So, beyond school sites, I resorted to scanning the signings lists at Rivals.com and I found a few prep school players who signed.

The group doesn’t seem as numerous, or deep, as it has in the past but that may be from a lower profile more than anything else.

Remember this list is by no means exhaustive or thorough. If you’ve know a boarding school player who should be on the list, by all means add him to the comment section.

• Isaiah Battle (Fork Union Military Academy)
• Aharown Campbell (Hargrave Military Academy)
• Nevin Cyr (Cushing Academy)
• Taylor Gadbois(Fork Union Military Academy)
• Cardale Jones (Fork Union Military Academy)
• Jake Kiley (New Hampton School)
• Jamar Lewter (Fork Union Military Academy)
• James Meagher (Trinity-Pawling School)
• Cam Shorey (Philips Exeter Academy)

T-P ran short news post and photo covering Meagher’s commitment to West Point.

Photo credit: acaben

This list isn’t exhaustive. If I didn’t find someone, please add them to the comments.

Danny Aiken, long snapper for the New England Patriots, did a PG year at Fork Union where coach John Schuman taught Aiken the art of long snapping- a specialty that can earn a player a career. Aiken played collegiately at the Univerisity of Virginia and played with the Bills prior to coming to the Patriots.

Victor Cruz did a postgraduate year at Bridgton Academy in 2005. Un-hearalded coming out UMass, Cruz has developed in to a consumate slot receiver and one of Eli Manning’s primary targets.

Fellow New York Giant D.J. Ware did a post grad year Hargrave Military before attending the University of Georgia. Ware has been with Giants since 2007 and already has a Super Bowl ring.

Additional resources:

Bridgton Academy football program

Fork Union Military Academy football program

Hargrave Academy football program

Boarding schools in ME

Boarding schools in VA

Mark Schindler, Mercersburg Academy (a coed boarding school in Mercersburg Academy) assistant director of admission and head lacrosse coach, offers his perspectives on the roles that athletic talent can play in a student’s private school admission process.

Schindler talks about how a family can glean insights into academic and athletic fit- from expert to novice player. He also explores the importance of coaching expertise and a school’s competition level in a student athlete’s development.

In the admission fit equation, athletic ability and interest (along with academics and other considerations) are pieces of the admission process.

For the expert player, athletic ability may not the be-all and end-all; but, for a highly skilled and talented athlete, athletic talent is certainly a piece of admission puzzle. Even for the novice player, schools and admission officers like to see students interested in participating in school activities and school life.

How can parents and student gain insight into the competitive level of a program?

Schindler makes it simple. “Don’t be shy,” Schindler advises. Do your homework. Call coaches; e-mail; express interest; just ask. Coaches welcome and appreciate genuine interest in their programs.

Additional resources:

Mercersburg Academy – www.mercersburg.edu

Lacrosse boarding schools (a list of schools)

Scouting Report: Lacrosse boarding schools

We’ve been grinding for months. We’ve made it through the longest part of the school year without a major break (September to Thanksgiving) and now many of us will enter the final exam crunch next week- for students taking exams and faculty grading and writing comments.

We’re tired.

Here’s a fun video that that Trinity-Pawling School sent me back in the fall that helps me keep in mind the optimism with which every school year begins and, that sometimes, we have to fight to hold on to during the short slow winter.

We’ve seen three five six seven eight head searches for summer 2012 appointments concluding in the past few weeks and we suspect that we’ll see a few more announcements in the coming month, or, so. Rather than string-out the announcements, we’ve chosen to group these together.

Congratulations to all.

John Palfrey to Become Phillips Academy’s 15th Head

John Palfrey has been named to succeed current Phillips Andover‘s head Barbara Chase upon her retirement at the end of the 2011-2012 school year.

Palfrey comes to Andover from the Harvard Law School where he currently serves as the Henry N. Ess III Professor of Law and Vice Dean for Library and Information Resources at Harvard Law School. Additionally, Palfrey is a co-director of the Berkman Center for Internet & Society, having served as its executive director from 2002 to 2008.

Andover trustee and search committee chair Peter L.S. Currie said of Palfrey’s appointment:

“The trustees were captivated by John’s intelligence, warmth, passion and outstanding record of accomplishment…As we got to know him over the last several months, it became clear that he has the essential qualities and characteristics to lead this Academy well. Among them, John is instinctively collegial and has a collaborative leadership style. He has immense intellectual curiosity, works to make himself extremely well-informed, and acts with great care.”(PA)

Timothy Viands Named Grand River Academy Headmaster

Timothy Viands will take his post on July 1, 2012 upon outgoing head Randy Blum’s retirement. Viands comes to Grand River Academy from St. Thomas More School (Oakdale, CT) where he is both Dean of Students and Academic Dean.

Zack Lehman Chosen The Hill School’s 11th Headmaster

Lehman comes to The Hill School from Gould Academy where he is the assistant head of school for advancement- a post he has held for the past six years.

Beyond his administrative work at Gould, Lehman also stays active in all areas of school life teaching filmmaking, coaching boys’ varsity lacrosse , serving as an academic student adviser, and working in the dormitories.

On coming to The Hill Lehman explains:

“I am inspired by the extraordinary opportunity to live, learn, and lead at The Hill School…In addition to the exemplary leadership of David and Kay Dougherty, I admire the School’s strong reputation for excellence in academics, athletics, and the arts. During our visit to The Hill, Amy and I further experienced the tremendous warmth of the community; the School’s pride in its history, traditions, and alumni; and the genuine enthusiasm of a very talented faculty and staff.

The students at The Hill define the School’s true character — they seize opportunities, embrace diversity, champion integrity, and value hard work…I look forward to partnering with the Board of Trustees, collaborating with the faculty and staff, and rallying support from dedicated members of The Hill School’s extended family to ensure the permanence of that distinctive student experience.”(THS)

Margaret Jablonski Named Miss Hall’s Tenth Head

Margaret “Peggy” Jablonski comes to Miss Hall’s from the University of New Haven where she is the vice president for student affairs.

In Jablonski, Miss Hall’s trustees find a kindred spirit who embodies a great combination of administrative experience and success as well as a life-long academic and personal interest in women’s education.

Miss Hall’s trustee president Susan O’Day ’77 writes in her letter announcing Jablonski’s appointment:

“During the course of her career, Dr. Jablonski has demonstrated passion for the education of young women, including the academic and out-of-classroom experiences required for them to become effective leaders. In the process, she has mentored hundreds of women students on academic, career, and personal issues and has been a vocal advocate for education. Throughout her career, Dr. Jablonski has also continued to teach, including graduate courses in higher education policy, women’s issues, leadership theory, and student affairs. Additionally, she has worked closely with boards of trustees, faculty, staff, and students to raise funds and design major campus facilities, and she understands the complexities of leading an academic institution. Furthermore, during the course of our conversations with her, it became clear to us that Dr. Jablonski exemplifies our own values of authenticity, honor, respect, and growth.”(MHS)

Peter Saliba to Head Tilton

Saliba will take over as Tilton’s head of school upon the retirement of Jim Clements this coming summer.

Saliba comes to Tilton from Berwick Academy (ME) where he currently serves as the upper school director. Saliba brings a background of wide experiences to Tilton having served as assistant head at Sage Hill School (CA) where he was invlolved in growing the young school to its present 450 student size. Prior to moving west, Saliba worked in teaching and technology roles at Holderness and Western Reserve.

Tilton trustee chair, Kirk Wheale remarks of Saliba’s appointment:

“The Board of Trustees couldn’t be more enthusiastic about Peter’s appointment and the future of Tilton School. Peter’s background in growing and advancing schools demonstrate his proven leadership capabilities, including his academic leadership, admissions expertise, financial acumen and marketing and development insight. Furthermore, Peter’s experiences speak to his natural ability to forge partnerships with the many constituents responsible for making a school successful.” (TS)

Matthew Ruby to Lead Gould Academy

Ruby will arrive at Gould Academy this coming summer (2012) from his current appointment as the associate head of school at Shattuck-St. Mary’s (MN) where he has also been the director studies. He has also taught at the Breck School (MN) and in the Minneapolis public school system. Before beginning his educational career Ruby worked in the private sector and served as US naval officer.

“Gould has an abundance of assets – healthy tradition, natural beauty, habits of innovation, strong faculty and community, and a humane spirit – that set the stage for great success in the decades ahead. It will be a privilege to lead this school,” Ruby remarked upon his appointment.

Stephen Brotschul to Lead West Nottingham Academy

Brotschul will arrive on the WNA campus this coming summer from The Kiski School where currently serves as the Associate Headmaster.

A Hill School alumnus (’90), Brotschul, has fifteen years of independent school educator experience under his belt in variety of roles including work on the business and academic sides of schools. He has worked in fundraising, strategic planning, program creation and implementation, residential life, school finance, faculty development, school admissions, teaching, and coaching.

“Stephen has the energy, passion and experience it takes to lead West Nottingham through the challenges and opportunities of the Academy’s future,” board president, Paul McIntyre, commented.

Brotschul’s professional stops include The Webb Schools in Claremont, California, CEDU Schools in Running Springs, California, The Leelanau School in Glen Arbor, Michigan, and The Kiski School.

Bud Patel Chosen to Lead Brentwood College School

Bud Patel will succeed the retiring Andrea Pennells, whose thirty years at Brentwood include the final twelve as Head of School.

Patel comes to Brentwood College from St. George’s School, Vancouver BC where he serves as the deputy headmaster and principal of the senior school. In this role he has been involved and played active roles in all phases of school management from daily operations to strategic planning.

A graduate of Shawnigan Lake School (’85), Patel returned to his alma mater to begin his teaching career after earning his BS from the University of Victoria. He also earned his MA from the University of Victoria in 2000.

Class discussion at Westtown School

Nancy van Arkel, Westtown School Middle School Principal knows, lives, and practices Paul Tough’s New York Times Magazine article “What if the Secret to Success Is Failure?”

Like Tough, van Arkel sees failure- more specifically learning from failure- as key to future success for her students. van Arkel rhetorically asks:

“How many of us learn life’s big lessons when everything always goes well and the sun shines in the sky every day,”

van Arkel sympathetically finds the roots of our aversion to failure rooted in parental concern.

“The very notion of ‘failure’ has such negative connotations today, and that’s especially true when it applies to parents and their children…After all, what parent wants to see a child face setbacks or be hurt?”

But, how do we learn if never allowed to fail?

van Arkel sees her, and her school’s role, in student development as being the safe place, with supportive adults who encourage students, to stretch their abilities, take risks, and try new things. In short, school provides the safety net necessary for growth; school is the place where warm, encouraging adults provide guidance and support; school is the place where the adults pick a student up, dust his rump off, and help her understand why the new event did, or didn’t, work.

van Arkel illustrates the kind of growth that results from risk-taking through Westtown’s overnight canoe trips. The trips aren’t long. But students are outdoors, facing the challenges of moving water and working together.

“The parents are concerned about safety. The kids are worried they won’t be up to the camping and canoeing, despite weeks of practice and preparation beforehand.”

“When they [students] come back to school – and they all do! – dirty and tired and sometimes wet because it’s rained or a canoe capsized, they are so proud of what they’ve accomplished. They’ve been leaders, they’ve taken on responsibilities and they’ve challenged themselves in all kinds of new ways. And they’ve learned they can push themselves to whatever their limits are because they have teachers and peers who are there to help if they run into trouble. On a canoe trip or a math test, in the science lab or on the playing fields, on stage or in a reflective essay, students take risks and grow from the experience. And it seems like a thousand times a day, a child’s face lights up with ‘Oh, I get it!’ joy.”

Hurricane Irene’s affects- especially flooding from New Jersey to Vermont- are ongoing and well documented.

Here’s a short video capturing the rise of the rain-swollen Stony Brook river as the Irene produced waters swallow The Hun School‘s (a co-ed boarding school in Princeton, NJ) athletic fields.

Photo courtesy of RMA

Celeste Brooks at Randolph-Macon Academy has posted, “Boarding School: 12 Ways to Ease into Living with a Roommate, Part 2,” the second half of her school arrival piece.

Again, she’s hit some topics that we haven’t paid quite so much attention to in our writings.

This second installment looks directly at strategies, and ways, to share space and live together- focusing the ways healthy interaction and interpersonal skills can make sharing space, and things, work well.

A sampling from her post:

1. Always communicate. Manage small issues before they become larger issues….
2. Do not expect your roommate to be perfect. We are all human and therefore imperfect…
3. Although you live together, it is important that you still give each other some space…
4. Be willing to compromise…

Make no mistake no one is born with the skills for sharing stuff and space. Living positively in smaller space takes an openness, willingness to learn, willingness to share, and patience. Be open to compromise and change.

Photo credit: Randolph-Macon Academy

Thanks to Cleseste Brooks of Randolph-Macon Academy for making us think on this front.

She penned her first installment of “Boarding School: 12 Ways to Ease Into Living With a Roommate, Part 1,” where she puts more emphasis on the personal, and interpersonal, parts of arriving to school in the fall.

We’ve written extensively over the years on what to bring to school. It’s always good to train a second (or, more) set of eyes on a subject in order to see all the angles. One always learns from a different point view.

Packing for school is no different- what to leave at home, how to approach orientation. In our writing, we’ve got most everything covered- in terms of ‘stuff.’ Reading Brooks shows us that we’ve omitted the interpersonal part of going, arriving and orientation.

Over the years, we’ve assumed much of the interpersonal stuff, but she’s spot-on to point it out and recommend some strategies and approaches.

Communication and interpersonal skills are honed through practice and they are the foundation of successfully living and working together.

Her first six suggestions:

1. …introduce yourself to the roommate and his or her parents. Be the friendly one…
2. Strike up a conversation and find out if there is anything you are both interested in…
3. Be willing to share–be honest about yourself…
4. Be willing to share your stuff…
5. …look after your roommates things…
6. Discuss such things as expectations, pet peeves, and jobs within the room…

A successful year begins with successful communication. Whether you’re a new, or returning student, or, a dorm parent, or, administrator, I recommend spending a few minutes reading over Brooks suggestions.

Her suggestions got me thinking about some things that I had begun (perhaps, wrongly, or, lazily) to assume.

Westtown School: Helping Students Build a Foundation for a Mathematical Future

Building on the effort to help students build a stronger mathematics foundation, Westtown School is expanding its adoption of the Singapore Math curriculum.

Westtown will now use the curriculum throughout the elementary and middle school grades.

The expansive adoption of Singapore Math is Westtown’s response to American student’s poor standing on a number of math fluency measures.

“It’s alarming how poorly Americans are doing…In the 21st century, our students need very strong math skills. At Westtown, we emphasize STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) disciplines,” Westtown director of communications Sue Gold told the Daily Local News.(DLN)

Wendy Dubas, math associate teacher in the Primary Grades at Westtown School, explained to the Daily Local News:

“Singapore Math has taught the first graders flexibility in thinking about numbers…They have learned how to manipulate numbers to make adding and subtracting easier. For example, students think in terms of tens…

From the teacher’s perspective, this program just makes sense,It focuses on the important concepts and gives plenty of practice. When teaching mental math, it teaches several strategies so students can use the one that works best for them.”(DLN)

Westtown believes the curriculum can help their students build a foundation for a mathematical future.

Singapore math refers to the national math curriculum of Singapore which was first used 1982. The curriculum emphasizes fewer, more deeply understood concepts and the use of drawing and modeling to solve problems and gain understanding.

Singapore math has supported great gains in Singaporean student math achievement with Singaporean students now scoring consistently high on international math measures.

Photo credit: labraun via Creative Commons