief efforts. Check the website pierogi2000.com for details. I will also be featured in a book, Art in the Making , published by The Fisher Press later this year. Follow me @chrisleedalton on Instagram.

Kathy Dicks McNicoll lives in New York. She works at Dalton and loves it. She has been married for 31 years and has two sons in their 20s.

Laura Modlin launched Civilian Journalist in November and says that this new initiative includes products she created for self-guided environmental education using methods she learned as a journalist, as well as her nature photography prints. She hopes to inspire a new generation of environmentalists to go forth unafraid to create their own unique projects leading the way in areas of importance for the future. Visit her at civilianjournalist.com.

Amy Rappaport Koreen’s two oldest children are following in her footsteps and going into psychiatry. Her youngest is in business and all are living in the New York area. Her husband of 35 years is a dermatologist.

Julia Kossack: Looking forward to new adventures now that the kids are grown up! Please come visit me in California!

Jennifer Low is semi-retired and still engaged in scholarship and is living in Montclair and Manhattan.

Brad Peck is living in the city. He has two sons, one just graduated from Dalton a year ago and another son is a junior in high school.

Alison Levy Schlesinger is living in Manhattan, has two kids in college, and is working for a company that supports entrepreneurs who are primarily women and people of color.

Stephanie Tanner was recently selected for a 2022 Service and Leadership Award from the American National Standards Institute. Stephanie won the Maureen Breitenberg Medal for reducing complexity and redundancy in conformance assessment. As the lead engineer for the Environmental Protection Agency’s WaterSense program, she designed the process by which WaterSense labeled products are independently certified for efficiency and performance. The process she developed is now a model used by other voluntary labeling programs. Stephanie has also helped other countries develop water efficiency labeling programs and participated in the development of the international standard for water efficiency labeling. During her acceptance speech, she thanked her Dalton Physics and Chemistry teacher, the late Dr. David DeSantis, for encouraging her to become an

Lorraine Garcia ’80

Julia Kossack ’80

engineer. After graduating from Dalton, Stephanie got her BS from the US Merchant Marine Academy and MS from The George Washington University.

1984 Melissa Dunst Lipman melissa.dunst@warnermedia.com

Alan Pardee alanpardee123@gmail.com

Abigail Scheuer Atema abigailscheuer@gmail.com

Charles Simon charlesasimon@mac.com

Carla Van de Walle carla@vandewalle.us

1985

Stephanie Tanner

1981

Jonathan Weintraub weintraubjonathan@gmail.com

1982

Lisa Podos lpodos@yahoo.com

David M. K. Silver jdcsilver@gmail.com

Congratulations to Lee Dunst on his new job. He was recently selected by The Board of Judges of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York to serve as a Magistrate Judge for a term of eight years

Kate Feiffer had the honor of illustrating The Lamb Cycle: What the Great English Poets Might Have Written About Mary and Her Lamb (Had They Thought of It First) by David R. Ewbank, to be published on April 1, 2023, by Brandeis University Press. The rhyme “Mary Had a Little Lamb” is told in the style — and substance — of the great English poets from Edmund Spenser to Stevie Smith. So D.H. Lawrence’s Mary longs for her lamb as any woman longing for her lover, whilst T.S. Eliot’s Mary is recollected by an old man looking back on his life. Feiffer’s illustrations have been called “brimming with wit and wonderment.” For more information go to Kate’s website: www.katefeiffer.com.

1983 Peter Buttenwieser petermsa@hotmail.com

Marci Kenon coachmarcinyc@gmail.com

Joshua Olesker joshua.olesker@gmail.com

Adam Cifu: Pamela Geismar and I have collaborated on work for a podcast: The Clinical Excellence Podcast, sponsored by the Bucksbaum Institute for Clinical Excellence here at the University of Chicago. I am one of the hosts and Pamela, through her design company pamelageismar.com, did the art. Our first collaboration since our Peer Leadership group in ’84/’85.

1986

Jeffrey Bernstein jeff@simplysports.net

Jimmy Frischling jimmy@brandedstrategic.com

Leslie Abbey: I started an exciting new position this year as Chief Executive Officer of Hot Bread Kitchen. Hot Bread Kitchen promotes women’s economic mobility – particularly women of color and immigrant women – using New York City’s vibrant food industry as a catalyst. Housed in the former Food Network studios in Chelsea Market, we provide culinary training and job placement, incubate new small food businesses owned by women (we’ve helped start 250+ new food businesses in our 15 years), and work to improve culinary jobs. If anyone is interested in learning more or getting involved, please reach out to me at LAbbey@hotbreadkitchen.org. On the homefront, our son, Graham, is a sophomore at Boston College, and our daughter, Hannah, is a rising senior at Nightingale, and we’ve made it through the last two years safely, thankfully!

A.J. Jacobs visited the Dalton Senior elective “You Are What You Eat: A Critical Investigation Into Food Production, Consumption, and Justice” to discuss his work and the insights it provides into contemporary food systems and pathways. A.J. applied concepts

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’80

from his books Thanks a Thousand, Drop Dead Healthy, The Year of Living Biblically, and more as he illustrated the forces that bind us in an interconnected world. Thanks a Thousand details A.J.’s effort to thank every person involved in producing his cup of coffee; Drop Dead Healthy covers his mission to radically improve every element of his body and mind; while The Year of Living Biblically chronicles A.J.’s attempt to live a full year obeying the tenets of the Bible.

1987

Gabrielle Zaklad Levene

40 W 67th St Apt 3D New York, NY 10023-6231

1989

Erica Kornblau Katz ericaskatz@gmail.com

Michael Shuman michael@4f.io

Lili Rosenberg Siegelson lili@siegelson.com

1990

Doug Feinberg: Being a sportswriter for The Associated Press has let me travel around the world covering women’s basketball at the Olympics and World Championships. This past September I had the pleasure of visiting Australia for the FIBA World Cup and crossing that country off my bucket list.

The U.S. continued its dominance winning the tournament. As much fun as it was to cover the World Cup as one of a few U.S. based journalists there, the highlight for me was taking a morning trip to a wildlife park and meeting my new friend “Hoppy” the kangaroo. It was so cool to get to walk and feed and pet the kangaroos and take a photo with a koala.

One of the other joys of the trip was a chance to walk around Sydney Harbor and see the Opera House and view the Harbor Bridge as well as take a side trip to Bondi Beach. Finally, it was a small thing but cool nevertheless: There was a horse racing track across the street from my hotel, and I dropped by one day; it was neat to see the horses run in the other direction going clockwise instead of counterclockwise as they do in the U.S. Until next time….

1991

Emily Mindel Gottlieb emgottlieb@gmail.com

Loren Goldstein Mortman lmortman@equityny.com

Nicole DiGiorgio Orphanos norphanos@elliman.com

Elizabeth Planet: I live in Philadelphia now! My oldest son is entering his senior year of high school (we’re deep in the college application process), and my two youngest are entering 8th grade. I am a consultant to nonprofit organizations (more info at www.elizabethplanet.com), and I also own a little shop in our neighborhood in West Philly, Spruce Hill Provisions (on Instagram @sprucehillprovisions). We inherited a second dog a few months ago too — my cup runneth over!

1992 Abbe Gluck abbegluck@yahoo.com

Jerusha Klemperer jklemperer@gmail.com

Michael McCloskey michael2222@yahoo.com

Amy Kisch joined Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, www.ybca.org, as Chief Producer to lead the San Francisco Arts institution’s public programming, partnerships, audience cultivation, and long-term strategic development. Amy will work to reimagine its programs across visual arts, performing arts, film, civic, and community engagement — reflecting the diverse array of artists and communities they serve. Amy said that she is honored to take on the unique opportunity of working with artists and trusted community leaders in one of San Francisco’s most history-rich dynamic public squares. She could not imagine a more exciting platform in the Bay Area for creative interventions, civic engagement, and for artists to lead us through the most pressing issues of our time. Amy previously served as the Founder + Artistic Director of the Art+Action Coalition and Founder + CEO of AKArt Advisory. Among other major projects,

she was commissioned by San Francisco’s Office of Civic Engagement & Immigrant Affairs (OCEIA) to develop an arts-driven campaign for the 2020 Census to combat census-suppression efforts. In response, she developed Art+Action — a coalition of more than 100 private and public entities — commissioning more than 50 artists and trusted community messengers to mobilize constituents and winning an unsolicited Ford Foundation grant to expand the movement nationwide. Amy lives in the East Bay with her husband, 7-year-old son, and dog, Otis.

Lauren Lazare Ratner married Seth Ratner on September 10, 2022, at the Long Island Aquarium in Riverhead, NY. In attendance were her brother Marc Lazare ’88, Bridesmaids Rebecca Zackin ’92 and Elissa Ganz, Bridesman Graham Reed ’92 , Abbe Gluck ’92, Dylan Lauren ’92 , Daniel Laikind ’92, Barbara Feldstein ’92 , and Melissa Breitbart ’91.

1993

Andrew Fabian andrew.b.fabian@gmail.com

Marc Bamuthi Joseph: In September 2022, I had the great pleasure of returning to the Martin Theater to speak to assembled students, faculty, and staff at a High School assembly. The theater holds so many memories for me, and given that I now make opera and dance theater for a living, it’s literally the incubation space for how I’ve continued to vision the world. The focus of my assembly presentation was the role of dignity and creativity in a transformational future. That said, I think the kids mostly got a kick out of my references to the past, including pictures of me on the soccer pitch and the dance studio from 30 years ago. Having sat through a litany of assembly speakers back in the day, my primary goal was to survive the hour without creating the opportunity for a mass morning nap, and I can proudly report that I definitely cleared the bar, and even earned some raucous applause by the end of our time. Thanks to Randi Sloan for the invitation to give back to the Dalton community, and thanks to all the faculty and staff (and, of course, the spirited student body) who made me feel so welcome on my return to the building. Check out The Cartography Project on the Kennedy Center’s website.

1994

Elizabeth Topp liztopp@gmail.com

1995

Lauren Rosenberg Gershell lauren@gershell.com

Simon Gluck simonarigluck@gmail.com

Lauren Katz lkatz737@gmail.com

David Kleinhandler david.kleinhandler@cbre.com

Carla Murphy: Just sharing good career news in the hopes that readers want to connect. Starting this Fall 2022, I’m a tenure-track assistant professor at Rutgers-Newark in their undergrad journalism program. I’ll continue consulting as part of a small team that is evaluating the MacArthur Foundation’s Journalism and Media portfolio, and participating in efforts to grow our nation’s civic infrastructure. Academia’s a new step for me, so I invite all support, advice, etc. You can reach me at carla.m.murphy@gmail.com.

1996

Nicholas Suplina: Hi all! I’m currently living in Brooklyn with my wife, Amy; son, Ollie, 15; daughter, Tess, 12; and dog, Biggie, 36 in dog years. After stints clerking, in private practice, and multiple roles at the New York Attorney General’s office, I am now Senior Vice President for Law & Policy at Everytown for Gun Safety, www.everytown.org, the country’s largest gun violence prevention organization. I oversee our 50-state government affairs, legal, policy, research, investigations, and community impact initiatives. It’s tough but ultimately rewarding work, as when we passed the first major federal gun safety law in 30 years earlier this summer. The bipartisan bill was the result of years of effort and going to the White House to celebrate with the President was the highlight of my professional career. There are lots of ways to get involved, so don’t hesitate to reach out at nicksuplina@gmail.com to connect or catch up!

1997

Jonathan Lewis jlewis2k7@gmail.com

Rachel Altfest Maimin rachelmaimin@gmail.com

Stefanie Hirschtritt Ruch stefanieruch@gmail.com

Jennifer Kops Stemkowski jennik3379@gmail.com

1998

Ethan Bregman ethanbregman@gmail.com

Alexandra Certilman Kay alexandrackay@gmail.com

Jessica Levitas jlevitas@gmail.com

Andrew Martin mistermartin@gmail.com

Richard Rothfeld rothfeld@gmail.com

Michael Stillman mstillman@qualitybranded.com

1999

Anne-Carmène Almonord annecarmene@gmail.com

Sarah Mohr Fabian smohr80@gmail.com

Morissa Falk-Freedman morissa@gmail.com

George Suttles george.suttles@gmail.com

Sarah Mandel’s memoir debut Little Earthquakes is coming out in April 2023. A clinical psychologist and mother, she said that her goal is to de-stigmatize mental health conditions and provide readers with a guide, of sorts, for how to manage the inherent uncertainty of our lives: In 2017, I was diagnosed with stage IV breast cancer while eight months pregnant with my second child. In the span of a year, I went from pregnant and apparently healthy to metastatic cancer patient to miraculously achieving NED status, or “no evidence of disease.” While I was living through the crisis days, life had an unreal quality to it. But bringing words to that haziness

helped me emerge from the dissociative fog and gain clarity. Writing became a source of validation – my experience was real, those words upon the page were the story of my life. I could take the helm in managing my memories and create meaning from them. As a trauma specialist in my psychology practice, I recognized that I now had a trauma of my own. I wondered if the treatment I had provided for my patients could help me, too? In an experiment in healing, I embarked upon a trauma treatment called narrative therapy, piecing together my story and sharing my insights as a clinical psychologist along the way. My story is one of sickness, trauma, unpredictability, and pain; but, most of all, it is a story of healing. I’m so grateful for the supportive, rigorous, and well-rounded education I received at Dalton.

2000

David Alexander davidtalexander@gmail.com

Melissa Frey Levine melissakfrey@gmail.com

Alexis Feldman Olinsky alexis.feldman@gmail.com

2001 Jeremy Barr jerbarr@gmail.com

Ariana Cooper Berry ariana.cooper@gmail.com

Zachary Goldstein zachary.n.goldstein@gmail.com

Daniel Haykin dchaykin@gmail.com

Malcolm Hochenberg mhochenberg@proskauer.com

Lauren Alexander Jupiter laurentjupiter@gmail.com

Na’eema Thompson naeema.thompson@gmail.com

2002

Jennifer Neff Davidson jenniferneffdavidson@gmail.com

Sophia Hutson sophie.hutson@gmail.com

Jonathan Stein jonathanastein@gmail.com

2003 Michael Cooper mcooper@jd10.law.harvard.edu

Lindsey Counts lindsey.counts@gmail.com

Joseph Franken joseph.franken@gmail.com

2004 Amanda Soled Blechman amanda.soled@gmail.com

Christopher Cameron chriscameronx@gmail.com

Jessica Crystal jessicacrystal1@gmail.com

Jennifer Glickel jglickel@gmail.com

Lea Marin lea.marin@gmail.com

Matthew Mittenthal mattmittenthal@gmail.com

Jason Squire jasonmsquire@gmail.com

Stacy Mohr Walder stacymohr7@gmail.com

Julianna Wilson julianna.n.wilson@gmail.com

2005 Benjamin Cirlin benjamin.cirlin@gmail.com

Maxime Glass Harnik maximeglass@gmail.com

Erik Lindman erik.lindman@gmail.com

Kyle Koeppel Mann kyle@koeppel.com

Samuel Shikiar s.shikiar@gmail.com

Joanna McClintick: I’m so proud to share that I published a children’s book this year, called ’Twas The Night Before Pride, about a queer family getting ready to attend their local pride march and discuss the Stonewall Riots. If you’re looking for ways to talk about queer history with young children, please check it out!

Julia Pilcer Lichtenstein juliaplichtenstein@gmail.com

2006 Mallory Factor malloryfactorii@gmail.com

Nicholas Lechich nlechich@dalton.org

Julie Stein julie.r.stein@gmail.com

2007 Courtney Salzberg Berman courtneydberman@gmail.com

Jonathan Ehrlich jon.ehrlich@gmail.com

Brett Kantor bekantor@gmail.com

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Candlelighting 2022: Joseph Franken ’03, Alumni Council President, lit a candle in honor of his 20th Reunion

Samantha Greenblatt Lexton samantha.lexton@gmail.com

Ava Feuer McCartney avafmccartney@gmail.com

Allison Mishkin afinemishkin@gmail.com

Johnathan Pryor johnathanpryor@gmail.com

Arman Rogers armanrogers0015@gmail.com

Adam Savaglio adam.savaglio@gmail.com

Ashley Tien ashleytien121@gmail.com

Sarah Weissman smweissman@gmail.com

2008 Amanda Hemenway ahemenway@dalton.org

2009 Tanvir Gopal tanvirg@gmail.com

Melissa Urfirer Gottesman mugottesman@gmail.com

Isabella Hiigel ihiigel@gmail.com

Parijat Samant parijatrsamant@gmail.com

Elizabeth Angeles: I was recently named in the Hunter College NYC Food Policy Center “40 Under 40: The Rising Stars in NYC Food Policy.” You can read more at www.nycfoodpolicy.org.

Hunter Armani Cotton: I’ve been selected by the Panama National Team to compete in the FIBA World Cup qualifiers against the Bahamas and Canada.

Candlelighting

Marisa Kefalidis marisakef@gmail.com

Nicholas Ober nober@mac.com

Zachary Stone zstonezstone@gmail.com

Andrew Swift andrewwswift@gmail.com

Sarah Vallimarescu sarah.vallimarescu@gmail.com

Hunter Armani Cotton,

2010 Lily Freedman lilymirabellefreedman@gmail.com

Stephen Rutman stephen.rutman@gmail.com

Matthew Schorr matthew.l.schorr@gmail.com

2011 Samuel Browne sambrowne17@gmail.com

David Hamburger dsh4318@gmail.com

Erika Mitsui erikamitsui@aol.com

2022: Second Grade House Advisor Amanda Hemenway ’08 lit a candle in honor of her 15th Reunion

Class of 2009

2012 Taylor Hemenway taylorhemenway@gmail.com

Allison Swaap allisonswaap@gmail.com

Congratulations to Jeremy Allen, Chief Content Officer of New Slate Ventures, in West Hollywood, who was recognized in Forbes Magazine’s “30 Under 30” list in the Hollywood & Entertainment 2023 category.

2013 Blair Duncan, Jr. tdbdj19@gmail.com

Grant Goldman grantdgoldman@gmail.com

2016 Karina Shah karinamshah@gmail.com

Congratulations to Blu DeTiger, a musician in New York City, who was recognized in Forbes Magazine’s “30 Under 30” list in the Music 2023 category.

Ashley LaLonde recently joined the cast of the hit Broadway National Tour of Hamilton. In the tour, she covers all three Schuyler Sisters: Eliza, Angelica, and Peggy/Maria. Performing in Hamilton has been a dream for Ashley since she first saw the show on Broadway while a Senior at Dalton. She even performed a rendition of the Hamilton song Satisfied with her Dalton a capella group, Sweet ’N Low. Ashley travels with her husband, Noah Reimers, whom she met as an undergraduate at Harvard University.

2014 Tejashree Gopal tejashreesg@gmail.com

Colette Midulla cmidulla@gmail.com

2015 Andrew Eaddy andrewjames.eaddy@gmail.com

Andrew Milich is the co-founder and CEO of Skiff Mail (skiff.com), which is a privacy-first secure email service and features a more private and secure Gmail alternative for communication and collaboration. Andrew started Skiff with his Stanford classmates over two years ago, and the Skiff team has grown to over 20 people today. The company has been written up in The Verge, Fast Company, and TechCrunch. Congratulations to Andrew, who has been recognized in Forbes Magazine’s “30 Under 30” list in the Consumer Technology 2023 category.

2017 Julia Martin martj17@hotmail.com

Josephine Shapiro josephineshapiro@mac.com

Antonia Hellman: This past November, I had the pleasure of returning to Dalton as a middle school assembly speaker. Although nearly 10 years have passed since I was a middle schooler myself, when I got up on that stage, it felt like I’d never left (in both a comforting way and also a don’tmess-this-up-or-else-it’ll-be-really-embarrassing way). I spoke to the students about my journey to becoming a start-up founder, taking it all the way back to the Little Dalton Post Office in first grade. I walked the audience through the various projects I did as a kid and how lessons learned from each of them have turned me into the

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Candlelightiing 2022: First Program Librarian Jordy Samuels ’13 lit a candle in honor of her 10th Reunion.

Ashley LaLonde ’16 is touring as a cast member of the musical Hamilton

entrepreneur I am today. Truthfully, my goal was to fill as much time as possible to avoid the awkward silence that accompanies a lack of questions. (In my time as a student, I had seen that happen many, many times.) But as I concluded my final slide and braced myself for crickets, hands flew up around the entire auditorium. The questions from these 6th, 7th, and 8th graders were so relevant, insightful, and funny. It was clear that they’d been paying close attention the whole time, which is something I can’t say about 90% of the adults I talk to regularly. I was thoroughly impressed. And even though I wasn’t able to answer every question before assembly ended, as I walked around the school afterward, middle schoolers didn’t hesitate to stop me in the hallways to ask their lingering questions. If anyone reading this would like to learn more about my talk, I wrote a little article about it in Toucan Events at www.toucan.events.

2018 Ryan McCormack ryan.mccormack2000@gmail.com

Marco Paz-Solano paz.marco.p4p@gmail.com

Piper Williams piperw1@icloud.com

2019 Emi Carpenter emicarpenter2023@gmail.com

2020 Phoebe Cahill cahillphoebe8@gmail.com

2022

Congratulations to violinist Isabella Marquez on winning a Grammy Award for “Best Orchestral Performance” with The New York Youth Symphony! Isa and her bandmates became the first youth orchestra ever to win a Grammy.

Weddings

Caroline Gosse Elmendorf ’80 to Rick Harman

October 8, 2022

Hillary Rush ’91 to Daniel James Bell

January 10, 2022

September 10, 2022

August 5, 2022

Lauren Lazare Shell ’92 to Seth Ratner

Jon Stein ’02 to Lauren Gubkin

Weddings (cont.)

Current and Former Faculty and Staff

René

November

Brette Tannenbaum ’03 to Jeff Recher

October 15, 2022

Tash Neal ’04 to Chelsea White July 30, 2022

Photo: Clean Plate Pictures/ @cleanplatepictures on Instagram

Elizabeth Angeles ’09 to Michael Barrientos August 27, 2022

Jilly Horowitz ’13 to Walt Laws-MacDonald ’11

June 25, 2022

Sofia Ranalli ’12 to Zach Taylor October 1, 2022

Ashley Marie LaLonde ’16 to Noah Fitzpatrick Reimers February 5, 2022

Jiménez (Staff) to Anahis Paulino

11, 2022

Maggie Matos (Former Staff) to Hugh Thornton (Former Faculty) January 15, 2022

Babies

Lily Jane Saliterman

June 29, 2022 to Lara Crystal ’99 and Robert Saliterman

Jayden Amias Holder Mars

April 22, 2022 to Tameir Holder-Mars ’04 and Deshaun Mars ’04

Mia Simone Underberg

October 16, 2022 to Rachel Bring ’05 and Andrew Underberg

Penelope Belle Schoppmann

Isla Naftali Goldstein

March 15, 2022 to Zachary Goldstein ’01 and Alexandra Maguire Goldstein

Benjamin Lavi Nauheim

July 5, 2022 to Rachel Lavipour ’04 and Daniel Nauheim

October 7, 2022 to Elana Brynes Schoppmann ’05 and Brenton Schoppmann

Eve Aurora Collins

April 11, 2022 to Sophie Hutson ’02 and Timothy Collins

Margot Jane Mittenthal

August 23, 2022 to Matthew Mittenthal ’04 and Laura Nahmias

Romy Alene Yehuda

January 13, 2022 to Zoey Orol ’06 and Jonathan Yehuda

Charles Wyatt Cooper

April 20, 2022 to Michael Cooper ’03 and Katelyn Cooper

Charlotte Xu Cohen

October 8, 2022 to Chenni Xu ’04 and Chad Cohen

Lev Gideon Saltzman

August 7, 2022 to Briana Borenstein Saltzman ’07 and Gabe Saltzman

Charles Wyatt Cooper with big sister Violet

Babies (cont.)

Eddie Burke

August 31, 2022 to Sarah Weissman ’07 and Arthur Burke

Charles Wes Gottesman

July 31, 2022 to Melissa Urfirer Gottesman ’09 and Benjamin Gottesman

Thomas Martin Boyd

July 28, 2022 to Rory Boyd (Faculty) and Clara Spera

Tyler Brunson Quinn

Asher William McCartney

July 22, 2022 to Ava Feuer McCartney ’07 and Daniel McCartney

Luca James Panek

July 2, 2022 to Gabriel Panek ’09 and Devon Lawrence

June 17, 2022 to Kate Quinn (Faculty) and Timothy Quinn

John Ignatius Rossi

Lily James Savaglio

May 26, 2022 to Lindsay Levine ’07 and Adam Savaglio ’07

Annabelle Heilbronn

September 27, 2021 to Danielle Levin Heilbronn ’08 and Arthur Heilbronn

Faculty

Kian Elias Balter

May 28, 2022 to Lemor Balter (Staff) and Adam Balter

January 24, 2022 to Kate Rossi (Former Staff) and Gabe Rossi

Machari Llewelyn Zachery

March 4, 2022 to André Machari Zachery (Former Faculty) and Candace Thompson-Zachery

Memoriam

Alumni

Beth Goldberg Berne ’43

May 5, 2022

Rosalind Roth Steiner ’43

November 1, 2022

Lois Richards Broido ’48

May 10, 2022

Lynn Langman Lilienthal ’59

October 30, 2022

Sister of Betsy Langman Schulberg ’57 and Deborah Langman Lesser ’63

Virginia Bergman Edelman ’52

July 30, 2022

Mother of Vicki Edelman-Tate ’75, Richard Edelman ’78, and Catherine Edelman ’80

Roger Loud ’52

April 29, 2022

Brother of Margaret Loud Faron ’42*

Anita Kaskel Roe ’52

February 28, 2021

Hilary Paley Califano ’57

January 27, 2022

Shari Ostow Friedman ’46

February 21, 2020

Jane Connell ’60

February 25, 2021

William Rapf ’64

April 3, 2022

Brother of Joanna Rapf ’59 and Geraldine Rapf Van Dusen ’61

Todd Walker ’71

September 2, 2022

Brother of Wendy Walker ’68

Alain Baudry ’78

October 30, 2022

Brother of Dominique Baudry ’81

Jessica Zwaska ’94

May 9, 2022

Ariel Campbell ’05

March 5, 2023

Current Parent

Eric Yellin

January 10, 2022

Husband of Rosadel Yellin

Father of Griffin Yellin ’24

Former Faculty/Staff

Adele Bildersee

July 18, 2022

Ashley Bryan

February 4, 2022

Sondra Feig

March 30, 2022

Jane Rohan Kloecker

May 30, 2022

Sheila Lamb

December 21, 2022

Mother of Andrea Travaglia ’74 and Maya Travaglia ’77

Malcolm Thompson

September 8, 2022

Husband of Janet Thompson and Father of Aitken ’85, Webster ’85, and Geordie ’88

*deceased

Connections makes every effort to verify names, dates and other information in Class Notes. We apologize for any inaccuracies.

Dalton needs you... now more than ever!

Support Dalton’s 2022–2023 Annual Fund today.

Helen Parkhurst’s progressive Dalton Plan — with House, Lab, and Assignment continues to meet the evolving needs of our students as our society experiences seismic changes. Within this visionary framework, our teachers inspire academic excellence with a commitment to new ideas and fresh perspectives.

With your generous support we can provide financial assistance to talented students, professional development to foster innovative teaching, enriching arts and athletic programs, and a range of student extracurriculars all for a well-rounded Dalton education.

Your gift to the Annual Fund 2022–2023 helps Dalton prepare students to “go forth unafraid.”

To make your gift, please scan the QR code below, use the enclosed postage-paid envelope, or donate securely online at www.dalton.org/makeagift. Dalton’s fiscal year ends on June 30, 2023.

For more information about the Annual Fund, contact Colleen Grimes, Director of the Annual Fund, 212– 423 – 5458 or cgrimes@dalton.org.

Thank you!

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Dalton Celebrates the Lunar New Year 2023

The Dalton community enjoyed a week of assemblies, workshops, and activities in the lead-up to Lunar New Year 2023. Performances by award-winning acrobats and musicians dazzled students, culminating in a gathering of about 300 community members in the cafeteria for dumpling making, sugar painting, games, and refreshments!

TheDaltonSchool

108 East 89th Street New York NY 10128–1599

www.dalton.org

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Parents of Alumni

If your child no longer maintains a permanent address at your home, please notify the Alumni Office with the correct mailing address: 212–423–5307 or dfreeman@dalton.org