Report from the Dean of Students
THE DEAN’S OFFICE WORKS to
support student activities outside
of classes. These activities generally
fall into three categories:
dorm and campus life, weekend
events, and health and wellness
activities. Specific tasks that fall
into the dean’s purview include
the Standards Committee, school
council activities/budgets, weekend
permissions, coordinating
health center procedures and
protocols, and monitoring student
behavior and attendance. In
a school with a program that is
so diverse and interwoven as
Putney’s, the deans support and
receive support from many different
people. The 2004–05
school year was indelibly marked
by the efforts of this supporting
cast and I’d like to take this
opportunity to thank just a few.
|
 David Arnstein |
Two students shared the student
head of school job: Nat Herz
and Nicole Ritchie ran on a platform
of bringing spontaneous
fun, hard work, and responsible
leadership to the school and their
reign was all of that (and more!)
They organized the school’s first
annual Olympiad which offered
events throughout the year. In
the true Putney style these
events were not the usual fare:
imagine an Olympic event
where the contestants had to
set a table in the KDU, run to
the barn, muck out a stall, and
then push the full wheelbarrow
up to the top of Watertower and
you’ll get the idea. Other events
included cabbage bowling
during an assembly, all school
Boggle (everyone grouped by
dorm), a fashion show hosted by
Mr. Style (Roy Brown ’05), a
spelling bee, a cleanest dorm
competition and many other
random acts of fun. One non-
Olympiad event that I especially
enjoyed was a “beach day” in
February with an outdoor barbeque,
snow volleyball and, of
course, the Beach Boys (or was
that the Rolling Stones?)
School council also helped fund
and plan the Snowball and Social
Dance—two formal dances (and
I use the word “formal” here in
the most creative sense), two
fantastic coffee house/variety
shows, a one-day Saturday trip to
NYC (tiring, but just in time to
see the saffron draping of Central
Park), a Karaoke night, and, with
the inspired leadership of Margie
Levine, a very full Winter Fun
Weekend. Social Dance was particularly
memorable in that it was
held in the Currier Center. . .
not just the dance but the whole
dinner! Associate Dean Mary
Jenkins worked closely with
KDU Manager Marty Brennan-
Sawyer to design and pull off this
elegant feast. Art gallery dining
is a “new tradition” that will,
one hopes, bring years of artistic
and elegant celebration to the
spring dance.
Marty also deserves recognition
for restoring an ancient Putney
tradition to the school: the
March of the Turkeys dinner
on the Wednesday before
Thanksgiving break. This was an
afternoon/evening of music,
dance, dining, and remembering
the school’s past. If you are a
graduate or parent who remembers
this feast please contact
Marty before Thanksgiving to
share your thoughts.
This year also witnessed the
launching of a peer mentoring
program facilitated by the
school’s mental health coordinator,
Marianne Buswell. Peer
mentors meet regularly throughout
the year and focus on peer
support, community health, and
mediation. Mentors will continue
to be elected by their peers and
take on the responsibility of
working with students to adjust
to boarding school life.
The challenges that teenagers face
in our culture continue to impact
the school. The dean’s office
works closely with students,
teachers, and families to address
issues such as substance use,
depression, relationships, healthy
choices, behavioral boundaries,
and other life skill/challenges.
Putney is a secluded and idyllic
environment, but there is no
place free from the impact of
media, cultural expectations, and
opportunity. The school is an
accurate reflection of trends
reported across the country—the
rising use of cigarettes among
young teenagers being the most
obvious. Standards saw almost a
dozen young students for cigarette
infractions and ended up
recommending that the faculty
review the school’s three-strike
policy for cigarettes with an aim
of moving towards a two-strike
policy (similar to what we do for
drugs and alcohol.) This will be
work for the upcoming school
council to address.
Finally, I am sad to advise that
this will be my final “Dean’s
Report”—I will move to
Washington, DC this summer to
check out city life and work in a
much larger school. In the same
breath I am delighted to report
that Mary Jenkins, who has
worked in the dean’s office for
many years and has been the
associate dean of students this
year, will step up to be dean of
students. She is already busy
working on plans for September.
Thanks to everyone—alumni,
parents, students, and faculty—
who have made my years at
Putney so rich. What an extraordinary
gift I have received.
David Arnstein
darnstein@putneyschool.org
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