Annual Letter From Rectory School's Headmaster January 2019

An Independent, Coed, Junior Boarding (5–9) and Day School (Early Childhood–9) Dear Friends of Rectory School, It is a well-known fact that I love to read and each year I am fortunate to find a few new titles under the Christmas tree. This year’s wonderfully varied selection included several best-selling novels, a history of snowboarding, and an account of the US Marines’ involvement in the Korean War. I expect these all to be outstanding, but for now I am wholly consumed by Tara Westover’s Educated. This personal memoir of a woman who grew up in a survivalist family in Utah knowing little of the outside world until she entered college provides compelling insight into the purpose of school and the value of education. Eventually able to break free of her father’s totalitarian influence, Westover writes, “My life was narrated for me by others. Their voices were forceful, emphatic, absolute.

It had never occurred to me that my voice might be as strong as theirs.”

Prior to the winter holiday, I sat in the Tang Center for our holiday concert and listened to our Rectory students’ strong, confident voices ring out in song.

On a daily basis I hear these same voices take on an inquisitive, insightful lilt in the classroom, while in the afternoon they race around our athletic fields as students develop skills, bond as a team, and engage in character-building competition. Seated around the dining hall tables these same voices share life stories that spread across our campus and our globe as our students grow their understanding of themselves, others, and the world around them. Like Westover’s epiphany, our Rectory voices are strong as they articulate powerful narratives detailing exciting happenings on the Rectory campus. I am pleased to share samples of these narratives with you in this annual update.

PEOPLE About this time last year, Rectory was in the final push to secure the matching funds necessary to achieve the Tang family challenge. (Oscar Tang ‘53 and Kevin Tang ‘82 generously agreed to donate $5 million to establish the Tang Family Endowment for Excellence in Teaching if the School raised $2.5 million in matching funds.) Last spring we claimed success in arguably the most important fundraising initiative in school history, and Rectory is already reaping the rewards of this incredible generosity: Across the last three years the starting teacher salary increased over 17% while the median teacher salary increased over 16%.

In addition to paying our teachers more, we are also growing the expertise of our faculty. The draw from the Tang endowment enhances Rectory’s ability to recruit mid-career educators, many of whom have already completed master’s degree programs. In addition, Rectory has increased its commitment to supporting our existing teachers’ pursuits of advanced degrees. The net result is that more than 60% of Rectory’s faculty currently have advanced degrees—a near doubling in recent years—with an additional number currently well underway in their master’s programs.

At the same time, Rectory is funding certificate programs for our tutors in specialized instructional methodologies such as Orton-Gillingham, Wilson Reading, and more.

SCHOOL PROGRAM This fantastic group of educators is working under the direction of Lisa Hart, our Director of Academics, as Rectory strengthens and refines our educational practices. I joined Mrs. Hart last summer with a pilot group of teachers and administrators as we attended a week-long conference entitled Neuroscience and the Learning Brain offered by Learning and the Brain, an organization devoted to “connecting educators with the latest research on the brain and learning and its implications for education.” This phenomenally enlightening experience provided both theoretical and practical knowledge on student intelligence and student learning. In fact, we were so pleased with the session we engaged one of the presenters, Kathleen Kryza, to visit Rectory and spend a day with the entire faculty to further enhance our repertoire of teaching strategies and our understanding of student learning profiles. All this is in an effort to offer an engaging, relevant, and rewarding school experience, one that fascinates, challenges, and inspires our young learners.

While enhancing our teaching skills, Rectory is also adding to our list of course offerings, though not all we introduce this year is new. As times change and student interests and needs evolve, Rectory’s computer science program, which had previously existed of a few coding classes, has been significantly beefed up. Aided by the hiring of Mr. Dylan Klett, a professional coder who sought a more rewarding life working with students, our program now spans all Rectory grade levels and includes a much broader range of computer-

related topics that focus on hardware, software, ethics, and innovation. Rectory’s recent Shark-Tank-like App Promotion Project highlighted some of the creative thinking and student enthusiasm inspired by these courses as students developed and marketed to potential investors new app concepts.

Rectory knows that students value choice as they take responsibility for their learning and grow their interests.

Understanding this, our related arts department added a number of new offerings designed to instill and promote creativity. These include additional drama classes; new studio art offerings in ceramics and printmaking; new instrumental options in the form of the world drumming and the Ocarina, the latter making its debut in our holiday chapel; and, returning from a lengthy absence, the rejuvenation of our woodshop program, where, in a sign of the times, some of the first projects included wooden speaker cabinets for the students’ iPhones. Creative expression and hands-on activities offer valuable learning opportunities that transcend “art class,” and our students are sure to benefit from these new classes.

Moving from the artistic to the analytical, for the past two years, Rectory’s history department has been reviewing its curriculum with an interest in moving to a more theme-based unit. Their process, which will serve as a model for all departments as each goes through a similar department curriculum review, began with extensive research into current thinking on curriculum design and department goals. (This included the involvement of outside experts.) The end result is a revised sequence of study that offers a broader perspective into the study of history and a more defined understanding of student learning objectives, particularly when it comes to academic skills.

The new courses are well underway with students and teachers alike offering very positive initial feedback.

PLACE Rectory is constantly praised for its home like atmosphere. This is first and foremost a tribute to the caring relationships formed between the adults and students, but “place” is also an important component. In the past ten years Rectory has spent millions of dollars improving our residential spaces (Memorial Dormitory renovation, faculty duplex construction, and Woodbridge Cottage acquisition), our academic spaces (the Smith Learning Center and the Hale Elementary School construction), our recreational spaces (Whipple-Brewster Tennis Center, Seaward Family Pavilion, and the Wolf Den Student Center), and our administrative offices (renovated front entrance and admissions offices). All this has been possible due to the generosity of our community. Rectory’s bucolic campus now also includes an ever-expanding mountain biking loop that is getting increasing use as students enjoy the thrill of navigating the hills, rocks, and rooted trails near Cow Hill.

With all this accomplished we now turn our sights to new initiatives which, with Board of Trustees’ approval, will begin this summer in the form of needed renovations to the Bigelow Academic Building. These improvements to the classrooms—improved lighting, energy-efficient windows, and new wall, ceiling and floor treatments— will make our academic spaces more inviting, more comfortable, and more conducive to the important exercise of learning that allows our students to flourish. Once this work is completed we will explore the feasibility of a new girls’ dormitory to bring the majority of boarding students onto the main campus, and/or the expansion of Colhoun Gymnasium to better serve our student athletes.

CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION In the fall of 2020, a date that is racing towards us, Rectory will begin a year-long Centennial Celebration the likes of which our campus has never seen. A steering committee is already well along in planning the many events and activities that will comprise our year of remembrances, reunions, and receptions that will mark this once-in-alifetime milestone, and the groundwork connected with alumni engagement in particular is well underway. The most recent issue of The Rectory News, which featured Alden Mills ’84 on the cover, contained our largest number—by far—of alumni notes and updates yet.

Additionally, Rectory’s receptions across the country and the world continue to bring lost or idle alumni back in to the life of the school. A recent New York City event hosted by Gavin McLaughlin ’93 included two classmates from 1971 and one from the 1966 who hadn’t attended a Rectory event since their graduations. Being a part of this reconnection is one of the most enjoyable parts of my job as I get to hear about the Rectory of yesterday, while witnessing the impact it has had on our former students as they lead their lives of purpose today.

In thinking about these alumni, I would be remiss in not mentioning a man so revered by our community. Mr. Brad Seaward, who, with the equally impressive Mrs. Mary Lou Seaward, retired last June after forty-three years at Rectory, claimed that while devoting a lifetime of service to Rectory School he, “never worked a day in his life.” I have never met a more impactful human being than Brad Seaward. Mr. Seaward has a legion of fans who come from all points of the globe with a myriad of interests and a plethora of personalities. His ability to connect with people, his genuineness, and his concern for others built meaningful relationships his students, their parents, and his colleagues will treasure forever. Mr. Seaward is no longer a daily physical presence on campus, but his influence is ever-present and his legacy will help establish a new generation of educators who, like Mr. Seaward, will influence young lives in the most powerful and positive of ways. Similarly, the Brad Seaward Scholarship, established in the spring of 2018 in Mr. Seaward’s honor, will continue forever Mr. Seaward’s interest in aiding young people.

Our Rectory voices unite to sing Mr. Seaward’s well deserved praises, and, as is articulated in the Board of Trustees’ recently adopted strategic plan, to announce a clear, bold course forward for Rectory. This strategic direction will allow us to conclude our first century with great success while already planning for the second.

Here’s to a joyful and productive 2019 at Rectory School and all places beyond.

Sincerely,

Frederick W. Williams Headmaster

RECTORY SCHOOL 528 POMFRET STREET, POMFRET, CT 06258 WWW.RECTORYSCHOOL.ORG 860-963-6740