T H E M AGA Z I N E O F G I L L S T. B E R N A R D’S S C H O O L
GSB NEWS
Headmaster Rowell Elected as Member of The Country Day School Headmasters’ Association Gill St. Bernard’s Headmaster Sid Rowell was elected as a member of The Country Day School Headmasters’ Association (CDSHA). Founded in 1912, the CDSHA’s active membership is limited to 100 members from day schools around the United States. The purpose of the association is to bring together school leaders to discuss important issues impacting education. University and college campuses play host to the annual conference, where members hear from a series of prominent speakers. This year’s meeting took place from June 18 until June 20 at the University of Notre Dame. “It is a tribute to the school and a wonderful opportunity for me to join this group of school leaders,” said Rowell, who shared that he learned a great deal about the university and truly enjoyed the peer-to-peer conversations he had at the conference. “I had the chance to learn so much more about many of our peer schools throughout the country,” he said. “It was interesting to see that many of them have similar opportunities and face similar challenges.” Rowell became Gill St. Bernard’s fifth headmaster in 2001. Throughout his 13-year tenure, the school has grown significantly, particularly the Upper School, which has more than doubled in size. Many other changes have taken place under Rowell’s leadership, including the expansion of the curriculum to include honors and additional advanced placement courses, the success of the athletics program and the rise of the school’s performing arts program to become one of the best in the state—a winner of 18 Paper Mill
18
Playhouse Rising Star Awards since 2007. Gill St. Bernard’s 79-acre campus has also undergone significant growth under Rowell’s leadership, including an addition to the Conover Middle School in 2002, the completion of a 27,000 square foot Athletic Center in 2004, the construction of the Upper School building—the Hockenbury Academic Center—in 2009 and the addition of Todd Quad, used for Commencement and other major school events, in 2011. When the CDSHA was formed, there were fewer than a dozen member schools. Since then, the organization has grown steadily. In 1984, the membership limit was extended to its present limit of 100. In all, the CDSHA has elected 589 members since 1912.
Clockwise, from top: In 2001, Sid Rowell is installed as the fifth headmaster of Gill St. Bernard’s School; 2014 graduate Kathryn Bednarsky laughs with Headmaster Sid Rowell outside Hockenbury; Sid Rowell attends a Middle School class after swapping places with the student named “headmaster for the day” in 2003; Headmaster Sid Rowell.