June 2006
Dear Friends of Chatham Hall,
Graduation was less than a week ago. I am sitting in my office, looking out the window at the empty stage that sits on the front lawn like an empty raft on a lake. On the morning of graduation, before the crowd began to gather, from this window, I saw the President of Council and soon-to-be-announced recipient of the Rector’s Medal on a swing in her graduation dress. A brilliant young woman of powerful conscience and action, yet still a bit of a girl. Two days before graduation one senior sped by this window, her formal gown trailing behind her, on a scooter. Now all the seniors have taken off on their individual scooters of life. I’ve asked them to send postcards from along the way.
A lot went on this spring that built the momentum to launch these seniors. Here are a few highlights:
- Our swim team finished first in the Blue Ridge Conference, out-swimming teams from much larger schools. Our soccer team, second in the league, earned a bid to the playoffs for the state championship.
- During Reunion 2006, one of the largest groups of alumnae, friends, and family members since the Centennial (209 in total) visited the campus from across the United States plus Turkey, Sweden, Australia, Canada, the Bahamas, and Germany. The Classes of ’55, ’56, and ’57 raised $339,094 for special endowed funds, $79,722 for the Annual Fund, and $375,000 in planned gifts. The Annual Fund is increasing steadily toward another record year of more than $1 million.
- This year’s 40 seniors were accepted into a range of wonderful colleges and universities, including Columbia University, Williams College, Bowdoin College, Skidmore College, Lake Forest College, Dickinson College, University of Virginia, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Davidson College, Bryn Mawr College, Savannah College of Art and Design, and University of Texas—Austin (Dean’s Honors Scholars Program).
- Construction has begun on a fully renovated fitness room in Dabney, part of the larger renovation of lower Dabney that will also include doubling the size of the day-student room, creating a new Activities Office, moving the Bookstore to a new location, and renovating the snack bar. Donations from the parents and grandparents of the Class of 2006, the Class of 2006, and a generous parent are making all of this possible.
- Fine Arts Department chair and artist Rob Mellor had a one-man show at the Irvine Gallery in Washington, D.C. in April and May. Some of his work had been exhibited earlier this year at the Irvine in D.C. and in New York City. Exhibitions in Los Angeles and Basel, Switzerland are in the works for this summer.
- The Thundercats, Chatham Hall’s robotics team, was awarded second place and the Teamwork Award at the Lake Country Spring Robotics Tournament.
- Through a gift to the School in memory of his late wife, Judy Selverstone Shaw ’69, Dick Shaw has transformed our art history library with the addition of more than 150 books, ranging in topic and historical period from Prehistoric Art to Raw Creation: Outsider Art and Beyond.
- Dr. Ann Beal, chair of the English Department, has been accepted into the Oxford/Berkeley Travel with Scholars program to study The History and Architecture of Oxford. Beal writes, “A study of the history of Oxford will be approached as a microcosm for viewing the great movements of English history from the 8th century forward. The course will mix classroom instruction with visits to individual buildings (many of which are not open to the general public) and the surrounding region, ‘Oxford’s hinterland.’”
- During spring break 13 students remained in Chatham for a week, living in faculty houses, to work on the town’s first Habitat for Humanity House—they built all of the walls and raised the roof trusses. Four students spent a week in Washington, D.C., shadowing alumnae in a range of professions. Another six spent ten days in London with history teacher Caswell Nilsen, who writes, “Shakespeare, Agatha Christie, the Tube, and ‘foreign’ food all played roles in introducing them to different cultures and ways of life.”
- Latin and English teacher and Librarian Dr. Alan Spearman and Isabella Yeager ’07 have been awarded the Hallam Hurt Student and Faculty Foreign Travel Award. They (along with English teacher, and spouse to Dr. Spearman, Dr. Mary Edmonds) will travel to England this summer on Isabella’s research project, which she describes as follows: “It is a project to research the wife of the fourteenth-century poet John Gower, about whom little is known, to see if perhaps their relationship extended beyond a device of practicality and extended to an amorous one. If Gower married Agnes for love, and enjoyed a passionate marriage, it could change how some of his most famous love poetry is read and interpreted.”
- Senior Michelle McKee is one of 25 first-year students to earn a Bonner Scholarship at the University of Richmond, awarded to students with a history of community service and strong academic achievement. At Chatham Hall, Michelle worked with the humane society, the local food bank, the Appalachian Service Project, and horse rescue.
In the course of my writing this letter, the graduation stage has been dismantled. Like an environmental sculpture, it provided a momentary focus in a blank landscape, but now all seems empty. Wait a minute … There is a group of sophomores heading toward town after their English exam. There goes a Frisbee. A dog. And a freshman jogging by …
All best wishes for the summer,
Gary Fountain
Rector
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October 13, 2008
Day Student Open House
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November 9-10, 2008
Open House
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December 1. 2008
Early Decision Applications Due
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December 7-8
Open House
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December 15
Notification for Early Decision Applicants
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January 10
Reply Date - Contracts and deposits due for students admitted Early Decision
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January 18-19
Open House
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February 10
Applications and Financial Aid materials Due
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February 15-16
Open House
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March 10
Notification for Applicants
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April 4-5
Revisit Weekend for admitted students and their families
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April 10
Reply Date - Contracts due for admitted students