On Sunday, nine students and two faculty will depart for a month-long Chinese immersion program, based in the city of Shangri-La. This is the second immersion trip China that Proctor has arranged, with the first occurring in 2016 (you can read student blogs and reflections from that first trip here). Students live with host families, attend classes, and go on excursions in order to absorb Mandarin and the rich cultures in China. We caught up with trip leader, Jon Beard, about the program’s history and what students can expect in the coming weeks.

June's blooming flowers and grassy green hues mark a time of gratitude at Proctor Academy. As we approach the end of the month and the end of the fiscal year, our every day thankfulness for the beauty of our surroundings is coupled with our gratitude for the many ways our community receives support; as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, we rely on the incredible devotion of our financial supporters to make all that we do at Proctor a reality.

The group of seven students and three leaders of the Guatemala summer service trip returned on Monday, after spending 14 days learning, working, and exploring in the southwestern part of the recently volcano-rocked country, staying with host families and completing service projects at two different sites. 

During the school year, Proctor’s campus is a hub of activity: class schedules, athletics, off-campus trips, afternoon programs, and dorm life keep our community in perpetual motion. One may expect the summer months provide an opportunity to slow down, take a breath, and wait for life to pick up again in the fall. There is certainly a smaller population on campus and less visible action with students’ absence, but below the surface, Proctor’s campus continues to be a thriving destination for learning all summer long.

We have crossed the midpoint of summer break, and begin to shift our attention to the school year ahead. With a new year comes the opportunity to educate new parents (and returning) on how to help their child get the most out of their Proctor journey. We published a blog post on this same topic last summer (Being a Proctor Parent: Empowering Independence) but wanted to take another look at how parents can best support their son or daughter’s boarding school experience.

Each year, roughly 20% of Proctor graduates go on to compete at the collegiate level in their respective sports. Given the small class size of the Class of 2018, the list of student-athletes pursuing their athletic career at the next level is impressive! Be sure to follow these athletes as their post-Proctor athletic careers unfold in the coming years.

A little over a week ago, a group of seven Proctor students and three faculty departed for Proctor's annual summer service trip to Guatemala. Despite a significant earthquake and volcanic eruption that occurred just hours before their departure, all travel and activity plans have remained intact and on schedule. For the sixth straight year, the group completed the first service portion of their trip spending two days at a primary school in San Martin, a town to the west of Guatemala City. Read about their experiences and reflections below.

Proctor's ever-changing physical plant necessitates yearly updates to our campus map, and last Friday's sunshine afforded the perfect opportunity to zip around campus and grab updated photos of all 45 buildings and 21 dormitories for the website. With ten major facility upgrades over the past decade (Recording Studio, Peabody Dorm, Teddy Maloney '88 Rink updates, Farrell Field Turf Complex, Sally B Dormitory, West End Dorm, Cortland House, Brown Dining Commons, Proctor Ski Area upgrades, and Farrell Field House renovation), we thought a quick visual tour of campus on a blue bird, early June day was in store.  

Proctor Academy inducted its second Athletic Hall of Fame class at Alumni Reunion 2018. Congratulations to each of this year's inductees, and thank you to all those who were able to attend the induction ceremony Saturday evening. Read more about the inductees below, and be sure to submit your nominations for next year's class HERE!

The soul of a school is less tied to a physical place than it is to those with whom you share experiences in that space. An aerial shot of Proctor’s campus from the 1960s represents a skeleton of the physical plant supporting Proctor’s 370 students today. But the soul of Proctor? The soul of a school does not live in buildings, it lives in those connections made in dormitories, on athletic teams, with advisors, teachers, coaches, dorm parents. Ask any alum who attended Reunion 2018 this weekend, whether from the Class of 1953 or the Class of 2013, and they will tell you unequivocally the soul of Proctor and its faculty and staff (past and present) is alive and well.