The Putney School Newsletter for Parents

Dear Parents,

I am writing this newsletter from San Francisco, where I am attending the annual conference of the National Association of Independent Schools.   It is giving me a chance to hear some of the top thinkers in education, and to compare notes with people working in other schools. Since much of the serious work in progressive education is happening on the West coast, it is worth it for me to travel this far to meet with some of these people. It is nice to note that most of the speakers are urging traditional schools to do more project based work, to create space for student creativity, and to make schools more sustainable. Music to my ears…

I heard an especially fascinating lecture by Juan Enriquez, the founder of the Life Sciences Project at the Harvard Business School. His thesis was that all progress derives from code, that code keeps evolving (writing, digital, genomic), and that genomics is moving from reading, to copying, to writing life code.  He showed us pictures of mice created from skin cells, suggested that twenty years from now you won’t be hired by a symphony orchestra unless you have an enhanced hearing implant, and showed us how his group is making programmable cells. Obviously excited about the pace of biological change in the next 5-10 years, he said “This is like having a front seat in the renaissance—on steroids.”

I get an unintended lesson from attending conferences such as this—I am a restless student, and I have a tendency to walk out of sessions that don’t seem to have much meat to them. I hate to be talked at, talked down to, or to hear mediocre thinking. It reminds me of the enormous responsibility we bear in confining our students to classrooms for hours every day, and just how important it is to make every class engaging and valuable.

I am looking forward to getting back to campus,

As I wrote in my letter of February 18, we lost one of our five senior cabins to fire. Luckily nobody was hurt, and having concluded with the fire chief and the insurance inspectors that this was a simple accident, we are beginning to think about how and when we might rebuild. I would love to see a student design contest to come up with a new kind of cabin—one that follows green building principles, and provides a modern eco-cabin counterpoint to our old Thoreau style cabins.  We have already had generous offers of help from parents and others, for which I am very grateful. Since we are in the early stages of a master planning process, we’ll wait to be sure we know where we’d like to have it.

All the best to all of you,

Emily

A Note From Ceramics Teacher Naomi Lindenfeld for Local Parents:

Presented by the Arts Council of Windham County, the Student Art Month show includes artwork from eight area high schools.  Show dates: March 5th – 31st.  The opening reception is during Gallery Walk on March 5th from 5:30 to 8:00 pm.  The two-dimensional works are at The River Garden and three-dimensional works are at Vermont Artisan Designs, both on Main Street in Brattleboro.

Three works from each school will be selected by a panel of judges plus there are Best in Show awards for each medium.  Artists whose works are chosen will receive a gift certificate for art supplies from Zephyr Designs. The Putney School will have multiple entries and usually does quite well, so it’s well worth your time to have a look.

A plethora of Alices, Mad Hatters, and Rabbits showed up for the Alice in Wonderland-themed annual Snow Ball on Saturday night. See more photos from the dinner and dance here.

Dear Parents,

One of the cardinal rules of our founder, Carmelita Hinton, was that all entertainment needed to be generated on campus.  A Yankee to the core, she disapproved of students being passive spectators or even listening to recorded music.  Radios and phonographs were forbidden, and sporting events were for the players only.  Of course she would not have been able to imagine the amount of entertainment (and distraction) available through technology to our students today, and how few of them come to us with any experience in amusing themselves.  (I note that Putney has held out against TVs on campus for long enough that they are no longer relevant.)

We do have a lot of entertainment arriving on campus through broadband, iPods, cell phones, DVDs, etc.   We also enjoy watching each other perform, whether on stage or on the basketball court or soccer field.  We create an enormous amount of music on campus, and Putney students still do find ways to create many of their own amusements.  Winter here brings out their most competitive natures in the form of the Dorm Olympics. It turns out that in a school that values cooperation over competition, almost anything can be turned into a contest!  To give you some flavor of these Olympian events, I give you a list of some of the competitions: Gutter Shoveling, Stump Rope, Six Word Story Challenge, Crossword Puzzle racing, Ping Pong, Spelling Bee, Dorm Songs, Dorm Videos, and the Green Cup Challenge.  The last is a contest to see which dorm can lower their per capita energy use the most during the month of February.  Although all of these are designed for fun both for participants and spectators, it is interesting to note that most of them require a kind of complete undivided attention that electronic entertainments rarely require. One of the central questions of education now is what impact the fracturing of attention is having on long term learning. Click here to read an interesting article on the subject, in case you are interested.

I  remind those of you who live close enough that you can hire strong and willing labor on April 3^rd, all proceeds going to Partners in Health for Haiti relief.  You can paste this form into an e-mail to Ryan Kim at rkim@putneyschool.org.  Please help by seeing if your neighbors or co-workers would like to sign up as well.

All the best,

Emily

The Putney School Works For Haiti:  April 3, 2010

Name:____________________________________________________

Phone Number:_____________________________________________

Best Time to call:___________________________________________

Email:____________________________________________________

Home Address:  ____________________________________________

_________________________________________________________

Description of Job __________________________________________

_________________________________________________________

Do you need additional tools or equipment? If yes, what are they?

_________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________

I will hire ___________ workers (2 minimum) for____________ hours,

for a total of _______ work hours. At $8 hour, this comes to $________

The Putney School Madrigals performed recently in the High School Acapella Concert at the Brattleboro Museum and Art Center under the direction of Music Director James Wallace. (photo courtesy of Development Director Christie Baskett)

Dear Parents,

Our students, in their short lives, have already seen the Asian tsunami, hurricane Katrina, and the Kashmir and Sichuan earthquakes—and now Haiti. In the face of these great natural disasters it can be hard for students to know what to do. They see governments and aid agencies sending millions of dollars, but they also feel compelled to help in whatever way they can. The instinct of many is to want to leap on a plane and start digging people out of the rubble, but they are wise enough to understand that this is unlikely to be genuinely helpful, and that Haiti’s recovery will take sustained effort over a long time. I am delighted that our students have created a plan that allows them to put their own sweat and talents into the effort to help others, and one that taps into Putney’s particular strengths as a community.

On April 3^rd our students will fan out across the local towns and work for any community member who will hire two or more students—they will rake up the mess the snow melt leaves, clean gutters, paint buildings, organize garages, clear land—whatever anyone will pay $8 an hour for. In the period between now and then they will work to gather job assignments and organize transportation. They are hoping to find a venue in Brattleboro for a mid-February sale of student art, with accompanying music and dance, at which they will do publicity for the work day. The proceeds from both the art and the work day will go to Partners in Health, which has been chosen by the student body as the organization they most want to support in Haiti.

Shortly there will be a webpage on which anyone who wants to employ students on April 3rd will be able to sign up. I hope that those of you who live locally will begin imagining what you might be able to get done with a crew of strong and willing labor, and that you will look at this as another way that you can support both our students and the relief efforts in Haiti.

Between mid-semester break and Spring vacation, students will elect many of their leaders for next year. Elections will be held for Student Heads of School, Student Trustees, Standards Committee, and Education Program Committee. The rest of the student leadership positions will be chosen in the spring; there are about 35 positions overall. If you are going to see your children during the mid-semester break, you might want to ask them if they are interested in running for one of these positions, and get them thinking about what kind of leadership they want.

Pictures from the winter music and dance concerts and the plays at the end of project week are up at http://www.putneyschool.org/putneynews/

All the best,

Emily

We are coming to the end of Project Week – and I find myself reflecting that is a very pedestrian (and inaccurate) name for a ten day period of such intense focus, creativity and perseverance.  I love wandering around campus during Project Week to see what’s going on.  Students often invite me to see what they are doing and launch into an explanation. Sometimes they are so absorbed they don’t even notice I’m there.  In the quiet room of the library one student is trying to figure out what kinds of economic aid to Africa are most useful.  Another is studying the mathematics of arcane financial instruments. In the main library every table has a teacher and one or two students in earnest conversation. In the hallway in front of the deans’ offices a crew has built a robot that throws things, and is practicing by remote control, to great applause. In front of the library building a beautifully built geodesic dome has appeared.  In the sculpture studio I’m invited to learn about a new casting technique, and at the other end of the building seven students draw in deep silence from a live model. There is music coming out of windows all over the school, and this project week seems to be producing a great deal of writing. After assembly there is a line to sign up for times to perform for the community.

We do all this in place of exams.  Do we lose something?  Clearly.  Exams are good for causing people to review and synthesize, and for giving practice in working under pressure.  Students taking exams for the first time in college will have to learn this as a new skill.  I am convinced, however, that our students learn so much more, and will remember so much more of what they learn, by spending their time doing project work.

They learn to plan, to manage time, to realize something doesn’t work and try another way. They learn to focus on one thing for a long time, and then to look at it and judge their own work. They finish by writing a self-evaluation, and by presenting their work to be seen by the rest of the school.  These are real world skills, much more than exam taking skills are.  And students are able to work on what they love, which is a great gift for an adolescent.

Our second semester begins on Monday, January 18^th. This is Martin Luther King Day, and we will spend the day seeking to continue the work he started and challenged us to carry on.  If you are curious about the materials we are using, you can see them at:

Race: The Power of an Illusion:

Taking Root: The Vision of Wangari Maathai.

This second film was made by a Putney graduate, Lisa Merton, who will be coming to talk with our students about it.

All the best,
Emily

Barber of Seville cast and crew

Figaro’s Marriag cast and crew

Happy New Year!

My daughter gave me a wonderful little book for Christmas, titled Dear Me, A Letter to my Sixteen-Year-Old Self.  Published in the UK, it is an anthology of letters from various successful people to themselves as adolescents. I was reminded of a project that she and some of her 8^th grade buddies did, involving asking all the women they liked what had happened to the ‘popular girls’ from our 8^th grades. (They were much relieved and not a little triumphant to learn that most of them had peaked early and led dull lives, or worse.) This book of letters illustrates much the same—that although adolescence is a pivotal time for almost everyone, being an outwardly successful teenager is not a predictor of much. Even those kids who look ‘together’ on the surface are secretly convinced that nobody else feels as unsure and awkward as they do. One of the things I treasure about Putney students is the acceptance they give each other, which frees students to grow toward being who they were meant to be, rather than spending so much time trying to be who others expect them to be. Nevertheless, even here, they too often believe that their social standing, attractiveness, success in school, and overall happiness is a predictor of their future lives.  We as adults know this is simply not the case.  There are other things, I believe, that are pretty good predictors – but only pretty good.  Among these would be idealism, a capacity for perseverance, a disposition to see the glass as half full, curiosity, compassion.  These are things that teenagers don’t usually recognize in themselves, although adults around them can often discern them. These are the things that we seek to write about when we describe our students to colleges,  and the things that we water and fertilize when we see them newly sprouting in a student.  These are things that are also contagious among teenagers and we find that our students teach each other, without knowing it or meaning to.What advice would you give to your own 16-year-old self—and is this the advice you find yourself giving your child?

When your students return, I will be urging them to begin to think about their summer plans. Not only is this a great way to get though the winter, but it allows them to spend time really reflecting on what they might dare to do.  I will counsel them that they should do something new, with new people, and for juniors and seniors, in the adult world.  We know that adults will treat a 17-year-old like and adult, but treat a group of 17 year olds like children.  If any of you have the capacity to offer a summer internship to one of our students, please do let us know.

With best wishes to all of you for a wonderful 2010.

All the best,

Emily

NiRey ‘11 conducts a chemistry experiment in class. Photo by Lynne Weinstein.

Dear Parents,

As we wrap up our first semester, it is tempting to try to sum things up, but this is probably a mistake. We are really in the middle, not at the end, in terms of how the rhythm of an academic year proceeds. Certainly there are things that mark the end of a semester—papers and projects, concerts, lots of great food, lots of cleaning up – but it is a holiday, not an ending.

On the other hand, I can’t help speculating about the fact that it is the end of a decade, the decade in which our students have spent most of their conscious lives. TIME magazine calls it “The Decade From Hell”, citing wars, financial meltdowns, public moral turpitude and climate crisis. (They also call it ‘the worst decade ever,’ which is just silly) As adults we can look at the past ten years and recognize that the world has become a very uncertain place, both because of the pace at which things change and the stubbornness with which they don’t. How will this have affected children growing up in this decade, for whom this level of change and uncertainty is normal? How much of the hand-wringing of their elders have they internalized? What impact will this have on them in the long run, as their generation takes over the reins of our culture?

I know I am an optimist, but I think they are going to be fine, and perhaps better for it. It was striking to me that the children who grew up in the 1990’s were the most emotionally fragile generation that educators can remember. American children of the ’90’s were brought up in conditions of peace, prosperity and stability almost unprecedented in history. Our culture turned itself upside down to make them happy and safe—everything from Chuck E. Cheese to padded shopping cart seats. Fathers of the 90’s engaged in parenting in a whole new way, and perhaps as a related development untold hours and dollars went into children’s sports and other extracurriculars. When these children grew into adolescence, they were a compliant and high achieving group. SAT scores rose and top colleges were flooded with highly qualified applicants. Nevertheless, college health offices were also flooded—with eating disorders, depression, and anxiety. Suicide rates went up among the very students who seemed to have all the advantages. As educators, we also became anxious—what was going on?

My belief is that young people yearn to be needed, to be useful, to find something worthwhile to dedicate their lives to. When the culture tells them that their own personal achievement is the route to happiness, proposes that we buy them tutors when they stumble, medications when they feel sad, extra coaching when they don’t make the team, when they are not clear about how to make their lives meaningful in a larger sense, then they often struggle. We look back to what Tom Brokaw called ‘The Greatest Generation’, who grew up in the depression and fought WWII, and we see the power of need to draw young people out of themselves and draw them together. The difficulties facing our students are not of that same immediacy and magnitude, and have less clear mandates for action, but they may have much the same impact. Because Putney attracts more robust young people than is perhaps the norm my calibration may be off, but I sense that far from being daunted or incapacitated by the challenges facing them, this current crop of students both here and elsewhere may be healthier, happier and more committed to finding ways to solve problems than their immediate predecessors.

I wish you all the best for a wonderful holiday with your children. We actually miss them when they are gone, and look forward to having them back on January 6^th.

All the best,

Emily

First home basketball game ever – we won!

Today was the first day of the winter season here – which meant new work jobs and new afternoon activities. We follow a slightly different schedule in the winter, to take advantage of the daylight while we have it, and to allow the alpine skiers to get to the mountain on Wednesday afternoons. Each season means new job training – today a new crew learned to milk and feed, others to man the KDU three meals a day, and others to clean effectively. I am always encouraged by how many students embrace the harder jobs, and with what good spirit they set about learning a new skill. The requirement that they constantly learn how to do things they have not done before gives them a long term confidence that they are competent and useful people. As I was touring a visitor around this afternoon it was great to see all this activity, as well as our very first home basketball practice in the new gym.

This is a short stretch of school before Winter Break, and I’ve encouraged all students to be sure to be on top of their academics, as the semester ends soon. When they return in January we’ll be in Project Week until January 16^th. The second semester starts on the 18^th.

I hope to see as many parents on campus as can make it in the next few weeks. When you are here be sure to see the show in the Currier Center of Brian Cohen’s work. The Gallery is exhibiting 140 of his etchings and watercolors, comprising 25 years of work. We also hope to see you at the Music and Dance concerts on December 13^th at 2:00 and December 14^th at 7:30. Students will be ready to leave for the holiday after their last commitment on Tuesday December 15^th. Please be sure to communicate with the Dean’s office about any unusual travel arrangements.

All the best,

Emily

March of the Turkeys Feast in the KDU:

Dear Parents,

The field house is open! All of us here thank all of you who helped us to make this dream a reality. It is truly wonderful, both as a place to play and be healthy, and as a walk-our-talk demonstration of Putney’s commitment to a sustainable future. This is only one of the many things we are thankful for.

I would also like to thank all of you who have been referring potential students to Putney. We know that about 80% of new families find us through word of mouth from alumni or current parents and students. This fall we’ve had a wonderful group of visitors through the admissions office, and many of them came because one of you suggested they should.

We know that students from a wide range of backgrounds and interests thrive here, so there is really not a ‘Putney type’ that we are looking for. As one recent graduate said the other day- “Putney brings out the Putney in people.”

Parent participation in the Annual Fund climbed from 56% to 61% last year—another thank you! This is likely at least partly because of the long hours our parent volunteers spent making phone calls. Once again, parent volunteers will be calling to ask for your support. (If you want to save them the trouble, give soon!) The Annual Fund makes it possible for us to respond more fully to requests for financial aid. We hope to reach 75% participation this year.

So, I have many thanks to say to our Putney parents, not the least of which is the trust you show us by giving us your children.

One logistical note:

On Tuesday November 24^th, classes will end by lunchtime, and students will be free to go for the Thanksgiving holiday. PLEASE do not take your student out early, as tempting as that may be. It disrupts the educational efforts not only for them but for other students in their classes.

All the best,

Emily

DRIVER’S EDUCATION CLASSES

The Putney School has asked Westminster Driving School to provide driver education classes. Successful students will receive a Vermont Driver Education Certificate that is accepted by most state DMVs. If you are interested in the program or have questions, please go to http://drivewds.com/PutneySchool.htm or call Mike Henkle at 802-387-4014 or email him at mhenkle@sover.net.

Parent Newsletter

As I mentioned on Parents Weekend, we have created a new website for you at www.putneyparents.org.   This is intended to bring together all the news, resources and information for families that is now scattered around the website. We hope that you will bookmark this so that it’s easy for you to find.  It is a work in progress, so please do send your feedback.

We will shortly be posting on the website, for both parents and students, opportunities for Spring break trips.  We hope to have these up before Thanksgiving break, so families will have a chance to discuss opportunities.

On the same general theme of communication, I wanted to write about how we communicate about the inevitable problems and issues that arise at school. When 226 teenagers are living in close quarters, we know that sometimes students will have bad ideas or misgauge things. When a student violates the standards of the community in some way, there is always a tension between respecting that student’s privacy and being sure that others can both learn and understand.  We do not generally make formal announcements in assembly about these matters, but there are times that we will talk with the whole school about something that has gone wrong and has had serious impact on others.  There may be personal circumstances that we cannot share with students, and sometimes we know that rumors or misinformation gets out there.  I hope that if you hear something from your child, and find that you have the reaction “That can’t be true!”, that you will realize that it probably isn’t true, and feel free to call me or Ben Freeman to verify.

I have been asked to write a piece entitled “What Makes Putney Different”.  We are quite different from other schools, as you know, but although you feel it as soon as you come on campus, it is surprisingly difficult to describe.  An early author spoke of Putney’s ‘density of purpose’,  a phrase I think says a great deal about why it is so hard to capture the essence. Of course I have my own ideas and convictions, but I am hoping to gather many voices.  All the students wrote a few sentences for me, and I would love to hear your parent voices as well.  If you feel moved to write, please send it by e-mail to ejones@putneyschool.org.

Important information for parents’ of students who would like to participate in the Winter Alpine Recreational Skiing Program: Form and Information

Photo Galleries

Jean Hinton Rosner Fall Work Day 2009
Harvest Festival

We are eagerly awaiting the big weekend – Parents’ weekend, the ribbon cutting celebration for the field house, and Harvest Festival, all packed into October 9-11. We are looking forward to having as many of you here as can make it. It is an especially important time for those of you who are parents of ‘new’ students – you last saw them when they were nervous and unsettled, and you can now let them show you their world here as old Putney hands. We also can’t wait to show you the field house – it’s gorgeous!  I hope to see all of you who are visiting at the Parents’ Meeting at 5:00pm on Friday.

Putney’s third annual Silent Auction, with proceeds going toward financial aid, will also take place over Parents’ Weekend.  Online bidding will begin Thursday, October 8 and the auction will run Saturday evening, October 10, and Sunday, October 11 from 10:00-3:30.

Mid-semester break starts as soon as Harvest Festival has been cleaned up, which is generally about 5:00 pm on Sunday. Please do not plan for your child to leave campus before that time.  Juniors and Seniors are expected back on campus between 3:00 and 7:00 on Friday October 16^th, and Freshmen and Sophomores the same time on Sunday.

As we wrote before school started, we are pretty constantly in touch with state health officials about protocols for the swine flu. We’ve been lucky so far, but we expect that sooner or later we’ll get some of it here.  We will be a vaccination site, when the vaccine becomes available.  It turns out that the flu shot permission forms are not adequate for the H1N1 vaccine, so we need to start over.  We’ll have the new permission form available at Parents’ Weekend, and will post it on the website as soon as the Department of Health sends it to us.  If you have a child with a chronic medical condition, it would be helpful if you consulted your child’s own doctor for advice about the vaccine and let Marianne Buswell in the health office know.

Putney’s 2008-2009 Annual Report of Gifts is now online. We appreciate all the donors who made last year so successful and invite you to read the report, look at the photos, and listen to the music.

All the best,

Emily

Science teacher Glenn Littledale in discussion with his students.

The school year is well underway. Our new students have delighted both the faculty and the ‘old kids’, and most of them are doing a great job of getting where they need to be and meeting all their commitments. I found a batch of new students singing at the top of their lungs while washing dishes yesterday—it was hard to realize they had only been here a couple of weeks!

We spend a lot of time at the start of the year talking about the big picture—what we are doing here, what we hope to achieve, what Putney’s values are. Some of this happens at Convocation, and I am attaching a link to the text of that so that you can know what your children heard. In classes we also stress the overall goals of each course, with essential questions and overarching themes. Our student leaders have set a wonderful tone of responsibility and fun.

On the evening of October 2^nd, Sven Huseby will join our Board of Trustees, faculty and students to show his film “A Sea Change.” Sven, a former Putney Director, has made this film about the plight of the oceans, including some Putney footage in his work. Parents are welcome to join us that evening. You can see more about the film at www.aseachange.net.

From time to time there are things that the school would like to have, which we think probably exist somewhere and could use a new home. We’ve made a ‘Recycling Wish List‘ on the web, so that if you are getting rid of any of these items you will think of us.

Information about Parents’ Weekend and Harvest Festival, October 9-11

We look forward to seeing as many of you here as can make it to Parents’ Weekend and Harvest Festival. This year we will also be having the Field House ribbon cutting celebration on Saturday afternoon. Please let us know if you will be coming, and how many by sending an e-mail to RSVP@putneyschool.org. I encourage you to make hotel or B&B reservations soon, if you have not already, as things will fill up quickly. We do have several offers of beds from day student families—if you would like to take advantage of this, please be in touch with my assistant, Pat Dodge at pdodge@putneyschool.org.

Your child’s advisor will contact you before September 28 to talk about setting up conferences times for you to meet with your child’s advisor and two teachers.

The attached schedule shows conference dates and times. Please let the advisor know when you will be on campus and the two faculty members that you would like to meet.

The advisor will be able to let you know your conference schedule after October 2. The registration table for Parent Weekend will also have a list of your conferences with meeting places.

You can see a list of classes and teachers by logging on to NetClassroom and going to the classes, schedule menu. If you need NetClassroom login information again, please email Lucy Matteau, Registrar, at lmatteau@putneyschool.org.

Parents Weekend and Harvest Festival Schedule

Dear Parents,

The start of school is here!  The faculty have been in meetings for a week, looking at a whole variety of topics, including curriculum design, assessment practices, diversity education, sustainability, meditation in education, and technology. The admissions office has introduced the new students, advisors have read files, dorm heads have discussed plans for the fall, and teachers of each grade level have reviewed syllabi together.  We are all very eager to see the students back and get underway.

Some notes about arrivals (these are not changes, just reminders)

Sept. 1: Student leaders arrive and register in Library 1 between 2:00 and 4:00 pm.

Sept.  2: New International Students should arrive at the Faculty Room between: 100 and  4:00 pm. They will be helped to find their rooms and unpack,and there will be campus tours. Registration will be in the Faculty Room from 4:00 – 6:00 pm. Dinner is at 5:30 pm.  Parents may stay through dinner if they would like to and then say good-bye.

Sept. 4: New American Students should arrive at the Currier Center between 12:30 and 3:30 pm for registration.  Students will be given their room assignments at the end of registration, and student leaders will take them to find their rooms.  Between 3:00 and 4:00 pm parents may meet with their student’s advisor. At 4:15 all students and parents should be in Calder Hall for the Director’s Welcome.  After that parents should say goodbye, and are invited to dinner at the Director’s House (Rockwell House) at 5:00 pm.

Sept. 6: Returning Students should arrive between 12:00 and 4:00 pm to register in the Currier Center.  Students should not go to their dorms before registering.  (New students will be engaged off campus – on a hike)

All students and faculty will gather for Convocation at 5:00 pm. Day students will be free to leave after Sing (8:00 pm) and will be expected  back at 8:00 am Monday for Orientation.

There are many changes to see on campus since students were here in June.  The new Field House is nearly ready, and very beautiful.  The new wood-fired bread oven has transformed the KDU, the new Learning Center is being painted as I write, and we have a new bookstore and post office.  Most of the dorms have switched genders over the summer, just to make sure nobody gets stale!  Although we can’t let people into the Field House yet, parents are certainly welcome to visit the other new places on campus while dropping off their children.

We are looking forward to seeing you all,

Emily

Master Chef Marty Brennan-Sawyer with sons Logan’03 and Noah’08 in front of the new wood-fired bread oven.

Dear Parents,

Although there are still several weeks until school begins, we are already gearing up here and looking forward to having the students back.  Our formal meetings begin on the 17th, and the first students start to arrive on September 1st.

For those of you whose students are boarders: please urge your students not to bring too much stuff!  As you know, one of the main challenges for adolescents is in keeping themselves organized, and this is far easier if there is not too much to organize.  The rooms are not large, almost everyone has a roommate, and one of the biggest problems we face in the dorms is simply clutter brought on by students who have too many things.  Have the conversation about the difference between wants and needs, and encourage your child to at least start the year ready to live the simple life.  We thank you!

For those of you who have day students: There are a couple of changes this year from the usual start of school routine.  We have decided to let the Day Student Picnic go – this will not be held this year.  Instead, we have another day of orientation after all the students are here, and before classes begin. The idea is to work on having all the students get to know each other, rather than having them ‘bond’ in smaller groups. 

I do want to spend some time with local parents, however, and we will have our first local parent meeting of the year on Thursday September 10th, at 7:00 pm in the faculty room. Whether your child is a day student or a boarder, if you live within 30 miles or so of the school, we hope that you will attend these meetings. 

As you have heard from our registrar, Lucy Matteau, we will be having students buy their school books online this year, which will save you money and save us time. You will be receiving information on how to see your child’s schedule in NetClassroom, and how to order books for each class.   I urge you to make sure you have all the other needed paperwork done, if you have not already – it will make your child’s start of school much smoother. 

Several of you have inquired about our plans for HINI virus (swine flu), when and if it hits Putney.  We have been making our own plans, but have been notified that The Secretaries of Health and Human Services, Homeland Security and Education and the CDC Director will be doing a joint briefing for schools this week, so we’re waiting for that before we publish anything.  The good news seems to be that the idea that closing schools and sending everyone home seems to have passed.

All the best.  We are looking forward to seeing you here.

Emily

Dear Parents,

 The 74^th Putney School Graduation was a joyful occasion.  It was a lovely day, with families and alumni gathering to celebrate and applaud our graduates.  Reid Hoffman ‘85 spoke, and reflected back to his own graduation when Wally Shawn ‘61 was the graduation speaker. He pointed out that to keep to the 24 year cycle, a member of the class of 2009 needs to be the commencement speaker in 2033.  In helping them see how to be the entrepreneurs of designing their own lives, he advised the seniors about how to distinguish in their life decisions between painful risks, which may be worth taking, and mortal risks, which are those that, if you fail, you don’t get to play again.  He also encouraged each of them to be sure that they set aside time to work for others. 

The weekend after graduation alumni from selected classes from each decade returned for Reunion Weekend, filling seven of the dorms.  Some of them had not seen each other for 50 years, and some had been on campus regularly since they graduated.  They sang a great deal, danced quite a lot, and talked in between, catching up on what is happening in their lives and at the school.

In spite of the economy, we have ended the year on a high note.  We had 100% participation in donations to the Annual Fund from both the Class of 2009 and the faculty and administration.  The school is full for next year, with a waiting list.  The field house will be finished by September, as will the new wood fired bread oven in the KDU.  Summer Programs students arrive on June 28^th, and will be on campus until early August.

One of my projects for the summer will be to work on designing a conference on progressive education that we will hold in the summer of 2010, in celebration of Putney’s 75^th Anniversary. Putney held such a conference for our 50^th, and it is time to examine once again what great education should consist of.  Changes in the world culture, economy and environment, together with new brain research and new technologies, challenge us to redesign secondary education, and this conference will bring together some of the best minds in the country to look at this future.  If any of you have ideas or suggestions for people who should be invited to this conference, I’d love to hear from you.

I hope that you all have wonderful summers,

Emily

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Graduation 2009

Project Week Results

More March Break Travel Photos

Dear Parents,

The last week of the school year!  The campus is buzzing with students working on their final projects.  We finished a terrific set of 34 senior exhibitions last week, on topics ranging from bio-engineering, Euclid, and health care, to dance, photography and car design.  The exhibitions were well attended by students and outside guests, and each one had an outside evaluator who is an expert in the relevant field.  The depth and clarity of the work done on the exhibitions is testimony to the fact that project weeks over the years have taught these seniors how to work independently at a high level.

 Graduation is Sunday at 11:00.  All students attend graduation, and parents of non-seniors are of course welcome, as well as the senior parents.  Students should be mostly packed up before graduation, but they will need to finish packing and make sure their rooms are clean before they leave.  If you are picking up your child, please don’t whisk them away before they have cleaned up.  Dorms close at 4:00.

 During the week of May 18, parent volunteers, both on and off campus, were busy calling for your participation in the Annual Fund. Many of you were quick to show your support. As a result we saw an immediate jump in parent participation from 40% to 51%. Many more pledged to make their donation before June 30. I thank all of you who have understood how important it is that we have broad participation.   I am delighted to be able to announce that this morning the seniors announced in Assembly that 100% of them were making a contribution to the annual fund – there’s a challenge!

 I look forward to seeing many of you here next weekend for our celebrations.

 Emily

End of School Schedule  

 2009 College Destinations  

Spring Project Week Details   

Social Dance   

Spring Dance Concert  

Dear Parents,
All students and most teachers are out on Long Spring trips this week – it is lovely and warm and I envy them!  They are hiking, canoeing, climbing, and exploring. I am looking forward to hearing all the stories when they get back on campus.

I expect that many of you saw the NY Times article "Ear Plugs to Lasers: The Science of Concentration" last week. It is certainly worth a read.  Read the rest of this entry »

Dear Parents, 

Some of you have asked about the school’s response to the news about Swine Flu.  At this point there are no reported cases of Swine Flu in Vermont. The closest cases reported, in New York,  have been relatively mild.  The Vermont Department of Health is keeping a close watch and will alert us if this changes.

Because we all live closely together we already encourage the behaviors that help protect against communicable diseases.  We will be more vigilant in reminding our students to maintain good hygiene and not share food or drinks.  Because most of our students do not travel to school daily, our exposure to germs from outside of school is lower than in cities or other communities.  Please be assured that the risk is extremely minimal and email Marianne Buswell  at the Health Office if you have any questions or concerns. Read the rest of this entry »

Dear Parents,

I am just back from a 10 day trip to Asia, visiting Beijing, Seoul and Tokyo. I traveled with Libby Holmes, our International Programs Director. It was lovely to be so welcomed and so wonderfully hosted by our many families in those cities, and to see our students in their home environments. Read the rest of this entry »