Partners in Education: A Reflection

Fr. Richardson W. Schell, '69, Headmaster and Rector

Kent has benefitted from a number of important partnerships over the years, the historically most important being with The Order of the Holy Cross. We owe our existence and vocation to the early partnering of the young Fr. Frederick Herbert Sill, OHC and Fr. James Otis Sargent Huntington, OHC, Superior of the Order, who gave our Founder permission and moral support in 1906 to start a School in Kent, on the banks of the Housatonic River, “for students from families of modest means.”  The Order and School are tied together by history and tradition and our clergy, the Reverend Kate Kelderman and the Reverend Jonathan Voorhees, participate in retreats at Holy Cross Monastery in West Park, New York, on the banks of the Hudson River. Our students support the Order’s work with children at Mariya uMama weThemba Monastery in Grahamstown, South Africa by Offerings in St. Joseph’s Chapel.

In the era of information, our partnerships with Dartmouth College and Microsoft helped define Kent’s role as a leader in the uses of technology in education. Alumni from the 1960s will remember the first computer terminals on campus, located in Dickinson Science Building, and linked to a mainframe in Hanover, New Hampshire. The PDP-8 high-speed electronic DEC computer had three teletypes and a “time-sharing system.” It stored information on large discs and magnetic tapes and ran on BASIC, FOCAL and FORTRAN. The late Dr. Henry Syer of Mathematics and John Hinners of Science, among others, were pioneers for us in this field. In 1996 Microsoft invited Kent to become one of thirty schools to pilot its “Anytime Anywhere Learning Program.” Students and teachers were equipped with laptops, loaded with Microsoft software at the factory, and financing was provided by GE Capital for the hardware purchases. Soon the entire campus was wired for the Internet and now our wireless network covers all academic and administrative buildings, the dormitories, and many outdoor areas around campus!

Today every department and program in the School is linked with professional associations, other schools, libraries and universities.

In January of this year Kent faculty members went to La Jolla, California for discussions with scientists at the renowned Scripps Institution of Oceanography. The outcome of these discussions is a new offering this summer at Scripps for Kent students and teachers who will work side-by-side with researchers in Marine Sciences. The Science Department is thrilled with this next phase in the development of Marine Science summer programs. Originating with scuba diving excursions lead by Eric Houston ’80 in the 1990s, reintroduced in recent expeditions with Sail Caribbean, Intricate Bay, Alaska, and Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute in Ft. Pierce, Florida, the Marine Science summer programs offer students an opportunity for intensive, experiential study of marine ecosystems.  We are very grateful for the efforts of Adam Gordon, father of Wes ’16, who introduced Kent to Scripps and committed a tremendous amount of time and energy building a lasting partnership. This partnership will allow for a summer trip to Scripps benefitting both students and faculty. Participants will be working with researchers from two Scripps research teams.  One team’s emphasis is examining coral reef ecology, while the other tracks shark populations in the Pacific. The energy and intellectual power at Scripps are tremendous and we anticipate our students having an inspiring and potentially life-changing experience.

The Science Department is also excited about a developing relationship with one of Connecticut’s newest innovation leaders, the Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine (JAX).  From their original base in Bar Harbor, Maine, Jackson Labs have been home to Nobel Prize winners and numerous major breakthroughs in the understanding and treatments of cancer and other illnesses.  With the opening of their new genomic and bioinformatics facility in Connecticut, they are looking for partners to broaden the understanding of the role of genetics and research throughout the globe. Scott Wakefield ’56, working with Adam Fischer in our Alumni & Development Office, kindly introduced us to the leadership of the Laboratory to help further the creativity of our biology courses, particularly our Biotechnology elective.  By means of visiting lectures, student trips, teacher training, and equipment and data sharing, JAX has a great deal to offer our students. One exciting opportunity is the potential for Kent students to explore the role of computational biology and its evolving role in medicine.

In February the Radley College (UK) Choir and instrumentalists, under the direction of Stephen Clarke (Precentor), Timothy Morris (Organist), Simon Carr, and Suzie Louise Naylor (Music), visited Kent through an exchange partnership started many years ago, but only recently revived.  They were a musical sensation with their visit which included a traditional Evensong and Sunday morning mass. The mass provided the opportunity for the Kent and Radley choirs and instrumentalists to perform sections of the Haydn Missa Brevis.  The visit culminated in a concert in the newly-renovated Mattison Auditorium featuring a seventy-eight piece Kent & Radley combined orchestra which performed “Jupiter” from The Planets by Gustav Holst and  Crown Imperial by William Walton. A combined jazz band presented three selections, including Take Five by Paul Desmond of the Brubeck Quartet, and each school’s a cappella ensembles, The Kentones & Kentettes and the Radley Clerkes, wowed the audience. Our Music faculty Jennifer Malone Hobbs (Chair & Orchestra Director), Thomas Bouldin (Band Director), Barbara Kovacs (Choirmaster) and Deborah Cardenas took great pleasure in getting to know their British counterparts and found the collaboration to be a grand success.  “It was a true delight to see our students getting to know one another as they shared classes and meals, and rehearsed and performed together.  We demonstrated that music truly makes lasting, memorable connections,” said Jennifer Hobbs. “We hope to continue the Kent musical connection with our new Radley friends.”

The new Warden of Radley, John Moule, has embraced the exchange and this June Alexandra Kelly (English) and Julie Zurolo (Science) will spend a week teaching and observing at Radley. We have Robert Wendin ’78 and Simon Perkins ’84 to thank for reviving this excellent tradition of exchanges with Radley. At Prize Day 2013 the then Warden of Radley, Angus McPhail, now a fellow at St. Andrew’s, Scotland, presented Kent with the original Letter from Buckingham Palace, dated November 9, 1927, stating “The King thinks that an exchange of visits, such as arranged between the boys of Radley and Kent School (USA), is an excellent idea, and one that might with advantage be followed by other schools.”

Kent School has enjoyed a nine-year partnership with College Sainte Anne in Montréal, a leading francophone school serving 7th -11th grade. Approximately 50 Kent students and faculty have participated in an exchange program over the years in which they attend classes, live with a host family and learn about and experience the French-speaking cultures found merely five and a half hours away from our campus. Kent welcomes every year Saint Anne students as they are partnered with students and experience classroom, dormitory and extra-curricular life with their Kent hosts.

The new Pre-Engineering & Applied Sciences Center, housed in town in a former corporate headquarters which we have refitted for engineering purposes, is bustling with collaborative energy, thanks to the vision of Board President Waring Partridge ’62 and the leadership of Dr. Ben Nadire and Jeff Cataldo, Business Manager.  We look forward to welcoming our visiting professionals for another summer of collaboration. Professor Keith Weigelt from Wharton will instruct students in entrepreneurship, decision making and negotiation and marketing strategies. Harvard University’s Dr. Sujata Bhatia will instruct students in the latest innovations in medical technology, specifically the use of naturally-derived materials for the reduction of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Professor Daniel Schrage and his team from Georgia Tech’s School of Aerospace Engineering will cover virtual resources, CAD systems, cloud computing-based collaborative IT infrastructure,  and 3D printing. Trustee Calestous Juma, Martin Luther King, Jr. Visiting Professor at MIT, has played a key role alongside Dr. Nadire in developing the momentum of these programs.  We are also delighted to announce our newest partnership with the School of Risk Management of St. John’s University.  In May, Professors Ping Wang and Al Beer will be instructing students in risk management, insurance and actuarial science. We are grateful to former Board President Brandon Sweitzer ’60, Dean of the School of Risk Management, who has been instrumental in making this connection for Kent.

This year Kent was proud to be selected by the Falcon Foundation at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado as one of eight schools in their post-graduate program for young men and women on their way to the Academy. Trustee Bruce Whitman ’51 led this path-breaking initiative for Kent. Next year four outstanding members of this year’s graduating class will be cadets at USAFA. Our Prize Day Speaker on June 7 will be General Gregory S. Martin (USAF Retired), former Commander of USAF Europe and former Chairman of the Falcon Foundation.

These are just a few of the key relationships that help keep Kent in the forefront of education…these partnerships are the tip of the iceberg.  In the age of networking, Kent is connecting in every discipline and activity not only on campus, but with peers and mentors wherever the pursuit of knowledge leads.

We value all of our School’s partnerships…especially with the alumni, parents, grandparents, and friends who generously support all of this collaborative learning with your ideas and charitable giving.

Richardson W. Schell ’69, Headmaster & Rector