The Green Vale School 2023 Centennial Book Preview

The Best Endures 100 Years of The Green Vale School

Copyright © 2023 The Green Vale School ISBN: 979-8-218-17483-5 Writer: Christine Foster Designer: Good Design LLC Printer: GHP Media Cover painting: Barbara Ernst Prey P’05 ’07 Watercolor on paper, 20"x10", 1999

Dedication. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Preface. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 CHAPTER 1

A Century of History ����������������������������������������������� 12 CHAPTER 2

In the Classroom.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Milestone Events. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 Trips Away from Green Vale. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Integrating Technology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 Life Beyond Green Vale. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 CHAPTER 3

Contents

Sports & Outdoor Fun �������������������������������������������� 58 Blue-Gold Day. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 Fun in the Snow.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 CHAPTER 4

The Arts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 Leaving a Permanent Mark: Graduation Tiles ��������������������������������������� 82 Fifth Grade Boat Construction and Race �������������������������������������������� 86 Lessons from the Stage. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88 CHAPTER 5

Community. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94 Dining Together.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106 Learning to Be of Service. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108 Diversity and Inclusion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110 School Honors and Prizes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112 Saying Goodbye: A Green Vale Graduation ������������������������������������������ 114 A Mission into the Next Century ���������������������������������������������������� 116 Sustainability. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118 CHAPTER 6

Looking to the Future ������������������������������������������ 122 Appendix. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130

“

She hoped to teach us two things: she hoped to teach us math, and she hoped to teach us that life would give us the same problems in different forms or disguises until we solved them and learned from them. Once we solved those problems, they would become tools to solve future problems.”

—Jay Teagle Keith ’63, describing legendary math teacher Ruth Deakins, whose impact is emblematic of a Green Vale teacher

THE BEST ENDURES

Dedication This book is dedicated with boundless gratitude to a century of Green Vale teachers. It is they who have built — and continue to build — the true legacy of this School.

A bucolic campus, sound governance, generous donors, and supportive parents are undeniable blessings that Green Vale has enjoyed in abundance since 1923. The continual reliability of these elements has created an environment where teachers can truly shine, working their magic to shape lives while children are most impressionable.

Green Vale teachers care as much about each child’s overall intellectual, social, and emotional development as they do about getting through the year’s curriculum and imparting academic content. This is why graduates who go on to attend the world’s finest schools at the highest levels consistently credit their Green Vale years with a genuine head start. This is why the eighth graders, when asked shortly before graduation what they will miss most about GVS, nearly unanimously cite “the teachers.”

On behalf of the Board of Trustees and all of the trustees and parents who have come before, we thank all Green Vale teachers, past, present, and future.

Jesse Dougherty, Ed.D. Head of School

Christopher L. Garcia President, Board of Trustees

OPPOSITE 2022 Shayla Durrett ’24 and Dylan Ahern ’24 with Head of School Jesse Dougherty THIS PAGE Green Vale teachers over the years, including Ruth Deakins (inset) have touched the lives of thousands of students.

DEDI CAT I O N

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THE BEST ENDURES

Preface This book represents an extensive collaboration among people

• Carlyle Coash, Bill Simonds ’58, and Christine Benson Pell ’60:

committed to bringing Green Vale’s history to life using primary

Led by Headmaster Coash during the final years of his tenure,

documents, secondary reporting, and firsthand recollections

this team compiled most of the content, research, and editing to

incorporated as much for their spirit as for their accuracy.

cover the 25 years between Mag Anthony’s history and a revised

Everyone involved felt the importance of commemorating

book for the 75th anniversary in 1998 under the leadership of

Green Vale’s first century with something meaningful, timeless,

Stephen H. Watters.

and worthy of the time, treasure, and trust given so generously to this exceptional school.

• Arianne O’Kane: This former Parents Association President and

All of this is easier said than done. Between a fire destroying

chair of the School’s centennial effort took special interest in

some records, the move toward digital documentation leading

unearthing, preserving, and organizing the School’s archives,

to fragmented, individualized storage systems, and the reality

both for this project and for posterity. Her research adds signif-

that the School has not always maintained pristine archives, plus

icant depth to the earlier accounts, especially of the School’s

the daunting time span of 100 years, chronicling GVS history is a

founding and earliest years.

nonlinear, often serendipitous form of research.

While each chapter has been subjected to multiple reviews and

• Stephen H. Watters and Anne Bailey Watters: The former

fact-checking, we can make no claim to the accuracy of every

headmaster and admissions director/school psychologist who

statement. The passage of time and individual points of view add

retired in 2015 were eager to assist with lengthy interviews and

subjectivity to some recollections. We have made every effort

helpful documentation covering their 20-year tenure.

to reflect the School’s history accurately and fairly, and assume responsibility for any errors or omissions.

• Christine Foster, Gaby Hoffman, Sarah Dupuis, and Bess Ensinger:

The work of this book was storytelling, rather than reporting.

This exceptional team from Good Design signed on to carry out

And the continuity of Green Vale’s story is resounding as the same

the writing and design of this book with little more than a year

sentiments are repeated almost regardless of decade, despite

of lead time. Christine is now a leading authority on Green Vale,

constant and purposeful evolution in policies and programs

effortlessly grasping the consistent threads in what disparate

during every era of leadership.

interviewees shared about the School. They kept this massive

Several people merit special mention based on exceptional

project on schedule, on point, and always enjoyable with their

contributions without which this undertaking would have been

shared enthusiasm and openness to “Oh, just one more thing!”

compromised. The book’s creators and readership owe gratitude to: • We also thank our friends at Rippowam Cisqua School and • Magdelaine Salvage Anthony ’32: As an alumna, parent, and board member, Mag was charged in the late 1960s with writing

New Canaan Country School who shared wisdom from their own centennial celebrations and books.

a history of Green Vale to commemorate its first 50 years. We echo the sentiments expressed in the preface to the 1998/75th

• Special thanks to maintenance staffer Charlie Avram for masterfully

anniversary edition: “Mag’s research and her delightful writing

opening a rusted-shut file cabinet full of priceless early records.

style can only be summarized in this edition, but we thank her deeply for making our task so much easier and more enjoyable.”

Allison Pell Shea Director of Marketing & Communications

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THE BEST ENDURES

The following individuals shared memories, offered original archival photographs or other content, and/or assisted with editing and fact-checking: CURRENT AND FORMER ALUMNI AND PARENTS Natasha Austin ’89 Paul D. Fowler ’59 Joanna Shea Backus ’87 John N. Fredericks ’88 Theodore Baehr ’60 Elena Benson Ganzenmuller ’57 Ashley Banker ’99 Elbridge T. Gerry, Jr. ’47 Joseph W. “Duke” Barnett III ’86 Ripley D. Hartmeyer ’06 Sophie Benjamin ’22 Nancy Ann Toher Hawkins ’73 Nick Berens ’89 Victoria Pool Holm ’01 Komal Bhargava ’96 Susan Huntington ’57 Helen Michalis Bonebrake ’76 Harriet Jones ’14 Harold W. Bost II ’83 Kelly Florio Kasouf ’96 Gib Chapman ’75 Jay Teagle Keith ’63 James F. “Curt” Curtis III ’57 Allison Trani Kellen ’84 Trish Constance D’Anna ’93 Mimi Colgate Kirk ’54 Amory de Roulet ’02 Daria Kotlarchuk ’92 Linda Vander Poel Duryea ’62 O’Donnell Lee ’92 Jennifer Pennoyer Emerson ’65 Malcolm MacKay ’55 Katharine Emmet ’61 Lizzie McLanahan

Ashley Gilmor Myles ’88 Joanne Forman Otto ’56 Haven N.B. Pell ’59 Peter J. Pell ’56 Henry Reeder ’53 Nick Remsen ’03 Peter Robinson ’66 Megan Duryea Scott ’87 Judith Tabler ’62 Harold Talbot ’50 Ines Tamaddon ’06 Trevor Taylor ’00 Walter C. Teagle ’64 Patsy Warner Catherine “Cackie” Bostwick Wilson ’72 Derick B. Wilson ’84 Samuel A. Winkler ’19

BELOW School history booklets compiled for the 50th and 75th anniversaries INSET Author Magdelaine Salvage Anthony ’32

CURRENT AND FORMER FACULTY, STAFF, AND ADMINISTRATION Narinder Bhalla Liz Remsen Dee Dee Copp Karenn Ressa Missy Crisp Julie Rooney Theodora Dellicicchi Alexandra Shaheen Lynn Ely Dixon ’87 Bill Simonds ’58 Chelsea Dougherty Anne Tewes Jesse Dougherty Elyce Vuernick Valerie Field Heather Wagner Kelly Flink Stephen H. Watters Linda Gardiner Dr. Anne Bailey Watters Kelly Gelles Cheryl Webb Novlyn Hamilton Peter Zaloom Billy Hiss Cathy Iannotta Chloe Johnson Susan Jones Joanne Pappas

P R EFAC E

9

CHAPTER

A Century of History n October 1919, Madeline Borland Pell and a group of other young mothers pushed aside a green baize table in the billiards room of her home on Jericho Turnpike in Old Westbury and made space for seven kindergarteners to learn.

Mrs. Pell and her friends almost certainly could not have imagined it, but their determination to provide their children with an excellent education was the start of what would become The Green Vale School. The themes that define Green Vale 100 years later were visible even in those earliest years: dedicated faculty, establishing and upholding traditions that connect students to one another and to the School, and a highly involved parent community. As the School’s eventual motto says, Optima Durant, or “The Best Endures.”

This motto articulates the founders’ aspirations, borne out in the character of Green Vale to this day. The founding vision laid the groundwork for the wise choice of site, sound financial management, rich traditions, and extraordinary retention of excellent faculty, surrounded by an institutional commitment to developing character alongside intellect. This book explores each of those threads that woven together created this beloved school.

PREVIOUS SPREAD 2023 The main building, adorned with banners to commemorate the centennial school year LEFT Sketch of the original plans for a new school on the North Shore of Long Island

C H A PT ER 1 \ A C ent u ry of H istory

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THE BEST ENDURES

The Earliest Years Madeline Borland Pell and Clarence Cecil Pell’s journey was archetypal of the wave of well-heeled families who moved to the North Shore just after World War I. This was the era when the wealth of the region exploded, earning it the moniker the “Gold Coast.” F. Scott Fitzgerald was renting a house in nearby Great Neck when he wrote about the Jazz Age in The Great Gatsby.

After marrying in New York City in 1910, Clarence, a stockbroker, and his bride relocated by 1919 to Old Westbury, then bucolic horse country criss-crossed by unpaved roads.

The Pells were not alone. The population of Nassau County increased by 50 percent between 1910 and 1920. Many of the newcomers were attracted by “desirable wooded areas and attractive landscapes” as described by Nassau County historian Edward J. Smits in a 1999 New York Times story.

Once these New York refugees arrived, however, the local school options struck them as lacking. These were people for whom education mattered. Most of them enjoyed independent school educations themselves, and the men, at least, were also college graduates — highly unusual at a time when just 3 percent of Americans had university degrees. Mr. Pell, who attended Pomfret School and Harvard College, had high aspirations for his children, Clarence Jr., who was turning 8 in October 1919 and

INSETS Portraits of Madeline Borland Pell and Clarence Cecil Pell, whose home in Old Westbury housed a kindergarten that would grow into The Green Vale School RIGHT 2022 The Pells’ former home still stands on Jericho Turnpike 100 years later.

OPPOSITE Map of Nassau County from 1914 (From The New York Public Library Digital Collection)

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1 0 0 YE A R S O F T H E GREEN VAL E SC H OOL

already attended The Buckley School in New York City, Nelson, a month shy of 5, and Katherine, then just a baby.

From the beginning, an appreciation for a high-quality education that also encouraged joy was clear. In a history of Green Vale written in 1973 for the School’s 50th anniversary, Magdelaine Salvage Anthony ’32 wrote of those very first students, “They learned, laughed, labored, and loved school.”

There were, however, many twists and turns on the road to what we know today as Green Vale. The nascent school, led by a young teacher lured from The Buckley School in New York, Frances Lee, moved twice in the next three years. The first move was to the Old Westbury library of Emilie and Philip Stevenson. That year the students put on a spring pageant complete with a Maypole in the Stevensons’ garden, a precursor to the class plays that would figure prominently in a Green Vale education.

The second move found the School in several rooms on the third floor of Nannie French Steele and Charles Steele’s spacious home at the corner of Steele Hill Road and Hitchcock Lane in

1919 1919 Kindergarten opens in Madeline and Clarence Pell’s house in Old Westbury. ▶

1920 Classes move to Emilie and Philip Stevenson’s house.

1920 Nassau School and Kindergarten begins in Glen Cove.

1922 Valentine’s Lane campus land is purchased.

1922 The home-based schools merge into one “temporary school.”

C H A PT ER 1 \ A C ent ury of H istory

15

THE BEST ENDURES

Blue-Gold Day GREEN VALE’S MOST BELOVED tradition is Blue-Gold Day, also known as Field Day. Its origins go back as far as 1933 when the Blue and Gold Banquet began.

That evening event featured movies, dinner, “rousing speeches from the captains, team songs, and awards presentation,” according to The Green Vale Story, 75th anniversary edition. The banquet became a picnic that evolved into an athletics contest. A culminating Blue-Gold Day has been observed every year except 1968, when it was abruptly canceled following the prior day’s assassination of Senator Robert F. Kennedy.

Blue-Gold Day has always been a family affair. Fourth graders whose families are new to Green Vale are each assigned to a team. Those who have parents or siblings (or grandparents, or great-grandparents, or cousins) who preceded them know their team from birth and are dyed-in-the-wool dedicated. As a teacher, Bill Simonds ’58, a Blue team member during his youth, was always coy and tried to stay neutral. “I never told any of my students, but they kept trying to pry it out of me all the years I was there,” he says.

“Finally, when I was just about to leave, I told everyone and they said, ‘I knew he was!’”

The key part that has carried through is the sense of being part of something.

“People want to belong to a club, to a team, to something bigger than yourself,” says longtime administrator Linda Gardiner.

Lynn Dixon ’87, director of Admissions and Enrollment, recently sat at lunch with third grader Paige Teagle ’28, who was concerned about a dilemma: to which team will she be assigned? Her mother,

ABOVE LEFT 1984 caterpillar plank event \ ABOVE RIGHT 2017 caterpillar plank event \ LEFT 2018 Fourth grade Blue-Gold induction ceremony \ OPPOSITE TOP The winner is announced. \ OPPOSITE LEFT Captains Race \ OPPOSITE RIGHT 1961 The tug-of-war combines heart and grit.

Christina Porter Teagle ’97, is a Gold and her father, Clifton Teagle ’97 is a Blue. “This is a crazy one where she represents these two families who have come together after generations here,” Dixon says. Another cross-team marriage is Chris Gulden ’85 (Gold) and Alexandra Foley Gulden ’85 (Blue).

At the start of the school year, students in fourth through eighth (formerly ninth) grades vote for team captains: two girls and two boys per team. Each team designs a special T-shirt for all members to wear on the big day. Forty-four years later, Harold Bost remembers the slogan that adorned his team shirts: “Gold will shine in ’79.”

Many students gather together at friends’ houses the night before to create spirit posters. Victoria Pool Holm ’01, P ’32, ’34

remembers waking up with her brother and getting decked out in gold gear. “Every year they had a T-shirt, then you’d get your pieces of flair, whether it’s face paint or a yellow ribbon in your hair, or writing ’gold’ down your leg. You have those sort of like pre-game jitters. We had pep rallies in the beginning.

They sort of revved everyone up. Then we got to storm the field and everyone would go off and hopefully win their events.”

Many parents attend the competition as fans in team colors, but none will top Nelson Doubleday ’47, who reportedly had a small plane fly over the competition trailing a blue banner. A close second might be those parents who, in 2021, openly flouted the COVID-19 pandemic rules that still prohibited parents on campus.

C H A PT ER 3 \ S ports & O u tdoor Fu n

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THE BEST ENDURES

After pep rallies and the national anthem sung beautifully by the GVS chorus decked in blue or gold war paint, students participate in events by grade level, all co-ed except the running races. These include sprints, long relays, all-star relays by grade level, obstacle courses, and a signature “caterpillar walk” requiring teams to collaborate with precision in order to walk together while lifting long planks beneath their feet. The best two out of three determines the winner of a spirited tug-of-war. Then everyone gathers to cheer on the final event: the Captains Race, now called the Ruecker Relay in honor of former Athletics Director John Ruecker, who passed away in 2017 after more than 40 years at Green Vale. Before the Watters Center existed, the proceedings would conclude with the winning team hoisting their flag in the main circle and ringing a victory bell. Now there are confetti rockets as the winning team is announced on the steps of the Watters Center by the head of school clad impartially in blue and gold stripes.

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1 0 0 YE A R S O F T H E GREEN VALE SC H OOL

Blue-Gold Day has its unsung heroes, too. Faculty scorekeepers have low turnover, going from Bill Simonds from 1966 for decades to Julie Rooney since 1998. Rooney understands the gravity of her role in keeping the real-time tally: “Everyone asks, ‘Who’s ahead?’ And you have to be tight-lipped.

I never took a bribe, but there are offers.”

“That day always gave me goosebumps,” says Ripley Hartmeyer ’06. “It was always a special day, whether you were on the team that won or lost. You really felt a big sense of community.”

Through the early 2000s, Blue-Gold Day was held on a Saturday in early June. It was a family event followed by lunch in the dining hall. Helen Michalis Bonebrake ’76 recalls that students would picnic with their families underneath trees near the tennis courts at the end of the day. Ribbons were awarded to winners of events. Younger students who were not part of field day performed an elaborate Maypole dance with ribbons.

When the rise of youth sports away from school began to pose conflicts, attendance dipped. Additionally, with the community’s shift toward a majority of dual-career families, weekends had more competing demands. In 2010, Blue-Gold Day was moved to a Friday. The following Monday, the tradition of a picnic lunch remains, with the losing team providing the sandwich of choice for someone on the winning team, and the opponents eating in harmony.

Who is leading the series?

During Green Vale’s first century, Blue leads Gold: 51 to 44.

TOP 2017 Younger students eager for their turn to participate. \ INSET ABOVE 2016 John Ruecker \ INSET ABOVE LEFT 2013 Will Bertsch ’82 and Eddie Dejoux ’83 cheer on the next generation. \ INSET LEFT 1961 A traditional Maypole dance for younger students used to precede the Blue-Gold events. \ OPPOSITE Generations of Blue-Gold spirit

THE BEST ENDURES

“

The snowstorm of 1924 was a highlight for many. One day it began to snow so hard that it became evident that if the children didn’t go home soon they’d never get home that night…. A number of the cars never did make it to school, so for some children the blizzard meant spending the night at school… in the morning, these exhausted people were happy to see Evelyn Dow’s father arrive in a sleigh with two horses to take home his own children and as many neighbors as could fit in the sleigh.

Other sleighs arrived, until the School was at last empty.”

—The Green Vale Story (1973 edition)

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THE BEST ENDURES

Fun in the Snow FOR GREEN VALE ALUMNI, SOME OF the best memories are of days when snow covered the campus. The same hills that attracted the founders to the property made it a winter wonderland for children bundled in coats and mittens, with sleds in hand.

Through the early 1980s, the key spot for snow play was a steep, rickety wooden toboggan run on the back hill, painted green to blend into the environment.

Nancy Ann Toher Hawkins ’73 recalls that every girl was issued a numbered school snowsuit — navy blue with gold numbers. “We would grab the big trays from the dining hall and use them on the toboggan shoot,” she says. “Great fun.”

“One of my clearest memories is going up on that toboggan hill and getting on the sled and the teacher letting it go before I was on it, and my leg was hanging out over the edge,” recalls Linda Vander Poel Duryea ’62.

Equally cited as fun and dangerous, Gib Chapman ’75 puts it bluntly: “It was 30

feet down, and we still built a snow jump to get air. The teachers helped!

I can’t believe no one broke their neck.”

By the time Duryea’s daughter Megan Duryea Scott ’87 was at Green Vale, the deteriorating toboggan track was gone.

It had been a joy for students, but also attracted night-time visitors — students from nearby universities. The hill, however, remains a favorite sledding spot. Without fail, the first snowfall brings the entire fourth grade out for an extended recess.

Linda Gardiner, whose Green Vale history stretched over 43 years as a teacher, administrator, and parent, says making space for outdoor play, including in the snow, is a key part of Green Vale’s culture. “Some schools have very strict rules about kids not playing outside if it’s below 30 degrees or whatever,” she says. “But most of us felt that getting outdoors, if they were dressed properly, was a great thing for kids. They could come back and really be much more attentive.”

OPPOSITE 1930s Original sledding hill \ THIS PAGE Sledding over the years: Headmaster Stephen Watters joins the fun (upper right) and the notorious toboggan slide (above middle).

C H A PT ER 3 \ S ports & O u tdoor Fu n

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THE BEST ENDURES

r. and Mrs. Derby, who instituted the Derby Medal in honor of their son, had the medal inscribed with the words, “What is excellent, as God lives, is permanent.” The words are attributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson and are meant to evoke the memory of their boy. It seems fitting to remember those words as Green Vale celebrates 100 years of learning, laughing, laboring, and loving school. May what is excellent — this joyful place where children are challenged to cultivate intellect, character, and confidence — indeed be permanent.

RIGHT Future Green Vale alumni OPPOSITE The historic Derby Flagpole stands proudly today.

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“

May what is excellent — this joyful place where children are challenged to cultivate intellect, character, and confidence — indeed be permanent.”