To the Grand Class of 1969:
News of the Academy
In a year full of changes, one thing that has remained constant in the academic calendar is the traditional two week Spring Break which began when classes let out earlier today.
The start of the Winter Term was delayed until January this year for the first time. Instead, two weeks in December were filled with "D-Term", a virtual learning experience focused on "community building" and "engaged citizenship". In another change to the calendar bound to disappoint some, the upcoming academic year will begin before Labor Day for the first time.
The school retrofitted various buildings (including Hitchcock which had functioned as the bookstore since 2001 and Ephraim Williams which had housed the Office of Advancement since 1999) in order to accommodate the day students for the Winter Term and has made the decision to extend the boarding requirement for the Spring Term. About 12% of the student body chose remote learning over spending the winter in Deerfield, up from 5% during the Fall Term. The school administered 14,769 COVID tests, with only 29 individuals testing positive. In a sign of progress, all K-12 employees of public and private schools in Massachusetts became eligible for vaccinations today although it remains unclear just how much this will affect the the way the school operates from day to day during the Spring Term.
Another change this year has been the admissions process which has been predicated forever on a belief in the importance of in-person interviews. Years ago I was told that the school dispensed with the interview requirement one year and, in retrospect, regretted the decision. Like so many things in the past year, it's hard to know how many of the pandemic induced changes are transitory and how many are permanent. Presumably in-person interviews, standardized tests and revisit days will be reinstituted as soon as it is safe again. For those who pinned their hopes on attending Deerfield, demand for the limited number of spaces was up this year as expected. Decisions were communicated on March 10th.
Given the long lead time it takes to plan a reunion and the uncertain course of the virus, the school chose to replace in-person reunions with a series of virtual meetings this June for the classes whose reunions were scheduled for June 2020 and 2021. Those classes will be invited to campus in June 2022 for a "cluster reunion" with adjacent classes. In another first, the 50th Reunion for the classes of 1970 and 1971 is going to take place this Fall. Those alumni who had been hoping to relive dormitory life in June will need to find other housing options during the peak foliage season in New England.
News of the Class
I've mentioned Neil Jacobs' after-school program in the Boston area several times since learning about 3Point Foundation at our Reunion. You will be interested to read an interview Neil gave last Fall to Boston Speaks Up which includes information on his foundation as well as the backstory on how he wound up at Deerfield.
You may recall that Camp Timanous (which was owned by the Suitor family for more than 80 years) made the painful decision last year that it couldn't re-open safely. David Suitor confirmed recently that the camp has adapted to all contingencies and will be open again this summer with a full complement of campers. Another business hard hit by the pandemic has been live concerts. After having had to abbreviate the calendar 2021 concert schedule, Rusty Young has been busy rescheduling performers (one of whom is Chubby Checker whose 50th anniversary of "The Twist" is this year) as well as venues and has 70 shows lined up for the 2022 season.
In more dated news, Margarita Curtis H '57 '69 was appointed Interim President of Ursuline Academy in New Orleans for the 2020-2021 academic year. Margarita was a four year student at Ursuline, the first all-girls' Catholic school in the country, and graduated in 1969. Since her retirement from Deerfield, she and her husband have been living in New Orleans.
Best wishes to all.
DWS
