The Buzz

Proctor’s girls’ varsity soccer team knew they would experience some growing pains this season with ten freshmen and sophomores on the roster and two new coaches at the helm. After getting out to a strong start, a combination of untimely injuries and stiff Lakes Region competition have provided the types of challenges first year head coach Carlton Wheeler-Omiunu and his assistant Lindsey Allenby know will pay dividends for the program in the long run. With five games remaining in the season, the team looks to improve upon its 3-6-1 record and lay a solid foundation for the future.

We shared the video below on social media yesterday and it took off like wildfire getting thousands of views from our current parents, faculty/staff, and alumni. The message in the video is simple: every journey starts from what is familiar and along the way evolves into the brand new as you are challenged, supported, and guided by opportunities and the people that enter your life. 

Proctor identifies itself as a prep school. It’s a term high schools around the world use to refer to their focus on preparing students for college or university. While college is absolutely on the immediate horizon for all of our students, we want to expand the realm of ‘preparation’ to more than just college. Proctor Academy prepares students for life.

In 1998, Kimball Union Academy’s Mountain Bike coach Bill Farrell, Kennett High School’s Chris Darling, and Phil Ostroski put their heads together to figure out how they could create a high school mountain biking race for New Hampshire schools. Shortly thereafter, the Northern New England Mountain Biking League was formed, starting with five high school teams competing, bringing roughly 100 riders to each competition by 2006. Coaches were ecstatic about the opportunity they were able to provide their riders, and over the course of the next decade, the Northern New England Mountain Biking League would grow leaps and bounds to encompass over 330 riders from 29 high schools in four New England states.

Proctor Academy opened the doors to a net-zero ready dining facility, Brown Dining Commons, this fall. The building is the first of its kind in New England and serves three meals a day to Proctor’s 370 students and 150 faculty and staff. Proctor has long demonstrated an institutional commitment to environmental stewardship, installing a biomass heating plant in 2008 and more than 360 kwh of solar panels on campus over the past twelve months. When it was time to design and plan a new dining facility due to insufficient space in the old Cannon Dining Hall, Proctor’s Board of Trustees and Administration set out to build the most environmentally friendly dining facility at an independent school in New England. Just over a year after construction began, that vision has become a reality thanks to the generous contributions of many donors. The building's name honors The Brown Foundation, Inc. of Houston, Texas leadership commitment to the project and longtime friendship to Proctor. 

Proctor's Cross Country Running team often flies under the radar during the fall athletic season. Perhaps it’s because the team, like Mountain Biking, only has one (maybe two) home races a season. Or maybe it's because their training takes them to the far reaches of the Proctor Woodlands and only periodically pass through the center of campus for others to see. This lack of notoriety does not impact the commitment this dedicated group of athletes puts into training and bettering themselves as athletes.

Fall Family Weekend 2016 kicks off with the 26th Annual Proctor Invitational Golf Tournament at Lake Sunapee Country Club Thursday morning! On Friday, parents are invited to attend two classes followed by all-school assembly at 10:00, athletic practices, a ribbon cutting ceremony for the new Dining Commons , lunch, and Parent/Teacher conferences before a few Friday afternoon games. Saturday morning Parent/Teacher conferences and athletic contests round out the weekend. 

Joanna de Peña '08 was voted onto Proctor's Board of Trustees this past weekend becoming the youngest member of the board to date. In 2004, Joanna made the difficult decision to leave home in Lawrence, Massachusetts for the opportunities Proctor Academy afforded her. Her passion, confidence, and wisdom beyond her years commands the attention of others whether she was serving as the emotional leader of her basketball team at Proctor or is speaking to an auditorium of inner-city youth about investing in their future. During her recent visit to campus, she shared insights with Freshman Seminar classes, challenged Head of School Mike Henriques to a little one on one in the gym, and reflected on the impact Proctor has had on her life.