On the Quad

Dance Concert

CSW’s 52nd Annual Dance Concert was a great success! Students and dance faculty began preparing for the concert virtually on Zoom and brought it to life on stage! See the final pieces performed on stage at www.csw.org/dance21!

Gender-Inclusive Housing

CSW has long discussed the possibility of genderinclusive housing — it aligns with the school’s core values and the desires of many students — but logistics stood in the way. After a successful test run during the 2020 Winter Break, CSW welcomed students in The Barn Dorm into its first co-ed dorm during Mod 4 of the 2020-21 school year. This year, we are excited to announce some changes for our boarding community at CSW! The Barn will now be a gender-inclusive dorm. In this gender-diverse dorm community, students of all identities can choose to live in the dorm and share common bathroom spaces. Aleph will become a co-ed dorm. Students who identify as boys and non-binary will live on the first floor and use a common bathroom space on that floor. Students who identify as girls and non-binary will live on the second floor and use a common bathroom space on that floor. Trapelo dorm will continue to welcome students who identify as boys and non-binary and Warren will continue to welcome students who identify as girls and non-binary.

Combating AAPI Hate

This spring, CSW’s Asian Heritage Affinity group created an art installation and fundraiser to raise awareness about antiAsian hate crimes and sentiments. Students

Fiona Huang ’23, Lion He ’21, Zane Lerwill ’23,

and Emi Lundberg ’21 worked on an art installation at the Red Wall that displayed a timeline-style art piece with collages of various news headlines and images of particular historical events together with brief descriptions of each event. While the installation was on display, they also held a fundraiser to benefit Boston Chinatown Network Center, through which students were able to raise $750!

Energy Justice

On April 21, CSW’s Sustainability Committee hosted an Earth Day assembly featuring guest speaker Professor Shalanda Baker. Professor Baker is the Deputy Director for Energy Justice & Secretary’s Advisor on Equity at the United States Department of Energy, where she works on implementing energy policies compatible with energy justice. In her remarks, Professor Baker outlined the difference between climate or environmental justice and energy justice, defining energy justice as, “The goal of achieving equity in both the social and economic participation in the energy system, while also remediating social, economic, and health burdens on those historically harmed by the energy system (frontline communities).”

Community Art

Earlier this year, the Weston Art and Innovation Center, in partnership with The Friends of the Legacy and Rail Trails (FLRT), issued a call for high school artists to submit proposals for murals to adorn two of the underpasses along the Mass Central Rail Trail in Weston. Working with CSW visual art faculty member Alison Safford, Becca Spence ’21 submitted a proposal and was delighted to learn this spring that her proposal had been accepted! In her proposed design, “connected arms meld with Weston’s landscape and town to signify the importance of togetherness in the town.” Becca’s work was selected for the Church Street underpass.

Scholastic Art & Writing Awards

A total of 19 Gold Key awards, 19 Silver Key awards, and 28 Honorable Mentions were presented to CSW students across 11 different categories, making for a total of 66 awards. Coco Wu ’23 received a National Gold Medal for her Photography submission, “Release.” Roxy Huang ’21 received a National Gold Medal for her Architecture and Industrial Design submission, “[Re]migration.”

Rock/Pop

This year’s Rock/Pop Ensemble paid tribute to Stevie Wonder! With some students attending school remotely, and the school unable to host large gatherings, the big show was hosted virtually with alumni/ae, friends, family, and faculty past and present tuning in from around the world.

A New Mayor in Town

CSW’s Junior State of America (JSA) chapter has been named Chapter of the Year for the Northeast State for the second year in a row! On top of this exciting news, Maya Rabin ’22 was elected as next year’s Mayor for the New England region by the JSA Foundation Northeast State, one of the six elected official positions in the region. Next year, Maya hopes to bring back in-person conferences, reach out to new schools, meet a variety of students from different backgrounds around New England, and run “Gryphon-Con,” a one-day JSA conference.

Reimagining Criminal Justice

This year’s Michael H. Feldman ’67 Social Justice Day, an annual school-wide event, was dedicated to the topic of criminal justice. Jonathan Kubakundimana, Program Manager at Equal Justice Initiative (EJI), delivered the keynote address, speaking in depth on the Death Penalty and the work EJI has done to guide, support, and/or protect children in the criminal justice system; design and implement re-entry programs; and expose and challenge the unconstitutional and abusive conditions of mass incarceration.

After the keynote, community members broke out into workshops such as, “Corrections: Mental Health and Re-Entry,” with Jennifer Padre, Assistant Superintendent and Director of Clinical Services at the Essex County Sheriff’s Department; “Community Policing,” with Boston Police Officer and Vice-chair of the Latino Law Enforcement Group of Boston, David Hernandez, and Jose Ruiz, Chief of Public Safety for the City of Boston; and “Policing in the Era of George Floyd,” with Harvard Law Professor Ronald S. Sullivan Jr. A full catalog of speakers and workshops is available online at www.csw.org/social-justice-day.

Into the Woods

CSW’s Theatre Department premiered this year’s Spring Musical, Into the Woods, to a live, outdoor audience this spring. Shout out to the cast and crew, who spent long days and nights making sure the production was a success.