Winter Term Report Card - 2021

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

Fall Term Report Card - 2020

To the Grand Class of 1969:

I had no doubt that the reopening of the Academy during a pandemic would be newsworthy, but I initially hesitated to write because I thought that there would be little of interest about the Class to report. When I looked back at my emails and texts, however, I realized that there was more than I thought, including some news about Classmates who continue to make their mark. 

News of the Academy

For those who may not have attended the Town Hall, here is what I noted:

• Since July 30, the Academy administered nearly 16,000 tests and succeeded in containing positive cases to a handful
• Before school re-opened the Academy reconfigured dorms so that every boarding student lives in a single and made other physical alterations in order to enforce social distancing
• Class sizes were reduced, and eight teachers were added to handle the additional sections
• The school has incurred approximately $8 million in incremental costs as a result of the pandemic but contributions have been robust, and the endowment now totals over $1 million per student
• In order to further insulate the campus, the day students will have the option of learning remotely or living on campus for the Winter Term
• The annex of The Deerfield Inn has been sublet for COVID space, and Ephraim Williams, which housed the alumni office, is being repurposed temporarily to serve as as a dorm
• A new "dining pavilion" is being constructed adjacent to the Dining Hall so that sit-down lunches in two shifts can be re-instituted
• A skating rink is being constructed behind the MSB where the Great Tent had been set up for outdoor learning
• While school is out until the first week of January, a so-called "D-Term" will run from December 7 - 18. The D-Term is being billed as a remote-learning and community-building experience that will include virtual School Meetings, virtual "sit-down meals" and other events
• Applications remain strong, albeit without campus visits

Also of note this term is that the Academy's architecture is now the subject of an excellent 200-page guide published by Princeton Architectural Press. The Academy is one of only three secondary schools in the series. Advancement sponsored a webinar last month which featured presentations by the author and another architect, both of whom are alumni. What I found most interesting was the explanation of the way in which today's buildings relate to each other without there ever having been a central plan and how the more recent construction makes architectural allusions not only to existing buildings but also to antecedents - such as Dickinson High School and Plunkett - that are long gone. Parenthetically, the Civil War Memorial and our role in its restoration is noted in a walking tour of Deerfield and the broader community.

News of the Class

For the historians in the Class, AC Starkey has maintained his laser-like focus on the good life as I first pointed out in my 2015 Fall Term Report Card. This fall he treated himself to a low mileage Maserati ragtop for trips to the local McDonalds' in Vero, once again proving that "living well is the best revenge". His fellow Veronian, Rusty Young, has lined up performing artists and venues for the upcoming concert season, but hasn't yet released tickets for sale. 

Neil Jacobs is now spending half of his time managing 3Point Foundation which he founded ten years ago and which he described to us at the 50th Reunion. If you are thinking of what you might support on Giving Tuesday, I encourage you to consider 3Point which is committed to remedying the inequities in opportunities to learn and develop that affect life outcomes of economically disadvantaged urban youth. 

The new technology we adopted this year has enabled Dick Prokesch - who is based in Georgia - to cover for another infectious disease specialist in Nebraska from time to time. Robert Clough, when he wasn't at his summer cabin in Maine culling the fish from Moosehead Lake, assisted the Millennial surgeons in the Bangor ME and did some performance reviews. He and Jo are scheduled to arrive in the Florida Keys on December 1 where the tarpon await them.

Happy Thanksgiving to all. 

DWS

Spring Term Report Card - 2020

To the Grand Class of 1969:

Since Graduation ceremonies for the Class of 2020 would have been today under the Great Tent, I wanted to share with you how the groundskeeping crew honored the Class of 2020 in their absence: https://www.instagram.com/p/CAfnZw3AmED/

News of the Academy

Because all of you have received emails from the Academy announcing changes to the 2020 Academic calendar and the postponement of this year's Reunions until next June, I have limited my summary to what you may not already know. 

Within weeks of transitioning the Spring Term online, the Academy offered rebates of $2,700 to boarding students and $1,100 to day students which amounts were based on the average cost of meals per day and the cost of maintaining and cleaning the dormitories. I have no insight as to when the campus will re-open or how the Academy will deal with international students from nearly 50 countries, although it has refunded deposits and postponed the deadline for the first tuition payment to July 1 by which time it will have made a decision. The Academy packed up and shipped students' belongings earlier this month so that the Physical Plant staff would be able to keep to its annual maintenance schedule beginning in early June in the hope that the campus will re-open in September.

Despite having to reschedule revisit days as virtual events, 64% of admitted students accepted their offers, up from 59% last year. For applicants hoping to matriculate in 2021,  Zoom and Skype interviews have taken the place of on campus interviews. COVID-19 updates and information from the Academy are available through this link.

In case you are curious how the Academy reacted to the Spanish Flu in 1918, The Scroll contained this interesting historical note in the final edition of the year, "While the influenza ravaged Greenfield, Turner’s Falls, and even South Deerfield, Deerfield itself remained largely unaffected. 'Deerfield has not been hit by the epidemic as far, only one very mild case being reported there, and the closing rules do not affect that part of the town,' stated a later article in The Greenfield Recorder from January 1919. However, Deerfield Academy did temporarily suspend class, extending the winter break by at least a week. 'Deerfield Academy was to have reopened yesterday, and the board of health was willing, it said, provided that South Deerfield and Sunderland people did not attend,' the article further stated. 'This would have meant a greatly reduced attendance so Principal Frank Boyden decided to wait another week to see how conditions develop.' While it is unclear when Mr. Boyden resumed classes, archival Commencement programs show that Deerfield held graduation ceremonies in 1918, 1919, and 1920."

News of the Class

Over 40 of us convened via Zoom in April for an informative Q&A session with Dick Prokesch on COVID-19 and a virtual cocktail hour. As circumstances dictate, I hope to organize a follow-up session with Dick who has been serving on the frontline. 

In other news, within a week of the closure of the Boston public schools, Neil Jacobs transitioned his after school program 3Point  so that it was hosting 14 live one hour sessions each week on Zoom and posting videos and other materials on BAND where students could leave written comments and chat. Teachers, classroom coordinators, basketball coaches and dance instructors were able to engage with students virtually while continuing to promote critical thinking, communication, social-emotional learning and the values promoted by 3Point. 

Rusty Young has been busy rescheduling concerts and booking concerts for next season, recognizing that no one knows when people will feel comfortable attending live events again. Dave Suitor told me that Camp Timanous - which his family has been associated with since 1936 - concluded that it could not safely re-open this summer. You can read about it here and see a clip of Dave.

On a lighter note, Robert Clough is enjoying life in the Keys at the expense of the local tarpon as you can see from the action shot on the left. The local fish will soon get a breather as Robert is planning to head to Maine next week where he will be teaching, helping and mentoring in surgery a few days each week when he isn't fishing.

Stay healthy and be thankful that nearly 70 of us were able to connect again on campus a year ago.

DWS