Dear Park community,

Spring has finally arrived at Park, and as I write, I’m enjoying the view out my window across a sun-drenched Larz Anderson Park, and trees and flowers are in full bloom. The cyclical nature of school life parallels the turn of the seasons in so many ways. We return to campus, energized, in September along with the coming of bright, crisp days. We buckle down to hard work through the winter (this year, disappointingly, unbroken by a single snow day— no fair!). And when spring comes, it mirrors the joyful learning that students and teachers are celebrating each day as all their growing and hard work comes to fruition. All the sunshine and flowers are like a well-earned reward!

As the cover of this magazine suggests, we are especially proud of the ways in which our students are learning, growing, and, yes, blooming through their engagement with science, math, and all forms of creative, hands-on “making”—the essence of STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and math) education. Far from being just educational jargon, at Park these programs immerse students in deep thinking and problem solving, challenging them to grow in curiosity and confidence. I couldn’t be more proud of the thoughtful, dedicated educators who bring these programs to life for our students.

Building curiosity and confidence is nothing new at Park—as evidenced by the experience shared by Bassil Bacare ’11. Bassil’s path—both at Park and in all the years beyond—has embodied a journey of discovery, and while that discovery often affirmed what he knew, it also—and more importantly—underscored what he did not know, spurring him to solve unanticipated challenges, and ultimately, inspiring him to help young people who draw from underserved communities solve them as well. In the Park Portrait, we talk about the value of “creative problem solving,” and Bassil’s story epitomizes that.

It is, truly, a wonderful time to be at The Park School. Our students are making great use of our new campus enhancements—especially the new turf field—and our new classrooms are delivering to all our hopes and expectations in the ways they provide support commensurate with the great teaching our faculty already provide, while inspiring us all to accomplish all the more.

Our current families, students, faculty and staff have seen (and, sometimes painfully, lived through!) the last few years of campus development, and now, we can look out at all we have accomplished, enjoying a quiet moment, and appreciate how far we have come. We are so grateful to everyone who, with partnership and patience, accompanied us on this journey. If you haven’t seen Park lately, come visit! We can’t wait to share it all with you.

The end of each school year always brings joy and celebration, and it’s also a time of bittersweet farewells. As you will read in the pages ahead, this year we bid a fond goodbye to five faculty members whose programmatic impact across their long tenure cannot be understated. I hope you will join me in sharing your grateful appreciation for our departing faculty and staff—and in reminding them to come back and visit—often!

Warmly,

Scott Young Head of School

2022–23 BOARD OF TRUSTEES

OFFICERS

Joe Robbins, Chair

Lesley Ryan Miller, Vice Chair

Rahul Ballal, Secretary

Sara Leventhal Fleiss ’95, Treasurer

TRUSTEES

Sean Abdur Rahim

Rahul Ballal

Peter Barkan ’86

Kent Bennett

Lise Charlier

Nicole Danforth

Ken Frieze

May Hara

Tiffany Hogan

Lesley Ryan Miller

Ted Noon

Rebecca Nordhaus

Femi Obi

Rich Quincy Young Ju Rhee

Joe Robbins

Anna Sinaiko

Amanda Teo

Susanna Whitaker Waters ’99

Greg Woods

2022–23 ALUMNI COMMITTEE

Astrid Levis-Thorne Burns ’98 Alumni Committee Co-chair

Daly Franco ’05 Alumni Committee Co-chair

Ivy Alphonse-Crean ’07

Kathrene Tiffany Bell ’96

Shami Bery ’04

Bob Bray ’53

Aldel Brown ’04

Emily Potts Callejas ’89

Carlos Castillo ’97

Rodger Cohen ’74*

Alexandra Connors Craig ’99

McCall Cruz ’06

Melissa Deland ’95

Margaret Gormley Donahue ’99

Sara Leventhal Fleiss ’95

Daly Franco ’05

David Glynn ’91

Anne Collins Goodyear ’84

Miriam Posner Harris ’03

Greg Kadetsky ’96

Alex Katz ’10

Amy Lampert ’63

Abbott Lawrence ’85

Elizabeth Mitchell ’94

Maddie Mitchell ’06

Jim O’Keefe ’91

Eliza Drachman-Jones Quincy ’98

Colin Redd ’08

Carolina Samudio-Ortega ’96

Kate Gormley Saeli ’02

Neekon Vafa ’12

Susanna Whitaker Waters ’99

Cary Williams ’09

Rebecca Wilsker ’00

*Rodger Cohen passed away on April 30, 2033 following a brave battle with glioblastoma. The Park School faculty and staff join Rodger’s loved ones, classmates, and the alumni community more broadly in mourning this loss.

Fall Play

Students performed A Wrinkle in Time on November 18, 19 & 20—an otherworldly production unlike anything Park has seen! The large ensemble portrayed different creatures and formed the scenery and props.