WITHIN THESE WALLS A snapshot of what’s been happening around campus

Within These Walls

REOPENING OF THE HARRIS CENTER

Last fall, the Board of Trustees and campaign committee and chairs, along with distinguished chairs of the This Is Our Moment Campaign, joined all students, teachers and employees to celebrate the reopening of the Harris Center at a festive ribbon-cutting ceremony! “Today, we are celebrating a renovation that imbues fresh energy, vitality, light and vibrancy into our central means of accessing our campus,” Caroline Blatti, Head of School, told the audience. “It is a space that connects and upholds, opens and bridges together all who enter and exit through these doors.” We are so grateful to everyone who has contributed to the overwhelming success of this campaign and helped us surpass our goal!

Last fall, our Little Reds friends in the 2s, 3s and 4s classes walked, jogged and even sprinted through our Backwoods as parents, teachers, kindergarteners and Upper School students cheered them on along the route in the first annual Little Reds Turkey Trot! It was a fun new holiday tradition to kick off the Thanksgiving weekend.

CYBERPATRIOTS NATIONAL COMPETITION

Congratulations to our CyberPatriot team who competed last winter in CyberPatriot XIV, a national competition where students completed challenges and skills assessments regarding computer security risks, forensic problems and networking issues. This year’s team advanced to the semifinals, the furthest an RPCS team has ever gone! They ranked in the top 25 percent of over 3,100 teams! Congratulations to Charlotte Corcoran, 2022, Ellie Dassoulas, 2022, Oye Fadiora, 2024, Katherine Guerrerio, 2023, Mo’Riyah Johnson, 2023 and Rebecca Showalter, 2024.

BROADWAY MEETS ROLAND AVENUE

The entire seventh grade, along with the Semiquavers, met virtually in the spring with Broadway actress Brittney Johnson, who currently plays Glinda in “Wicked!” Brittney is the first Black woman to play this iconic role and the students could not have been more excited to chat with her over Zoom and ask all of their questions! Brittney, who has also held roles in “Les Misérables,” “Mamma Mia,” “Motown,” and more, spoke to the students about her career and enjoyed answering questions about her professional and personal challenges.

MEET PEPPER!

The Upper School Student Athletic Association, in partnership with the Athletics Department, organized a yearlong naming contest for our bear mascot. The name was announced at our first annual Feel the Joy Convocation … meet Pepper! This year, our students in grades 1-3 loved planting and harvesting vegetables in our school gardens and then preparing meals from their bounty. We are so thankful that parents and guardians were allowed back on campus for the Fall and Spring Harvest Feasts – a beloved Lower School event!

ATHLETICS X GLI SPEAKER SERIES

Last fall, RPCS announced a unique collaborative effort between our Athletics Department and the Gore Leadership Institute (GLI) to launch Athletics Mary Griffin, 2019 was one of this year's Athletics x GLI speakers x GLI, a monthly speaker series for our Middle School and Upper School students. The series showcased individuals whose athletic endeavors have led to inspirational leadership experiences. Guests included Olympic rower Claire Collins, Virginia Tech lacrosse player and podcast host Mary Griffin, 2019, and Assistant Lacrosse Coach and Offensive Coordinator at Johns Hopkins University, Kristen Carr.

Within These Walls

Celebrating. Singing. Dancing. Smiling. The inaugural all-school Feel the Joy Convocation in the spring was the epitome of our beloved RPCS culture! The entire school came together to honor those employees who have exemplified a passion and love for RPCS, as well as those who celebrated milestone years of service and who retired at the end of the 2021-2022 school year. We were awed by singing and dancing performances, including two numbers that combined the talents of both Upper School and Lower School student artists.

MIDDLE SCHOOL MUSICAL REVUE

In March, our Middle School students, teachers and production team delivered three incredible performances of the Middle School Musical Revue! Acts included singing, dancing and monologues, and every number was a hit. We are so proud of the cast, crew and everyone else involved behind the scenes for making this possible!

REDS PLAY DAY

In honor of International Day of the Girl, RPCS hosted our first REDS Play Day last October. Current students and children from the community spent the day with Upper School athletes and our coaches learning all about what our athletics program offers. From rowing in the crew tank to chipping advice from Varsity golfers, all of our 15 sports were highlighted! REDS Play Day was the perfect way to celebrate girls in sports achieving greatness together.

In the spring, RPCS was thrilled to welcome awardwinning author

Edwidge Danticat

as the featured speaker for our annual Anne Healy Lecture. After meeting with the seventh and eighth graders for informal Q&As, Ms. Danticat shared a visual presentation of her life and career with the Upper Schoolers and read from one of her short stories, “Legends,” before answering questions from the students. During the evening presentation, she read excerpts from Everything Inside, her book of short stories, and spoke with the audience about her writing process, her favorite form of writing, her approach to writing about death, and the power of storytelling.

Photo credit: Lynn Savarese Photography

INAUGURAL GORE LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE SHOWCASE

In the spring, the Gore Leadership Institute hosted an inaugural showcase featuring the work of our Upper School students over the past year. Students in grades 9-11 shared presentations their work in Leadership Seminars, Advanced Leadership Seminars and Independent Studies. Guests also enjoyed cooking demonstrations, an improv show, social justice installation art, and more. From podcasts highlighting women in business and teenage mental health to TikTok accounts on parenting, the students shared their leadership passions and skills with friends and family.

In April, the Upper School met with RPCS alumna Tina Canady, 2013, director of a movie called Breathing Black, in which she, along with an all-Black creative team, interviewed Black Baltimoreans about their connection to joy, healing and breath. Tina, who holds a BFA in drama from NYU, spoke to the Upper School and provided them with a viewing of the movie, which premiered at the Reginald F. Lewis Museum last December and was recently selected for the 2022 Columbia Film Festival.

DODGEBALL UPSET!

The annual Upper School Dodgeball Tournament was back in the gym this year, and the entire school could hear the excitement! The seniors made a powerful showing, but didn’t make it to the final game this year – the honor of which went to the freshman and junior classes. With only one girl left standing on the freshman lines, the Class of 2023 won! Congratulations to all of our players.

This year’s Second Grade Marketplace was a huge success. Students from all divisions, as well as faculty and staff, perused the market to purchase one of the many unique products that were handmade by the students. Customers walked out of the door with glitter globes, stress balls, critter keychains/magnets, glitter notebooks, slime, bracelets, hair ties, sugar scrubs and pencil toppers. The creativity of the products, paired with the business knowledge the girls developed over the past few months, led to a successful event where customers and business owners left happy.