Head of School

Greetings from the Hillside.

The weather is starting to warm, the snow is melting and the birds are beginning to sing.  Spring is finally coming to northwest Connecticut! On Saturday, March 13, we finish our third quarter of on-campus classes, a feat of which we are justifiably proud; we will have completed 24 out of 32 weeks and are heading into the home stretch. I remain in awe of the heart of our faculty and staff as they continue to provide such a high quality education for the students. The boys themselves continue to persevere in their own ways to keep working, day after day, to reach their goals; uncertainty of what will be happening in schools (including SKS) and colleges next fall has added to their stress levels. I am proud to report, however, that the entire SKS community has lived into the School’s mission this year in far more ways than any of us could have anticipated:

South Kent School prepares young men to succeed in college and thrive as thoughtful and engaged citizens in a rapidly changing and intensely competitive world.

This has probably been, in fact, the most challenging term I have experienced in my career in education. The usual darker days of February have been made even more trying due to the pandemic, but the corner has hopefully been turned. Our boys continue to live their lives less socially connected than any of us would prefer with all meals still being grab-and-go, no chapel services with more than 25 people at a time, and classes being with the same cohort all day every day, occasionally punctuated with stretches of remote learning.  

Keeping things interesting for our administrative team are our efforts to stay abreast of the local and state pandemic related regulations, which seem to evolve by the week. While we worked throughout the summer to ensure that we would meet all such guidelines and be prepared as best we could for many eventualities, there continue to be surprises, changes and tweaks that keep us on our toes.  

I must thank our Board of Trustees which has stepped up to lead us during these trying times. This group of volunteers has set an unmatched example of leadership and faced every challenge with ingenuity, diligence and care. I would like publicly to express my gratitude to these men and women for their selfless dedication to SKS: Chair John Carey ’74, President Lincoln Day ’83, Vice President Will Rowe ’88, Harold Bogle ’70, Hani Farsi ’86,  Annie Funnell ’81, Marisa Gardini P ’19, Jim Garnett ’74, Josh Hanfling ’86,  Curt Himy ’84, Peter Hopper ’82,  Jamie Lowe ’83, Bharat Mediratta ’88, Charlie Merrill ’67, Christine Pina P’22, Mike Pointer P’21, Peter Ramsey ’67, Tim Richard ’75, Fitz Robertson ’05, Sid Stockdale ’73, Alex Thomson ’78, JJ Velez ’99, Bill Wreaks ’81, Dorell Wright ’04, and Emeriti Legare Cuyler ’58 and Nobby Richards ’49.

Our athletic teams are competing, though with stringent protocols in place: no spectators, constant mask wearing and cleaning/disinfecting between sessions for the indoor events.

The basketball team is currently 9-0 including recent wins over Kingswood-Oxford, Canterbury, and Cheshire. The team is averaging 87 points per game and only allowing the opponents to score 57. Coach Raphael Chillious reports that the boys “have bought into the blue collar defensive mindset that is the core of our program.”

Our three hockey teams have combined records of 40 wins, 21 losses and 9 ties. Coach Jamie Russell is proud that the boys have “worked hard to develop in the classroom, in the weight room and on the ice through skills sessions and team practices. We've battled through quarantine and persevered through COVID.” In addition, Jamie arranged Zoom calls for the boys with NHL All-Stars Mark Messier and Marian Hossa, and South Kent alumnus Shane Pinto ‘18, currently playing at the University of North Dakota.

Soccer has had a great winter training period. After hours of shoveling, followed by a little help from a plow, the team cleared Farr Field a few weeks ago for play to resume. Most weeks the team has two yoga sessions with Humanities teacher Patrick Beer, three strength and conditioning workouts with Pat Bonis, and five training sessions. They started spring competition in late February with two dominating wins and are planning to continue playing throughout the spring.   

One of the best aspects of the recent weeks has been the memory making experiences created by the cold and the snow. The constant groundcover of snow produced the best sledding we have had in recent memory. The boys cleared off several small “rinks” on Lew’s Lagoon and more often than not there were several skaters on the ice until dark. Strength and Conditioning Coach Patrick Bonis recently offered a Polar Plunge for students brave enough to take part. Patrick cut a hole in the ice of Lew’s Lagoon next to an igloo the boys had built earlier (which became the diving platform), and 35 brave souls accepted the challenge and flipped, cannon-balled, and dove into the murky water.

Arthur Smith's tribute to Willie O'Ree

Coach Raphael Chillious has been the driving force in celebrating Black History Month on campus. Daily, Raphael sent “Black History Facts” to the entire community, and has been supported by quite a few members of the faculty and staff introducing and explaining their own, personal, Black heroes or recounting events from Black History. Fifth Former Arthur Smith made an exceptional video about his experiences as a black hockey player and Willie O’Ree, the first Black NHL player. Lynn Worthington has taken the lead in celebrating “Women’s History Month” this March.

An unanticipated COVID adjustment has been that a number of colleges have pushed back their dates for admission notification, increasing the stress of this process for many students. Despite this we have had 158 applications submitted by 40 members of the Class of 2021, an average of four applications per student (see acceptance list below). Our college counselors Lynn Worthington and Bill Whittaker have also supported 17 alumni applying to college or applying to transfer, involving 84 applications. Additionally, they have hosted two young alumni panels involving nine different alums Zooming with students about what to expect as they transition to college.

After consulting with the Board of Trustees, our alumni class agents, and others, we have officially decided to move Alumni Weekend to early next fall. The tentative dates are September 24-26, 2021, during which time we look forward to celebrating the reunions of classes ending in 0's, 5's, 1's and 6's. We use the word "tentative" because we still have no way of knowing what the situation might be with the pandemic by next September. We truly hope that it works in our favor and that the country and the State of Connecticut are in a much better place by then. Holding Alumni Weekend in September will provide our alumni the opportunity to see the School while in session, something which has not happened for many years. More information will follow. At that time we will also celebrate the life of George Bartrlett, our recently departed third Headmaster. Much more to come on this weekend as our plans develop.

The college acceptances so far for the class of 2021 include: 

Head of School's Reading List:

Walking with the Wind:
A Memoir of the Movement
by John Lewis

This is undoubtedly my favorite book on the topic of civil rights, the history of the Modern Civil Rights Movement, or biographies in general.  Lewis was not only present at virtually every milestone event of the Movement from the 1960s through the 1980s, he was a leader in most of them, and never, ever strayed from his humility or commitment to non-violence.

Video Updates: