Proctor is well known as one of the least formal of all the New England boarding schools. Students call faculty and staff by their first names (read Boomer's '17 post on this!), we do not have formal, sit down meals as a community, and daily dress code is relatively relaxed (neat and clean makes the cut). While there are numerous benefits to this informality (not the least of which is happy and comfortable students and faculty), sometimes it’s nice to get dressed up, and Spring Formal provides just the opportunity!

Shortly after the first nationwide Earth Day celebration on April 22, 1970, Proctor launched its own Earth Day tradition of dedicating one academic class day each spring to reaffirming our deep commitment to environmental stewardship through hands-on workshops. Today, more than fifty small, faculty sponsored workshops allowed the entire community to pause from the breakneck pace of the Spring Term in order to reconnect with the natural world that surrounds us.

It takes a special coaching staff and team to thrive during baseball season in New Hampshire. April rain (and too often snow) combined with the the impending swarms of blackflies test the heartiness of Proctor’s baseball faithful. For head coach Mark Tremblay, his eleventh season at the helm of Proctor’s baseball program is turning out to be one of his most rewarding to date as his six seniors lead the way through a challenging Lakes Region schedule in pursuit of the program’s first Lakes Region Championship.

With Spring Family Weekend upon us, we have already reached the midpoint in the spring athletic season. For the boys’ varsity lacrosse team, the first four weeks of the season have been jam-packed with games, including challenging out-of-league matchups with some of New England’s strongest squads. For coaches Tucker Prudden and Phil Goodnow, as well as captains Chandler Devaney ‘17, Dillon Fitzpatrick ‘17, and Sam Fulton ‘17, the team’s hard work has laid a foundation for future success during the second half of the season.  

Midterms are complete and we enter Spring Family Weekend with the anticipation that the end of the school year is within site. As our families prepare to travel to campus to sit in on classes, assembly and engage in parent/teacher conferences, we offer a comprehensive guide to ensure everyone gets the most out of Spring Family Weekend 2017!

As coaches of high school athletes, we know well each season brings with it a new set of challenges - new roles, replacing graduating seniors, injuries, snow, rain, more snow. Navigating the unknowns keeps our job exciting. For girls’ varsity lacrosse coaches Jill Jones Grotnes, Kate Austin ‘01, and Caroline Murphy, this spring has done exactly that. As the team prepares for two games this weekend, the leadership of captains Makena Gorman ‘17 and Emily Saef ‘17 will prove critical to guiding one of the youngest girls’ varsity lacrosse teams in the league to a successful campaign.

As we walk through our daily life, a silent voice speaks over our shoulder with every decision we make, “Don’t mess up. People are watching. Don’t mess up.” In a world where our work, and consequently our learning, takes place in more of a public forum than ever before, we wrestle with the dichotomy of perfection and learning, a fear of failure and need for experimentation. How do we fight back against this fear of failure? At Proctor, we believe it’s a fight worth fighting.

On Friday, we will welcome 67 prospective families to campus for the second of our two Admissions Revisit Days. Last week, we asked our prospective families to ‘get real’ (read more in THIS BLOG) as they toured schools one last time before making their final decision. Today, we ask our visiting families to consider the role of an independent school in their child’s development.