Upper School Year In Review

THE UPPER SCHOOL: A YEAR IN REVIEW

By Brian Mitchell

The start of the 2021-2022 school marked a full return to campus for the upper school. It was great to kick off the year all together and fully in person.

In the fall of 2021, we opened our doors for the first time to boarding students. Despite the challenges of opening during a pandemic, we began the year with seven boarding students, with three more joining later in the year. Boarders were welcomed into our community by peers and faculty alike, and they were quick to assimilate into the upper school and take advantage of all the opportunities that Boys’ Latin provides.

There is nothing more affirming than watching students show initiative and leadership, and that is exactly what happened with our December toy drive for Mount Washington Pediatric Hospital. The drive was completely student-run, and through the leadership of Logan Hollins ’25 and Max Woelper ’25, we collected more than 700 toys in the upper school, far exceeding our original goal of 350. Across all three divisions, we donated more than 1000 toys, which was the largest single toy donation Mount Washington Pediatric Hospital has ever received.

The school year also marked a full return to field trips, retreats for all grades, and Model UN and Robotics tournaments. Both the Model UN and the Robotics team were able to travel, which proved to be a great return to shared experiences outside of the classroom.

In March, we welcomed back FCD Prevention Solutions, a global non-profit substance abuse prevention organization. We have worked with this group for more than 15 years to educate our upper school students about the risks and dangers of chemical dependency. This year, we worked with our tenth graders (class of 2024) in a new way. Students and parents came to campus in the evening to engage in a facilitated round table discussion around the pressures related to drugs and alcohol, peer pressure and family expectations. The night provided space for meaningful conversations and learning for both students and parents. We will continue with this model in 2023. The spring sports season ended with every varsity team in the playoffs, a remarkable occurrence. The greatest achievement was that of our varsity tennis team, led by upper school math teacher and head varsity tennis coach Rich Zielaskiewicz, who won the MIAA B Conference Championship for the first time in School history.

In June, we took a group of 18 boys to Puerto Rico for our annual service trip for the first time since 2019. It was a great balance of service learning and studying the local culture. This year, students spent their time rebuilding and renovating a family’s house in Maricao. This marks the third time upper schoolers have gone to Puerto Rico, and I would like to thank Jenn and Mac McDonald for leading and chaperoning the trip over the years. Mac serves as the upper school dean of students, and Jenn is the School’s accounting manager and dorm parent. We plan to continue this meaningful learning experience for boys in 2023 and beyond.

On Saturday, June 4th, we celebrated 77 members of the class of 2022 at our 178th Commencement. This is the last class I will see graduate from my seat as the head of the upper school. It has been an honor and a pleasure to serve as Boys’ Latin’s upper school head for the past nine years. As I move into the director of enrollment management position, it is with great confidence I share that Brandon Mollett will take on the leadership of the upper school this year as interim upper school head. We will begin a national search for the next head of upper school in the fall of 2022, which is exciting for the future of the institution.

To all the parents who have had boys go through the upper school during my tenure, thank you for your trust, your support, your patience, your understanding and for always offering to help. In the end, I hope my leadership made this special place and each of your sons a little better. That’s all that matters to me.

GLOBAL ONLINE ACADEMY

By Owen Reid ‘22

This fall, Boys’ Latin will officially launch a partnership with Global Online Academy (GOA), a worldwide notfor-profit consortium of leading independent schools, designed to prepare students and educators to thrive in a globally connected society. Boys’ Latin upper school students will have the opportunity to take online courses on a multitude of interesting, specialized topics with students and teachers from across the globe. More than 125 high-performing independent schools participate, representing 30 countries and over 30 states.

Logistically, students will enroll in a semester-long course of their choosing; courses range from Architecture to Personal Finance to Neuropsychology. Ms. Sara Rosiak, Boys’ Latin’s GOA on-site director and director of educational support services, describes the advantages of these programs: “GOA allows students to see if they are interested in a specialized area of study, and gives students the opportunity to experience learning in a different way.” Self-motivation and time management lie at the core of independent learning, and GOA will allow students to hone those skills. Liam McClure ’22 took the class Entrepreneurship in a Global Context via GOA this past spring in a pilot program. He remarks, “The teacher was amazing, and the content was really useful. It also taught me a lot about what learning style suits me best.”

In a world that increasingly relies on online-based interaction, GOA is an opportunity for students that truly has real-world applicability. Ms. Rosiak is very optimistic about the future with GOA implemented: “As an institution that tries to meet the individual where he is, GOA is one more way to do that.”