From the Head of School

FROM THE HEAD OF SCHOOL

Greetings to all our Wyvern families!

Kingswood Oxford is poised to enter a new school year with renewed hope and excitement and the forward momentum of our Strategic Vision. There’s been a lot happening on our campus as you’ll see when you flip through the pages of our latest KO Magazine.

One aspect of this publication that I’d like to draw your attention to is the cover’s headline, “What a Difference a Day Makes,” a nod to our new branding that captures the essence of our extraordinary school. Last fall, we engaged the services of a marketing firm that conducted focus groups with students, alumni, faculty, staff, and board members and asked them about the salient features that make KO KO. Unsurprisingly, many responded about the strength of our advising and writing program and the dedicated faculty who support their students to become the best version of themselves.

But one distinguishing feature that sets KO apart from the sea of independent boarding schools in our area is the fact that KO is intentionally a day school with all that it has to offer. Our students thrive differently here because we are a day school community. We believe it is important for our students to maintain a healthy balance between school and home life. And, we believe that they

ABOVE Kingswood School in 1922. RIGHT “Setting up” exercises on the porch kept Oxford students fit.

benefit the most when school and family partner together in the extraordinary task of raising kind, thoughtful, and curious young adults. Our two schools, Kingswood and Oxford, were founded precisely because Hartford families in the early 20th century were looking for an “alternative to boarding schools…” (Kingswood 50 Years). They wanted a school where students could pursue “special intellectual, athletic, and social interests, without removing [them] from daily interaction with their families and community” (May We Remember Oxford). Both schools were intentionally created as day schools to rival the boarding school academic experience but with the express idea of balancing school and home life, a true partnership between families and the school. That remains as true today as it did in the early 1900s. The day school advantage that bubbled up from these focus groups dovetails nicely with our Strategic Vision to expand learning beyond our campus and partner with institutions and people in the greater Hartford area. This “expanded campus” offers our students the opportunity to learn by doing and to apply their knowledge to address real-world and interdisciplinary questions. (Read more about the dynamic classroom experience at KO on pages 62-67.) We aim to create additional opportunities for our students to serve in the local community to live out our core value of “Care Beyond Self” and to better understand the underlying causes of ongoing inequality and discrimination. One upcoming project that will further enhance our day school model will be the conversion of our existing library and cafeteria spaces into a new Community Commons. This project aligns with our strategic teaching and learning goals to prepare our students for a future that will require collaboration, interdisciplinary thinking, and problem-solving skills. The Commons will serve as a new vibrant hub – a gathering place for learning, dining, and enjoying each other’s company. An important part of this project will also be to create a pedestrian- only upper campus, providing additional seating and communal spaces for our students, faculty, and families that will encourage a greater sense of community and connection.

Each day at KO brings a world of possibilities for our students, a building block to prepare them for the future. Each day offers the opportunity to try something new, to make a new friend, or to develop a new talent. More importantly, each day allows for a chance to reset, to learn from a mistake, to do a little better, or to be a little better in a community of family, friends, and teachers.

What a difference a day makes, especially at KO!

Warmly,

TOM DILLOW