A NOTE from the HEAD OF SCHOOL

Dear Sewickley Academy Community,

The 2021-22 school year will be remembered as a time of transition and growth at Sewickley Academy. We continued our legacy of academic excellence and made strides in re-imagining and enhancing all that we offer to our students and their families. While change can sometimes be challenging, our team worked hard to uphold our longstanding reputation as a premier independent school and our commitment to high standards.

As this was my first year as Head of School, officially announced in February 2022, I was honored to have the confidence of the Board of Trustees in leading my alma mater. In a short amount of time, we achieved tremendous progress, particularly in fundraising. We exceeded goals and broke records with the Home and School Association’s Clothesline Sale, the Hansen Cup Memorial Golf Tournament, the Annual Auction, and the Day of Giving. The Pennsylvania Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) program reached a record high in the school’s history, thereby greatly impacting our financial aid capacity. Contributions to the Annual Fund for the fiscal year were at a ten-year high. We also secured a quarter million dollar gift dedicated toward our Global Studies program, as well as the school’s largest single gift to date of $20 million. Progress was made in building relationships with our alumni and donors and expanding our admissions outreach. We grew our merit scholarship program and created a For the Future Fund to increase access to Sewickley Academy and benefit students in neighboring Beaver County. We made efforts to improve communication and collaboration with all stakeholders. We restructured our administrative team to include a well-developed balance of backgrounds, experiences, and skill sets, hired a marketing and communications team, and added to our world-class faculty and staff in order to achieve our goals.

The 2021-22 school year will be remembered as a time of transition and growth at Sewickley Academy. We continued our legacy of academic excellence and made strides in re-imagining and enhancing all that we offer to our students and their families.”

It was a year of listening to and incorporating the dreams, hopes, and ideas of our faculty, staff, students, and families. We launched a new art history program and established the groundwork for an innovative Pre-K through Grade 12 Computer Science Department that launched with the start of the 2022-23 academic year. We have expanded STEM offerings for our students and continue to support professional development for all faculty and staff. We even discovered a tremendous learning opportunity for the entire community when we got creative with campus maintenance by bringing in goats to assist with the landscaping of the ravine behind the Early Childhood building.

We saw students embrace both independent and critical thinking this year. They organized, developed, and executed projects and tasks both in and outside of the classrooms. They accepted challenges and enthusiastically pursued opportunities to help others in our community and across the world. After adapting admirably to the constraints of a world-wide pandemic, students were once again able to travel. Groups visited Puerto Rico and Israel in the spring as part of the Global Studies program, and our Grade 5 classes excitedly took their annual three-day overnight camping trip.

Student achievement was remarkable throughout the 2021-22 academic year. Highlights included that one of our Grade 7 students won the Young Playwrights Contest and that three Middle School students won a Shakespeare Monologue and Scene Contest. Eight seniors were named as commended students in the National Merit Scholarship Program and two became finalists. Two more Senior School students qualified for the American Invitational Math Exam, and a junior took Best in Show in a regional high school student ceramics show. For their work on the stage, two students won Thespy Awards and another was nominated for a Gene Kelly award along with the orchestra. The girls tennis team captured the WPIAL Class AA championship.

Our faculty and staff also received recognition for excellence this year. One teacher was named the 2021 PA FIRST LEGO League Mentor of the Year, and another was honored as 2022 PhysTec Local Teacher of the Year. Our Middle School Spanish teacher was recognized as the 19th Clark Faculty Chair, and our Senior School World Languages Department earned a Golden Globe Award from the Pennsylvania State Modern Language Association. The Department of Education, Office of Commonwealth Libraries (OCL) awarded SA a grant for the Video Game Clubs of America. Three faculty participated in a Civil Rights Trip through Classrooms Without Borders, and two earned opportunities to travel out of state for National Endowment for the Humanities seminars. Additionally, three teachers traveled to the Loris Malaguzzi International Centre, Reggio Emilia, Italy to study the key principles of the Reggio approach to early childhood education.

Growth and change continues with the 2022-23 academic year. We improved, and will continue to improve, campus security. We already upgraded both campus cafeterias and have unveiled an all new Admissions suite and Breakthrough Pittsburgh facilities, both critical to welcoming new students and families to

SA. Finishing touches are taking place in the innovative Panthers Performance Center offering enhanced physical fitness and wellness for all students, faculty, and staff. Classrooms in the Oliver Building have undergone renovations for new robotics and computer science facilities. Playground facilities are being improved for our youngest students, and we are developing plans for new athletic fields at Nichols Field.

It is important to note that change does not just apply to the physical aspects of our campus. We are also placing a renewed emphasis on our Community of Respect to ensure that our graduates not only have the academic skills to succeed in college and beyond, but also a sense of character that sets them apart.

While the 2021-22 academic year was not without challenges, I am filled with great satisfaction as I look back at all that our community accomplished. It is simply not possible to show the extent of my gratitude to our families, alumni, and donors who have continuously shared their support and displayed their confidence in Sewickley Academy. I look forward to many more years of earning your trust and working with you as we strengthen and extend the Academy’s reputation and reach.

All the Best,

Ashley (Brown ’00) Birtwell, PhD Head of School