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Quest The Magazine of King School
Quest 2021
King School Welcomes Head of School Carol Maoz
FALL 2021
Our Mission King is dedicated to preparing its students to thrive in a rapidly changing world. We provide an excellent, progressive education, grounded in the traditional disciplines of the arts and sciences, committed to the nurturing of individual potential, and designed to promote critical thinking and reasoned reflection. Using rich and innovative methods, our teachers facilitate each student’s fullest academic and personal achievement. We champion the development of character, self-confidence, and talent through challenging intellectual, creative, athletic, leadership, and service opportunities. King believes that individual accomplishment must go hand in hand with respect for others. Our culture of respect fosters collaboration as well as independence. We embrace human and cultural diversity. We value responsible citizenship. King graduates are well equipped to succeed in college and to pursue lives of ongoing inquiry, learning, accomplishment, personal fulfillment, and social responsibility.
In This Issue: 6-7
King School Reaffirms Its Commitment to Community
8-11
King School Celebrates Homecoming 2021
12-13
Meet Head of School Carol Maoz
14-15
Meet Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Dr. Clyde Beverly III
16-17
The Changing Landscape of College Admission
18-19
Courage and Perseverance Define the Class of 2021
24-40
Alumni Profiles • Joy Gaylinn Reidenberg, Ph.D. LHT '79 / Following Natural Curiosity to the Top of Biomedical Research / p24 • Erica Cunningham '20 /Erica Cunningham Hits Her Stride and Finds Her Voice / p28 • Katharina Focke '15 /Finding Balance Between Two Worlds / p38 • Jeff Becker K’83 and Jim Becker K’80 / Brothers on the Frontlines / p40
30-31
Win-Win for the Vikings
34-35
The Show Must Go On
44-75
2020-2021 Annual Report
76-82
Class Notes
Quest 2021 3
A LETTER FROM CAROL MAOZ, HEAD OF SCHOOL Dear King School Community, I am delighted to write this letter as your Head of School, and I take this opportunity to once again express my enthusiasm for joining the King School community. The importance of community has been magnified by the challenges we have experienced in the past two years, and ensuring a sense of belonging and connectedness seems more vital today than ever. In my short time at King School, I have witnessed the dedication of our faculty and staff, the engagement of our students, the partnership of our parents, and the care of our alumni. As a school, we value everyone’s opinions, thoughts, and perspectives. We learn from one another and, while we may differ at times, I know that every member of the King School community wants only the best for our school and for our students. For that, I am grateful. Undoubtedly, the obstacles presented by the COVID-19 pandemic have compelled us all to adapt and creatively rethink teaching and learning. Throughout this process,
it has become clearer and clearer that nothing replaces the magic of gathering in person and that the value of in-person learning must not be underestimated.
MEET THE 2021-22 BOARD OF TRUSTEES We are so grateful to our current and past board members for dedicating their time, talents, and treasures to advance and celebrate King School’s mission and bring the strategic plan to life. To learn more about the Board of Trustees, please visit our website.
Our students learn from their teachers, coaches, counselors, and advisors — and one another. They learn in and out of the classroom, in the fields, on the stage, and during times of leisure. Each and all of us have made concessions and sacrifices during the past year and a half. Yet, above all, we have come together to ensure the continuity of in-person learning and a sense of community as overarching priorities. Our school theme for this year is Committing to Community. I see this theme as a goal to be pursued year after year. Since its founding, our school has proven its ability to remain committed to the highest education standards and to all of what that concept entails. Since its founding, King School has built and embraced its community. In this issue of Quest, readers will find stories that feature resilience in action. You will find stories about our ever-curious students, our supportive families, our devoted faculty and staff, and the generous donors who help us grow and evolve as an educational institution. In this issue of Quest, you will find a reflection of our individual and collective commitment to community. With gratitude, Carol Maoz Head of School
Front row, left to right: Rachelle Spielvogel, Nancy Heaton, God-is Rivera, Wei Du, Rob Holtz (Treasurer), Dan Ozizmir (Secretary), Thomas King (Chair), Eric Gerster (Second Vice Chair), Mi-Sun Freeman (Vice Chair), Nancy Armstrong, Kishauna Soljour ’09, Todd Raker, and Kyle Miscia Clark. Back row, left to right: Stacey Gaine, Ella Cohen, Lorenzo Wyatt, Jessica Demmo, Tom Conheeney, Peter Resnick, Doug Perlman, Greg Jansen, Amadeu Ribeiro, Matthew Barlow, Ahmed Fattouh ’91, and Brian O’Callaghan. Not pictured: Matthew Allard and Oktay Kurbanov.
"I have witnessed the dedication of our faculty and staff, the engagement of our students, the partnership of our parents, and the care of our alumni." – Carol Maoz
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Jack Dooley ’26 also took the podium to share his enthusiasm and hopes for the new year. “Personally, I am very excited to return to King without all the restrictions we faced last year and to follow our regular schedules again,” he said. “We must set a good example for ourselves, and the younger grades, by working hard, being inclusive, and continuing to be a part of the great King community.” Throughout the pandemic, King School has remained committed to delivering the safest and most robust experience for its students and every member of the community. Sandy Burgoyne P’27, President of the Parents’ Association, said, “We are thrilled that our child is able to be on campus full time this year, knowing that the continued planning and thoughtfulness of decisions is keeping everyone safe and supporting a continued remarkable learning environment.”
King School Reaffirms Its Commitment to Community The enthusiasm was palpable as students, faculty, and staff returned to King School for the 2021-22 academic year. Although a common emotion at the beginning of every academic cycle, this year, it seemed rather special. “The first days of school have been filled with so much excitement,” Head of School Carol Maoz said in one of her first messages of the year to King families. “The kind of excitement that comes with the appreciation of each moment as one that should not be taken for granted.” This renewed sense of hope led Maoz to declare that the theme for the year is Committing to Community. “While a strong sense of community has always been present at King,” she said, “the challenges of the past months seem to make this renewed commitment more important than ever.” As the year kicked off, students filled the hallways, classrooms, and dining halls; teachers prepared and delivered in-person lessons; athletes and artists resumed activities they had longed to pursue for months. Despite some safety restrictions that remain in place, school seems a bit more normal. “We now speak the language,” Nina Newman said, referring to how much the community has learned regarding COVID-19 transmission and ways to protect against it. Newman is the COVID-19 point person for King School in addition to working as Associate Head for Advancement and Director of Admission and Financial Access. Branden Louis ’22, who joined King last year as a junior, has accepted COVID-19 as an unfortunate reality for everyone. “I’m used to COVID by now,” he said, pausing to reflect on the end of his high school career. “It’s more strange knowing that I’m about to enter my early years of adulthood.”
6 Quest 2021
At the other end of the school journey is Chloe Darvish, a first grade student who joined King this year. For Chloe, the safety protocols have become routine; she is focusing on making friends and building community.
“I like that people are very friendly here. I’ve already made so many friends, even in other grades! I don’t mind wearing my mask in class because mine is soft and comfortable. And I actually like washing my hands; it’s fun to play with the water.” – Chloe Darvish ’33 As part of the new normal, the school celebrated its traditional Bell Ringing ceremony on September 15. For the first time, the annual ceremony took place outdoors on the Segalas Family Athletic Field. The newly returfed field provided a stunning backdrop for King’s first in-person, schoolwide gathering since the pandemic began. Students, teachers, and staff members greeted one another with smiles and elbow bumps. “As we gather here this morning as one community,” Maoz said in her opening remarks, “let’s ring in the new school year by committing to take care of one another and making sure that everyone in our school feels welcomed and has a sense of belonging.” Students echoed the sense of hopefulness and reiterated the importance of community. Fifth grade student Jordyn Rivera said, “I love being a Viking because if I hadn’t come here three years ago, I wouldn’t have been able to make the awesome friends that I have today.”
Associate Head of School for Strategic Programs and Head of Upper School. She added, “The community continues to apply adaptability and resilience in a way that no one could have ever expected, living out its mission statement to ‘prepare students for a rapidly changing world’ like never before.” Delivering on the school’s mission can be accomplished only through the engaged effort of a tight-knit community. Dean Kaduboski ’22, Student Council President, articulated that concept during the ceremony. “The ringing of the bells shows us the power of community better than anything,” he said. “A single bell can be difficult to hear, but when we all ring our bells together, we create a sound that cannot be ignored.”
Branden’s parents, Stefanie and Ricky Louis, appreciate the efforts the school made to ensure continuity of learning by relying on virtual classes and hybrid schedules during the worst of the pandemic. “It allowed our son to have a successful transition to King as a new student,” they said. “His teachers were always supportive and accessible whenever he needed them.” But Brenden’s parents recognize that nothing replaces the ability to gather in person as a learning community. “We are delighted to have our children back on campus full time,” the Louises said. “Not only is it an added benefit to their learning experience, but they are excited about being back on campus, interacting with their peers, and playing on their preferred sports team. Overall, it has been a great experience, and we are so happy to be a part of the King Community.” Although King School continued uninterrupted instruction during the peak of the pandemic, the importance of in-person interactions became starkly evident. “It's important for children to be with their peers, socializing and learning together,” Head of Lower School Dr. Sandy Lizaire-Duff said. “Both children and adults crave interaction with others, and they benefit from the collaborative aspect of learning together in person. We were fortunate to have the resources to reopen and safely accommodate social distancing, and we’re happy to be fully back on campus this year.” Head of Middle School Dr. Josh Deitch agreed. “Nothing replaces the relationships and opportunities afforded by inperson learning,” he said, describing the practices that shape the student experience outside the classroom. “It’s the eye contact and gentle reminder in the hallway, the help organizing a backpack before heading home for the day, the impromptu extra help or extension session during lunch, flex, or after school. We severely missed those opportunities.” The lessons learned during the pandemic reinforce the importance of the King School mission, said Marnie Sadlowsky,
“The ringing of the bells shows us the power of community better than anything. A single bell can be difficult to hear, but when we all ring our bells together, we create a sound that cannot be ignored.” – Dean Kaduboski ’22, Student Council President
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King School Celebrates Homecoming 2021
"Your gift has made a tremendous difference in the lives of our student-athletes and positively impacted King School. The entire King community thanks you for your generosity and support” – Christy Burkart, Interim Director of Development
positively impacted King School. The entire King community thanks you for your generosity and support,” said Interim Director of Development Christy Burkart. Dean of Athletics Micah Hauben added: “This is now a centerpiece of the campus. Something to really be proud of.” Hauben thanked the families who had made the fields possible and introduced two upper school student-athletes who directly benefit from the new fields. “I have been able to make some of my best memories playing softball and soccer on the middle turf,” Emmi Freeman ’22, captain of the girls soccer and softball teams, said as she reflected on her 14 years at King.
“It’s great to come back and see the differences that have happened over the last 40 years,” Eric Carson K’81, or “the artist known as Slim,” said, chuckling as he referenced his nickname during his King years. The campus was bustling with activities and athletic competitions. Saturday was a big hit with Junior Varsity Boys Soccer, Junior Varsity Girls Volleyball, Varsity Cross-Country, Varsity Field Hockey, Varsity Girls and Boys Soccer, Varsity Football, and Varsity Volleyball all in action. Undefeated Varsity Volleyball highlighted the day as the team extended its record to 12-0 this season.
Jonathan Decker ’23 said: “Last spring, I had the opportunity to play baseball on the new field, and it took the playing experience to a whole other level. I am excited to see the opportunities that current and future athletes will have playing on this beautiful field.” As Emmi and Jonathan shared their experiences as current students, alumni from classes from as far back as 1947 gathered for a barbecue outside the Simon House. They mingled and reminisced about their school years while listening to jazz and rock performances by talented upper school musicians led by music teacher Garrett Mendez.
A sea of blue and gold flooded the King School campus for the first time in two years to celebrate Homecoming 2021 on the weekend of October 22-24.
“This keeps getting better and better every year,” Paul Lee K’47 said as he looked around and admired the growth of the campus. “My graduating class had seven students, all men.” The King School he attended in the 1940s was on Colonial Road in downtown Stamford.
“I hope that you are as excited as I am for this wonderful opportunity to come together as a community to celebrate our Viking pride!” Head of School Carol Maoz said. “I am excited to welcome families and meet King alumni during my first Homecoming at this wonderful school.” The annual event brings together the entire Viking community to celebrate the school’s rich history, enjoy athletic competition, and give back. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Homecoming 2020 was held virtually.
“Homecoming is really the biggest community-wide event that the school has, and it is the best of King and the best of the community. From PreK to twelfth grade, from alums to parents, grandparents, and even dogs! Everybody comes to Homecoming; it’s the biggest sense of community!” – Sandy Burgoyne P’27, Parents’ Association President
The weekend kicked off on Friday with a pep rally. Students, faculty, and staff cheered for the upper school athletic teams as athletes ran through an arch formed by the team captains and high-fived those surrounding them. Each team and the Lower School Spirit Squad performed dance routines or cheers and fueled school spirit with colorful outfits, pompoms, and banners. “I’m a little nervous,” second grade student Serafina Gambino said right before the event. “I don’t like dancing by myself, but I do like it when I am with my friends.” Saturday was a fun-packed day for King families that included a bake sale, giant inflatable slides, bounce houses, lawn games, and more. The littlest Vikings enjoyed caricaturists, balloon artists, a petting zoo, and a live DJ in the lower school courtyard. The festivities also included a signage dedication for the Feinberg Family Field and Armstrong and King Family Fields recognizing all donors who generously contributed to the newly turfed middle fields complex. “Your gift has made a tremendous difference in the lives of our student-athletes and
8 Quest 2021
Also in attendance was Jennifer Guevara KLHT’97, P’24, ’28, ’30, ’30, who is a counselor at King’s Middle School. “As an alum, it is always fun to come back,” she said. “I like to see the faces I haven’t seen for years. It’s the highlight of the year!”
“I am really sad that this is my last Homecoming,” Catie Baer ’22 said after playing one of her last soccer games at King. “I look forward to coming back as an alumna!” The upper school choir opened the football game against Tilton School with a spectacular performance of the national anthem. Professional sportscaster Colin Cosell KLHT’97 announced the game while fans in attendance delighted at the halftime performance by the Lower School Spirit Squad. The annual King Cares 5K concluded Homecoming weekend on Sunday. Over one hundred community members participated in the race, which raised around $16,000 for the Boys & Girls Club of Stamford and the Orphaned Starfish Foundation. A big thank you to all who took part in this community event. King School is very grateful to the Parents’ Association members for all their dedication, time, and effort to make Homecoming 2021 a tremendous success, including managing the School Store, coaching the Spirit Squad, and baking and selling delicious treats. Kudos to the King School staff who helped organize this community event.
The festivities also included a signage dedication for the Feinberg Family Field and Armstrong and King Family Fields recognizing all donors who generously contributed to the newly turfed middle fields complex.
Quest 2021 9
Highlights from Homecoming 2021
Quest 2021 11
King School is delighted to introduce Head of School Carol Maoz. After serving as Interim Head of School since July 2021, King’s Head Search Committee and the Board of Trustees unanimously and enthusiastically voted to appoint Maoz as King’s Head of School. Her headship began on October 20. Since her arrival in July, Maoz has had a tremendous impact on King School. She has not only focused on day-to-day priorities but also on advancing King’s strategic vision. Maoz is a warm, caring, and compassionate leader who thrives in a collaborative environment and understands the importance of community. She has demonstrated unwavering dedication, energy, and enthusiasm for the school and a steadfast commitment to King’s students, faculty, staff, parents, and alumni community. Maoz has had a distinguished career as an educator and leader. She came out of a short-lived retirement to join King after previously serving as Head of School at The Foote School for 11 years. Maoz has an excellent understanding of independent schools internationally and domestically. Prior to her tenure at The Foote School, she was Head of Upper School at Greenwich Country Day for more than a decade.
Maoz’s leadership record in education also includes serving as principal of independent lower and middle schools at international schools in Munich, Germany, and Tel Aviv, Israel. She holds a bachelor's degree in elementary education from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and a master's degree in education from Harvard University.
Quest had an opportunity to interview Maoz, and this is what we learned. How would you describe yourself as an educator?
is the attention paid to character and social-emotional development. I was attracted to King’s reputation as an inclusive school that helps students to become the best version of themselves, as students and human beings. I was attracted to King’s bold new vision: to become even more inclusive, more committed to inquiry-based learning, to courageous thinking, and to truly value the student experience — to place as much emphasis on the journey as the outcome. This is more important than ever in this rapidly changing world.
What is your leadership philosophy?
As a school leader, I am committed to making school a safe and kind place for all members of the community, a place where everyone feels seen and heard.
There are many different definitions of types of leadership, and I believe in collaborative, consultative, supportive leadership.
I am committed to nurturing and challenging students in developmentally appropriate ways, creating an environment where children and adolescents can make mistakes and learn from them. I am committed to the kind of academic excellence that allows students to find their voice and forge their path.
My goal is to create a climate in which everyone feels comfortable asking for help and sharing suggestions; an environment where we can ask ourselves what is working well and what we should consider modifying — all in a respectful way and in a way that supports the mission of our school and benefits from our multiple perspectives.
What attracted you to King School? I was attracted to King because it aligns with my beliefs about education and child and adolescent development. The emphasis on collaboration, choice, curiosity, discovery, and relevant learning is of profound importance to me, as
By doing this, we are more likely to create an atmosphere of innovation, open dialogue, adaptability, and a community that is caring and compassionate. All of this needs to be in the context of the student experience – serving
children and adolescents. You will hear me ask, “Is it in the best interests of our students?”
Could you share with us a little about yourself both professionally and personally?
What are you most excited about as you advance in your tenure at King School?
I like to challenge myself and others so that we are constantly learning, energized by our work, and able to turn to one another for support.
I have had the good fortune to work with and learn from people from all over the world, and I am excited to be on this new journey at King School.
At the same time, we must have fun. The work we are doing is inherently joyful. We need to remember to laugh together, laugh at ourselves at times, and definitely celebrate!
I have been a teacher, a school counselor, a division head, and a head of school. I have had the joy of being part of independent schools here in the United States and abroad.
I am excited to experience a more normal school year with all the joys of being together in person — something that we will no longer take for granted. I look forward to learning from you and helping the school move forward to realize its strategic vision.
What are your priorities for the upcoming years? I hope to provide clear, compassionate, and reliable leadership for faculty and staff, students, and families.
I am really good in a crisis; I remain calm, decisive, and compassionate. I believe that practicing gratitude makes us happier people, and I try really hard to model that.
My goal is to provide a sense of calm and to build trust and cohesiveness in the community. I hope to provide mentorship and take concrete steps to help King continue to move forward on its strategic vision. I will work with the leadership team and the Director of DEI and his team to set clear goals and objectives.
The work that we do is important. I consider it a calling. We make a difference in the lives of others; we shape the future by teaching our students to think creatively and critically and to treat everyone with kindness, and we work hard to make the world more caring and just.
I will do all that I can to support enrollment and fundraising. I will focus on strong and consistent communication and help King School be its best.
I have three grown children, Ilana, Yarden, and Samantha, who were born on three different continents. My husband and I are proud and humbled to have raised three kind, principled, resilient children who are lifelong learners and want to make a difference. We all love to travel, read, cook and eat, spend time with family, and have new adventures.
And lastly, as we have all learned, it is important to acknowledge that priorities might shift, and I am ready for that!
My husband, Michael, and I are already enjoying living on campus. We are excited to be part of the King School community.
What message would you like to share with the King School community? I want you to know that I realize how much really good work has been going on in the past few years at King — your strategic vision, your new ideas, your commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. I know that I am inheriting a really great school, and it is my goal to help you be even stronger, to achieve the goals you have set for yourselves as a caring, diverse institution. I know that you are dedicated to developing empathetic, courageous thinkers who want to make this world a better place. Please know that I will always make myself available to the community. I am here to lead this wonderful school and to support you.
Meet Head of School
Carol Maoz
The King School community is delighted to welcome Carol Maoz as Head of School Quest 2021 13
What attracted you to King School? I love the fact that I have the opportunity to do this work with students ranging from prekindergarten to twelfth grade, building age-appropriate multicultural competency across age spans. Another big draw for me is that there has already been a demonstrated commitment to the work. I’m looking forward to building on the work of my predecessors. There is an infrastructure in place, including DEI coordinators in each division of the school. This team approach also resonated with me as I truly believe that for this work to be impactful, it requires partnership, and I was happy to see that members of the King School community share this ideology.
Meet Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
What are your priorities as you start your new role at King School?
Dr. Clyde Beverly III Clyde Beverly came to King after serving as Director of Equity and Inclusion and counseling psychologist in residence at Purnell School in Pottersville, New Jersey. In this leadership role, he participated in the school’s strategic planning sessions and led the creation of Purnell’s first diversity statement, the anti-discrimination school policy, and its DEI action plan. He coordinated the school’s DEI programming, spearheaded schoolwide conversations and workshops on race and identity, and implemented a restorative justice approach to the disciplinary process. In addition, Beverly managed the hiring and recruiting of employees of diverse backgrounds and the DEI professional development of faculty and staff. As a counselor, he conducted group and individual counseling sessions and supported students with their social-emotional needs. Before working at Purnell, Beverly served as a staff psychologist and assistant coordinator of the Campus Alcohol and Substance Awareness Unit at Temple University’s Counseling Center. During his tenure at Temple, he conducted individual and group counseling, provided schoolwide DEI training, and created support groups specializing in students of color and students with learning differences. Beverly earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Princeton University, a master’s degree in counseling psychology from the University of Kentucky, and a doctorate in counseling psychology from Lehigh University.
Quest had an opportunity to talk to Beverly about his vision for DEI at King. How do you describe the role of a Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in independent schools?
How has the role of the DEI Director changed in the last decade or two?
I view the role of the Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion as an integral one aligned with the overall mission of independent schools. We want all members of our school communities to feel welcomed, safe, and affirmed. I also feel strongly that DEI work is incomplete without the inclusion of justice. The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.” This is the mindset with which I approach this work with the utmost respect and enthusiasm.
One of the biggest changes in the role of the DEI Director in recent years has been the realization that it involves more than just student and school programs that recognize a few holidays and heroes. Schools are beginning to acknowledge that in order for positive growth and change to take place, DEI work must be integrated throughout all aspects of community life. Another major way that this role has evolved is that, more and more, it is seen as a senior leadership position, reporting to the Head of School. This reporting structure is critical as it speaks again to the importance of the role and the work.
14 Quest 2021
My first priority is probably shared by many of us, which is to get back to a sense of normalcy. Living through a worldwide health pandemic, as well as the global shift in the focus on the critical need for social justice, I believe that it is imperative that we embrace our “new normal.” I also believe that the DEI Director plays an integral role in making sure that positive strides are taken to engage the King School community as a whole at this critical moment in time.
What do you see as the challenges and opportunities of DEI work at King? We entered this school year after experiencing an unprecedented period of time. That alone poses a challenge to any work. However, I also see an opportunity for growth. How we choose to respond will determine who King School will be now and in the future. This is an opportunity I welcome with open arms. Tell us about your journey as a DEI practitioner in academia. I first became interested in doing this type of work in academic settings while I was a student. Growing up in Birmingham, Alabama, I remember sitting in my Alabama history class and asking my teacher why we learned so
little about the civil rights movement even though we lived in the same city where many pivotal moments in the movement took place. My undergraduate senior thesis examined the effects of stereotype threat on the academic achievement of African American students, and my doctoral dissertation examined the experiences of faculty and staff of color in academia. I’ve been fortunate to be placed in a position to put research into practice and make impactful changes in academic settings. Furthermore, I’m grateful to say that I am able to engage in something that I am passionate about for my career.
How does your experience as a mental health professional help you in this role? Often in DEI work, I find myself having difficult conversations and trying to help others to change a mindset or lens through which they have experienced life for quite some time. This isn’t that different from my work as a mental health professional. In my graduate studies, I was introduced to the Courageous Conversations framework by Glenn Singleton, which is very useful in discussing topics such as race, equity, and justice. Using my counseling training has also been beneficial as I am able to approach these discussions from a place of compassionate change. I realize transformational change takes time, just as it does in clinical settings.
Why should schools prioritize DEI work? How does DEI work benefit our students, our society, and our world? I believe one important thing we need to do is move toward full integration of diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice throughout all aspects of our school community. The reason is, we all benefit. In the King School mission, we state that we are “dedicated to preparing students to thrive in a rapidly changing world.” We cannot achieve this if we do not acknowledge the globally diverse world and society we live in. Therefore, this work is essential to our living out our mission.
"I love the fact that I have the opportunity to do this work with students ranging from prekindergarten to twelfth grade, building age-appropriate multicultural competency across age spans."
In your view, what are the essential components of DEI work? I believe an essential component of DEI work is understanding that this work is never over. The world is ever-changing, and therefore, there is always something new to learn, which I find very exciting. It is imperative to have a growth mindset when doing this work. Furthermore, we must realize the importance of engaging allies and working together to enact the change we all seek. The goal isn’t always to be right, but, hopefully, we are all striving to do right.
Tell us about you and your family. My father is a retired minister, and my mother is a retired teacher/administrator. This is an important part of my identity as it speaks to the lens through which I see the world and the value I place on education. My wife is an attorney and a native of Queens, New York. We met in college at Princeton and have been married 16 years as of this August. We have three children, Candace (14), Clyde David IV (6), and Cordelia (4). Clyde David and Cordelia attend King School, while Candace attends Choate Rosemary Hall school as a boarding student. I’m a big sports fan, especially football. My favorite team isn’t a popular one in this area, but that’s OK with me. I’m a Dallas Cowboys fan, so any time you want to talk sports, my door is always open!
Anything you’d like to add? I cannot emphasize and stress enough how excited I am to be part of the King School community. I am looking forward to partnering with members across constituencies to ensure that King School is a welcoming, safe, and affirming environment for all. In the words of the late Honorable John Lewis, let’s make some “good trouble” together!
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The Changing Landscape How did COVID-19 affect the process? We really asked the impossible from this year’s class. Creating a college list without having the opportunity to visit campus beforehand is incredibly challenging, not to mention having to navigate canceled and rescheduled ACT and SAT dates, and uncertain and changing admissions processes. There was so much uncertainty for the students and for the colleges, too. Additionally, with the shift to test-optional admissions, the most selective colleges all became even more selective this year. Colgate’s applications more than doubled, compared with last year, for example. There was just much more uncertainty for applicants and for the colleges, which led to less predictable outcomes.
An Interview with Director of College Counseling Jessica Landis Can you provide an overview of the college outcomes for the Class of 2021? Last year’s graduates are now attending 60 different colleges and universities across 20 states, D.C., and the United Kingdom. We sent our highest number of students abroad during my eight years at King. We also saw our highest percentage of the class applying early decision (58%), and of those, over two-thirds were admitted to their top choice.
What do these outcomes tell us about our graduates? This is a really interesting question to me. In some ways, I feel like a list of colleges can’t tell you that much because I feel like I know these students on a much deeper level than what their sweatshirts say. And no matter what the name on your college diploma says, I don’t think that necessarily tells me a lot about your character, your interests, or your goals. I look at the list and 93 unique stories and paths come to mind. If there is a shared story to tell, it’s that our graduates have been incredibly well prepared to succeed at some of the most rigorous colleges in the country and the world. They know how to work hard and how to pursue their goals; they know how to celebrate each other’s successes and support each other through disappointment. I look at the list and see 60 colleges that are very lucky to have King students among their student body. 16 Quest 2021
What do you think is here to stay after the pandemic? I think test-optional policies are here to stay at a lot of colleges. Having experienced the application review process with no testing, many colleges see a lot of upside to dropping the requirement. A lot of colleges also ramped up their virtual offerings with more sophisticated tours and information sessions. While most of our students will still want to physically visit campuses, the online information will create opportunities for students to learn more about colleges before having to book a flight. And we saw that on our end, too. We were able to offer a wonderful Admissions Case Studies program for our juniors over Zoom, connecting them with admissions representatives from colleges all over the country. That would have been a much more difficult undertaking if we had tried to do it all in person.
Aside from COVID-19, how are you seeing the college admission process change? We continue to see the most selective colleges receive more applications, which allows them to deny more students and become even more selective. It’s pretty rare these days to hear a highly selective college say that its acceptance rate has increased compared with the past year. We are also seeing an ever-increasing expectation that students from areas like Fairfield County and schools like King will apply early decision and make a binding commitment to their top choice. We talk about that a lot with our families and, as a result, we see more
of College Admissions than half of our seniors apply early decision to their top choice, and of that group, in the past couple of years, we see anywhere from two-thirds to more than three-quarters of those students get admitted to their E.D. school.
What is your view on college rankings? College is a significant investment, so it’s reasonable for families to want an understanding of the value proposition before they submit an enrollment contract. So, I understand why rankings exist. My concern about rankings stems from the ways in which they are often misinterpreted and used incorrectly when making decisions. The average person looking at a college rankings list often has no idea what methodology was used to arrive at that calculation. It’s necessary to consider and develop one’s own criteria rather than assuming that what matters to one student will be exactly the same as what matters to another. Additionally, sometimes people get really caught up in minor distinctions. If a college is ranked No. 19 one year and No. 21 the next, it’s pretty unlikely that anything has changed in a meaningful way that would impact a student’s experience there, and yet, there will likely be much hand-wringing over falling out of the top 20. The differences between a couple of spots, or frankly even five or 10 spots, is pretty negligible, in my opinion. I think it’s similar to people getting focused on acceptance rates as a substitute for quality. There were probably around 25,000 valedictorians from high schools in the U.S. alone this year. Harvard admitted around 2,000 students, and they weren’t all valedictorians. Probably most of them were not. That might sound terrifying if you’re the parent of a high-achieving high school student but, to me, it means that there are a lot of colleges out there with really incredible students.
What can we do as a school and as a community to support our students through this process?
I see students who feel so much pressure, and often it’s internally driven. I meet with the parents and they say, “I just want my child to be happy!” Students want to make their families proud; they want to show their hard work has been worth it. There’s so much emotion wrapped up in it. The best thing we as a community can do is change the conversation. Instead of asking your neighbors’ children where they are applying to college, ask them what they are most looking forward to in their senior year or what they think their legacy will be at their high school after they graduate. Give them the opportunity to celebrate who they are right now instead of focusing on whether a particular college is going to have a spot in the class for them in the future. One of my favorite memories from the past eight years was a student who found out while sitting in my office that she had been admitted to a college. It wasn’t one she was super interested in, nor was it a well-known college in our area, but it was her first acceptance. She went home that night and her parents had bought her balloons and a cake to celebrate that moment with her. She didn’t go to that college, but the support of her parents took all the pressure off, and she had a happy senior year after that.
What is different about the college guidance process at King School? The biggest difference at King is our commitment to a four-year college counseling model. While we aren’t making college lists with students in freshman year, we are having conversations early to help them identify their goals and make choices that keep them on track, right from the start of high school. The relationships we are able to build over a four-year period with our students help us to properly advise them and also to assist them in telling their unique stories to the colleges when it is time to apply.
We need to acknowledge that given how the admissions landscape has changed if we are expecting our children to have the exact same options that might have been available to us at their age, there is a really good chance that we are holding them to a standard that is far higher than any that we were held to as teenagers.
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Courage and Perseverance Define the Class of 2021 “You are strong; you are reflective; you have learned so much about yourself in your time at King. As you move on, I wish you the fullest, most powerful time in college possible. You've got this!"
The graduates planned to attend 60 different colleges and universities – a reflection of the broad range of interests of this talented and resilient class. Congratulations, Class of 2021!
– Marnie Sadlowsky Head of Upper School
Amid cheers, applause, and the traditional ringing of the bells, 93 King School seniors concluded their high school careers and received their diplomas on Friday, June 4. The ceremony celebrated the end of the graduates’ King School journey as well as their resilience during an unprecedented and challenging year.
performance by senior Sarah Kadlick ’21, who sang the national anthem.
The in-person commencement took place on the King School campus under safety protocols and limited attendance. But the necessary restrictions and rainy weather did not dampen the sense of joy, accomplishment, and enthusiasm for the future.
“Think about how you answer these questions right now – as you sit here in front of those who’ve loved you, supported you, challenged you, even forced you to face this question when you didn’t want to,” she said. “The answers will keep coming as you go to college, for sure, and some answers will get really important and really central as you make major life choices.”
The program included remarks from Head of Upper School Marnie Sadlowsky and Board Chair Thomas King P’20, ’20, ’23, and a keynote address by Ahmed Fattouh KLHT’91. The Rev. Mark Lingle from St. Francis Episcopal Church delivered the invocation, which was followed by a powerful and impressive
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In her charge to the graduates, Sadlowsky applauded the triumphs and perseverance of the Class of 2021 and, referring to the pillars of a liberal arts education, advised the graduating class to keep asking the fundamental questions, “Who am I?” and “Who are we?”
Referring to the challenges of the past year and a half, Tom King recognized what has been “an unusual year, a hard year, one where we were forced to deal with controversy and hardship.” He
encouraged students to learn and grow from adversity. Quoting the educational reformer and philosopher John Dewey, King reminded the students: “We do not learn from experience. We learn from reflecting on experience.”
“The pandemic, no doubt, threw us a curveball. No, scratch that. It was more like a 95-miles-per-hour knuckle spitball. But we all learned just how adaptable we are, how much the virtue of perseverance has taken root in us.” – Samuel Hillenmeyer ’21 As he reflected on his time at King, Samuel Hillenmeyer, the class valedictorian, underscored the growth that accompanies overcoming barriers: “No doubt, we all have high school memories of achieving what we believed
was unattainable. Under the supportive guidance of our teachers, we learned that overcoming our own self-imposed barriers makes these accomplishments all the more fulfilling.” Another speaker, Conor Newman ’21, also looked back at the challenges of the past year and marveled at the optimism and determination of his classmates. “Not only did we finish high school, which is a big accomplishment, but we did so during a pandemic,” he said, adding: “We made the most of the time together despite the circumstances. We managed to stay positive through a tough year. And now we are sitting here at our high school graduation. This is the time we prepared for our entire lives, and it is because the times are so tough that our potential is so great.” Fattouh delivered a humorous keynote address in which he made self-deprecating jokes about his younger self and referred to the popular culture
of the early ’90s when he was a student at King Low-Heywood Thomas. On a more serious note, Fattouh remembered that the first webpage was published on the World Wide Web the summer he graduated high school; information has since become more and more available.
of another, Fattouh encouraged the graduating class to “pursue truth and virtue.”
“Now more than ever, it is critical to analyze facts and form your own judgments,” he said. “It is critical to keep learning in school and beyond. If I can ask you guys anything, it is to commit to learning with and from each other throughout your lives. Be open to being convinced. Iterate back and forth until you get to the answer. Because that’s how you make sense of all the change that is going on; that’s how you navigate unexpected events like a school merger or a global pandemic, or the Arab spring or the financial crisis; that’s how you discern the fake news from the real.”
Closing the ceremony, Reverend Lingle began the benediction by recognizing the remarkable efforts, creativity, and courage of the Class of 2021.
As the graduates celebrated the end of one chapter and the beginning
“Commencement is a start and not an end,” he said. “I hope you will celebrate it as the beginning of your lifetime of learning.”
“May you draw strength from the adversity you experience; may you develop deeper compassion because of this for all who suffer; and may you give thanks for the myriad blessings that confront you in each moment of each day forever,” he said. “Blessings on you all as you continue to discover who you are, who we are, and what is true. May you be surprised by joy, challenged to grow and experience the world from a deep and abiding well of love.”
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Congratulations to the
Class of 2021
King School Congratulates Members of the Class of 2017 on Their College Graduation
MATRICUL ATION LIST
KING CL ASS OF 2017
In addition to their many academic achievements, the talented students in the Class of 2021 demonstrated resilience, nimbleness, and a desire to remain connected with one another during their final weeks at King. “I have been particularly impressed by their ability to make the best out of this year's unprecedented challenges, their continued growth, and their ability to find joy in their friendships with one another,” Director of College Counseling Jessica Landis said. Thanks to the guidance and support of their teachers, college counselors, and families, the successes they created for themselves at King helped our graduates earn acceptances to some of the best schools in the country and the world. “I am proud that our students created their own individual paths, while benefiting and nurturing their relationships with one another,” Landis added. "The Class of 2021 made our King
virtues of perseverance, integrity, kindness, and respect visible and palpable, and I am incredibly proud of all that they have done and who they have become!” Guided by our college counseling team, students made intentional decisions about their future by choosing to spend the next stage of their lives in schools where they will be challenged and where they will be inspired to thrive.
On behalf of King School, the Development and Alumni Office congratulates the members of the Class of 2017 who graduated from college in the spring of 2021.
We are proud of our Vikings who traveled near and far from our campus four years ago to attend a diverse list of colleges and universities. We congratulate our alumni who earned degrees this year, displaying the resilience, perseverance, and tenacity necessary to complete their studies during a global pandemic. We wish you the best of luck as your journey continues!
Members of the Class of 2021 distinguished themselves in numerous ways, such as earning competitive academic and NCAA athletic scholarships, and acceptance to highly competitive programs in science and engineering, business, and the arts, among others.
We are proud to share with you the broad list of colleges and universities that the members of the Class of 2021 attend: Allegheny College American University Barnard College Berklee College of Music Boston College (5) Boston University (2) Brown University Bryn Mawr College Bucknell University (3) Colby College (2) Colgate University (2) Colorado College Columbia University Dartmouth College Denison University Drexel University
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Elon University (2) George Washington University Georgetown University (2) Indiana University-Bloomington King's College London, University of London Lafayette College (3) Lehigh University Marist College Michigan State University Muhlenberg College New York University (3) Northeastern University (2) Oberlin College (2) Occidental College Pennsylvania State University Pitzer College
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (2) Rutgers University-New Brunswick Santa Clara University Southern Methodist University Texas Christian University (4) The University of Texas at Austin (2) Tufts University University of Bristol (in England) University of California, Los Angeles University of California, Santa Cruz University of Colorado Boulder (2) University of Denver University of Miami (4) University of New Hampshire University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
University of North Carolina Wilmington University of Notre Dame University of Pennsylvania University of Rhode Island University of Richmond (2) University of Southern California (2) University of St. Andrews (2) University of Vermont (2) University of WisconsinMadison (2) Villanova University (2) Wake Forest University (2) Washington University in St. Louis Wesleyan University
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King Connects
launches to provide mentorship opportunities to upper school students
Lindsey Rossler, Director of Talent Development
LIVE BLUE, GIVE GOLD!
This fall, 12 inquiring juniors and seniors have embarked on a yearlong mentorship program that pairs them with a diverse group of accomplished alumni to explore industries and career paths beyond their high school journey. King Connects, a new student and alumni mentorship program, follows an intentional curriculum designed by history teacher Lindsey Rossler, the Director of Talent Development. “We are helping students to meet their potential, not their expectations,” Rossler said. “The 12 student mentees are taking classes and engaged in extracurricular activities that allow them to learn about their interests. The alumi offer the chance for them to learn more from someone who has followed their path and can offer expertise, guidance, and field experience, which will help them reach their potential.” During a recent orientation session, mentors emphasized the significant impact of building a strong network and having access to a mentorship program such as King Connects.
“I had informal mentors in college but never considered [seeking] a mentor in high school. Seeing the students who want to learn from the alums early on is impressive.” – Alex Doering KLHT’08 Mia Schipani LHT’84, founder of Schipani PR, shared with students that she had built most of her business by staying connected to her network, including fellow Low-Heywood Thomas graduates. With representation spanning decades of our alumni body, mentors will guide the students in discussions and discovery around resume building, goal setting, and the power of networking. Co-creator of the King Connects program Steve Sheehan KLHT’07 reminded the mentors: “Campus may have changed since the time you graduated. What has not changed is the caliber of our students and the passion they demonstrate.” King Connects will not only advance the mission of the school and foster a lifetime love of learning, but also strengthen the bonds between students and alumni, creating relationships that last a lifetime and bridge generations of King graduates.
If you would like to be considered as a mentor for the next cohort of King Connects students, please contact alumni@kingschoolct.org.
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Show your Viking pride to help us reach 500 donors on #GiveKingTuesday.
Every gift matters, every year. | NOVEMBER 30, 2021
Following Natural Curiosity to the Top of Biomedical Research
“I want to come up with something brand-new. The way to do that is to look at animals that look nothing like us, that have adaptations that are so different from ours. By mimicking these adaptations, maybe we can come up with new protective devices that would allow humans to work in those extreme environments.”
Dr. Joy Gaylinn Reidenberg was raised by extraordinarily patient parents. Her father, naturally squeamish and prone to seasickness, braved persistent nausea to serve as captain of the skiff that ferried her on childhood fishing voyages. “He was an incredible sport,” she said. “I could fish as much as I wanted, so long as I baited the hooks and filleted the fish for dinner. Of course, when dinnertime came, I remember my mother yelling: ‘Hurry up with the fillets! We’re hungry!’ I was always late because I was so caught up in what I found in the dissection.” Fascinated by the natural world around her, she combed the beaches for shells, the quarries for rocks, and the forests for feathers. She cataloged her collections in the family basement, creating a stockpile that might have rivaled the American Museum of Natural History. “My mom drew the line at roadkill,” she said, “frequently repeating the mantra ‘don’t touch the dead things.’ But I did, anyway!” Reidenberg followed her curiosity to become a world-renowned biomedical research scientist who studies comparative anatomy. Today, she is a professor at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and has served as a guest investigator at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and as an associate scientist at the National Museum of Natural History of the Smithsonian Institution. Having dissected thousands of animals, Reidenberg has learned to anticipate what she might find. The variety in composition captivates her. She finds invertebrate animals infinitely curious.
Joy Gaylinn Reidenberg, Ph.D. LHT’79
“When you look at an octopus, its arms come off of its head,” she said. “When they eat, the food passes through the middle of its doughnut-shaped brain. I had no idea that a giant squid has three hearts. Understanding these distinctions is informative.”
Exploring why an animal is structured a certain way leads to practical discoveries. This process helps her understand how animals have adapted to manage environments that pose a challenge to humans. Her goal is to offset these challenges through technologies developed from her research. The ocean is still her favorite place to explore. “Whales are mammals, but they have to do all of their functions underwater,” Reidenberg said. “They have to hold their breath for a long time. They mate, give birth, nurse babies, play, navigate, migrate, find and swallow food, make and hear sounds — you name it, they are doing it underwater. And they are doing it at different pressure levels as they dive.” By understanding how these species survive such conditions, she might be able to create a treatment for people. “Human lungs have a fixed flexibility,” she said. “Whales can change the flexibility of the lungs — a useful trait for varying pressures during a dive. If we learn how they do it, we might be able to develop treatments modeled on whales to help people with lung diseases like emphysema.” Recently she saw a nature program about bighorn sheep. Watching them collide in battle using their heads, she wondered what protective mechanisms kept their brains from concussing. “Animals that battle with their heads have incredible horns that they use as weapons,” Reidenberg said. “Their skull is modified so it can support carrying these horns, and these changes also protect it from cracking during combat. But what is protecting the brain?” Her goal is to develop a way to protect the brains of football players, among others. “You can have a great football helmet,” she said, “but the brain still shifts on impact. We need something
that wires the brain in place, and that is what we are trying to figure out. What is inside these animal’s heads? Do they have something like an airbag for the brain? What did nature do and how can we copy it?” Her discoveries are used in both medical and technical developments. For instance, similarities between the tentacles of a giant squid and the trunk of an elephant, both highly flexible organs that bend, twist, shorten, lengthen, and curl despite not having a skeletal structure, inspired work she is doing to create soft robotic arms. Reidenberg is as committed to teaching as she is to research, and not only at the university level, but also to the broader public through television and documentary films. “I feel very strongly that scientists need to share their findings beyond academia, and directly with the public,” she said. “Research is largely taxpayer funded, and the taxpayers deserve to know what we found. TV documentaries give me a chance to educate on a grand scale — literally teaching millions at a time.” She has had as much success in front of the camera as she has in scientific discovery. Her research has been featured in programs on PBS, BBC, National Geographic, and the Discovery Channel. She has been awarded multiple British Academy of Film and Television Arts Awards (the British equivalent of an Oscar and an Emmy), a World Gold Medal Television and Film Award, a Thomson Reuters/Zoological Record Award for Communicating Zoology, and a Royal Television Society Award. At the heart of Reidenberg’s success is passion. Her passion carried her through childhood, helped her to graduate fourth in her King class, led her to carve out a unique career, and is serving humanity at the same time. Her advice to students is built on what has worked for her.
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King Commemorates
Naming of Turf Fields at Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony Inclement weather did not deter a group of King School trustees and administrators from celebrating the naming of the redesigned outdoor sports complex on campus. The complex is in the heart of the campus on four acres of multisport turf fields. At a ribbon-cutting ceremony on June 8, the fields were formally recognized as the Armstrong and King Family Fields and the Feinberg Field. Nancy and Tim Armstrong P’20, Lynn and Tom King P’20, ’20, ’23, and Larry Feinberg P’21, ’21 each generously provided $1 million in lead gifts to begin the development of the fields last year. The gifts inspired meaningful support from additional King School families, enabling the vision of the state-of-the-art turf fields to become a reality. The project highlights the school's commitment to strengthen the competitiveness of athletic programs and further develop facilities on campus to enhance the student experience, both of which are outlined as pillars of King School's Strategic Plan. During the ceremony, King School’s Board Chair Tom King acknowledged the venture as a team effort, noting that the outdoor sports complex “would not have been made possible without the generous support of all participating donors.”
“We are thrilled with the tremendous benefit that the complex provides to our sports teams. Our athletes will have these fields for generations to come.”
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JOIN US FOR AN EVENING OF DINNER, DANCING, AND COCKTAILS TO SUPPORT KING!
– Micah Hauben, Dean of Athletics
MORE DETAILS TO FOLLOW.
As they returned to campus in September, students continued to enjoy the new turf fields, which feature shaded team benches, bleachers, fencing, netting, and surrounding pathways and entrances. The Feinberg Field and the Armstrong and King Family Fields are each named on two scoreboards that overlook the outdoor facility.
SAVE THE DATE SATURDAY, APRIL 23, 2022 6:00 P.M. KING CAMPUS
Erica Cunningham Hits Her Stride and Finds Her Voice
When Erica Cunningham ’20 filled out the paperwork to join the rowing team at the University of Alabama, she was doubtful. Having played three sports at King, she was a proven athlete, but this was the Crimson Tide. The deck was further stacked when the school invited all 20,000 women enrolled to try out for 11 openings on the team.
“I had never rowed before; when I made the team, it was huge.” Learning the sport was a challenge, with its demanding schedule and intense training for aerobic endurance. She got up to speed quickly, contributing to an excellent season, capped by the team’s first appearance in the NCAA Championships.
Erica Cunningham ’20
A trip to Cincinnati solidified Cunningham’s place on the team and her resolve to build a career in communications. Tensions were high as the killing of Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Kentucky, sparked racial protests across the country, some of which were erupting just down the road from the race site. Coach Glenn Putyrae pulled Cunningham and her two other Black teammates aside to acknowledge the potential stress of the environment. He assured them that they had the team’s support, and that they should tell him if anything made them feel uncomfortable.
The three women arrived to warm up wearing T-shirts bearing slogans of solidarity. Putyrae gathered the team and delivered a speech about unity. When the rowers headed to the boats, Cunningham realized that all of her teammates were wearing the same T-shirts as a show of unity. “It was really incredible to be embraced by the team like that and to see them make an effort to understand our experience,” she said. “Especially being a minority on the team, it was so reassuring to see.” Cunningham had been considering a communications degree, and the compelling statement her teammates sent that day underlined the power of messaging. She realized she could be a source of change by using her career to find solutions to some of the serious cultural problems she was witnessing. “I see life through the lens of a Black woman. But I am a proud biracial woman,” she said, adding that her mother is Italian and her father is African American. “There is a distinct difference in how society treats both sides of my family.” This experience gives her an edge. “I can understand both sides of the story,” she said. “Especially in movements like Black Lives Matter. I can relate to both and understand where each party is coming from. I know I can add to the discussion and work toward
resolutions because I come to it from a place of understanding.” Race is not the only problem she is interested in addressing. Growing up in Fairfield County, she had a front-row seat to the impact of socioeconomic divides too. “I grew up immersed in very different ways of life,” she said. “That was magnified during COVID. The crisis played out very differently for lower-income families and minority populations. People who were living in multifamily houses, people with language barriers, they were struggling. That was happening less than 10 minutes away from extraordinary wealth, where people could go home to very large houses and pay for delivered groceries and keep working from home.” Her unique perspective drives Cunningham. She sees opportunity in her exposure to a wide socioeconomic spectrum and her personal experience bridging multiracial families. “Going to college with that experience will allow me to help the people I know need it most,” she said. Back in Alabama, she is kicking off her sophomore year with hopes of joining a sorority and networking with civil rights organizations off campus. And at dawn, she is earning her seat in the boat as the sun breaks and it glides across the water toward the horizon, ready to Roll Tide.
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WINWIN
Now that the 2021 fall season is underway, the King athletes once again have a leg up on the competition thanks to the comprehensive health services that are available to them. In the last two years, lead strength and conditioning coaches Bonnie Roberts and Eric Joyner ’10 have implemented and managed individual strength and conditioning plans for fall, winter, and spring athletes, and recently expanded training opportunities in the summer as well, that have both contributed to the development of individual athletes and the success of teams across each season. Joining Roberts this year is strength coach Ron Monroe. Now King Athletics is excited to track similar individual performance plans to help elevate the performance of our athletes and allow them to gauge their improvements along the way.
for the Vikings as King Takes Holistic Approach to Student-Athlete Health Services
Last spring, King School student-athletes were invited to attend multiple nutrition workshops hosted by Bryan Snyder, Director of Team Nutrition for the National Football League’s Denver Broncos. It was an opportunity for King athletes to learn from a dedicated sports professional about essential and healthy nutritional habits, including pregame and prepractice fueling, hydration, forming positive sleeping habits, reducing inflammation, and what it truly means to stay healthy. It was also the chance to look back on just how far King School Athletics has come in developing and growing the studentathlete health services program at the school. In the 156-year history of King School, the role of an athletic trainer, for example, has changed with the times. No longer is the position merely about taping ankles before a practice or game, or supervising students on the field, gym, or weight room. Instead, placing an emphasis on the importance of preventing injuries, emphasizing mental and emotional health, and creating individual performance plans has allowed King to take a much more holistic approach to athletes’ health, wellness, and performance. “Knowing your athletes is very important when planning their health care needs,” said Emma Jonsson, who stepped into King’s newly created position of Interim Director of StudentAthlete Health Services. “Treating an athlete should always mean taking care of the whole person, not just the specific physical injury.” Joining Jonsson on the staff this year is Head Athletic Trainer Katie Bryant.
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The goal is to create an opportunity to evaluate strengths and weaknesses of King athletes at the beginning of their seasons. Then the athletic team will design intervention programs in an effort to prevent injuries. “These interventions are often easy to implement by including them in warmups or general conditioning,” Jonsson said. “For example, there are well-known exercises inside warmup routines that have a large impact on reducing ACL injuries. And who doesn’t want a stronger, faster, and healthier team? By tracking our athletes, we will also be able to see and document their evolution, improvements, and their overall
development as athletes. One of the main reasons I work at a school like King is to be able to teach healthy habits for life to young people. Even if they don’t become professional athletes, they will still use their bodies in one way or another for the rest of their lives.” “If I can teach them how and why they should stretch their hamstrings, keep good upper-body posture, and show them the balanced importance of mental and physical health, my efforts will be a success,” Jonsson added. This holistic approach to athlete health services is fully aligned with King’s vision for athletics and is reflected in the school’s Strategic Plan as a commitment to “strengthen the competitiveness and consistency of performance for our athletic programs, particularly in terms of student-athlete leadership, wellness, and commitment, while continuing to support and grow our pool of talented coaches, and raising school spirit and Viking Pride! We will also continue to help launch our most dedicated and successful athletes onward to careers in college and beyond.”
For the latest news, updates, and events with the Vikings, follow King Athletics on Instagram (@kingschool_athletics) and Twitter (@kingschoolct)
“By having two athletic trainers on campus full time,” Jonsson said, “we can conduct rehabilitation services throughout the day for student-athletes as well as develop health care policies and procedures based on the most relevant and current peer-reviewed research. It’s a way for us to further widen and innovate our health services program in support of our student-athletes at King.” This movement toward a new model and approach to athlete health services extends beyond the playing field. Student-athletes and coaches take part in character development, culture building, and leadership workshops led by King’s Director of Student-Athlete Leadership and Experience Emily Prince and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Coordinator for Athletics Nate Jean-Baptiste. To support this work, King also partners with several outside organizations, including Growing Leaders, the Janssen Sports Leadership Center, and the Positive Coaching Alliance. The goal for the Vikings is clear: to inform, educate, and provide well-rounded, comprehensive levels of service to allow students to grow as athletes and people. “Building that trust between us and the adolescents is so important,” said Jonsson, who spent the past 10 years at King as a life-skills teacher and athletic trainer. “During my years as a health care practitioner, I have found that daily practical application to knowledge is the best way to reinforce any message. It’s very important to keep an open dialogue without judgment or punishment in order to answer questions and vent concerns that may arise from the athletes.”
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King UnGala Encore Features Special Guest
Russell Wilson "Servitude, an attitude of gratitude, and good communication are things that you can control. That is what I believe; that it really does matter.” – Russell Wilson Seattle Seahawks quarterback
Reaffirming its commitment to financial access, the King community raised over $152,000 during the 2020-21 King UnGala, an alternative to King’s traditional annual Gala as it was held virtually because of pandemic restrictions.
He was joined by his business partner Charly Martin, a former wide receiver in the National Football League. “If you truly believe in yourself, don’t let anyone tell you ‘no,’” Martin said. “Strive every day to believe in yourself. Why not you?”
The fundraiser, which took place from March 7-11, hosted a series of online activities, including a family magic show and trivia challenge, a do-it-yourself art workshop, culinary and mixology classes, wine tasting, and daily fitness classes.
Their appearance received glowing feedback from members of the King community.
The action-packed week was followed by the UnGala Encore on April 8: an exclusive virtual appearance by Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson. King’s community of parents, students, alumni, faculty, and staff were invited to hear Wilson speak about his journey and personal experiences. His message was packed with inspirational encouragement and practical tips on ways to realize dreams. “Servitude, an attitude of gratitude, and good communication are things that you can control,” Wilson said. “That is what I believe; that it really does matter.”
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“What a great event!” Gregory Martin P’26, ’28 said. “These are invaluable life lessons and messages for the children.” Renn Lints ’18, a former Vikings student-athlete, added: “It was an honor to be able to listen to the incredible stories and advice from Russell Wilson, something I will remember forever. There is truly something so special about being a lifelong member of the King community, where opportunities to be involved still present themselves. There is no place like King.” All gifts given during the UnGala Encore contributed to funding for financial access at King School. The event was generously sponsored by Shoshana and Kenny Dichter P’26 and Nancy and Tim Armstrong P’20.
The Show Must Go On to choose various mediums to best express their creative interests and life experiences. Alisa Kukharkin ’21 described the preparation for her final project as a yearlong process that started with lots of brainstorming. Alisa's work, titled “Chasing a Feeling,” included poster-size images of nature and solid and transparent color panels that hung from the ceiling in succession.
Upper School Performing Arts Director Mark Silence described the “rewarding” experience of finding new ways to perform during the pandemic. Silence said: “I made a clear commitment to myself not to treat the process of creating as something 'less than' or as an excuse for not producing a more traditional piece of theater. Although we have used time, space, and every other aspect of creation in a very different way, the journey has taught us so much.”
In the midst of a global pandemic, King School students grappled with how to pursue their artistic passions. Can a voice still serenade while stifled under a mask? Why perform in an empty theater? With questions looming and in-person performances suspended at the start of the 2020-21 school year, students and teachers in the arts dug deep to explore new ways to delight audiences with their talent, creativity, and innovation. In other words, they decided that the show must go on! Students and teachers successfully presented several shows and exhibitions throughout the year, from performing arts to visual arts. Among them were El Sistema, a virtual concert; the Art Colloquium, an art show; and virtual plays such as “Bridges,” “Spring Awakening,” and “The Show Must Go On!” aptly named to culminate a year of perseverance and adaptability in the arts. 34 Quest 2021
To kick off the year, middle and upper school students collaborated on the fall play “Bridges,” a collection of powerful play readings. The performances were livestreamed from the Performing Arts Center on campus. The socially distanced space allowed students to be featured while performing together in a scene online. Each reading was from an act in a different play, giving students the freedom to explore various characters and storylines. Middle School Performing Arts Director Amy Darnton was initially uncertain about the students’ responses to readings without the usual staging, sets, costumes, and microphone setups. “With the students being free of the pressures of line memorization, they diligently focused on acting skills such as script interpretation and character development to learn new ways of approaching their parts in the play,” Darnton said.
Collaboration in the arts at King was not limited to efforts between divisions. Middle and upper school students also had the opportunity to collaborate with other students nationwide for El Sistema, a series of intensive online music workshops with students from various El Sistema USA programs, including Stamford's Project Music. The students created music together virtually using the BAND app, which allowed participants to improvise off one another's submissions. At the end of the residency, all music was produced to create a collective composition called “We Are Striving,” a three-song suite. “I have never experienced something quite like El Sistema,” Faith Walton ’22 said. “It brings out so much enthusiasm and musical creativity. It is a time when everyone gets to create and share their musical voice without judgment. By the end of the whole process, the composition piece is a perfect combination of everyone's musical voice into one song.” While some students preferred collaboration, others elected to pursue solo art projects to further develop self-expression. A group of upper school students delivered presentations at the Art Colloquium, an exhibition that featured each student's yearlong exploration of art. They had the flexibility
“Art has taught me how to be patient and that creation is an adaptive process.” – Alisa Kukharkin ’21
The creativity did not stop there. The grand finale of virtual performances occurred at the end of the academic year as middle school students delivered an exciting three-day Broadway production, “The Show Must Go On!” It featured solo, duet, and trio performances accompanied by prerecorded acts in small groups or with a full cast. The show was eighth grade student Isabella Kolenberg's last middle school play. She described the experience as “truly amazing” and added that it helped her grow as an actress. “What I like about the performing arts is that you can express yourself,” she said. “Being able to sing and act for others is an amazing feeling. I am so glad to have had so much support through this process for my last middle school musical.”
Lower school students also expressed themselves through art during the pandemic. Fifth grade students created paintings of keyholes depicting their ideal outside world while in quarantine. Inside each keyhole, the students painted what they missed the most while in isolation, revealing sketches of canceled trips and portraits of family and friends they could not visit in person. “With the turmoil and uncertainty of the pandemic,” art and design teacher Debbie DePouli said, “the art studio in the Lower School serves as a place for students to hone their creativity while having a safe outlet to process their experiences and emotions.” Art has a way of encouraging students to use their imaginations. In the virtual play “Spring Awakening,” students transported the audience to 19th-century Germany for a coming-of-age story about identity, youth revolt, and self-discovery. “‘Spring Awakening’ provided challenging artistic and learning experiences for our theater and music students,” said Silence, the show’s director. “The show directly confronts the needs and issues facing young adults.” The musical has both historical significance and contemporary relevance,” he added, alluding to the experiences of most young adults, regardless of their cultural backgrounds or outside influences. Charlotte Alexander ’21 noted that preparing for the musical was a unique experience fueled by perseverance and teamwork. “This entire show process has taught me so much, on and off the stage,” she said. “I have learned there are solutions to every problem if you put your mind to it, even if it is difficult. I am so grateful that I got to perform at all, thanks to the creative strategies of the Performing Arts Department.”
Little did Isabella know that her last middle school musical would also be the last virtual performance King would require for the foreseeable future. Although King School began the 2021-22 school year with restrictions still in place, all students returned to campus, allowing for in-person performances once again. On November 5, middle school students returned to the PAC theater to perform “Triple Trouble,” written by Silence, the first play to hit the stage with a live audience on campus since the pandemic began. “The pandemic proved to us the importance of the arts – for creativity, self-expression, and to build confidence in students,” said Darnton, as she revered about returning to campus. “But there's nothing that could ever truly replace the immeasurable value of being together in person.”
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Thank you 2020-21 Parents' Association and Volunteers
King Reads Together
Teacher Appreciation Day
Thank you to the Parents’ Association leadership and the incredible parent volunteers who made tremendous contributions to our community. Our parents truly embody the King mission and offered so many creative solutions to provide a variety of educational and celebratory programs for King students and parents.
DJ Jam
The Lower School DJ Jam was held in the spring using the commencement tent for a socially distanced dance party planned by Tressan Garcia P’29, ’33, Chair of the DJ Jam, and Lindsay Oudsema P’29, ’32, PA Executive Vice President, Lower School PA Vice President.
King Reads Together, an event series sponsored by the King School Parents' Association and the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, provided parents with a unique opportunity to join a virtual conversation with best-selling authors, speakers, and activists. Pictured above is best-selling author Julie Lythcoth-Haims.
Food Drive Stress Buster
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Parents showed their appreciation for the teachers and staff throughout the year with treats and goodies such as a thoughtful (and delicious) lunch for Teacher Appreciation Day and a beach-ready end-of-year gift to send everyone off for summer vacation. Thank you, parents! We appreciate you so very much, too!
The Parents’ Association held another successful food drive to support Person-to-Person, demonstrating the unparalleled generosity of the King community.
To celebrate and honor the graduating Class of 2021, Grade 12 Representatives Jessica Demmo P’21, ’23, ’23, ’25, ’28, Fiona Fine KLHT ’90, P’21, ’23, and Lisa Kadlick P’18, ’21, and Senior Stress Buster Committee Co-Chairs Jane Fragner P’21, ’21, ’23, Christine O'Halloran P’21, and Melissa Ross P’06, ’17, ’21 put a creative spin on the traditional senior events, including an outdoor viewing party for the senior video.
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Finding Balance Between Two Worlds Katharina Focke ’15 loves to run. She runs around Central Park every chance she gets, maximizing her limited free time. The breaks serve as the perfect counterpoint to her demanding professional life as an investment banking associate at the financial advisory firm Lazard, where her workweek averages 60 to 80 hours. Her ability to strike a balance between extremes allows her to thrive at a breakneck pace. She spends long days immersed in the pressure of finance, tied to a computer amid the frenzy of Manhattan. Yet she loves to escape the grind with long hikes in nature, beyond the reach of cell towers, where the noise of her job is not accessible. “Because my work and my escapes are so extreme, they balance each other out,” she said. “Nature helps me disconnect, and when I am out there, I cannot possibly check email. But I love working, and I love the work that I do. Focusing on only one or the other would not fulfill me. I need both in order to thrive. My brain and my body need the breaks in order to perform well. So depending on which one I am immersed in, I have to set boundaries within the extremes and live by them.” Harmonizing extremes reflects Focke’s formidable self-confidence and rigorous discipline. She credits King School with cultivating these attributes.
Katharina Focke ’15
“One of the things I value most about King is its flexibility. I wanted to take all sorts of classes that did not fit into my schedule. King adapted the curriculum to allow me to realize my vision. The teachers stayed after school to teach me in order to help me do it all.”
With that support, Focke was able to achieve two distinctions, one in global studies and the other in language studies focusing on Spanish and Mandarin. But it
was during her time with the Model United Nations when she really experienced personal growth. King's history teacher Christos Galanopoulos began recruiting Focke for Model UN in her freshman year, and managed to onboard her at the start of sophomore year. The program and his mentorship nurtured her leadership skills, which culminated at a global conference in England. Focke was 16 and in a forum of more than 500 people when she decided to address the crowd. Shaking with nerves, she drew confidence from Mr. Galanopoulos, who was sitting next to her, and raised her placard. Called on, she stepped into the light, took the microphone and spoke. “For me that was a great growing moment,” she said. “That I was able to calm myself down and execute successfully was a breakthrough. I knew then that I would be able to get up in front of a crowd and speak my mind in the future. I have no recollection of what I said, but it was the feeling that I do remember. That has stayed with me.” The flexibility of King’s program gave her the room to explore and figure out what she wanted to do in college. With her confidence built, and a valedictory address delivered, she graduated from King and entered a dual bachelor’s program starting with two years at Sciences Po in France followed by two years at Columbia University. “I left King with the confidence to move to a new country, by myself, where I did not speak the language,” Focke said. “I felt like I was prepared for it. King taught me to think on the fly and present in front of people. That really helped me with the degrees I received and now in the current job I have. Just being able to work on the passions that I had was very useful to me.” In 2019, she graduated with a degree in law from Sciences Po and a degree in financial economics from Columbia, garnering honors from both universities. She worked as a summer analyst at Lazard during college and joined the team full
time upon graduation, earning a promotion to associate in July 2021. In many ways, Lazard echoes the King construct. The firm is perfectly structured to maximize Focke’s skills. Rather than having a single boss, she works on teams and reports to whoever is overseeing any given project. This allows for a lot of autonomy within the structure and opportunities to perform. “I think it is the small environment, like King, that I gravitate toward. When I was at King I had small classes and an individualized program. In many ways, my workplace is similar. When I was looking for the right place to work, that was something I was seeking out. There are only 30 people in my group, therefore I can have a personal connection with all of them.” That she loves her job is important because of the long hours. At times, she has to take calls at 2:00 a.m. with several team members, all working to iron out last-minute details on morning deals. Despite the demands, and working remotely through the pandemic, Focke prioritizes building relationships within the team. “You produce better work products if you can put a person behind the work that you are doing,” she said. “You have more motivation; you do not want to let the person you are working with down, and having that relationship ensures that. Just like I want to be considered a complete person. I consider my interactions, and try to bring my personality to the work and build on that.” Part of that personality is determination. Last year she ran 350 miles and is hoping to top that in 2021. As she rounds the Reservoir in Central Park, clearing her head with the rigor of running and the beauty of nature, she is fixed on going the distance.
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Brothers on the Frontlines
Jim Becker K’80
At first glance, brothers Jeff Becker K’83 and Jim Becker K’80 are opposites. Jeff is a financial sector CEO living on the East Coast, and Jim is a community foundation CEO living on the West Coast. Jeff races McLarens and Jim casts flies. Jeff skis among spruce trees and Jim studies family trees. But look closer and their similarities emerge. They are innovative leaders within their industries. They are steeped in philanthropy, Jeff through his role on the board of Americares, Jim through his work on the front lines of the community foundation RCF Connects. They both maximize their skills to build connections that get resources to the people who need it most. And they credit the liberal arts education at King with laying the foundation for their successes. Prior to becoming the CEO of the investment firm Jennison Associates in 2016, Jeff ran ING Group’s asset management portfolio in the Americas and the investment arm of the financial services giant Voya. As he ascended the ranks, Jeff developed a three-pronged approach to leadership: setting the strategy for the business, putting the right people in the right places and supporting them, and finding balance between what to reinvest and what to pay out to employees and
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shareholders. At Jennison, where the focus is to manage money for pensioners and retirees, he and his team keep their clients’ goals front of mind as they help them build and save for a secure financial future. Jeff’s management skills lend themselves well to generating resources for the frontline operations of Americares, a health-focused relief and development organization for which he has served on the board since 2015. Though his impact is realized from the function of a boardroom, his commitment comes from visits to the front lines.
“You don’t really connect with any given issue until you go out into the field, so many people in the world have so much less and don’t have access to health care or basic needs. It really resonates when you see people dedicate their careers to solving big humanitarian problems.” – Jeff Becker K’83 Just before COVID-19 snarled travel, he went on a volunteer service trip with Americares to the Colombia-Venezuela border, where he met migrant families who had fled Venezuela in a desperate search for health care.
Americares operates nine health clinics in Colombia to meet the increasing demand for primary care services and access to medicines for families fleeing the unprecedented humanitarian emergency in Venezuela. The clinics are operated in coordination with the Colombian Ministry of Health and Social Protection and made possible with the support of the United States Agency for International Development and its Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance. “The Colombian health care system was buckling with the demand, and Americares was intent on relieving some of the pressure,” Jeff said. “Americares set up clinics, we hired doctors to serve and connected with major pharmaceutical companies to garner medicines and meet the needs on the ground.” Leveraging connections locally and globally, Americares helped alleviate the suffering of the Venezualan refugees and the burden on the Colombian health care system. Jeff’s work with the Americares Finance and Investment Committee was part of realizing that success. Jeff’s brother Jim realized early on that building the right network of connections was central to building healthy communities, which would in turn lift
people out of poverty. He therefore set his sights on a career in nonprofits and entered the ranks as a youth coordinator for the YMCA in Minneapolis. Jim worked his way up the ladder and across the network, in time making his way to California. Along the way, he saw that the laborious grant-writing process common to nonprofit financing was an impediment to their funding streams. “I decided to shift my career toward philanthropy,” Jim said, “hoping to accelerate how organizations brought donor dollars to the recipients.” By the time he took the reins as development director at the Richmond Community Foundation, he had solutions in mind. He immediately set out to cultivate donors willing to think about generating funds in a new way. In lieu of grants, he sought ways for dollars to flow freely into the community. Building connections was central to his vision. When he eventually became CEO of the foundation, he implemented an operational model that put donors, nonprofits and recipients at the same table. “Traditionally, the foundation would look at the donor interest and tailor things to match that,” he said. “This approach shifts that paradigm so the end need in the community is where we start.”
Jeff Becker K’83
The foundation’s SparkPoint initiative is an example of his model in action. Under SparkPoint, 19 nonprofits work under the same roof using the same brand name, thus streamlining the experience for clients seeking services. This structure allows the nonprofits to address client needs much more efficiently as they share the same database and the same metrics. The broad SparkPoint network places clients and service providers on the same level, and the flow of donor dollars can be turned on and off as need dictates.
Jim’s innovative approach to community building has increased the impact of the local nonprofits. Under his leadership, connecting the three components of donors, nonprofits and recipients has become so central to the Richmond Community Foundation’s mission that it changed its name to RCF Connects.
Giving back is instinctive for the Beckers. Their mother Judy Becker served as Director of Development at King for many years, and then at Sacred Heart in Greenwich. Jim credits her for his success
at the community level. He grew up steeped in her methods of fundraising and drew on them as he modernized the traditional nonprofit model. Jeff and Jim loved their time at King. “I had a graduation class of 28 students,” Jeff said. “I always appreciated the community’s intimacy and our relationships with the teachers. King built a foundation of communicating, advocating, and socializing, and that was all part of building me as a person. That contributed to qualities I now employ as a leader.” Jim agreed, saying: “King allowed me to learn how to learn. The education was not that of rote repetition, but learning was a goal in itself. We learned and became educated because something was of interest; it did not have to lead to anything per se. That encourages curiosity, and I think that makes all the difference.” They also appreciate the lifelong friends they made at King. “I was recently in Vermont,” Jim said, “and I looked up an old classmate, Anthony Rossi, who I have not seen in 40 years. He told me to come over and we had a great time. It was like no time had passed. King built a really good system of friends and colleagues that is still there. I will always be thankful for that.” Quest 2021 41
King School Honors Its Retirees for their years of service
and celebrates their legacy of hard work and dedication that has made a lasting impact on the community today.
Cheryla Greene
retired as the Assistant to Head of Middle School “Words cannot do justice to what Cheryla has meant to so many of us over the years in the Middle School. Cheryla is professional, polished, and an excellent listener. I admire her for her guidance, love, and ability to lead other faculty members and the children. She always made sure to tell us what we needed to hear, not always what we wanted to hear. That’s how she loves — transparent and true. There could never be another Cheryla Greene.” – Carol Brown, Mathematics Faculty
Anne Moriarty
retired as the Chair of the Department of Teaching and Learning
Sharon Johnson
retired as the Administrative Assistant in the Middle School “Sharon has been the oil that keeps the Middle School running. Her deeds never went unnoticed. She would post daily announcements, fill in when and where she was needed, and was always cheerful and positive. She took care of the faculty and staff by regularly stocking the supply cabinet with necessities, not to mention delicious snacks to keep us going. She was an awesome person to talk to and was great about offering advice when needed. She will be missed in the Middle School!”
“Anne was the best mentor I have ever had coming into a new job. Not only was she incredibly accomplished in her field, but she also knew how to bring outsiders into the fold and make them feel (and become) a part of the team. She led our department through important, meaningful work, while making sure we supported each other personally and professionally. For that, I will always be grateful!” – Jessie Coulombe, Director of Teaching and Learning
– Michelle Sibrizzi, Science Faculty and Team Leader, Grade 7
Kim Leeker
retired as the Chief Financial and Operating Officer
Carol Mannella
retired as Director of Faculty and Staff Daycare “Carol was the heart and soul of the day care. Each morning she greeted the babies and toddlers with a smile, laughter, and an embrace. The joy that she brought to children and parents’ lives for so many years was priceless. Carol always put me at ease as a new mother, and I knew that my children were loved and cared for each morning when I dropped them off at the ‘little red house.’ Carol is like a family member who has been present for the milestones in my children's lives. She is an absolute gem!” – Emily Decker, Grade 2 Faculty
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“Kim Leeker was a skilled leader of so many different teams, a change agent at the institutional level, and a mentor to me at key points in my King career. She knew that understanding a school from every angle — and building relationships with those in every corner, no matter what their role — was so important to being a successful CFO and professional, and she modeled that for all of us repeatedly. She told the hard truths with grace and warmth and humor; she also pointed the way forward when complexity threatened to stand in the way of forward movement. Kim does numbers and people! I know she will continue to inspire everyone in the next leg of her journey.” – Marnie Sadlowsky, Associate Head of School for Strategic Programs and Head of Upper School
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King School Welcomes Head of School Carol Maoz
FALL 2021