Upper School – Leading the Way

Rowland Hall to Join National Campaign to Address Heat Inequalities

For Upper School climate science students, it’s not enough to simply study how climate change affects weather; they also examine how extreme weather impacts communities. As part of this work, science teacher Rob Wilson spearheaded an application, in partnership with organizations including the Utah Climate Center and Salt Lake City Government, to join the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s urban heat island mapping campaign, which maps heat inequities to help reduce the health impacts of extreme heat. In March, Salt Lake was chosen as one of 18 participating communities, which will enable students to volunteer, alongside community partners, as citizen scientists in the summer of 2023.

Curriculum Investments

Advanced Placement World History | Advanced Research Biology | Advanced Research Chemistry | Advanced Research Debate | Advanced Research Humanities | Advanced Research Mathematics | Applied Forensics | Biotechnology | Entrepreneurship | History of Conspiracies | Integrated Engineering I | Integrated Engineering II | Leadership Lab | Media Arts | Python Programming | Robotics

Wait … How Many of Your Students Have Been Published?

With an increased focus on original research that deeply engages students with topics of interest, we’re proving that high schoolers are capable of creating impactful knowledge. For instance, this year, Max Smart ’22 and Tina Su ’22, in collaboration with science teacher Dr. Padmashree Rida, published articles in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences (Max) and Cell (Tina), while, as an ophthalmology lab intern under Dr. Majid Moshirfar, senior Jaiden Handlon was published in the Journal of Ocular Pharmacology and Therapeutics and the Journal of Clinical Medicine. And Rowland Hall continues our tradition of building editorial writing skills, with junior Samuel Morse becoming our most recent student to be published in The Salt Lake Tribune in March.

This was a really unique and special opportunity to hone research skills in a real-world environment.

–Max Smart '22

Upper School Student Achievements and Accolades

Six upper schoolers—Aurora Cichos, Neha Dixit, Layla Hijjawi, Frances Hodson, Sophie Lieskovan, and Marina Peng—earned 2023 Aspirations in Computing honors from the National Center for Women & Information Technology

Six upper schoolers—Logan Fang, Kavitha Kasturi, Hasan Rahim, Elli Ramirez, Serenity Thompson, and Sylvia Rae Twahirwa—traveled to San Antonio, Texas in November to represent Rowland Hall at the National Association of Independent Schools’ Annual Student Diversity Leadership Conference

Junior Maddie Mulford took first place in the sixth annual Westminster Honors College Essay Contest

Twenty-seven Upper School debaters contributed to the school’s third consecutive state title this season, including Ruchi Agarwal and Layla Hijjawi (first place in Policy), Micah Sheinberg and Anna Hull (first place in Public Forum), and Zachary Klein (the team's top individual event speaker) (debaters pictured below)

Senior Ruchi Agarwal (pictured below) was named the Utah winner and a national runner-up in the summer 2022 Stockholm Junior Water Prize competition

Junior Gabriella Miranda was named a recipient of the 2023 University of Utah Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Youth Leadership Award

For the second year in a row, tenth graders Aiden Gandhi, Eli Hatton, and Evan Weinstein (group pictured below) qualified for the International Science and Engineering Fair with their project on sustainable aviation

Upper Schoolers Zachary Klein, Dean Hijjawi, and Sophie Zheng took the top three finishes, respectively, in the Utah Math Olympiad