Fall 2012 Bulletin

Rippowam Cisqua School

BulletinFall 2012

In This Issue: Graduation 2012Strategic Planning UpdateAnnual Report of Donors

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Mission StatementThe mission of Rippowam Cisqua Schoolis to educate students to becomeindependent thinkers, confident in their abilities and themselves. We arecommitted to a dynamic program ofacademics, the arts, and athletics, andsupport an engaged faculty to challengestudents to discover and explore theirtalents to the fullest. Honesty, consideration, and respect for others are fundamental to Rippowam Cisqua. Inan atmosphere that promotes intellectualcuriosity and a lifelong love of learning,Rippowam Cisqua strives to instill instudents a strong sense of connection totheir community and to the larger world.We, as a school, recognize the commonhumanity of all people and teachunderstanding and respect for thedifferences among us.

Our donors are extremely important to us. We make every effort to insure accuracyin reporting, but if we have made an error ofany kind, please accept our sincere apologyand bring it to our attention so that we maycorrect our records. Contact Ryan Smith (914) 244-1292 or [email protected] any corrections.


Table ofContents

2 Letter from the Head of SchoolMatthew Nespole

11 2011-12 Student Awards

14 RCS in Pictures 2011-12

16 Focusing on the Board

17 Faculty Award Recipients

18 Strategic Planning Update

28 Beyond the Rippowam CisquaClassroom

30 Alumni Profiles

34 Class Notes

45 Annual Report

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Rippowam Cisqua School Bulletin ispublished by the Advancement Office:

Edlira Curis, Director of Annual Fund and Alumni Relations Manager

Aggy Duveen, Website Manager and Master Teaching Fund Coordinator

Barbara Jarvis, Advancement Executive Assistant and Campaign Manager

Ryan Smith, Director of Developmentand Communications

Debe Stellio, Advancement Operations Manager

Bob Whelan, Associate Head of School

Send address changes to [email protected].

Credits:Design: Peapod Design, New Canaan, CTPhotography: Tim Coffey, Stamford, CT

Board of TrusteesAmanda Riegel, ChairAlexandria S. Altman, Vice ChairWilliam D. McLanahan, TreasurerScott A. Barshay, SecretarySteve BeanRalph J. BernsteinRobert S. Boyd ’75Charles BuckleyKirtley CameronDr. Neil J. CapolongoJames A. DiamondGregory J. FlemingJames D. KallmanDr. Elizabeth L. Kilgallon, DVM, dACVSStuart KovenskyDesta LakewPhilip S. Lawrence ’80Anna P. LeeJames B. Renwick ’63

Ex OfficioMatthew Nespole, Head of SchoolKatie Boyd, Parent Association ChairDeborah A. Hurrell, Assistant Head for

Finance and OperationsRobert F. Whelan, Associate Head of SchoolChristopher J. Wirth ’94, RCSAA Chair

Rippowam Cisqua School

BulletinFall 2012

4 Graduation

22 Richie Meyers

26 50th Reunion

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Letter from the Head of School

While independent schools in theUnited States are not bound bythe strict, often uncompromising,regulations that local, state, andfederal governments impose ontheir public school counterparts,they are bound by their Boards of Trustees, parent bodies, andcommitment to shaping the hearts and minds of the childrenin their care, to advance theirrespective missions, and ultimately provide an outstanding,unique educational experience.

There are associations at both the nationaland state level (in our case it’s theNational Association of IndependentSchools and the New York StateAssociation of Independent Schools),which accredit independent schools. Atthe core of every accreditation process is a school’s ability to demonstrate that it isadvancing its mission, and is committed to ongoing growth and improvement.

In October of 2007 Rippowam Cisquahosted a three-day visit from a New YorkState Association of Independent SchoolsVisiting Accreditation Committee. Thecommittee included sitting heads of school,department chairs, finance directors, andteachers from various NYSAIS schools.Using a comprehensive self-study thatRCS undertook during the 2006-2007 year

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as a starting point, the Committeeanalyzed virtually every aspect of ourSchool community and operation. Theirmethodology included one-on-one andgroup interviews with faculty, students,parents, administrators, and members ofthe Board of Trustees.

While the Committee’s final reportconcluded that RCS is indeed what we all know it to be – a place that buildsconfident lifelong learners who becomecaring, inquisitive young adults – therewere issues that we needed to consider as we work to maintain the dynamiccommunity that makes learning the trulymeaningful experience that it is.

This coming April several members of theNYSAIS Decennial Visiting Committeewill be returning to RCS to check on ourprogress. Because of the tireless efforts of our dedicated, talented faculty andadministration, we will be well positionedto share the tremendous growth that hasoccurred over the past five years. Much of this growth was shared with ourcommunity in the Planning for Excellencein the 21st Century Mid Plan Update thatwas part of the Spring 2011 Bulletin, andthat commitment to growth has continuedthrough the present day.

The Committee’s recommendationsincluded enhancing our physical plant,integrating technology into our program,strengthening the ongoing professionalgrowth and development of our faculty,and ensuring that our curriculum had bothhorizontal and vertical consistency acrossall grades and campuses.

Our commitment to the enhancement of our facilities is reflected in the transformation of our Lower CampusLibrary, the renovation of the 5th and 6th grade classroom wing, and therefurbishment of our athletic spaces on the Upper Campus. Going forward, we are taking steps to improve additionalelements of our facilities that will providestate of the art teaching and learningspaces for our students and faculty to work in, with much of that work focusedon the Upper Campus.

Our efforts to integrate technology intoour program are demonstrated by theinstallation of SmartBoards in twenty six classrooms, an expanded researchcurriculum, and the integration oftechnology in many core courses. This year, thanks to the generosity of our parent body, we will have mobiletechnology carts that will provide ourLower Campus students with iPads, and our Upper Campus Students withlaptops in their classrooms. We willcontinue to place emphasis on thetraining required so we can ensure that our teachers are well positioned to thoughtfully utilize these 21st century technology tools to enhancestudent learning.

Since 2008 our talented, dedicated facultyhas attended over three hundred and sixtyprofessional conferences. Countless hoursof meeting and teacher planning time hasbeen devoted to conversations and worksessions devoted to the horizontalconsistency and vertical integration of ourcurriculum that has resulted in a coherent

scope and sequence that guides teachingand learning across all the grades on bothcampuses. The faculty’s own dedication tolifelong learning serves as a powerfulexample for our children, and underscoresour commitment to providing the finesteducational experience possible.

Rippowam Cisqua has grown and willcontinue to do so in the coming years toensure that we are creating a place wherecuriosity, joy, and achievement are at thecore of what we do. This formula hasserved the School well, and will continueto do so for generations to come.

Warmly,

Matthew

“Rippowam Cisqua has grown and will continue

to do so in the coming years to ensure that we

are creating a place where curiosity, joy, and

achievement are at the core of what we do.”

“RCS is indeed what

we all know it to be –

a place that builds

confident lifelong

learners who become

caring, inquisitive

young adults.”


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Graduation 2012A nearly packed tent of four hundred or so spectators came to witnessthe commencement day of the ninth grade graduating class and tocelebrate the departing eighth graders. Upper Campus children in grades five through eight were there along with parents, grandparents,friends, relatives, teachers from both campuses, and alumni. Somewere standing, others were seated, but all were bubbling with conversation and excitement about the upcoming summer events;waves were exchanged from across the tent, and students werechattering in ever-changing pokes and giggles. The sky was gray but not threatening, though the weather report said there could be a shower. Just as Maestro Robellard and the musicians began theprocession march, and all in attendance rose to watch the 9th gradersenter, didn’t a misty sprinkle of rain start to fall, as if on cue. Exceptfor the music, the tent was now silent, losing its noisy din. This rite of passage was about to unfold.

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The ceremony moved through awards and the announcement of the Red-Bluecompetition. This year the Blue team won,and screams of joy and triumph eruptedfrom at least half the student body. It is the most middle school moment of thisotherwise formal ritual, a testament to the friendly rivalry that energizes the entire year.

The ninth graders invited Michael Kober,7th and 8th grade Social Studies teacher, to be their graduation speaker. He congratulated the students on theiraccomplishments, with thanks to the ninthgraders for leading the student body andcompleting a rigorous and challengingacademic curriculum. He offered thegraduating class three gifts to accompanythem on their journey forward. The firstwas a compass, representing the guidancetheir parents and teachers have giventhem, a tool to help them plan where theywant to go; the second gift, a journal and apen, to record the ups and downs of theirjourney; and finally, a pair of binoculars tobetter see the expanding horizon ahead. Itwas a fitting and moving speech tailored for this class of graduates.

Head of School Matthew Nespole hadsome pointed advice for the graduates. Hesaid, “Things that matter most must neverbe at the mercy of things that matter least.”

The pace of the procession was slow andpurposeful. It was the antithesis of the fastpaced, hard-nosed competition to whichthese graduates have become accustomedon the playing field. Here, each ninthgrader was dressed to “the nines” andtheir tall stature and poised demeanorwere so evident as to make them appearas adults, ready to roll out and face thefuture head on. Moving toward the stage, they were the full focus of all inattendance. Each of them has been part of this audience in the past but, on thisday, they were center stage.

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“The trick,” he said, “is to figure outwhich are the things that matter most.”Mr. Nespole also quoted Charles Darwin,and this seems to be particularly relevantto the newly minted alumni: “It is not thestrongest of the species that survive, northe most intelligent, but the ones mostresponsive to change.”

Starting in PreKindergarten, many ofthose graduating are twelve year veteransof the Rippowam Cisqua School. This day represented the culmination oftriumphant wins and painful losses, mixedwith glorious success, all in the endeavorto be better prepared for what lies ahead.The class of 2012 is a persevering group.They fall hard, pick themselves up, wipeoff the dirt, tend to their wounds, and ask,“What’s next?” They have fight in them,not from anger or aggressiveness, but frompurpose and the drive to succeed. Theydon’t give up.

When the commencement ceremony wasfinished, the throngs spilled from the tentout to a beautiful green field and a calmevening. The graduates moved to anothertent where dinner was served. Dancing totechno music, something sounding like itwas out of Star Trek, this new generationof Rippowam Cisqua graduates dancedinto the night, the finale to a very longand well traveled path.

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Graduation Remarks 2012Matthew NespoleHead of School For those of you up on stage today – ourdeparting 8th graders and the membersof the Class of 2012 – this is your day.It’s a time for you to celebrate youraccomplishments and enjoy thisceremony and the parties that will followwith your friends and classmates. Whiletoday is about you, remember there areothers here, such as your teachers andyour parents, who also want to celebrateyour accomplishments, to share with youhow much they love you, and to let youknow how proud they are of you.

Over the past few days, many of youhave spent time talking with yourteachers and thanking them for beingthere to support and guide you duringyour journey through RCS. I know Ispeak for all of them when I say that,while working with you was sometimesvery demanding, it was a tremendouslysatisfying and joyous undertaking. Theenergy, curiosity, and joy of learning thatyou brought with you through our doorsevery day makes our school home. Whileyour teachers are certainly proud of you,and wish you well as you venture off toyour next school, I know their heartswill be just a touch emptier when theday is done and you leave school for thelast time as an RCS student.

I ask that you give your parents a longerleash than you might on other occasions.Let them hug you a bit longer than youmay like, and hug them back. Thankthem for what they have given you. YourRCS experience has instilled a love oflearning in you that, in the years to come,will continue to spark your curiosity andenable you to find solutions to theproblems and challenges you will face.While you may not yet fully realize thevalue of the educational experienceyou’ve received here, I hope you realizeyou would not be up here today if not forthe unconditional love your parents havefor you.

For those of you who’ve heard mygraduation remarks in the past, youknow I like to give a bit of advice andprovide something for our departingstudents to think about as they leave ourSchool community.

So here’s my advice:Things that matter most must never beat the mercy of things that matter least.The trick, of course, is figuring outwhich is which. During your high schoolyears, college careers, and beyond, you’llneed to work through this, and I imaginethe things that matter most may shift atdifferent points in your life. Try and keepyourself focused on the complexity andimportance of figuring this out. If you do,you’ll most likely make the right choices,and be sturdy enough to keep all theballs juggling in the air.

Remember when you set these prioritiesthere will be people involved, perhapsthe most important people in your life.Thinking about how your goals andpriorities will affect others is animportant mental exercise to engage infrom time to time.

Here are a few departing thoughts:Charles Darwin once said, “It is not thestrongest of the species that survive, northe most intelligent, but the ones mostresponsive to change.”

Christopher J. Wirth ’94Chairman of the RCS AlumniAssociation Board

Congratulations to the Rippowam Cisqua School class of 2012. Likewise,congratulations to the departing eighthgraders from the class of 2013. Today isyour day, and this ceremony marks theculmination of your extraordinary efforts.

As chairman of the Rippowam CisquaSchool Alumni Association, I amhonored to speak to you on this occasion.I am especially fortunate to officiallywelcome both accomplished grades to theRippowam Cisqua Alumni Community.When you depart today, I encourage youto remember to stay connected to thisremarkable place.

Over the past few months we have had aRed-Blue Alumni fundraising challenge,and a very generous Alum offered a$25,000 New Donor challenge if we were able to get fifty new first timeAlumni donors. I am extremely proud toannounce that both challenges were atremendous success, the competition wasfierce, and while the Blues were winningall along, the Reds came back in the lastfew hours before the close of thechallenge and won.

I have to admit, I cheered “Go Blue!”throughout this challenge; nonetheless, Iam very proud of the winning team, andmost of all I am proud of our communitycoming together, in the spirit of ourteams, our memories, and the lessons welearned at RCS, to support the School.The time comes for all of us to realize ourdreams and make our mark in the world;and, when you do, I hope you’ll rememberthat it began here. Thank you again to all the teachers of Rippowam CisquaSchool for their amazing work andcongratulations to our newest Alumni!


when you came to RCS, the Schoolcommunity was enriched by yourpresence, your humor, and your uniquestyles of learning, sharing, and living. Wecelebrate your successes as individuals,and as a group – a group that can neverbe replicated.

Look at your accomplishments. You dealtwith the academic rigors of ninth gradewhile going through the secondary schoolplacement process (just a little stressful

time during this past year). You wentbeyond the facts with your thesis researchto analyze many social issues in our worldtoday. You entertained the Schoolcommunity with Revels and the springmusical. You were ambassadors to theoutside community with your work on aHabitat project, the Midnight Run, andmany of your portfolio projects. Yourmusic, writing, and art revealed yourcreativity, and the Red-Blue Competitionwas fierce throughout the year.

Michael KoberKey Note SpeakerWhen the class presidents asked if Iwould be the graduation speaker, my heartstopped momentarily. I actually hate tospeak publicly, even at Parents’ Night, so speaking at graduation would be apersonal challenge. What could I possiblysay to ninth grade students and theirparents on such a memorable day thatwould be meaningful to them? Yet, theninth grade trusted that the right wordswould be spoken, and I thank them fortheir confidence.

Graduation is a day of memories. Thecelebration allows you graduates and yourfamilies to look back at the struggles youfaced and to measure the achievementsthat each of you have made during yourtime at RCS.

For five students in the class of 2012, yourjourney started twelve years ago in JPK.Two members of the class entered in SPK,two more entered in Kindergarten, thentwo new peers joined you on the LowerCampus in the first and fourth grades.Four members of the class entered in fifthgrade, and the group was rounded offwhen the last three members came to theUpper Campus in sixth grade. No matter

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Graduations mark the end of a period ofstudy. You have completed this part ofyour education successfully, and there isso much more learning that awaits you.Graduation celebrations are also referredto as commencement ceremonies becausethey mark the beginning of a newjourney. As you move on to new schools,you will embark on new journeys in lifethat will be different than the one you arecompleting today.

At commencement ceremonies gifts aretraditional and so I would like to pass onthree gifts to carry as you begin your newjourney in life. The first gift that might be helpful to you is a compass. It is a bit old-fashioned. You might prefer a GPSdevice, but there is a reason for thisparticular gift. Like a GPS device, acompass gives you a sense of where youare, and can help you plan where youwant to go. Unlike a GPS device, acompass needs you to manipulate it. Ittakes time, some patience, and it is noteasily mastered the first time you use it.

As you move ahead in life, you will needto apply time, patience, and some practiceat making the right decisions before youget on the path that is best for you tofollow. You will have to rely on your ownsenses to guide you; but, if you take thetime to stop and orient yourself you willrealize you have an “inner compass” thatyour parents have given to you throughtheir examples and the values they taughtyou. Rely on this “inner compass.” It willserve you well. Hopefully, you will alsohave a sense of direction from the skillsthat all your teachers have helped you todevelop over your years at RCS.

My second gift is a journal and pen. Thisis a traditional commencement gift. Asyou venture ahead on your new journey,take the time to find a quiet spot,somewhere away from the noise of theworld. The world can bombard you withtoo many distractions and pressures thatwill add confusion to your life. Spendsome time reflecting on yourself, yourgoals, and your dreams. Write down yourgoals and dreams in a journal. A pen isslower than a keyboard, but there is anadvantage to slowing life down. The extratime you give yourself to reflect will helpyou keep your focus on what is importantto you. A handwritten journal will allowyou to record your own history tophysically hold, review, and treasure inyears to come. It is important to knowwhere you have been as much as to knowwhere you want to go.

The last gift I would pack for your journeyis binoculars. This gift will help you looktoward the horizon. By looking ahead,you can anticipate the challenges andplan the best route to follow. Eachgeneration brings new hope to the world,and each generation has unexpectedchallenges. Your grandparent’s generationhad to face the Great Depression and aworldwide conflict. Your parents faced a period of social revolution that madethem question the authorities they hadbeen told to trust.

Your future is full of new opportunities.Most of you will be working at jobs thathaven’t been created yet. There is somuch promise that lies ahead. Be lifelonglearners and seek new skills that will helpyou to succeed in life. Keep focused onthe horizon and your goals.

The age of information in which you liveoffers new freedoms, but it also poses newchallenges. You have access to moreinformation than all the generations thatpreceded you. How you use the Internetand social networking will reveal muchabout you as a person. Contacts are easyto make, but relationships require skill.Your future will also require you toconsider multiple perspectives. Be carefulnot to simply look for the quick answer

that easily pops up on a computer screen.Probe and gain a depth of understandingabout issues.

The world is now so interconnected that,in the words of Thomas Freidman, ajournalist for The New York Times, “Theworld is flat.” Through the flat screens of electronic devices, our world is now aglobal community without separation oftime or space. In this “New World,” youneed to continue being ambassadors toothers though your words and actions.

Your family, your friends, and the RCSfaculty have confidence in you and theworld you will create. Each generationbrings change, and this change isnecessary because it brings new hope.Each generation provides a recommitmentto what makes us, as humans, the best wecan be.

So, as you pack up and leave RCS tojourney into your future, take along the“inner compass” that your family andteachers have provided, bring a journal in which to write your own story, andyour personal binoculars to keep your eyes on the bright horizon that you alone can achieve. To the Class of 2012, I wish you all the best of luck on yourdifferent journeys, and please come backto keep us posted on your adventures and discoveries.


Asheville School (NC)Avenues (NYC) (2)Berkshire School (4)Brooks School (2)Choate Rosemary Hall (3)Danbury High SchoolDeerfield Academy (4)Fox Lane High School (4)Greens Farms Academy (5)Hackley School (3)Horace Mann (2)John Jay High School (3)

King School (3)Le Rosey, SwitzerlandLoomis Chaffee SchoolMillbrook School (2)Miss Porter’s SchoolNorthfield Mt. Hermon (3)Rye Country Day SchoolSt. George’s SchoolSt. Luke’s SchoolTaft School (2)Westminster School (3)

Bates College Boston College Boston University Brown University Bucknell University College of CharlestonCollege of

William and Mary Columbia University Connecticut College Cornell University Dartmouth College Duke University George Washington

University Georgetown University Hamilton College Harvard University Hobart and William Smith Johns Hopkins University Lehigh University

Middlebury College New York University Oberlin College Princeton University St. Andrews College

in Scotland Trinity College Tufts University Tulane University Union College University of Chicago University of

Colorado/Boulder University of Michigan University of Pennsylvania University of Vermont University of Virginia University of

Wisconsin/Madison Wake Forest University Yale University

Congratulations also to the Rippowam Cisqua Class of 2009

Below is a list of colleges and universities at which more than onestudent, in the past four years, has matriculated:

Congratulations to the Rippowam Cisqua Class of 2012

The following is a list of Secondary Schools where graduating 9sand departing 8s will attend in September 2012:

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French Awards Each year, The American Association ofFrench Teachers sponsors the NationalFrench Contest known as Le GrandConcours. Nearly 100,000 students acrossthe United States competed in the contestin 2012, and in Westchester alone, morethan 1,100 students competed. Thecontest features 70 questions incorporatinglistening, reading, and grammar concepts.Last May, eight Rippowam Cisqua studentsin seventh, eighth, and ninth grades placedin the top ten rankings of the WestchesterNew York Chapter. Five of these studentsalso placed in the top ten Nationalrankings. Sophie Boyd, Sahra Denner,Natalie Harrington, and AnnabelleNemeth all earned bronze medals, andAaron Casella earned a silver medal. Thestudents who placed among the top ten inWestchester and/or nationally are:

Seventh grade studentsMaia Bernstein – fifth in WestchesterSahra Denner – third in Westchester;ninth in the NationLily Fauver – ninth in Westchester

Eighth grade studentsAaron Casella – second in Westchester;third in the NationMaggie DeDomenico – tenth inWestchester

Natalie Harrington – fifth in Westchester;sixth in the NationAnnabelle Nemeth – fourth inWestchester; fifth in the Nation

Ninth grade studentsSophie Boyd – fifth in Westchester; fifthin the Nation

Spanish AwardsIn the spring of each year, the AmericanAssociation of Teachers of Spanish andPortuguese sponsors the National SpanishExamination. The exams are the largest of their kind in the United States—wellover 140,000 students participated in2012—and they feature two forty minutesections incorporating listening, reading,and grammar concepts.

Twenty one Rippowam Cisqua studentsearned awards for their performance:

Level 1:Honorable Mention: Peter Giordano,Cameryn Lacey, Jared Reeber, Andrew Roth, Christopher Stern, andGabe Tishman

Medalla de Bronce: Ryder Beitzel,Gabrielle Brooks, Oliver O’Reilly-Hyland,and Isabel Seaborn

2011-12Student Awards

Medalla de Plata: Elliot Gilbert, Barrett Goldstein, Alex Needham, and Nikki Schoen

Medalla de Oro: Cian McGillicuddy and Lily Steinman

Level 2:Medalla de Bronce: Isabel Donohoe

Medalla de Plata: Madison Blair

Medalla de Oro: Olivia Davis, James Mattei, and Georgia Morley

Each year, Rippowam Cisqua students are recognized at the local and national levels for their scholastic achievements. The 2011-2012 award recipients have distinguished themselves in a diverse array of fields, including foreign languages,geography, history, mathematics, science, expository and creative writing, athletics, and the arts. Their accomplishments are both a reflection of the talentsand hard work of our students and teachers, and an affirmation of the commitmentto scholarship and excellence that is embodied by the entire RCS community.


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Latin AwardsFor nearly four decades, Latin studentshave devoted the second week of Marchto the National Latin Exam, an exam setunder the sponsorship of The AmericanClassical League and The Junior ClassicalLeague. The exam is given at sevenlevels, and Rippowam Cisqua students sitfor three of those levels. In 2012, morethan 150,000 students from around thecountry, and countless more students from around the world, sat for the exam. At Rippowam Cisqua, seventh gradersparticipate in the Introductory Levelexam, eighth graders participate in theLatin IB exam, and ninth graders take the Level II exam.

The following seventh grade studentsreceived awards:Special Honors and a ribbon for aperfect score: Jackson Corrigan

Certificates of OutstandingAchievement: Alex Rabinowitz, Olivia Selmonosky, and Kyla Spence

Certificates of Achievement: PhippsLawrence, Paul Mercedes, HenryMockridge, and Dario Volterra

The following eighth grade studentsreceived awards:Gold medals and summa cum laudecertificates: Beatrice de Vaulx, JackKilgallon, and Tibbon Steinman

Silver medals and maxima cum laudecertificates: Fesseha Michael, SophiePotter, and Lindsay West

Cum laude certificates: Youssef Asaadand Ryan Rothfuss

Upper Campus Athleticsand Academic Awards

Athletic Awards:John H. Odden Lacrosse PrizeElliot Gilbert, Barrett Goldstein,Annabel Grunebaum, Sophie Potter,and Thomas Tenney

Gillian Roth Softball AwardSophie Boyd

Stephen D. Miller Baseball AwardCharlie Carpenter and Chris Stern

Harry Barber AwardIsabel Donohoe and Peter Giordano

Academic Awards:HyperbolePaul Mercedes and Harrison Rice

National Geographic Geography BeeJake Lustig

Bryna Watkins Writing AwardsChloe Barshay, Natalie Bartlett, andHomer Gere

Frankel Scholarship PrizeChloe Barshay and George Lawrence

American History PrizeAaron Casella and Sophie Potter

Jane Brooks Robbins Science PrizeJames Mattei

Laura D. Paddock English PrizeSophie Boyd and Olivia Davis

Prudence B. Read History PrizeOlivia Davis

Stanley M. Feret Mathematics PrizeSophie Boyd and Olivia Davis

Melanie J. Kraft French PrizeSophie Boyd

Spanish PrizeGeorgia Morley

Wadleigh W. Woods Latin PrizeJack Kilgallon

Ristorcelli Music Prize forImprovement Isabel Donohoe

Sarah F. Fowler Drama PrizeSophie Boyd, Michael Cerutti, WilliamConway, Peter Giordano, James Mattei,and Georgia Morley

Paul and Audrey Fisher Art PrizeAnnabel Grunebaum and Sophie Potter

Susan Fiala Music PrizeJames Mattei

Ann Thacher Faculty Award of DistinctionPeter Giordano, Liesl Hennig, andJames Mattei

Trustees’ PrizeIsabel Donohoe and Gabe Tishman

Gertrude Pell Bishop Memorial AwardBarrett Goldstein and AnnabelGrunebaum

Walter F. Wyeth PrizeGraham Offermann

Waldo B. Jones PrizeSophie Boyd and William Conway

The Rippowam Cisqua PrizeGeorgia Morley


Scholastic Art & Writing AwardsThe Scholastic Art & Writing Awardsprogram is the most prestigious andlongest-running student art and writingcontest in the world. Over 165,000 entriesin art and writing are received each yearfrom regional programs across the countryand, in 2012, approximately 2,000 writersin grades seven through twelve earnedRegional Gold Key pins and certificates.Two Rippwriters earned Regional GoldKey awards, nine Rippwriters earnedRegional Silver Key awards, and seventeenRippwriters earned Honorable Mentions.

The Rippwriters who were awardedRegional Gold Keys were: SophiaGutfreund and Oliver O’Reilly Hyland.

The Rippwriters who were awardedRegional Silver Keys were: MichaelBadey, Hannah Burdick, Olivia Davis,Chris Glynn, Cian McGillicuddy, SophiePotter, Lily Steinman, Dario Volterra, and Lindsay West.

The Rippwriters who were awardedHonorable Mentions were: JackBeaumont, Gabrielle Brooks, GenevieveCapolongo, Aaron Casella, JacksonCorrigan, Olivia Davis, Beatrice de Vaulx,Sahra Denner, Cian McGillicuddy, SaraMendoza, Oliver O’Reilly Hyland, SophiePotter, Amelia Riegel, Tibbon Steinman,Lindsay West, and Youssef Asaad.

Poetry Live!Poetry Live!, a celebration of creativewriting held annually during NationalPoetry Month in April, provides studentswith the opportunity to read their poetryaloud in front of an audience of parents,teachers, fellow writers, and other guests.This event, which is in its 11th year, took place at the Emelin Theatre inMamaroneck and featured student poetsfrom Fox Lane High School, Rye NeckMiddle School, Mamaroneck HighSchool, Hommocks Middle School,Westlake High School, and RippowamCisqua. Poetry Live! is sponsored by theVillage of Mamaroneck Council of theArts. Eight RCS students participated inthe event and presented their originalpoems. Prior to the event, the students’works were collected and published in an anthology. The eight RCS poets were Haley Casper, Evan Kieltyka, JackKilgallon, Cian McGillicuddy, HenryMockridge, Alexandra Needham,Christopher Stern, and Lindsay West.

Bedford Free Library Poetry ContestJackson Corrigan won first place in hisage group for his poem.

Teen InkThree students were published in TeenInk, a monthly publication for students in grades 7-9: Charlie Carpenter, MaggieDeDomenico, and Natalie Harrington.

NCTE Promising YoungWriters Program 2012Impromptu Essay andSelection of Best WorksThe Promising Young Writers AwardProgram for eighth graders was establishedby the National Council of Teachers ofEnglish to recognize students’ writingtalents, emphasize the importance ofwriting skills, and support excellence inwriting. Eighth grade students werenominated from all over the UnitedStates. Each student submitted two piecesof writing that were read by teams ofEnglish teachers. Papers were judged oncontent, purpose, audience, tone, wordchoice, organization, development, andstyle. Aaron Casella won an award in theimpromptu essay category for hissubmissions.

Creative CommunicationsCelebration of Today’sWritersThis national contest publishes an annualhardcover anthology of selected workssubmitted by middle and high schoolstudents. A panel selects those to bepublished. The following Rippwriters willhave their works published in the 2012anthology: Kendall Burdick, OliviaSelmonosky, and Sean Speegle.

Pine Tree PressThis national contest publishes an annualhardcover anthology of poetry. Judgesselect the works to be included in thebook, which will be available inDecember of 2012. Students who werepublished in the most recent editioninclude: Madison Blair, Elliot Gilbert, and Annabelle Nemeth.

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RCS in Pictures2011-12

The Drowsy Chaperone

Lower Campus Field Day


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Walk to Cisqua Day

Upper Campus Field Day


Charlie Buckley

Charlie Buckley is the Global ChiefOperating Officer within the InvestmentBanking Division of UBS. An active RCSvolunteer, Charlie has served on the Athletic Advisory Council for thepast two years and as an Annual Fundvolunteer. In addition to his efforts atRCS, Charlie has been active for the pasteight years with the Fresh Air Fund, bothin hosting two children and in the annualfundraising efforts.

Charlie and his wife Robin live in BedfordCorners and are the parents of Tyler ’12,Hannah ’15, and Briggs who is a year old.

Charlie earned his undergraduate degreein Applied Math and Economics from Brown University.

Stuart Kovensky

Stuart is a Co-Founder, Director, andmember of the Investment Committee ofOnex Credit Partners. He has served asan Annual Fund volunteer for RCS andhas served on the Byram Hills EducationFoundation. He and his wife Nicole arethe parents of Ryan ’13, Jack ’16, andLuke ’19. They live in Armonk.

Stuart earned a B.S. degree fromBinghamton University, and an M.B.A.from NYU’s Stern School of Business.

Focusing on The Board

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New Members of the Board

Role of the RippowamCisqua Board of Trustees: The Rippowam Cisqua Board is avolunteer body that serves as theguardian of the School’s mission,focusing on strategic issues and on thelong term well-being of the School. Itis the Board’s responsibility to ensurethat the mission is appropriate,relevant, and vital to the communityit serves. The Board monitors thesuccess of the School in fulfilling itsmission and concentrates on the bigpicture while leaving the School’sdaily operation to the Head of School.Members of the Board have afiduciary responsibility to the Schoolfor sound financial management,engaging in strategic financialplanning, and assuming primaryresponsibility for the preservation ofcapital assets and endowments. TheBoard and the Head of School workin partnership in fulfilling these mainprinciples to best serve the School.

RCS Board of DirectorsAmanda Riegel, ChairAlexandria S. Altman, Vice ChairWilliam D. McLanahan, TreasurerScott A. Barshay, SecretarySteve BeanRalph J. BernsteinRobert S. Boyd ’75Charles BuckleyKirtley CameronDr. Neil J. CapolongoJames A. DiamondGregory J. FlemingJames D. KallmanDr. Elizabeth L. Kilgallon, DVM,

dACVSStuart KovenskyDesta LakewPhilip S. Lawrence ’80Anna P. LeeJames B. Renwick ’63

Ex officioMatthew Nespole, Head of SchoolKatie Boyd, Parent Association ChairDeborah A. Hurrell, Assistant Head

for Finance and OperationsRobert F. Whelan, Associate

Head of SchoolChristopher J. Wirth ’94,

RCSAA Chair


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The Alumni Association Faculty Award is presented on behalf ofthe RCS Alumni Association at the time of retirement or departurefrom employment at RCS to individuals with twenty years or moreof fulltime service, primarily in the classroom.

At the end of the 2011-12 academic year, Mrs. Sandi Klein and Mrs. Cathy Stadler were each presented with the Alumni Association Faculty Award. The awards weregiven by Christopher J. Wirth ’94, Chairman of the RCS Alumni Association, withcongratulations to Sandi and Cathy on their remarkable careers and with gratefulappreciation for their dedication and commitment to the Rippowam Cisqua students and families.

Sandi Klein retired this year after having taught Kindergarten at RCS for 28 years.Cathy Stadler worked as a first grade teacher at RCS for 25 years and is now joining herhusband at the Spence School in Manhattan, where she will embark on new experiencesoutside of the classroom in a new role as an administrator. The passion and dedicationthat both Sandi and Cathy brought to RCS has helped shape many generations of RCSalums and is best captured in a note that Sandi received from one of her former students:

“I’m teaching Kindergarten and I love it! There is no way I can say ‘thank you’ to youand all of my teachers at RCS, but please know how much I appreciate the great startyou gave me. It is because of teachers like you that I am now teaching.”

It is because of teachers like Sandi and Cathy that RCS is a specialplace where learning and joy fill the classrooms and the hallways each day.

Alumni AssociationFaculty Award Recipients

Cathy Stadler

Sandi Klein


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In 2008, the Rippowam CisquaSchool’s Board of Trustees and itsStrategic Planning Committeedeveloped a comprehensive plan to advance the School’slong-term success. The planningprocess was an inclusive one,reflecting the collective ideasand concerns of nearly one hundred participants from all ofthe School’s constituent groups.The Plan crafted a vision for theSchool’s future that reflected itscore values and addressed thequestions: How can we improveupon what we do? What do weneed to do to make thatimprovement a reality?

In the past four years, much progress hasbeen made towards achieving the Plan’stargeted goals and objectives. Theseaccomplishments were shared with theSchool community in a Mid Plan Updatethat chronicles the action plans in thethree key areas: Program, People, andPlace. To learn more about the strategicplan, and the update, you can go onlineat www.rcsny.org.

Since 2008, RCS has made progress inrenovating and upgrading its facilities onboth campuses. These improvements haveprovided enhancements and addressed

many short-term pressing needs. As Headof School Matthew Nespole noted, “Wehave much more to do. The demands of a 21st century learning environment arecomplex, and we want to ensure that ourphysical spaces mirror the quality ofteaching and learning that’s taking placeon both campuses.”

The 2010 renovation of our UpperCampus classrooms and our LowerCampus library have indeed had atransformative impact on teaching andlearning at RCS. As Matthew noted,“The ability for the educators in our newclassrooms to better meet the needs of our students was enhanced significantly

through the introduction of SmartBoardsin each room and more effective design of the existing space – which allowedmore creative classroom groupings and amore welcoming atmosphere. Improvedlighting, contemporary furniture, andbetter storage all contribute to a morevibrant platform for student learning. Our Lower Campus library renovation has been equally powerful. The expandedfootprint, dramatically improved lighting,and the introduction of technology hasturned this vital center of our LowerCampus into a favorite gathering place for our students, faculty, and families. It’s with these success stories in mind thatwe are excited to look at what’s ahead.”

Strategic PlanningMoving Forward

One in a series of updates onRippowam Cisqua’s Long RangeStrategic Plan initiatives


What’s next?Over the years, the physicaldevelopment of both campusesfound conversions and improvements made on an as-needed basis, always with anappropriate eye on costs and preserving existing buildings. In 2011, the final components of the Campus Master Plan werecompleted and the Board ofTrustees identified the nextphase of potential improvementsas follows:

Upper Campus• Significantly upgrade science classrooms

and enlarge the library.• Restructure and redesign both the

campus entrance and the main buildingentrance to create an attractive,accessible, and obvious “front door” tothe School.

• Address site-planning issues related totraffic, parking, and student drop-offwhere current conditions pose safetyhazards.

Lower Campus• Reorder the campus entrance area to

create greater clarity, visual simplicity,and a lobby that enhances circulationspace without sacrificing thefunctionality of program spaces.

• Create an inviting interior area forcasual gathering, which makes the main building entrance a focal point.

Athletic Facilities• Enhance and strengthen the athletic

facilities with the proposed creation of two new playing fields.

• Install a watering system andscoreboards to enhance the existingplaying fields.

• Provide increased program resources to more actively support coaches andstudents in the athletic program.

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“We have much more to do. The demands of a 21st century learning environment are complex,and we want to ensure that our physical spacesmirror the quality of teaching and learning that’staking place on both campuses.”


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The RCS Board of Trustees voted tobegin the process of implementing thenext steps of the Strategic Plan’s keycomponents in the areas of facilityimprovements, as well as increasingendowment and current use resources to support professional growth anddevelopment opportunities for faculty,continued improvements to technology,and an ongoing commitment to need-based financial aid for qualified anddeserving students who could nototherwise afford an RCS education.

Over the course of the months ahead, theBoard will begin to lay the foundation for a capital campaign to support theseinitiatives, likely to launch publicly at theend of 2013. Watch for more informationon these pages as the plans unfold!

Campus Improvements2008-2011

! Renovated the Lower Campuslibrary

! Renovated eight classrooms onthe Upper Campus

! Purchased a three-acre propertylocated at 20 Clinton Road toexpand our athletic opportunities

! Integrated 26 SmartBoards acrossthe two campuses

! Strengthened school-wide sustainability initiatives

! Installed solar panels on Lower Campus

! Introduced the Rocket®Composter

! Broke ground on the ParentAssociation RCS Garden

! Implemented water conservationinitiatives

! Installed new gym lighting toconserve electricity


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Technology RollsAlong at RCSThis fall, students and faculty on both campuseswill have even greater access to technology as aresult of carefully targeted efforts to incorporatetechnology with learners across grade levels.

Thanks to the extraordinary generosity of families at theMariposa Auction in the spring, mobile learning labs requestedby faculty on both campuses have become a reality this fall.Lower Campus faculty have access to a mobile lab cartfeaturing twenty new iPads, which will allow teachers to puttechnology directly into the hands of students. Upper Campusfaculty and students have a mobile lab cart that features twentyMacBook Air computers, which will allow for more flexibleopportunities to enhance learning through the integration of the broad menu of options that the portable MacBooks will offer.

Other technology upgrades over the summer include:

• Installation of an Eno Board (an interactive whiteboard) in the Spanish classroom on the Lower Campus

• Installation of projectors in JPK classrooms• Upgrades of the Lower Campus computer lab with twenty

of the most current iMacs, which will run the Lion operation system.

• Installation of a professional grade sound system in theSkyRoom to enhance student presentations and performances.

• Upgrades of forty Upper Campus computers with the mostcurrent iMacs, which will run the Lion operation system.

• Installation of SmartBoards in both computer labs and in three foreign language classrooms.

• Many behind the scenes changes that provide a more robustnetwork with greater stability, larger storage capacity, and solid backup scheme.

For true learning to take place, students need to be engaged,and through the effective integration of technology, opportunities for RCS teachers to engage students in ways thatpreviously hadn’t been possible have increased significantly over the last few years. 2012-2013 promises to be yet anotheryear of exciting growth!


CelebratingRichie Meyers

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Saturday, June 9th, was anextraordinary event in honor ofCoach Richie Meyers’ 45 yeartenure with RCS. Despite thegray skies and the drizzling rain,the Upper Campus courtyardtent was packed with over 200parents of alums and alumni, aswell as current parents, faculty,and staff, to honor Coach Meyers and his achievementsover the years.

The event began with a performance froman alumni jazz band who set a wonderfultone for the event making a range ofstandards truly sparkle. The bandincluded Erik Perry ’08, Ben Perry ’05,Scott Collins ’09, Cam Krane ’09, PeterQuinn ’05, and J.J. Clarke ’92. Alsoplaying in the band were current studentJackson Corrigan ’14, parent of alum BillNelson (Charlie Nelson ’10 and HenryNelson ’08), and Upper Campus musicteacher Bill Fornara (also father of JonnyFornara ’17 and Tommy Fornara ’15). Bill Nelson doubled up by opening theconvocation with a bagpipe overture.

Speakers included Head of School,Matthew Nespole, former Heads ofSchool Dick Wade and Eileen Lambert,Alums Alex Soros ’01, RCSAA chairChristopher Wirth ’94, and Richie’slongtime friends Robert Tanenbaum and

Members of the RCS Alumni Band: Erik Perry ’08, Ben Perry ’05, and Parent of Alum Bill Nelson P’08, ’10


Denny Barrett. Each of the speakersreflected upon Coach Meyers as a masterteacher, a singular character, and aphilosopher. Bill Barrett, Head of theUpper Campus and also Coach Meyers’nephew, read a quote from the novelPrince of Tides – “I am a teacher, a coach,and a well loved man – and it’s more thanenough!” This sentiment seemed to sumup much of Richie’s life as one who gaveall his passion and skill to his professionand the kids he was mentoring. “When Iplayed, I played with a passion; when Icoached, I coached with a passion; but Iam most touched now, by the passion,love, and attention you are all giving metoday,” said Coach Meyers when he tookthe stage at the conclusion of the event.

Coach Meyers’ childhood friend andteammate, Robert Tanenbaum, traveled3,000 miles to join the celebration. Mr.Tanenbaum, a New York Times bestsellingauthor, first played sports with Richie as atwelve year old boy and the two haveremained friends ever since. As a teammember, Mr. Tanenbaum remembers Richieas a selfless player, with a competitive andcourageous spirit, but one who would winnot because he was the fastest or the mostskilled, but because of his character andvalues. “Personal responsibility” and “selfreliance” were the mantras guiding Richie’sapproach to sports and life. Mr. Tanenbaumrecited a line from Shakespeare’s Henry V“…if it be a crime to covet honor, then Iam the most offending soul alive,” andRichie Meyers is also an offender, one whoalways coveted honor and that is whythose who know him not only love him,but also deeply respect him.

Legendary high school football coach andlongtime friend, Denny Barrett, spoke ofRich as a family member and friend,emphasizing his deeply caring and loyalcharacter. Richie was a well-loved manwho had the support and strength of hisfamily and friends to carry him throughdifficulties and tragic moments in his life.As a result, Richie became increasinglystronger and wiser, passing on his valuesand understanding of life to all thosearound him, particularly his students.

Former Head of School Dick Wadebrought the assembled crowd back to anearlier time in Coach Meyers’ career atRippowam. Mr. Wade recognized thesparkle and the magic in Coach’scharacter and strongly encouraged thegrowth of Richie’s career during histenure at RCS. Mr. Wade particularlyenjoyed Richie’s storytelling skills, humor,and charm, which he said “enriched lifeon campus.” Alum Christopher Lawrence’86 reminded all in his note for Richie’stribute book: “He was a wonderful spiritaround the little Rippowam town--alwaysupbeat and always ready for a laugh withstudents. I think he made everybody feela little bit lighter on their feet everysingle day.”

Former Head of School Eileen Lambert,who worked with Rich Meyers for

nineteen years, spoke of her admirationfor the impact he had on the RippowamCisqua community. As Head of School,Eileen deeply valued Richie’s dedicationto every child’s dignity. “Each child isunique, strong, and talented if you take the time to help them discoverthemselves,” noted Eileen, “and Richiedid that beautifully!”

Alex Soros ’01 spoke about Richie Meyersthe philosopher, a man whose wisdomabout right and wrong have helped shapeboth Alex and his brother Greg, as well ascountless friends and classmates. Richie’slife lessons, taught through coaching,have helped RCS students become bettermen and women, have impacted theirunderstanding of what matters in life, andhelped them find inner strength inwinning their battles. “He always told meto play taller than I was, smarter than I

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“When I played, I played with a passion, when Icoached, I coached with a passion, but I am mosttouched now, by the passion, love, and attentionyou are all giving me today.”

Former Heads of School Eileen Lambertand Dick Wade


am, and lead better than I think possible,”wrote Andrew Kurian ’84 in his notesubmitted to RCS about Coach Meyers.

Near the end of the ceremony,Christopher Wirth ’94, chairman of theAlumni Association spoke about Richiebeing not just a coach, but a source ofstrength for his students and a goodfriend. Many alumni continue to describeCoach Meyers as one of the bettercoaches they have met as they moved on to playing sports in high school andcolleges. On behalf of the AlumniAssociation, Chris presented CoachMeyers with the Alumni AssociationFaculty Award, an award given by theAlumni Association for over 20 years ofservice to the RCS community. Richiewas also presented with a special gift – a book of quotes, stories, and reflectionsfrom Richie’s current and former students,Rippowam Cisqua families, faculty, andstaff about Coach and his influence intheir lives.

A closing highlight of the ceremony, anda very emotional moment for all, wasMatthew Nespole’s announcement of the naming of the Ripp playing fields as "Meyers Fields" in Rich’s honor. Inclosing, with his daughter Julie, and hisgrandson William at his side, CoachMeyers extended a heartfelt thank you tohis family, the School community, and allthe guests and friends for celebrating andhonoring him. He offered a special thankyou to his own coaches, noting that theywere the ones who “saw the good in meand shaped my life early on.”

With regard to his career at RippowamCisqua, Richie concluded by saying“During all these years of coaching, I havebeen the lucky one – can you imaginegoing to work every day, knowing thatyou might make an impression onsomeone’s life?" As Richie stepped off thestage the resounding applause andstanding ovation reminded that he haddone just that.

24 Alumni Profiles continued…

Joe McMenemon ’01, Teddy Kunhardt ’01, Alex Soros ’01, Alex Boies ’01, Marc Ayala ’01

Matthew Nespole announcing the naming of the “Meyers Fields” on stage with Richie Meyers withhis daughter Julie and grandson William

Kate Levy ’96, Jermaine Moure ’96 Richie Meyers, Karen Koeppl


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Dick Wade, Richie Meyers, and teacher Dan Viglione

Teacher Paul Ragonesi with Christopher Wirth ’94 Peter Scala ’98, Gus Levy ’98, Richie Meyers

Louisa Polos ’01 and Richie Meyers

Teacher Chris Perry, Richie Meyers, teacher Kathy Perry, Ben Perry ’05, and Eric Perry ’08

Former Heads of School Dick Wade and Eileen Lambert, Upper Campus Director ofAdmissions Ashley Harrington, former teacher Ann Thacher and former teacher John Ham


the music room) and a walk through thebeautiful garden, right across from the oldkindergarten classroom.

“I remember lots of play and teachers whotook an interest in the whole child. Iwent on to many great schools but I hadmy best learning and best teachers here at RCS!” said Sally Adams as the groupreminisced about their days at RCS.Stories about Mrs. Paddock’s Englishlessons, the 7th grade geography project,and various gym and theater performancesreminded the former classmates of manyof the attributes that defined their yearsat the School: critical thinking, projectbased lessons, and the pure joy oflearning—all of which continue to definean RCS education today.

The boys from the class of 1961and the girls from the class of 1962returned to Bedford for a 50threunion weekend on May 18–20.

Congratulations to Alex Sanger ’61, Susie Branch ’62, Anita de BragancaStockbridge ’62 and Jane Bishop Putnam’62 for organizing a wonderful 50threunion for their class. Getting back intouch with everyone was no easy task, butthe reunion committee was determined,and they worked hard to locate almost all of their class members. As a result,thirteen alums and their spouses returnedto Bedford for a remarkable weekend ofremembering and reconnecting. Theactivities included a gathering on Friday

night followed by a visit to RCS onSaturday morning and a luncheon at theSchool. On Saturday evening, Anitahosted a dinner at her home for herclassmates and other local RCS alums.

The visit on campus began with breakfastin the library. Everyone enjoyed a cup ofcoffee together while looking at the awardplaques hanging outside of the librarywhere the Red-Blue captains and thenames of other award winners are listed.Bob Whelan, Associate Head of School,and Edlira Curis, Alumni RelationsManager, joined the group for a tour of theold hallways and classrooms, including avisit to the playhouse (formerly the gymand the theater), a visit to one of therenovated sixth grade classrooms (formerly

Class of 1961-6250th Reunion

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Front Row, (left to right): Alex Sanger, Margherita (Margie) Bailey Baldwin, Anita de BregancaStockbridge, Deborah Choate, Sallie Adams Hoffman, Jane Bishop Putnam, Daphne TrentHolzman, Anita Pagliaro, John Renwick; Back Row (left to right): Jamie Robertson, Ben Smith,Sandy Putnam, Susie Branch


An amazing moment for all to treasure came when JaneBishop Putnam and SandyPutnam stood in front of theirformer kindergarten classroomwhere they first crossed pathsover fifty years ago.

“Do you remember when we met…”was the song that came to everyone’smind, and they recounted the story ofhow and when their relationship started.Here is that story in Jane’s words:

You mentioned that youand Sandy were kindergartenfriends – can you tell us whatyou best remember from thatyear? Are there any specialmemories of your Rippowamkindergarten teacher?

Sandy and I talk so much aboutRipp and our childhood, which wastotally centered around the School.We not only started together in kinder-garten, but the two of us repeated itbecause of our age. We were only fourwhen we first entered the School, butwe spent two years getting throughit! Sandy’s mother, who is still alive,always said it was because his finemotor muscles weren’t developedenough, and because I have fouryounger siblings, so my mother needed me out of the house!

Anyway, what we remember mostabout kindergarten is our teacher, Mrs. Coryell, whom we adored. Weremember circle talks, we rememberthe sand box and the jungle gym, Iremember the boys forming posses tochase after the girls (Sandy being oneof the leaders) as we would bringrhinestones or something consideredprecious at the time to use as lures.

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Naptime on woolen plaid blanketswith tassels, and lots of musical chairsalso come to mind. Sandy remembersmy buck-teeth and I remember hisNordic sweater. We always were friends.

Did you follow separatepaths upon graduating fromRCS? When did you run intoeach other again?

We had an eighth graderomance which set up a lifetime ofkeeping an eye on each other. Sandywent off to St. Mark’s School, I wentto Miss Porter’s, and we made sure weran into each other a lot. We hadmany friends in common and kept up a vague correspondence. I think wealways knew what the other was doing.Sandy went on to Harvard and I wentto Italy for art school, then KatharineGibbs in Boston when he was inCambridge. Several in and out yearsfollowed and we finally married in 1975.

When you both think of RCS, what comes to mindinstantly, apart from each other?

When we think of Rippowamwe think of our fabulous class. We madelifelong friends who, to this day, wecount on as best friends. We had some

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truly excellent teachers, and some whowere quite controversial. We think ofBonnie and Sylvester, the king andqueen of the lunchroom, who cooked up the best fried chicken and spareribswe’ve ever had to this day. Sandy alsoloved the canned ravioli.

What was it like comingback to RCS for your 50threunion?

Coming back to our 50threinforced our memories of a greatchildhood and an education that weboth appreciated and count as the most important building block of ouracademic lives. It was so wonderful tosee friends we hadn’t seen in fifty yearsand those that we see often. Ourcommittee, headed by Alex Sanger ’61,had so much fun planning it. I hope we can continue to stay connected.We were so impressed by the new RCSand only wish we could start again (notreally...), but what a great show theSchool put on for us and we reallyappreciated it. Thank you and theAdvancement team for all you did forus—it was fantastic.

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Then and Now: Jane and Sandy in front of the RCS Kindergarten classroom.

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“Do you remember when we met…”


While fashion trends maycome and go (see the photosfrom 1970 and 1971 on thenext page), science at RCSremains as strong today as itwas more than 40 years ago...

Sammi Cannold ’09 was recently named an Intel Science Talent Search semi-finalist for her three-yearcomparative study on the FinnishEducational System. Her work wascompleted under the auspices of ByramHills High School’s Authentic ScienceResearch Program, where she received theExcellence In Science Research Award.Sammi has also received recognition forher accomplishments on the nationaldebate circuit as the top Lincoln-DouglasDebater in New York State and the fifthhighest ranking for a female debater inthe country. Sammi will be attendingStanford University in the fall. We caughtup with Sammi in August.

Where are you headed in thefall and what shaped your choice?

In a few weeks, I’ll be headed offto Stanford University in Palo Alto,California. The way I see it, I didn’t reallychoose Stanford—it chose me. I dove inand realized that Stanford had everythingI was looking for in a school—a stellareducation policy program, an incredibly

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active and dynamic student body, a general philosophy focused on innovationand advancement, etc. I couldn’t be more excited!

Any thoughts about what youmight want to study at Stanford?

I’m pretty set on studying education policy—my study reallycemented a love of, and passion for, thatrealm. Stanford allows its undergrads totake courses at the Education GraduateSchool, so I’m really looking forward to exploring the field further and to hopefully conducting more in depthresearch during my four years.

I also plan to study theater—more specifically, theatrical direction sinceI love the way drama works and have been interested in it for many years. Of course, countless RCS theatricalproductions were instrumental indeveloping that passion!

How did your years atRippowam Cisqua cultivate yourinterest in research? Did RippowamCisqua prepare you well for yourscience courses in high school?

RCS does an impeccable job of teaching students not just how to learn and discover, but also how to lovelearning and discovery.

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Beyond the Rippowam CisquaClassroom

Sammi Cannold ’09

Our balloon project in Mr. Duveen’s 8thGrade Physics class really opened my eyesto the beauty of hands-on research. Afterweeks of calculations, finally seeing ourhuge aerial contraption soar made merealize how hard work, dedication, andcommitment to exploring a hypothesiscan really lead to something incredible;and what was best about it was that Mr.Duveen didn’t tell us what to do. Instead,he let us test ideas on our own, watchedus fail, helped us back onto our feet, andlet us test out our new and improved ideasagain and again. I’m incredibly grateful


for that exploratory experience.Countless other RCS teachers offeredsimilar extraordinarily empowering andinspiring learning experiences; fromexploring ourselves through Mrs.Doniger’s 4th grade “About Me” books to exploring the world around us throughMrs. Greenwood’s 7th and 8th gradepoetry units, Rippowam Cisqua reallytaught me and my classmates the value of discovery.

RCS could not have prepared me betterfor high school; the Lower Campus gaveme an invaluable foundation and deepappreciation for discovery. The UpperCampus encouraged an inquisitivemindset and the idea that there is noright answer. Since high school is sofocused on point of view and self-directed learning, Rippowam Cisquagave me the perfect tools to succeed.I’m sure I will find the same to be trueat Stanford in the years to come!

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Who’s Who? We need your help! If you can identify any of these young scientists from the 1970s, please let us know. You can send anemail with any background, anecdotes, subsequent successfulexperiments in science (or fashion) to the Alumni Office ([email protected]).

Lower Campus – Mrs. Fitzgerald’s Science class, 1971

Upper Campus Science lab, 1970

“RCS does an

impeccable job of

teaching students not

just how to learn and

discover, but also

how to love learning

and discovery.”


In October of 1998, AndersCrofoot ’76 and Emily WoodCrofoot ’70 moved with their children, David (aged 10) andSarah (aged 8), to New Zealandwhere they bought a 7,000-acrefarm on the North Island. Theyhave since built a very happy andsuccessful life on the iconic farming station at Castlepoint, NewZealand and are indeed an exampleof the “Dare to be True” spirit ofRippowam Cisqua. Despite the distance, Emily and Anders haveremained connected to Bedford and Rippowam Cisqua School.They enjoy receiving news fromRCS and have maintained close ties with fellow alums and friends.

Emily and Anders – you areboth today Rippowam CisquaSchool alums, but you attended separate schools? How did youmeet?

I attended the much smallerCisqua School and I graduated before themerger of the two schools. Anders, however, started attending Rippowam,but subsequently graduated fromRippowam Cisqua School in 1976. Weactually first met while Anders was stillan RCS student. I am six years older and I often used to babysit for his younger siblings. For many years to come we werejust acquaintances and our relationshipdid not begin until we had both finishedour studies and had started working. Aftergraduating from RCS, Anders went toboarding school (Phillips Academy inAndover, MA) and then to DartmouthCollege. When Anders returned toBedford in 1985 we reconnected again.We met often and Anders would frequently help out at the Braewold farm.It all happened quickly and two yearslater we were married.

What inspired you to move to New Zealand and build yourfarm there?

One could say Anders and I beganour life journey together in New Zealand.After we got married we went to New

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Zealand for our honeymoon at whichtime I confessed to Anders: “I have adream to farm one day in New Zealand.” I have always had a strong connectionwith the land coming from a family witha seven-generation history of farming inthe United States. I grew up at Braewold,a 300-acre farm in Mount Kisco. As ayoung girl, I also grew very attached toNew Zealand and their way of farmingthrough family connections. We hadmany relatives visit us frequently fromNew Zealand and I traveled there severaltimes and spent months working onfarms. New Zealand has always been onthe cutting edge of agriculture and thatalways fascinated me. The temperate climate of New Zealand is also an important factor we considered as itallows us to grow livestock locally andnaturally, which was no longer possible inNew York. The timing of our move wasalso determined by the sale of our farm inNew York, as the town of Mt. Kisco andthe surrounding areas were increasinglybecoming more urbanized, making it very difficult to continue farming there. Last, but not least, another factor that motivated us to make some quick decisions was the young age of our children – I knew I wanted to farm inNew Zealand one day, and I also knewthat we had to move while our childrenwere young enough to adapt easily to anew place and life.

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Alumni ProfilesRCS Around the GlobeAnders Crofoot ’76 and Emily Wood Crofoot ’70 in New Zealand

Anders and Emily Crofoot


What can you share with usabout your transition to your newfarm, life in New Zealand and, mostimportantly, do you have a kiwiaccent by now?

Castlepoint is located on the EastCoast of New Zealand, and has been runas a big farm since the mid 1800s and itcarries important historical and culturalvalue, along with marvelous natural beauty and a spectacular coastline.Therefore, although we moved toCastlepoint with significant knowledgeon farming and land, there was still a lotto learn and understand about the historyof the place, as well as the particular soil,terrain, wind, and weather patterns wewere working with which affect everylevel of decision making. In fact, the windis so powerful and can be so unpredictableat Castlepoint, that everyone has a fascinating wind story.

Castlepoint is also a much more isolatedarea than the urbanized Mt. Kisco. Atfirst, the change was dramatic for Sarahand David as they were transferred fromthe large Bedford Hills elementary school,to a school with very few children; butthey have completely enjoyed theexquisite natural beauty of Castlepointand life on the farm. They have bothdeveloped passions for the local favoriteactivities. As a place with high winds,surfing is definitely one of the attractionsthat brings people to Castlepoint andDavid is a passionate surfer and is agraduate of the Raglan surfing school.Sarah is now a regional hockey rep,having played for Wararapa and CentralDistricts, right up to National HockeyLeague level. She is currently attendingMassey University studying agribusinessand is very fond of farming as well.

By now, though, we have all become NewZealand citizens and are fully integratedinto the local life and culture. We arevery involved with local churches,schools, other farms and organizations,even the local government assisting withvarious regulations and legislations. BothAnders and I believe strongly in

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contributing to the community we live in, just as our families back home havealways done. Anders, for example, is also the local fire chief and I assist with various fundraising efforts for thevolunteer fire brigade and other causes.

With regard to our Kiwi accent, Sarahand David have most definitely acquiredtheir Kiwi accent (unlike Anders and me)and they would proudly say that theyhave completely gone native!

Can you describe your workat Castlepoint farm?

We manage a farm with twentythousand sheep and one thousand head of cattle. Sheep are for dual purpose – carpet wool and meat. Cattle is for beefproduction. The climate is not right fordairy production. Anders has an undergraduate degree in both computerscience and psychology so the generalconsensus seems to be that Anders brings20th century skills to the management ofthe farm, and I have mastered the 19thcentury skills in terms of hard work, connection to the land, and understandingof crops and livestock. So, with regard today-to-day operations, I am responsible forhuman resources and livestock and Andershas taken over technology, development,

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and finance. At Castlepoint there is astrong commitment to technology andour sophisticated set up makes it a veryattractive place to work, which hashelped us recruit and retain highly qualified staff. The iPhone has become avery useful device in farming as well and we make good use of it to facilitatecommunication and transfer data! Weboth find working in New Zealandextremely exciting and rewarding as New Zealand remains on the cutting edgeof the agriculture business.

How many RCS alums have visited you and your farm in New Zealand?

Family and friends visit us frequently from back home. My parents(James and Twink Wood) visit us everyyear and spend a few months with us,which is wonderful. Roger Vincent ’59and his wife visited us recently as well. Itis always fun when people come and visitand we encourage that as we continue tomaintain close ties with home and RCS. I enjoy receiving and reading the Alumnibulletins. While back home, at the time when RCS celebrated its 75thanniversary, I was very involved with theAlumni Board and the publishing of theDare To Be True book.

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Castlepoint StationModern-day Castlepoint Station, first settled in 1847 as one of New Zealand’sfirst sheep runs. The station now stretches along 12 kilometers of the Wariapa’scoastline (North Island) covering an overall area of 2952 hectares, made up offlat ocean terraces and imposing hill country. (Castlepoint: The Story of Life on anIconic New Zealand Sheep and Cattle Station by Lorain Day)


The best surprise was when myclassmate, Blair Nichols, stopped by tovisit us. While travelling in New Zealand she had heard that there was anAmerican farming at Castlepoint by thename of Anders Crofoot. Convinced thatthere could not be too many AndersCrofoots in the world, she decided to stop by and confirm that I was her fellowRCS classmate.

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What about your siblings?Any other farmers in the family?

When my family sold the farm inMt. Kisco, both my brother and I boughtour own farms. My brother Steve, a Cisquaalum, is now living in Montana on a cattleranch with his wife and four children.

The Crofoots were farming two or three generations ago, but there’s no other recent history of farming. I wasintroduced to farming through Emily andher family. My sister, Krista ’81, who wentto RCS for a few years, is married andlives in New York City. She danced withthe New York City ballet for some time,then worked in modeling in New York,and eventually became an interior designer. My younger sister, Tjasa ’86, iscurrently living in Pennyslvania with herhusband and her three children. After myfather passed away, my mother (PepperCrofoot), who taught at RippowamCisqua for over 25 years, also moved toPennsylvania to live with her.

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Is there anything in particular from your RCS education that you carry with you?

Thinking about grammar, I oftenthink of my Cisqua teachers telling meabout sentence diagrams. I am thankful formy Cisqua teachers sitting on my shoulderstoday providing me with that grounding.In particular, I remember Eleanor Fening,my science teacher, Audrey Fischer whotaught art and geography, Jane Burditt who taught English, and Betsy Stout whotaught history.

Alan Adriance and his class stuckwith me very specifically. John Odden,who introduced lacrosse to RippowamCisqua, was also one of my favorites.

Your life has been inspirational – any special messageyou’d like to share with our youngalums? Do you have any advice for our current Ripp students?

I am a firm believer that strongroots are important in order to stretchout. Although the decision to relocate toNew Zealand felt spontaneous at thetime, it was, in fact, a lifetime in the making for me, because of who I was and where I came from.

Family is a key element of thisfoundation we receive early in life, but agood teacher is also critical in shapingwho we are today. At the end of my freshman year at Dartmouth, I decided totake an introductory course in computersand it is simply because I had a wonderful teacher that my first course in information technology turned into alifelong passion for me.

It is not surprising then that innovativetechnology is one of the factorscontributing to the successful farming atCastlepoint. “Emily and Anders are so setup to date with technology and reallypushing the boundaries in that respectthat I’ve got everything possible availableto me as a manager” says Stu Neal, thefarm manager in a quote from Castlepoint,

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a book written recently by Lorraine Dayabout this enchanting farming station, itshistory, and the success story of Emily andAnders Crofoot. Strong will, hard work,and a genuine desire to feel connected tothe land and its natural rhythms and cycleshave also been critical to the life story ofthe Crofoots. Despite being diagnosed withmultiple sclerosis in 2002, Emily Crofootcontinues to work hard on her farm. Theonly few limitations as a result of herdiagnosis are not being able to continue to pursue some of her passions such asgardening and textile art. Thirteen yearsafter the Anders moved to CastlepointStation, their farm won the 2012 WairarapaSheep and Beef Business of the year award,being described by the judges as “a shiningexample of industry’s best practice.”

In closing, the imagery from Lorain Day’sbook transports us to Castlepoint as theday draws to an end and we get a glimpseof the beauty and peacefulness thatsurround their farm:

“The Hills are quiet now; the wind, theever-present wind, has dropped a little andthe fronds of the date palms in thedriveway are murmuring gently. Thepaddocks are stocked with fat sheep andsleek, shiny cattle, behind fences and gatesthat lock together in every combinationknown to man – and then some. Emily’sdust-covered Rhino is parked beside thegarage, and Anders wants to see what theweather forecast is for tomorrow…Thewind is blowing across the hills and thelaneway’s catching the last of the sun alongthe cliff tops, while down below surf ispounding through the gap, and the lightsare coming on at the homestead.”

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Emily, Anders, and Blair Nichols

The Crofoot Family


“The Ivy League announced theAll-Ivy teams for men’s squashon Friday and Dartmouth’s ChrisHanson (Greenwich, Conn.) andNick Sisodia (Chicago, Ill.) eachmade the first team.�Hanson wasa unanimous selection to the firstteam after competing the entireseason at No. 1 singles for theBig Green. In 18 matches at firstsingles, Hanson went 14-4,including 5-2 in conferencematches. He had a six-matchwinning streak in the heart ofthe Dartmouth season, whichhelped the Big Green finish seventh at the Potter Cup. It isthe third straight year the juniorhas made First Team All-Ivy.”(www.dartmouthsports.com)

Chris Hanson ’06 is now a senior atDartmouth College, where his academicand athletic achievements have beenexceptional. Chris graduated fromRippowam Cisqua in 2006 with a strongwork ethic and deep love for learning andsports. Head of Upper Campus Bill

Barrett was not surprised to learn ofChris’s successes in college and sports, andhe reflected fondly on Chris’s competitivespirit and his extremely kind andoutstanding character. “He was anexcellent student who led by example,”said Bill. We were able to connect withChris over the summer and ask him a fewquestions about his successes thus far andhis hopes for the future.

Chris, what can you tell usabout your time as an athlete atRCS? How many sports did youplay? Any particular impressionsabout your coaches?

During my time at RCS I playedsoccer and lacrosse. In 9th grade, I was co-captain of the lacrosse team. My athletic experience at RCS wasincredible, with special thanks to mycoaches Mike Topchik and Bill Barrett formaking it such a memorable experience.The highlight of my sports career at Rippwas being down 2 goals in lacrosse toBrunswick and coming back to win by 1 in the last minute of play.

Where did you go after RCSand how prepared did you feel forboth high school and college afterhaving attended RCS?

I went to St. Luke’s School in New Canaan, CT after graduating fromRCS in 9th grade. I excelled at St. Luke’simmediately, thanks to my schooling atRCS, which eventually led to my acceptance to Dartmouth College. Overmy six years at RCS, my teachers andcoaches instilled a great work ethic in me, in both academics and athletics.

You excel at both athleticsand academics – what do you thinkmakes you successful at both?

I have come to realize the importance of having a great work ethic.Nothing I have accomplished, in bothacademics and athletics, came easily;

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everything took weeks and months ofhard work and preparation. Having theability to “see” the future payoff of thework that I put in every day has been thekey to my success.

When you think about RCS,what comes to mind?

The first thing that comes to mindis Red team vs. Blue team. I rememberloving everything about that competition,specifically that one of my best friendswas on Blue and I was on Red. We competed against each other all the timeand yet still remain friends today.

What are you most proud ofthat you’ve accomplished so far?

I am most proud of my academicand athletic success at Dartmouth Collegethus far. It is great to be able to thinkback on all of the days, weeks, months,even years of preparation that I did andhow it has all brought me to where I amtoday. Specifically, I am most proud ofearning 1st Team All-American threeyears in a row and Academic All-American this past season.

Where do you see yourself inten years?

In ten years I hope to be stillinvolved in U.S./Dartmouth squash. I amgoing to go on the professional squashtour when I am done with college, thenhopefully go on to attend graduate school.With that in mind, ten years from now I would like to hopefully be putting mygraduate degree/professional squash experience to good use in cultivatingyoung American squash players. Squash is a small sport, but a growing one, and Ihope to play a pivotal role in its futuredevelopment in America.

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Chris Hanson ’06: All-American


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Grosjean Tilt and her husband Roddy met my husband and me at the BarnesMuseum in Philadelphia. Besides aconsiderable amount of travel, we arebusy with family, golf, eternal homerepairs, the Teaching Company tapes, andan assortment of hobbies. Retirement isvery time consuming!

1965Jean Robertson, a Professor of ArtHistory at Herron School of Art andDesign, was named a 2012 Chancellor’sProfessor at Indiana University-PurdueUniversity Indianapolis. This is the mostdistinguished appointment an individualfaculty member can attain at IUPUI.Robertson was publicly recognized for her achievement at the Chancellor’sAcademic Honors Convocation on April 19.

Recently, Oxford University Press also published the third edition of her co-authored book, “Themes ofContemporary Art: Visual Art after1980.” The second edition of the bookhas been published in three languages:English, Korean, and Chinese. You mayview the book at the following link: http://www.oup.com/us/catalog/general/subject/ArtArchitecture/History/ModernContemporary/?view=usa&ci=9780199797073

Pub and Restaurant, the beautiful 18 holeMontague Golf course and the 1300historic Green Mountain Stock Farm,now a ten acre minimum real estatedevelopment, incorporating the Inn aswell as having about fifteen miles of greattrails for hiking, biking, x-c skiing,snowshoeing, and riding. Obviously as weget a bit older, we are not slowing down!Since music is important to both Sam andme, it is wonderful to have the ChandlerMusic Hall (a mini Carnegie Hall) rightin Randolph. We also host musical eventsat our Inn, as well as weddings, reunions,bike and canoe groups, and small businessfunctions. Alums who love VT, shouldlook up the Inn on the web and enjoy.Better yet, come and visit. We are locatedbetween Woodstock and Montpelier. Easyto reach. Look forward to seeing you. Ihear good things about “Ripp” throughRoddy and Marilen Tilt.

1957Emmy Hall Ehrlich writes: Attached is apicture of my 9 year old granddaughter,Maddie Howson, in front of Rippowam,where she played in a lacrossetournament. She lives in Rye with herparents, two brothers, and a sister. My five other grandchildren are close tous in San Francisco – two in the city andthree in Menlo Park. I see classmateCynthia Brown Lloyd occasionally; shehas moved from the East Coast toBerkeley. Recently classmate Marilen

1952Tom Trumpy is still living in Brussels,Belgium, and was sorry to miss his sixtiethreunion. He is planning vacations toexotic places such as Egypt, Syria, Jordan,and Tunisia. He is closing up his lawpractice and helping his wife plan to retiresoon. Tom writes: “After a ten yearabsence I was in the U.S. on September 10 and May 11th (St. Paul’s 55th reunion)and revisited Bedford, St. Matthew’s(where my parents are buried), Rippowam,and the Historical Society (my father’santique shop which he sold to them).Those willing to risk an impromptuTrumpy visit are reciprocally welcome!Looking forward to hearing news about the reunion and how everyone is doing.”

1954Jean (Jinny) Tilt Sammis is married toJesse (Sam) F. Sammis III. They have adaughter, Suzanne, who is married to JimCabot and they have two children, Jimmyand Lila. Jean and Jesse also have a son,Jesse, who is married to Paige and theyhave four children, Eliza, Eleanor, LeeLee,and Mason. Jinny says that they all live inGreenwich, CT. She also writes: “Sam’sreal estate business is in Greenwich –New England Land Co., Ltd – and wehave extensive interests in Randolph, VT, which also includes a home.

In VT we own the lovely Victorian“Three Stallion Inn” with its Morgan’s

AlumniClass Notes

Emmy’s granddaughter, Maddie Howson


1966Charlie Branch married Christine Lehnerthis past June in Hasting-On-Hudson NY. All Branch siblings attended the wedding.

Cynthia Branch Mas ’71, Charlie Branch ’66,Susie Branch ’62, Ben Branch ’63

1977Anne deLain W. Clark writes: “I turned51 this year at the end of May, and it feelsgood to have over half a century of lifeexperience. This is already looking to be a very eventful year. I will be retiring from New Mexico state government inNovember and, after a couple of monthsto myself, will be starting my ownbusiness as a mediator/facilitator/organizational culture consultant. Thenin February, my youngest, Sawyer, will be18. In March, my grandfather is due tocelebrate his 100th birthday. In mid-Maymy eldest, Grace, will graduate from theUniversity of New Mexico with abachelors in nutrition, and, just before my 52nd birthday, Sawyer will graduatehigh school. A year of significantmilestones and changes.

In June, Blair and I celebrated our 26thwedding anniversary and 33 yearstogether as a couple. This month marksour 31st anniversary of moving togetherto New Mexico. There are so manymilestones we go through in rapidsuccession in our late teens and earlytwenties: starting high school, reachingthe age of majority, graduating highschool, starting college, casting our firstvote, reaching the legal drinking age,

graduating college; then maybe we go onto graduate school, start a career, find alife partner, have children, in noparticular order. My husband and I found each other before I even graduatedhigh school.

It feels like I passed all those milestonesjust a few years back and now, not onlyam I about to retire from my first career,but I’ve also been part of my daughter’spassing the first six with the seventh onthe close horizon and my son’s passing thefirst and being on the cusp of passing thenext two. I still like to say that I haven’tfigured out what I want to be when I growup, but I’m not sure that is true anymore.I see my retirement from state governmentas another graduation and, in this nextphase, I have a small luxury in no longerneeding to earn a living. My pension fromthe State of New Mexico has already beenearned and (being in excellent health,with a grandfather of 99 and grandmotherof 95), I expect that pension to pay out at least twice as long as I paid into it.

Now I am at a crossroads with opportunities rising all around during atime when opportunity feels scarce formany. In November 2011, I saw CharlieRose interview Dov Seidman, author of“HOW: Why How We Do AnythingMeans Everything” and CEO of LRN. Iwas so impressed with what I heard, I setmy sights on meeting this man who hadcrafted a business philosophy completelyin line with my own. In May 2012, I metDov in the Manhattan office of LRN. Itwas just before he was leaving for Israel totalk about the newly released Hebrewtranslation of his book. Dov travels allover the world speaking about the HOWphilosophy to political and businessleaders, with five to seven appointmentsand speaking engagements per day. Not only does he waive all speaker’s fees, he gives away copies of his book towhomever is interested. To connect withthis revolutionary business visionary is atrue gift. Because of this connection, myswan song from my tenure as a publicservant to New Mexico will be to exposemy department of over 500 employees tothe philosophy of HOW through trainingand copies of Dov’s book.”

1980Daryl Bright Rosenbaum writes: “Sohappy to be in a wonderful marriage.We’ve been blessed with a beautiful girl,Lily, now six, so, yes, I’m 46 with a 6 yearold, but there are a lot of us in the sameboat! We live in the coastal Carolinas,with our boat docked right across fromMasonboro Island, an eight-mile longbarrier island, which is a dedicated birdsanctuary. We moved here from Boulder,Colorado and it’s hard to say which is morebeautiful – the ocean or the mountains.

From Rippowam Cisqua, I went on toMiss Porter’s, then to Johns Hopkins,transferred and graduated from ColumbiaUniversity. I own three businesses, firstand foremost a design company, DESIGNRESULTS (www.design-results.com);HomesbyOwner.com/Wilmington and alittle art school, The Bright Art School.My husband is an awesome realtor, whoalso works from home, so we get to spenda lot of time with our daughter. Our tenthanniversary is coming up in September.I’d love to hear from anyone young or old.I still smile to think I was the first girl tobe president of the SAB (is it still theStudent Activity Board?) and to win theRippowam Cisqua Prize. I do remember,the book I received when awarded theRippowam Cisqua Prize was Bartlett’sFamiliar Quotations and there was notone single quote by a woman! Not one!I hope everyone is doing well. I’m onFacebook as Daryl Bright Rosenbaum.Best wishes to all!”

1982Kirsten (Kiki) Thompson writes: “I amhave been living in Verbier Switzerlandfor the past 20 years. I am a sculptor and have just founded a sculpture parkand residency. I have a husband, Mikeand two lovely children, Eloise 5, andOliver 3.

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1985Richard Adelmann – upon graduatingfrom RCS, Richard went on to KentSchool and then Business Administrationat NYU (Leonard N. Stern), continued onto work for Smarte Carte, Inc. inMinnesota and then volunteered to openEuropean Markets for the company. “Myintention has always been to return toSpain,” says Richard. “After this companywas fully established in EU, I passed overto consulting and currently work in one ofthe largest Japanese Corporations,Marubeni. My role is InternationalBusiness Development Director. I also gotmy EMT (Paramedic) and volunteer forRed Cross in Spain and emergency units. Iam based in Madrid. I am happily marriedwith three beautiful children and awonderful Spanish wife.

I do miss Rippowam and spent threeyears there with special memories, despitethe cultural and language difficulties.

Ivan (12), Erik (10) and Katya (4)

Sara Heckman Doering writes, "Myhusband and I relocated our three kidsfrom Cleveland, OH to Clayton, NC (nearRaleigh) four years ago. I went to nursingschool at Duke for my BSN and now I’mworking at Durham Regional Hospital onthe Mother-Baby Unit (aka post partum).My husband, Jonathan, owns a small andgrowing remodeling biz, and my kids aresoon to be in 9th, 7th, and 5th grades(Brendan, Connor, Ciara). We also have afive year old Pit-Lab mix named Anniewhom we love sooo much. Hope you areall healthy and happy!"

Laura Goldblatt Jessen writes, “Myhusband Chris and I relocated from NYCto Sarasota, FL three years ago. We have

been spending our summers in theHamptons since then. I suppose that makesus Snowbirds?! Yuck! Hate that term! Wehave no children but adore our pets andnieces and nephews! We recently sold our last property in NYC so, other thanphilanthropic work, technically we areretired for the time being. We plan tospend the next year or two traveling on ournew boat, ’The Fish Tank.’ You can followus on Facebook (Fish Tank Siesta Key).”

Holly Sexton writes: “I am still in Florida,now six years, and working for JohnHancock the last thireen years spendingmy free time between community/volunteer activities, paddle boarding,boating, etc. trying to get to Maine in thesummer when I can. I had the chance tocatch up with Tamlyn (Tammy) Freundand the rest of her family this spring inCaptiva. It was great to see her and catchup with Peter as well! Would love to seemore Ripp people!”

Ashley Weld Taylor writes: "I live inStowe, VT with my husband and two kids,Reed (8) and Grace (5). I am a lawyer anddo estate planning and health care law formy local firm. My husband (Richard) is aphysician in the emergency department atCentral VT Hospital. We love living inStowe-great community and wonderfulbackyard! Let us know if anyone comes up this way-would love to see you. Myhalf-brother Peter is still at Ripp-hard tobelieve! Hope you are all well!

Class AgentLibby Prezzano Whitman writes: “I live inBedford (about 1/4 mile away from Ripp!)with my husband Cutler, who is a Rippgraduate, and our three kids, Kate, Harry,and Addie (ages 4, 8, 11). If you are everin the area let me know! I had so muchfun catching up with Cyril O’Neil at hisbrother Aaron’s wedding in Vail, CO lastsummer. Cyril has a very successfulcompany out in Hollywood calledGhostlight LA. They provide customvehicles for movies such as “Catch Me ifYou Can” and “Charlie’s Angels FullThrottle” among many others. You cansearch it at ghostlightla.com.”

1987Chadbyrne R. Dickens, who lives inManhattan, has had a fruitful andadventurous year attending over 100concerts and writing reviews for numerousnational publications including JamBase. Heexclaims that highlights included coveringthe Bonnaroo and All Good Festivals, inaddition to following Dark Star Orchestrafor five nights and interviewing many of hismusical heroes.

1988Roger Vincent: My wife Melissa and Imoved to Ithaca, NY this summer where I’llbe working for Cornell. We’ve only beenhere a few weeks, but we love it so far andare enjoying all that upstate New York hasto offer.

1990Geoffrey Hoffman got married in May 2010 at his wife’s mother’s backyard in NewCanaan, CT. Then, after more than ten yearsin New York City, they moved to Darien, CTin March of 2011. In June, Geoffrey startedworking at Jefferies in Stamford, later to findout that he works just down the hall fromTyler Lifton ’90. It’s a small world! Geoffreyand his wife are having fun fixing up theirhouse and settling in.

1991Jordan Berns: Jordan lives with his wife and two children (Ryan 5 and Hadley 3) in Cohasset, MA. He continues to work in Commercial Real Estate and recentlyjoined a local company on the South Shoreof Massachusetts.

Ryan and Hadley Berns

Class Notes continued…


Class AgentAngela Grand Cavallo – shares with us aphoto of her son Sam Cavallo – Age 3 atDogg Day at the Bedford Club in October2012. Angela Grand Cavallo is also classrepresentative for 1991. Please send heryour news or get back in [email protected]

Sam Cavallo

Angela Grand Cavallo ’91, Jessica Chatfield ’91,Caroline Treadway ’91 and Alex Rawlins ’91 atJenny Heath’s wedding on Nantucket.

Peter Freund and his wife Mimi now livein Bedford with their twin girls, Winnieand Wren (RCS class 2023). Winnie was inMrs. Sorte’s class and Wren was in Mrs.Adorno’s class last year. They are startingSPK this fall.

(left to right): Winnie and Wren Freund

Rud Niles tells us that he got married in2010 to Jennifer (Kelling) Niles. Over the summer they moved from NYC toKatonah. Rud runs the family’s business,The Niles Insurance Agency, which is also located in Katonah. His wife, Jen, has a jewelry and handbag line calledMadame Mathilde.

1992Nancy Dwyer Eaves: My husband Blueand I welcomed our son, Knox ThompsonEaves on April 11th. Knox joins his bigsister Paige and his big brother Dwyer.Things are great, but busy!

Knox Eaves

Andrew Morris lives in Danbury CT withhis wife Eliza and their daughter Harper. Heworks at New Canaan Country School andwill be continuing graduate work this fall.

Mary Tilt Hammond writes, “Last October, I married Stephen Hammond inCharleston, South Carolina. Rippowamalums at my wedding included my entirefamily- parents and siblings (Emlen TiltCabot ’84, Elizabeth Tilt Weiner ’85, and Roddy Tilt III ’99) plus Kate AbbottWartels ’92, Harry Grand ’93, andMalcolm MacDonald ’99. We have beenliving in NYC, where I am MarketingDirector for ELLE Magazine. However in the fall we are moving full-time down to Charleston!”

1994Elly Dwyer Rice: August Dwyer Rice, bornApril 6, 2012, joins Elly, Ethan, big brotherAndrew, and pug Pudding.

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Franklin Foster, Hayden Baker, Caroline Treadway ’91, Jenny Heath ’91, Alex Rawlins ’91,Katie Heath ’00, Andrew Heath ’97, Jessica Chatfield ’91 at Jenny’s wedding.


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1995Liberty Howell married Joe Orlowski(pictured right).

1996Samantha Scala Burley writes: “Myhusband returned home from deploymentin May and we are now stationed inMaine. We have a two year old and areexpecting our second child in August.

1997Tristan Perich writes, “Greetings fromNewfoundland! I’ve been mostly off emailsince I’m on my honeymoon, but here’ssome news from me! Lesley Flanigan and I got married on July 13 at BedfordPresbyterian Church. She and I met in2006 in grad school at NYU/Tisch, wherewe were both studying the intersection of art and technology. We are bothmusicians/visual artists, share a passion foreverything from experimental music tocute animals, and live together in NYC.We had a tiny wedding among family anda couple old friends (including ArjunPonnambalam ’97), followed by a bigparty the next day in Brooklyn, thenimmediately skipped town to spend a fewweeks together driving as far North as wecan. We’ve stopped through Maine, PrinceEdward Island and Nova Scotia, and today got off the ferry in Newfoundland.Next stop: Labrador (and if we're feelingparticularly adventurous we might hop aplane up to Iqaluit, the capital of Canada’sfar-north Nunavut province). Stay tuned.”

1998Lisa Kamen Lubart is about to celebrateher first anniversary of marriage withfellow Cisqua kindergarten classmateAdam Lubart. The two were married lastJuly at the Turks & Caicos (picturedright). The couple was joined by severalRCS alumni, including: Zack Kamen ’02,Gus Levy ’98, Alex Jaffe ’98, MaryBoies ’98, Chesley Andrews ’98, Erika Kessel ’98, Dan Mara, Jake

Grand ’98, Lindsay Carleton ’98,Frankie Celenza ’02, Luke Celenza ’07,John Carr ’98, Alexandra Hauspurg ’03and Philip Hauspurg ’01. Adam proposed two years earlier on theRippowam playing fields where they had first reconnected in 1997. Lisa andAdam live in New York City where Lisaworks as the Director of Media Relationsfor Blue Ribbon Restaurants and Adam is about to enter his second year atColumbia Business School.

2006Julie Bancroft and Eliza Ghriskey havebeen interning together at Vanity Fair inthe photography department for thesummer, “which has been amazing, to saythe least.” There has been a LOT ofreminiscing on our days spent atRippowam, but mostly they haveconsisted of our extreme awkward stagesand how we are so thankful we havemoved past them (i.e. red hair, both our

Class Notes continued…

(left to right) Alison Banks, Samar Jamali, Cecil Howell ’98, Liberty Howell ’95, Joseph Orlowski,Jack Dourakos, John Orlowksi, Kurt Arsenault. In front: flowergirls, Olivia and Mina andringbearers, John and Drew.


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braces, and our “fashion sense” whichalmost exclusively consisted of doublepopped collars). Julie is heading into herjunior year at Denver University, but willbe studying abroad in Brussels thisupcoming fall!

Also working in NYC, Isabel Bird isliving here for the summer and interningat the Frick Collection. She says she lovesworking in a small, cozy museum and islearning a lot. Isabel currently studies atYale University and is about to head intoher senior year.

Class AgentEliza Ghriskey writes: “Hello Class of2006! Since graduation, we have beenthrough high school, we have startedcollege, and we have changed a lot sinceour years at RCS. Friendships haveremained and somehow, we alwayscontinue to act as we did in middle schoolwhen we are around each other. I went toSt. George’s in Newport, RI with a bunchof other RCS grads for high school andhave since then been at College ofCharleston in South Carolina. This yearhas gone by so quickly and I can’t believethat I’m a junior at college (I stayed back a year in high school because I was“young” for our grade). I will be spendingmy fall semester in Barcelona, Spain,which I couldn’t be more excited about.As for catching up with old classmates, Ispent the fourth of July with ElizabethSednaoui, Jordan Kemp, Nick Stanley,Justin Wright, and Jacob Greenberg whichwas fantastic since I haven’t seen themsince Christmas (for the most part). It’sbeen great running into people in the citythis summer; it’s always nice to reconnect.

Hope everyone is well and enjoyingtheir summer before returning for theirfinal year of college!

Please feel free to contact me at my e-mail [email protected] to submit classnotes for the next bulletin or if you wouldjust like to get in touch with me!

Avery Laird is spending the summer outwest in Montana. She has sent manypictures to our friends of the beautifulscenery, which she has encountered on

the hikes she goes on every day (Howneat is that?). If you follow her onInstagram, I guarantee you will dream thatyou are floating down the river with her.Avery is an upcoming senior at Universityof Vermont, but spent her past semester in Australia on the gold coast where shelearned a lot but, most importantly,perfected her tan! Lizzie and Avery alsohad the chance to meet in Thailand andattend a music festival together.

Lindsay Laird is living in Montauk forthe summer. She has been very active onInstagram and has displayed so manybeautiful shots of her summer so far.Living on the beach must be the worst!

Lizzie Needham just got back from yetanother semester spent in China (surprise,surprise). We are glad to have her backbut, unfortunately, she is heading out ofthe country again and is spending themonth of July in London taking classes at London School of Economics. Put awayyour passport and stay home already, Lizzie!

Elizabeth Sednaoui is interning at aninternet startup company called BFF TV.On weekends, Elizabeth is either in NYCor on Fisher’s Island with her family andfriends.

2007Class Agent Alison Bianco and Colette Salvatore ’07were both studying at the London Schoolof Economics this past summer.

Luke Celenza says: “Since Ripp, I gotinto the National Foundation forAdvancement in the Arts and won asilver award. Along with other winners of gold and silver, I performed at theBaryshnikov Arts Center in NYC. I alsomet President Obama as a presidentialscholar in the arts and, along with otherartists, I gave a collaborative arts show at the John F. Kennedy Center for thePerforming Arts.

Last year I flew out to the “Tuscia inJazz Festival” in the Italian province ofTuscia, and we won the competition. Iwill be going back in two weeks to play at the festival again. I just recorded andreleased my first record and it’s availableeverywhere. I’m going into my third year at Juilliard. I study with FrankKimbrough, who is the pianist in theacclaimed Maria Schneider orchestra.Next year I will study with Kenny Barron.

Internship Opportunitiesfor RCS Alumni

Are you looking for talented interns? Does your companyoffer an internship program that you might like RCS alumni to be aware of? You may contact the RCS AlumniOffice at [email protected] forinformation on how to supportRCS alumni.


Colby Eisen is studying Public Health atJohns Hopkins and spending this calendaryear in South Africa. She spent the firsthalf of the year living with a Zulu family in a township of Durban and is headed toCape Town next! She says “Hopefully myrecently obtained Zulu language skills willmake it a little easier to learn Xhosa, I’mtold there are more clicks in this one, but a girl can dream. One of the highlights ofthe past semester was the nationwideshavathon for cancer research andawareness where South Africans eitherdye their hair or shave their heads. Boy,was it weird being bald!”

Madeline Henry is working in aneuroscience lab in New Haven for twomonths.

Alexandria Van Starrenburg is involvedin YPO (Young Presidents Organization),for kids of members 19-24. It’s a four-weekprogram studying Chinese politics andbusiness in five cities (Beijing, X’ian,Chengdu, Wuxi, and Shanghai).Alexandria says, “We have done special

business visits to the Chinese ministryand the U.S. Embassy. We were able tospeak to representative spokespeople forChina and ask them anything we wanted.While we’re here we also are making up abusiness model plan to improve life inChina and will be presenting it to a panelof investors. It’s called the Dragon’s Den.

z

2010Colby Burdick writes: “I’m at St.George’s and captain of the varsity fieldhockey and tennis teams and a member of the national Spanish honors society,and tour guide head at SG. I’m looking atcolleges in the northeast and spendingthe summer working in Nantucket.”

Xandra Coleman writes: “Since leavingRipp, I have started studying Japanese.This summer I am doing a home stayprogram in rural Japan. As I write this, Iam talking to my host sister in Japanese.I’m also going to a school here, where Iboth take and teach classes.”

Liam Murphy writes: “I’m doing aninternship with Fareed Zakaria right now,and going to Germany with my family inAugust. I’ll be returning to St. Paul’sSchool in the fall for senior year.”

2011Vincent Sottile recently won second placehonors in the Engineering category at theWestlake HS Science Fair. His presentationtopic was "Developing A More EfficientRescue Robot Driving System." There wereover 200 science research sophomoresrepresenting high schools in Westchesterand Putnam Counties.

40 Class Notes continued…

Rippowam Cisqua School – Alumni Page and the online Alumnielectronic directory (www.rcsny.org) Did you hear about an alumni eventcoming up, but don’t have all thedetails? Did you miss a recent eventand would like to read about it oreven check out some photos? Makesure you visit the School’s website andcheck out the Alumni Pages for allthe latest news and updates. Alsoemail [email protected] to give usyour most current contact information.

Rippowam Cisqua Alumnion Facebook – The OfficialRCS Alumni Group

Did you know you can find RippowamCisqua Alumni on Facebook and evencatch up on latest news and postingsfrom other alums or the School?Simply log on to Facebook and searchfor “The Official Rippowam CisquaAlumni Group” and beginreconnecting with RCS alumni today.

Rippowam Cisqua Alumnion LinkedInWhether you are looking

to hire young talented professionals orthinking of a career change, be sure tojoin the RCS alums on LinkedIn tofind out more about fellow RCS alumsand their professional careers.

Ways to Reconnectwith RCS and Alumni

Retired Faculty

Dick Barnes, who taught fifth grade at Ripp from 1958-1964, and took boys and girls on summer “Barnestorming” camping trips to western national parks,then taught in public schools for thirty years in nearby Ridgefield, CT, where hehas been retired now for over sixteen years, has fond memories of his formerstudents and their parents, as well as his colleagues. He still plays a lot of tennisin and around Bedford with old friends, and would enjoy hearing from you [email protected]


Check Out Our Online Ripped Apparel Store!

Large Selection of RCS T-Shirts, Sweatshirts,Tote Bags, and Other Fun Items

Visit www.rcsny.org to visit the online store and place an order today… Just in time for the holidays!


42

Gustave L. Levy IIGustave (Gus) L. Levy II is a 1998Rippowam Cisqua School graduate, Redteam member, and brother to fellow RCSalums Vanessa Seide '93 and Kate Levy'96. After graduating from RippowamCisqua, Gus attended Gould Academy inBethel, Maine and then the University ofColorado at Boulder where he earned aBA in Economics in 2005. Currently, Gus lives and works in Manhattan as acommodities trader and a business retailelectricity consultant for a joint venturecalled Ampere Energy Solutions, LLC. He is also a part time lacrosse coach atthe Upper Campus teaching the varsityboys. Gus joined the RCSAA Board inApril 2012.

Caroline Vincent MockridgeCaroline Vincent Mockridge graduatedfrom Rippowam Cisqua School in 1981.She is a Blue team member and mother ofthree Rippowam Cisqua School students:Henry Mockridge ’14, BrewsterMockridge ’16 and Chase Mockridge ’18.Caroline is an active RCS parent whodedicates countless volunteer hours insupport of the School. Caroline joinedthe RCSAA Alumni Board in April 2012and is excited about further supportingRCS with its alumni outreach.

RCSAA Welcomes Two New Board Members

RCS Alumni Board ofDirectors 2012-13

Christopher Wirth ’94, ChairBoard of Trustees Ex-Officio

Stephen Ohler ’66, Vice ChairSusannah Sard ’58, SecretaryRichard Cahill ’92, Treasurer

Meg Atkin ’76Todd DeSimone ’93Katie Prezzano Durfee ’82Nancy Dwyer Eaves ’92Harry Grand ’93Randy Wilson Hall ’94Gus Levy ’98 Cynthia Mas ’71 Forrest Mas ’04 Bill Meyer ’84Caroline Mockridge ’81 Philip Ohler ’75Elly Dwyer Rice ’94Vanessa Seide ’93Lisa Pagliaro Selz ’66 Elsie Swank ’04

Ex officioMatthew Nespole, Head of SchoolBob Whelan, Associate

Head of School


43

Benjamin S. Clark, Jr. ’53Benjamin S. Clark, Jr. ’53, aged 74, pro-bono human rights lawyer, died April 26, 2012, at St Peter’s Hospital inAlbany, NY, after a valiant twelve-yearstruggle with cancer.

Born in New York City on April 19,1938, Ben graduated from Rippowam in1953 and continued his studies at theMillbrook School and Hamilton College.During his professional career, Benworked as a reporter and held a positionas the Editorial Manager of the Mt. Kisco,NY, office of the White Plains ReporterDispatch, until 1970. He then moved toChatham, NY, to partner a real estateagency with Jean and Christopher Price.

Ben, however, remained an avid student,particularly of the Law, and decided toenroll in evening paralegal studies atRussell Sage College. A professor there,recognizing his student’s intellectualability, persuaded him to pursue a legaleducation. Ben enrolled in the WesternNew England University School of Law,in Springfield, MA, in 1998. Althoughthen over 60 years old, Ben continued towork full-time, while commuting twoevenings a week to law school. Hegraduated on May 18, 2002.

The following year, he passed the NewYork State Bar on his first attempt,despite undergoing a one-year treatmentfor colon cancer, discovered just aftergraduation. After passing the Bar, hejoined forces with his Hamilton Collegefriend, retired attorney John Hand ofCambridge, MA, who specializes in pro-bono legal work for thedisadvantaged. Ben’s practice focusedparticularly on helping death-row inmatesin the American South, and beleagueredAfrican refugees seeking asylum in theUnited States. Ben did legal research forbriefs in post-conviction death penaltycases in South Carolina and Florida. Hedid extensive country conditions researchto support asylum applications for peoplewho had been tortured for politicalreasons in Somalia, Uganda, Rwanda, andthe Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Ben was greatly admired and loved as he was engaged in many communityorganizations, most notably the Village ofChatham Zoning Board of Appeals, andFriends of The Chatham Public Library.His interests and generosity ranged farand wide. In October 2011, he receivedthe New York Planning Federation’sLevine Award for Community Service, inrecognition of his volunteer efforts onbehalf of the Village of Chatham.

Ben leaves his sisters Charlotte Clark deBresson ’51 (and Edgar de Bresson) ofParis, France, Elizabeth (Tibby) Clark’60 (and her partner Laila Tofte) ofPound Ridge, NY, and Ella Clark ’55 ofWest Cornwall, CT.

Ben was a strong supporter of RippowamCisqua and remained connected to theSchool over the years. “You can alwayscount on me!” said Ben, in a recentphone conversation with the AlumniOffices at RCS, as he expressed his loveand support of the School.

In Memoriam

James Preston Parish ’71Jamie Parish ’71 died May 23, 2012at age 55. Formerly of North Salem,NY, and Doylestown, PA, Jim issurvived by his wife Deirdre,daughter Katherine, father Richard, sisters Linda (class of ’62)and Winifred (Robert) Gross classof ’64, brother Richard (Robert)class of ’68, and step-brotherGeorge Lauther IV (KK).


1917Society

For more information, please contact Bob Whelan, Associate Head of School, at [email protected] or 914-244-1291.

Planning forRippowam Cisqua’s

Remembering Rippowam Cisqua inyour estate planning helps assure abrighter tomorrow for the School.

The 1917 Society was established in memory ofRippowam Cisqua’s earliest leaders and the year of the School’s founding; it honors those alumni, faculty,parents, and friends who have chosen to ensure thefuture of RCS by providing for the School in theirestates and/or by establishing planned gift arrangementsthat benefit RCS and themselves. All donors, whether through a bequest provision or a life incomearrangement, are automatically granted membership in the 1917 Society.

You can remember Rippowam Cisqua through a simpleprovision in your estate. Whether giving through yourwill, living trust, life insurance policy, or qualifiedretirement plan, you should make your designation for“Trustees of Rippowam Cisqua School, a charitable and educational institution in Bedford, New York.”


2011-12 Annual Report


Thank you


Why Give?Like most independent schools, RCS relies on tax-deductible gifts to meet its immediate needs. AnnualFund dollars are a critical resource that represent morethan 7% of the School’s total annual operating budget,an indication of the vital role it plays in the life of theSchool. The very act of participating with a gift of any size positions the School to attract support fromfoundations and corporations, so a single gift can actuallyspur additional gifts. Your Annual Fund support has aprofound impact on the quality of the teaching andlearning that takes place every day, and demonstratesconfidence and belief in an RCS education.

What is Annual Giving?The Annual Fund makes everything at RippowamCisqua possible. Gifts to the Annual Fund providedirect support for a dynamic program of academics,athletics, and the arts, making it possible for anexceptional faculty to challenge students to discover and explore their talents to the fullest. This unrestricted support enhances library collections, supports technological innovation,ensures financial assistance for socio-economic diversity, and increases opportunities for teachers to grow professionally.


“My goal is to inspire my students to do their bestwhile knowing that, for each student, this sense of “best” will be different. I want my students tobelieve in themselves and know that I’m here to support them in whatever way I can.” Amanda Brandon


“It was clear to me when I finished college that I wanted to share my passion for art with others through teaching. My hope is that I am translating to my students the joy and love that I have towardscreating, working collaboratively, and imaginativelysolving problems.” Isabel Dominguez


“The best part of teaching atRippowam Cisqua is that both thekids and the faculty love beinghere. Our students actually findthat they are motivated when theytruly can enjoy learning.”Tom Morrissey


“I enjoy sharing my passions withothers while providing exposureto new ideas and creating positive experiences. Kids aregreat, and the journey thatteacher and student traveltogether toward knowledge is fulfilling and rewarding.”Lou Tocco


“It is a privilege to see the wonder inmy students’ eyes and share theirenthusiasm as they embark on learning the basics of science in myclassroom. Watching them discoverthe beauty, mystery, and phenomenafound in nature refreshes my batteries every day!”Tanis Moore


“I don’t like to teach, I love toteach. Teaching gives me theopportunity to live, for eighthours a day, in the world of children. It is a world of excitement, wonder, enthusiasm, joy, possibilities,learning, discovering, play, and fun.”Dan Viglione


“RCS is a special place simply because of the children and the people with whom I work. Ienjoy being able to wear different hats; I am amath teacher, but I can also share my passionsand strengths with my colleagues and students.As teachers, we are seen not only as educators,but also as human beings.”Michael Florio


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Parent Association Underwriting Made So Many Things Possible(left to right): Bag It, Daffodil Bulb Sale, Science Fair, Field Day T-Shirts.

Parent’s Assocation

Dear Parents,As I prepare to pass the baton to my successor as chair of the ParentAssociation, Katie Boyd, I am filled with a mix of great pride for whatwe’ve been able to accomplish, and sadness that my two-year term isalready over.

It has truly been an honor and a privilege to serve this wonderful and special school and towork with so many exceptionally talented and generous parents, administrators, teachers,coaches, and staff. I am so grateful to the executive PA committee members, the committeechairs, and the countless parent volunteers who gave so much of their time and resourcesto bring our School community together and to raise money to support our many initiatives.

Thanks to your overwhelming generosity, with proceeds from the A.P.P.L.E. Sale,Holiday Sale, Bulb Sale, Raffle, and Book Fairs, we were able to underwrite muchneeded audio equipment for the Lower Campus Skyroom, the Lower Campus ButterflyGarden, Faculty and Staff Appreciation lunches, the All School Picnic, Lower CampusField Day T-shirts, support for the Science Fair, and provide gift cards to every memberof the faculty and staff at the holidays. We also continued our support of the RCSGarden, funded gift certificates for the Book Fair to all newly admitted students,provided each division head additional support for their discretionary funds whichsupported campus programming and lectures, underwrote the screening of “Bag It,” and underwrote a range of Community Service activities. Your support truly makes adifference in the lives of students and teachers.

Rippowam Cisqua will always be dear to my heart and, as my family approaches itstwelfth year here, I continue to be impressed and delighted by the caliber of theeducation, and the true dedication and love the teachers have for their students. I knowthat Katie shares my enthusiasm and love for this School and I have no doubt that shewill be a tremendous advocate and leader. I hope you will join me in welcoming her andcontinue to offer the incredible support you so kindly offered to me. There is so much tobe grateful for, and proud of, and so much more to be done.

With deep gratitude,

Patty Grunebaum


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Parent AssociationExecutive Committee

Patty Grunebaum, ChairKatie Boyd, Vice ChairTracy Fauver, Vice Chair, Grades 7-9Storrs Cote ’79, Vice Chair, Grades 5-6Christy Guettel, Vice Chair, Grades 3-4Whitney Brown, Vice Chair, Grades 1-2Suzanne O’Callaghan, Vice Chair,

Grades JPK-KDonna Brown, TreasurerCaroline Mockridge ’81, CommunicationsAshley Diamond, Parent Connection

Committee HeadsAll School PicnicWhitney Brown, Suzanne O’Callaghan

A.P.P.L.E.Marian Fife

Book FairsLower Campus: Terry Gottlieb, Pam LawsonUpper Campus: Melissa Fleming, Kim Speegle

Bulb SaleCarolyn Gilbert, Mel Morley

Candy HousesBeth Schreiber, Cindy Offermann

Community ServiceLower Campus: Alison KallmanUpper Campus: Susie Danziger

Faculty LunchWhitney Brown, Anna Lee, LaraMcLanahan, Suzanne O’Callaghan

Grandparents DaysLower Campus: Suzanne O’CallaghanUpper Campus: Angela Lowman

Green TeamNick Gutfreund

Holiday Gourmet SaleCathy Alessio, Karen Doniger, PollyGoldman, Pam Lawson

Holiday RaffleNellie Gilligan, Suzanne O’Callaghan

Parent ConnectionAshley Diamond

PhotographsLower Campus: Lynnie OhlerUpper Campus: Ginny Tobeason

Ripped ApparelGina Lodolini, Regina Spain

School GardenDiana Knoblauch, Anna Lee, Diana Rice,Liz Taggart

School Uniforms/Lost & FoundMarta Alfaro, Andi Davis

Walk to Cisqua DayMarsha Chambers

Class RepresentativesJPKKim HandlerAllyson Pachios

SPKCyndi AzimaWhitney Hill

KindergartenPolly GoldmanKim ManocherianBeth Schreiber

Grade 1Marta AlfaroTina FalciYsbell Kearns

Grade 2Nellie GilliganDebbie HeineNatasha Restrepo

Grade 3Heather FrelinghuysenKaren McFarlaneLoren Teolis

Grade 4Diana KnoblauchChris LeeLisa Nahas

Grade 5Meg BurdickJill LawrenceGinny Tobeason

Grade 6Marsha ChambersMelissa FlemingKim Manocherian

Grade 7Angela LowmanVeronique PittmanKim Speegle

Grade 8Elizabeth KilgallonDina NemethBeth Stern

Grade 9Allison BamfordAndi Davis

2011-12 Parent AssociationVolunteers

!


78 Auction

Mariposa Auction 2012More than onemillion thank yous


79

Dear Friends,Thank you to every member of the Rippowam Cisqua School community for your immense outpouring of support for the MariposaAuction 2012.

The enormous, record-breaking success of this year’s Auction shows the community’scontinued support for the mission statement of our School and our faculty and staff, to whom the evening was dedicated. It is inspiring to see the teachers’ commitment to educate our children in such a loving and nurturing fashion that allows the studentsto emerge strong, independent, and ready to soar.

The Mariposa journey began for me well over a year ago. For the seven months thatmade up the Auction “season,” I had an opportunity to work with countless members of the RCS community. You all showed your support by offering time, donations, andwords of encouragement. I am especially grateful for the members of the AuctionCommittee, who stood by my side, offering their time and efforts to our collectivemission: to create an incredible event that focused on building community spirit whileraising money to support our students and teachers.

I will be forever grateful for this journey we shared as a community.

Sincerely,

Stephanie Small Auction Chair


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Auction ChairStephanie Small

Assistant AuctionChairLoren Teolis

Auction Office Co-ChairsAngela LowmanCaroline Mockridge

Donations ChairAshley Diamond

Auction OfficeDonna BrownLinda CorsoMary EvninSuzanne O’CallaghanKim Speegle

Grade Tribute PagesKimberly FoxMimi FreundDebora HeineAnna LeeSuzanne O’CallaghanDiana Rice

AdvertisingLisa Flemma, ChairStephanie AgranoffKatie BoydSandy FaitellPolly GoldmanMichelle HolmesClaudia Neary

Faculty DinnerMeg Burdick

School ProjectsJill Lawrence, Co-ChairRhonda Spevak, Co-ChairMichelle Garber SolomonHope PerelmanDawanna Veneable

RaffleCathy Alessio

CateringRobbins Wolfe CateringMelissa FlemingWhitney BrownKirtley Cameron

Bulletin BoardsChristine LaReginaAnne Citrin

CopywritingJoyce CorriganCaroline MockridgeLoren Teolis

Setup and DisplayAngelina Lipman, ChairMaria BadeyKatie BoydAnne CitrinAriane de GunzbergPatricia FlinnMimi FreundSuzanne GalliLori LustigKim Mirkin

Veronique PittmanPolly GoldmanHadley ScullyVanessa SmithMelissa West

Advisory CommitteeAlexandria AltmanCyndi AzimaWhitney BrownTracy FauverAmanda RiegelSheryl Tishman

Event ProductionPaige LevineRob Sisco

Faculty CoordinatorMissy Swan

Interior DesignTricia Swift

PhotographyAriane de GunzbergTim Coffey

Logo Photos and VideosKylie and Keate Barker

Advancement OfficeEdlira CurisSusie DanzigerAggy DuveenBarbara JarvisDebe StellioBob Whelan

Business OfficeSusan EngPatty HughesDebbie HurrellDottie KorovichCarol Rothstein

Logo ArtistJo Lynn Alcorn

Graphic DesignJanine Megna

Printing Ed Furci - Printech

Auction Volunteers!


A few of the many reasons to support The RCS Annual Fund

The Annual Fund is the School’s most important ongoing fundraising activity. Like most independent schools, tuition revenues at RCS do not cover the entire cost of running the School. Tuition provides approximately 84% of the annual operating budget with the Annual Fund supplying 7%. The School relies on this source of income in order to meet the essential needs of students and faculty. This year, the difference between tuition revenues and total operating expenses amounts to approximately $5,100 per child.

Our Annual Fund goal this year is $1,200,000 and 100% community participation. Each year, we achieve remarkable results, thanks to the incredible efforts of our volunteers and the generosity of our community. If you would like to make a gift, please take a moment to fill out the enclosedpledge envelope and send it back to us with your contribution.

If you have questions about the Annual Fund, please contact Eldira Curis at 914-244-1294 or [email protected]


Rippowam Cisqua SchoolP.O. Box 488, Bedford, New York 10506

Lower Campus: 914-244-1200Upper Campus: 914-244-1250

www.rcsny.org

Non Profit OrgUS Postage

PAIDPermit No 6030

Bedford NY


Documents

Fall 2012 Bulletin