377 Issue 1 Community by St. Luke's School

Enter to Learn

St. Luke’s School

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377 North Wilton Road, New Canaan, CT 06840 www.stlukesct.org/podium Go Forth to Serve

T H E M A G A Z I N E F O R S T. L U K E S ’ S S C H O O L

Check the website at www.stlukesct.org/podium for more stories about St. Luke’s. Thank you to the SLS Advancement Council members for editorial oversight. Please share your comments! Email Zoé Sherlick, Director of Communications, at communications@stlukesct.org Cover photo – Collaborative Outdoor Art Exhibit, Class of 2015

Like a good book, the school year has a beginning and an ending, as well as a big middle in which the plot thickens and thins and characters evolve while managing the opportunities and challenges of their lives. After I finish a book or a school year, I take a deep breath and almost immediately start thinking about the next one. What will I read next? How should we start the next school year and what do we want to accomplish during it? A central theme in the planning of a St. Luke’s school year is the building of community. That’s very different from the way I thought about a new school year when I was a student. Then, I just tried to remember to bring pens and notebooks with me, made sure I found my classrooms, and got on with it. But of course I also looked forward to seeing my friends, or if I was a new student (which frequently I was because we moved often) I nervously hoped I would make a friend and feel connected somehow to my new environment. In a very real way, therefore, the beginning of a school year is about community. There are two parts to a school community. The first part has to do with personal connections, and so it has a social component (Will people like me? Will I have friends?) and a values component (Do my beliefs square with the School’s core values and expectations?). The second part is academic. A great school creates a vibrant learning community, led by wise, caring teachers, that fosters students’ intellectual and moral growth, prepares them to thrive in college, and gives them the tools for leadership and service in the world.

Welcome to the inaugural issue of 377, The Magazine for St. Luke’s School. The mission of this new publication is to connect you with stories and pictures from our St. Luke’s School community. Instead of the annual bulletin, you will receive updates from us, highlighting students, faculty members, alumni and more. Look for the to identify stories that offer more on our website at www.stlukesct.org/podium.

As part of building that community year after year at St. Luke’s, most St. Luke’s students start the year with a class trip or class experience that forges relationships through common experiences with classmates and teachers. (7th and 8th grade students start the year with regular classes and have their class trips – to Boston and Washington, DC – a little later in the fall.) Frequently referred to as “bonding” experiences, these activities also enhance students’ learning. In some cases they are formally tied to the academic curriculum, or to an important aspect of the school year (such as the 11th grade trip to several colleges and universities). Most important, however, is the knowledge, supported by research and experience, that students learn better when they feel connected in school to peers and adults. Knowing that they are known motivates students and gives them the confidence to work hard, to seek new experiences, to take intellectual and extracurricular risks. These are the habits that lead to intellectual and personal growth, and they are the fruits of a school that cares about community. Head of School, Mark Davis

“After 24 years teaching and advising students at both the secondary school and collegiate levels, I've realized that successful students share similar traits - love of learning, curiosity, critical thinking, and determination. St. Luke's students have these, certainly, but our students take it to the next level. Learning is not compartmentalized into discreet units here. Our students bring lessons learned in their second period class into their third period class. They make clean and clear connections among academic subjects. They understand the subtle ebb and flow of knowledge that mirrors the collaborative and interdisciplinary nature of learning and of life, and it is this high level thinking that creates leaders at St. Luke's and beyond.”

“Ms. Bell, you’ve become so much more to me, and you don’t even know it. You know how kids have that one person they look up to the most, besides their parents? You’ve turned into that for me. You’ve been an advisor, a mother figure, and most importantly, a friend. You care, you listen, you’re so open-minded, patient, and welcoming. I know I can talk to you about anything. I can’t thank you enough.”

“I love St. Luke's and everything St. Luke's has given me in the past ten months: best friends, amazing teachers, best host family and the best ever science and art opportunities. I loved all my classes (even if some of them had tons of homework!) I’ve stayed in touch with my SLS friends through Facebook and emails, and I’ve even tried some Skyping. It was not just a year of studying abroad for me, but a year of life-changing experiences!”

“This summer at Carnegie Mellon I took conservatory-level classes in the significant areas of music including theory and aural training. I was encouraged to explore the different areas, like at St. Luke's, rather than simply focusing on performance. The experience was incredible, and I learned so much not just about music, but myself, and am excited to get back to School and apply everything I've learned for next year's musical journey at St. Luke's.”

Visit the Media Gallery at www.stlukesct.org/podium to hear Jon’s music.

“Volunteering at Waterside has been an amazing experience for me. As a counselor, I make great connections with the kids at the camp, which is the main reason why I return every summer. It’s fulfilling to know I am helping children grow and learn while having a fun and exciting summer at the same time. It’s also very much a learning experience for me and for the other counselors. I plan to continue volunteering here for summers to come.”

Visit the Media Gallery at www.stlukesct.org/podium to hear Jon’s music.

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Best Part of My Day He coaches and he counsels. He blogs and he tweets. For Head of School Mark Davis, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s all part of connecting with students in ways that are personal, meaningful and, sometimes, just plain fun.

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Mark’s regular interactions with students span a broad spectrum of activities and settings – some well-known, some behind-the-scenes, some scheduled, some entirely impromptu. Like other faculty members, he is the academic advisor to a group of students whom he counsels on a regular basis. In addition to these advisories, he maintains a schedule of weekly sessions with students to talk about college admissions issues, meeting with five to six juniors at a time to ensure that he sees every prospective senior by the end of their junior year. With his professional background in college counseling, Mark finds these informal discussions to be especially rewarding. “We meet every Wednesday for lunch in my office,” he says. “For a lot of them, it’s the first time they’ve been in the Head of School’s office, and they bring their lunch trays here. (Our sessions) certainly do not supplant our excellent college counseling program, but it’s an adjunct connection, a way for me to de-mystify the college application process and help me know the kids. I try to help them understand that their choice of college is not going to make or break the rest of their lives. In many ways, it’s a rite of passage, a time for self-reflecting, and I hope I help provide some insight.”

A “Good Morning!” here, a handshake there. A pat on the back. A wave to a parent. Head of School Mark Davis is there virtually every morning, standing at the School’s front walkway, personally greeting students as they arrive and begin their academic day. It’s more than a tradition, he explains. “It’s a visible way to make certain I see every student one-on-one every single day. As I greet students, I see parents, too…I’m able to connect with the entire community.” Building communities within St. Luke’s School is essential to the vitality of the School in its entirety, according to Mark. Families respond to the vibrancy and collegiality of St. Luke’s teaching environment and recognize it as one of its strengths. “The beauty of the School lies in the component communities that assemble to create the whole,” Mark says. “Our sense of community… the certainty we convey and instill in each student that they are distinctly known and valued and cared about by those around them… is a quality that sets us apart and that energizes us all. We care, and they know it. As students engage in the many activities that help them bond and build their class communities, I am able to get to know them and be a part of that larger effort as well.”

Mark’s passion for baseball provides another powerful opportunity for making a direct connection with students. Mark’s father played major league baseball, and he himself was a varsity baseball player in college and is an experienced coach. “Baseball is my passion, it’s in my blood,” he admits. He was assistant coach for St. Luke’s varsity baseball team and for the past three years has coached the seventh and eighth grade team. “I have to say, that commitment, every day from 2:45 to 3:45, is the best part of my day. It’s not optional. No matter what else I’m doing on that day, I know I have to make practice. I learn more about the kids by their actions on the playing field and during the van ride going to games,” he says. “They are almost unfettered on the field, the walls go down…they can act silly, I can act silly. I see sides of them I wouldn’t ordinarily see.”

Beyond the classroom, St. Luke’s fosters personal connections with an extensive year-round schedule of class trips and group learning experiences, and Mark especially enjoys seeing the many sides of students when he is able to join in as a fellow traveler. He regularly joins the fifth grade on their annual April trip to Gettysburg and Philadelphia. (“Three days with 50 new students to the School – it’s great!” he says. “We don’t allow the students to bring along electronic devices on this trip and, marvel of marvels, they sing and read, we talk and play games.”) He was instrumental in developing the annual junior class trip to area colleges and universities, and he will be accompanying the juniors this year when they visit major schools in the Providence area. Of course, today’s technology and social networking capabilities provide unprecedented avenues for connection and interaction. Mark writes a regular blog which appears on the School’s website. “My blog posts are another way to build community,” he says. “Over time, people get a better sense of what I think about certain things. It allows a conversation to extend beyond the post, and permits some depth and perspective.” In March, when Mark accompanied the School’s Mandarin Chinese language students on a two-week trip to China, he communicated with the entire School community through blog posts and Twitter. “It was wonderful to tweet from the base of the Great Wall of China,” Mark says. Another community builder is the weekly Meditations series Mark initiated where the Upper School gathers to hear a volunteer – a faculty member, administrator, or student – reflect upon a matter of significant personal interest. The series has been such a success that speaking slots are filled well in advance, and messages are available for download on the website. Whether he’s reading Rudyard Kipling’s Rikki Tikki Tavi to fifth graders as he does once a year, sitting for interviews by Sentinel reporters, or leading the applause in the audience at plays and games, connecting and building relationships is an ongoing process and a top priority. One of Mark’s goals for the coming year is to allow for more unstructured time to walk the halls, stop in the library and classrooms, and just “shoot the breeze” with students in free moments. “I love it when teachers’ doors are open and I can hear what’s happening in the classroom. Or, just to talk to students in the halls or at lunch. As I see it, whether I’m meeting with just a few kids or a roomful, I’m helping to build community.”

Mark gets a morning hug from his daughter, Sarabeth ’16.

“St. Luke’s has given my daughters the courage to try things and has helped them when they fail. They participate in theater, sports and Model UN. It’s important to know your children and look beyond the statistics to the community of the school. I play an active role on campus because I believe that knowing my daughters’ classmates and their parents will ward off trouble in the teen years. The way that St. Luke’s has embraced not just my girls, but me too, has touched me deeply."

Visit the St. Luke’s website at www.stlukesct.org/podium for community members’ meditations.

“You have all been given one of the most precious gifts in the world - the gift of education and a St. Luke's education at that...You have been challenged to think critically and analytically and you have been pushed to reach your potential. This education comes with a huge responsibility. Each and every one of you must take this gift that you have been given and share it with others after you leave St. Luke's. Your school motto of Enter to Learn, Go Forth to Serve should not be taken lightly."

“This is a singular distinction to St. Luke’s, your future alma mater, regardless of your grade: we know who you are. We will remember that you were here, regardless of whether your name is a on a plaque, or what your activities were. We know what you were like when you came here and we will remember what you were like when you left. Even if you don’t remember, we will. Thanks for giving us part of yourself. We’ll keep it on the Hilltop for you: your best parts, all the big and small memories of you. They will always be here. You will always matter at St. Luke’s, no matter what.”

Visit the St. Luke’s website at www.stlukesct.org/podium for community members’ meditations.

377 T H E M A G A Z I N E F O R S T. L U K E S ’ S S C H O O L

Since 1928, St. Luke’s School has been a haven for young scholars, artists and athletes. Since 1942, SLS students have arrived on the Hilltop each morning at 377 North Wilton Road. We all have a story about 377 and we invite you to tell us your story. Write to us at:

377 North Wilton Road, New Canaan, CT 06840 or communications@stlukesct.org.

3+7+7=

“St. Luke's has changed physically a great deal since the 1950s,when it was just the red brick building on "the Hilltop.” What I sense has not changed is the feeling of being together — of playing as a team, being together at school and after hours and eventually years after graduation. Today this sense of community is quite apparent among the parents and faculty I’ve been meeting with on the Strategic Planning Committee.”

AP courses offered at SLS

377 + 73 = 377 X 3,771 =

2008-2009 Annual Fund

number of SLS students who play athletics each year

$1,421,734* *actual number Credits: Feature article by Judith Dryden Photography by Jane Ahrens, Su Bick, Bob Handelman, and ChiChi Ubina Designed by Peapod Design, New Canaan, CT