School Matters

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Perhaps most significant are the design and construction of the new hospital in Plainsboro, which the small hospital on Witherspoon Street moved to in 2012, and the decision to join the University of Pennsylvania Health System in 2018.

“This is a wonderfully solid relationship that has been great for the hospital, especially through COVID,” Rabner said. “I don’t know how we would have managed if we weren’t part of the Penn system. In order to create capacity for COVID patients, all the hospitals stopped doing elective procedures, which was a good idea, but had a huge economic impact. So being able to weather that financial storm — not having to do anything extreme like lay people off or cut salaries — was huge.”

Rabner also credits the partnership with being able to create an ambulatory cancer center, which is currently under development.

There have been significant challenges along the way. “When I came on board, we had some major financial problems which we were able to address,” Rabner said. “Selling the old hospital and Merwick facility and having it rezoned so we could have enough capital to build the new hospital was a big challenge. And more recently, completing the strategic plan to see what would be best for the future, which is being part of a large, academic medical center, was very important.”

Some of the most dramatic moments have been in the past few months. “Everybody came together during COVID,” Rabner said. “We had our first patient March 16. Sixteen days later we had 90. So that rate of increase, taking care of people with problems we hadn’t seen before, and keeping employees safe at the same time, was an indescribable problem. What made it really frightening were forecasts, at the time, that we might have to take care of 1,500 people. And we have 250 beds. We came up with ideas to deal with it, but fortunately it turned out not to be necessary.”

The medical center has treated about 500 COVID-19 patients so far. For the last few weeks, the average has been about five a day, Rabner said. “We’ve gotten back to normal and we’ve learned a lot.”

Rabner plans to continue teaching at Rider University, where he serves as adjunct faculty and “executive in residence.” He also serves on the editorial board of HERD, a health environment research and design journal, and expects to do consulting in hospital management and fundraising.

Despite his obvious accomplishments, Rabner doesn’t like to take all the credit. “At the last board meeting where it was announced that I’d be stepping down, they listed how much had happened during the past two decades,” he said. “But you know how many people it takes to get anything done, and this is no different. It sounds kind of disingenuous or humble, but when you’ve got 1,300 physi cians and 3,200 employees, plus trustees and volunteers, you feel like an idiot taking credit for all these things that everyone is doing.”

—Anne Levin Hamilton Jewelers Receives Best of Princeton Award

Hamilton Jewelers announced that it has been selected as the winner of the 2020 Best of Princeton Award in the Jewelry category by the Princeton Award Program. Hamilton is among a very small group of companies that have won the Best of Princeton Award for eight consecutive years.

Each year, the Princeton Award Program identifies companies that have achieved exceptional marketing success in their local community and business category. These are local companies that enhance the positive image of small business through service to their customers and the community. These companies help make the Princeton area a great place to live, work and play.

Various sources of information were gathered and analyzed to choose the winners in each category. The 2020 Princeton Award Program focuses on quality, not quantity. Winners are determined based on the information gathered both internally by the Princeton Award Program and data provided by third parties.

The Princeton Award Program is an annual awards program honoring the achievements and accomplishments of local businesses throughout the Princeton area. Recognition is given to those companies that have shown the ability to use their best practices and implemented programs to generate competitive advantages and long-term value.

The Princeton Award Program was established to recognize the best of local businesses in the community. The organization works exclusively with local business owners, trade groups, professional associations and other business advertising and marketing groups, with a mission to recognize the small business community’s contributions to the U.S. economy.

Hamilton Jewelers is a fourth-generation familyowned and operated firm with locations in Princeton and Palm Beach, FL, as well as a Business Gifts Division and an Insignia Division. Learn more at www.hamiltonjewelers. com.

Virtual Fundraiser To Protect Land, Waterways

The nonprofit Hunterdon Land Trust (HLT) will hold its first-ever Treasure Hunterdon Virtual Move-a-thon, which starts August 15 and runs to September 25. The event aims to raise funds to benefit HLT’s work protecting and caring for local forests, fields, farms and waterways.

“Our virtual Move-a-thon encourages everyone to help in a way in which they won’t have to do anything different from what they’re already doing thanks to the quarantine,” said Hunterdon Land Trust Executive Director Patricia Ruby. “We’ve all been taking this time to walk, bike, and jog with our families. Why not use that time for a good cause?”

Participants can choose to walk, run, bike, hike, or ride a horse. They can explore an HLT preserve or other favorite trail, walk the dog around their neighborhood or even hop on a treadmill. HLT is encouraging participants to reach out to family, friends, colleagues and others to sponsor their efforts.

Registration is at http:// charity.gofundme.com/hltmoveathon2020. Participants can join solo or create a virtual team; everyone is encouraged to share photos and videos on Instagram and Facebook using the hashtag #HLTMoveathon2020.

Prizes will be awarded to the individual and team raising the most money as of noon on September 21. The winners will be announced September 25 at a closing ceremony.

Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, HLT sought

W E • B R I N G • Y O U • T H E • B E S T • O F • T H E Organic Organic Garden Garden State State

Whole Earth carries a wide selection of locally grown produce from the Garden State’s finest organic growers. During the summer, we get daily deliveries of local organic produce. Stop in to sample the bounty of New Jersey’s organic farms.

360 NASSAU STREET (AT HARRISON) PRINCETON PRESERVING RURAL ACRES: The trail at Hunterdon Land Trust’s Thomas Saeger Preserve in the Holland Highlands is among the many Hunterdon County places people can explore during HLT’s virtual Move-a-thon.

a unique way to celebrate the beauty of Hunterdon County while supporting its mission to preserve the integrity of the rural landscapes in the region by protecting and enhancing natural resources, and the cultural landscape of the historic Dvoor Farm. To date, HLT has preserved more than 9,700 acres in the county.

“Though we wish we could do something together to protect the places we love in the Hunterdon County area, the current pandemic prevents us from doing so,” Ruby said. “While these circumstances have changed our day-to-day lives, they haven’t altered the challenges we face to preserve our farms, woodlands, and fields, and protect our fresh air and clean drinking water. In these difficult times, the respite our outdoor spaces provide is more important than ever. This virtual walk is a great way to support HLT while getting out and connecting with family and friends safely.”

Be sure to follow the latest CDC guidelines on social distancing to ensure everyone’s safety.

New Leadership, New “Reconnecting” Plan at PFS

Princeton Friends School (PFS) has a new head of school, a new leadership team, and a “reconnecting” plan to bring the entire student body back to campus for a five-day-a-week program this fall.

“Drawing on its deep-rooted Quaker tradition of ‘standing still in the light,’ PFS is poised to adapt to the new realities of what it means to be back at school,” a PFS press release states.

New Head of School Melissa Carroll will be joined by two new senior administra tors, Robbin Washington-Smart as director of strategic enrollment management and financial aid, and Sherika Campbell as director of advancement.

With small class sizes and a traditional emphasis on outdoor learning in their wooded surroundings, PFS teams have been working on plans to use the grounds to maximize outdoor capabilities and efficiencies.

In addition to on-campus learning, PFS states that this year will be a hybrid vir tual learning experience that will allow all students to actively engage, whether at home or on campus.

Four new members — Alison Sommer-Sayre, Brandon Jacobs, Nadir Jeevanjee, and Stephen Fox — will be joining the PFS school committee this fall, and Caroline Clarke, who has previously served on the committee, will be rejoining. Five New Trustees at PDS

The Princeton Day School (PDS) Board of Trustees is welcoming five new members this year. “I am delighted that we have been able to recruit such a talented group of new trustees, with impressive experience in science, finance, culture, and education, as well as strong connections to Princeton Day School,” said Board of Trustees Chair Rebecca Bushnell in announcing the new trustees.

The new trustees include Beth Geter-Douglass, associate director of North American Regulatory Leader in Neuroscience Drug Development at Johnson & Johnson, a 1982 PDS graduate whose daughter graduated from PDS this June; Suzy LebovitzEdelman, a 1989 PDS graduate who is the co-chair of The Edelman Family Foundation, where she oversees the organization’s strategy and advocacy goals; Amanda Maher, part-time political science professor at Drexel University, co-owner of The Meeting House restaurant on Witherspoon Street, and mother of three children at PDS; Amrit Walia-Zaidi, senior vice president and regional managing director of New Jersey for Wells Fargo Private Bank and the mother of a PDS student; and Joanne Liu, former director and head of Asia Pacific Operation in Clinical Data Management at Merck and the mother of a recent PDS graduate and a current PDS student. SummerQuest Camp at Princeton Montessori

Princeton Montessori School’s (PMONTS) SummerQuest camp has finished its first month of operation within the new COVID guidelines.

The school has implemented a number of new protocols to maximize camp safety, including temperature checks at drop-off, staggered drop-off and pick-up times, socially distanced camp cohorts, enhanced hygiene and disinfecting practices, outdoor classrooms, and mask-wearing.

“Our SummerQuest students are safely finding much joy in exploring their new outside classroom, with gardening, Montessori materials, and lessons on nature,” said PMONTS Primary Program teacher and SummerQuest staff member Teresa Hartmann. “They are happy reconnecting with other children and staying cool with water play. The children have already adapted to the new COVID measures and proudly wear their masks as a ‘very cool’ fashion accessory.” Pennington School Grad Wins AP International Diploma

Maria (Masha) Khartchenko, a 2020 Pennington School graduate, has been awarded the College Board’s AP International Diploma, a certificate awarded to students who display exceptional achievement across a variety of disciplines.

The Princeton Junction resident, who will be attending Princeton University in the fall, completed 12 advanced placement exams: macroeconomics, microeconomics, German language and culture, French language and culture, English language and composition, English literature and composition, computer science A, calculus AB, biology, chemistry, physics C, and European history. She scored a 5 on 11 of the exams and a four on the last one.