We are just over a month removed from the end of the school year. A summer routine has settled on campus as Gordon Research Conferences arrive each Sunday afternoon to share their research over the course of the week. Those of us who remain working throughout the summer are busy with projects and planning for the upcoming school year, but it is a simpler existence. We are attempting to do less each day, and in that simplicity we find creativity as we downshift and decelerate out of life’s fast lane. 

The last two 4th of Julys in Andover have been incredibly quiet as COVID-19 canceled festivities in town. Today marked the return of the small town Americana scenes that have played a central role in our town’s Independence Day Celebrations for the past 80 years. For those who have never experienced Andover on the 4th of July, add it to your bucket list. 

As independent schools in northern New England have worked to diversify their student bodies in recent decades, that same diversity has lagged in the faculty and staff of those institutions. In 2019, conversations began among heads of schools in the region to create a network of future educators in order to build a cohort community that would be both supportive and appealing to join. The result of these conversations is a groundbreaking collaboration among northern New England independent schools and Dartmouth College to create a fellowship program that will provide aspiring educators an opportunity to receive a Masters of Arts in Liberal Studies (MALS) while participating in a two year practicum at one of the participating independent schools. 

From the moment we unlock our phones in the morning until we find the willpower to set them down at night, we are barraged with messages of insufficiency. Targeted ads tell us we need to lose weight, be more productive, be more beautiful, take a new job, be more masculine, be more feminine, be more straight, be more gay, start a diet, exercise more, and countless other not-so-subtle messages of not being enough.  

A week from today is July 1, an uneventful turn of the calendar that marks the true start of summer for many. For all of us at Proctor, it is the start of a new fiscal year. Proctor's June 30 fiscal year end marks the end of the 2021-2022 annual giving cycle. We don't talk often about school finances, but as a 501(c)3 non-profit, Proctor relies on tax-deductible donations to meet its operating budget, a budget that unlocks a world of opportunities for our students. 

On June 23, 1972, 50 Years ago today, President Richard Nixon signed into law Title IX banning sex discrimination in educational programs receiving federal funding. Title IX’s impact on women’s sports around the country, and at Proctor, has been remarkable. More than 3.4 million high school girls compete in sports and more than 215,000 women play in NCAA athletics. 

Boarding school communities are made whole by the adults who commit their lives and careers to sustaining and building the cultures of our school. Like all healthy organizations, annual shifts in roles and responsibilities bring renewed energy to the school. At our end of year gatherings, we bid farewell to departing employees, some who have spent their whole careers at Proctor, others just a short season of their lives. Regardless of their time spent as a Proctor employee, each has left an impact and a legacy that has made Proctor a better place. We share a thank you and best wishes to this talented group of educators and committed employees. 

Proctor’s USS/FIS ski team traveled to Mount Hood, Oregon for their annual June training camp. The first of three pre-season training camps provided by coaches, the ten day Mount Hood camp affords students the opportunity to get on snow and work fundamental drills and skill development.