Belonging, Winter/Spring 2020

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VIRTUAL REUNIONS

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Nearly 100 alumni virtually celebrated their reunion milestones with us during our “Derryfield Virtual Reunion Happy Hours” in April and May! Under normal circumstances, alumni would gather on the Derryfield campus for alumni sports tournaments, a delicious Reunion BBQ, visits with special faculty and staff, and reminiscing with classmates. In April, due to social distancing requirements, Derryfield made the decision to continue our Reunion celebrations virtually and invite all alumni celebrating this year to join us via Zoom. Our virtual celebrations welcomed alumni who live as close as next door to campus, and from as far away as Austria, Azerbaijan, France, and Brazil (and other exotic locales!). We have alumni with a tremendous range of career paths, including musicians, teachers, microbiologists, a fishmonger, and a wine distributor. Following suit with career paths, our alumni have a diversity of personal hobbies, including dog breeding, playing instruments (including one who plays in a self-described “mom rock band”), gardening, volunteering and fundraising for charitable causes, and many more.

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We are thankful to all those who attended our virtual reunions and enjoyed catching up with you all. Stay tuned for more virtual alumni events this summer and fall!

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CLASS OF 2020: SPECIAL DELIVERY This spring, Head of School Mary Halpin Carter embarked on an unforgettable adventure to visit every local members of the Class of 2020. She and senior Ridge Gonzales each reflect on their own perspective of the experience: MARY HALPIN CARTER: We were a surprising spectacle—a small white and maroon school bus (driven by Danny Pouliot), a petite head of school in a Derryfield jacket, and a large cougar mascot (played by Dawn Kilcrease). What was striking was how happy the kids were to see us and how emotional many of the parents were. As the mom of a Dartmouth senior, I can relate. You empathize with your child for all that was lost of their senior spring, but don’t have much agency to make it better. Then here comes this ‘clown car’ of adults willing to be silly, giving your child a personalized lawn sign and a stuffed animal baby cougar.

B e l o n g i n g : W i n t e r/S p r i n g 2 0 2 0

I didn’t realize until I started that I had the opportunity to look right into each graduate’s eyes and tell them why what they had done at Derryfield made the community better, or how we admire their grit in finishing the rigorous program, or how they were to be commended for the specific ways they took advantage of the opportunity. These exchanges felt like the most normal thing in the world, but also better than normal, because I got to thank and commend each graduate for their contributions to the school community. We often bounced back on the bus laughing and joyful, feeling like we were able, through some divine intervention, to provide a moment of healing. We laughed, we got bus sick, we got lost on rural back roads, we got hangry and there was nowhere to buy a snack, but mostly we felt it was an honor to be part of an important life milestone for good young people in uncertain times.


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