Page 5 - Priorities #21 2003-January

Notable Athletic Achievements
High School Cross Country:
finished in top 20 at State championships
Girls Water Polo: the entire team made all league honorable mention
Girls Varsity Volleyball:
finished one game shy of a fifth consecutive appearance in the CCS playoffs. Lisa Flagg earned all- league first team and all-county second team; Whitney Peterson and Laura Trudelle earned all-league recognition.
Girls Tennis: Alexis Smith made league top 10 list for the third year in a row; Sammi Nuttall made the top 20; Michelle Bradford earned honorable mention.
What’s New?
Two Classrooms now occupy the patio space between the science wing and Father Maurus’s pond
and rose garden.
Middle School music. The entire Middle School is taking choir and discovering that Mr. Adams is right— he can teach anybody to sing. Already, students who were too shy to join in at Morning Chapel last year are singing out and seeming to enjoy it.
Middle School Robotics. This course builds on two successful years of the High School program, which involves teamwork in building a robot that accomplishes predetermined tasks. The team can participate in local, regional and national competitions.
Radio and Broadcasting. A class that involves building the instrument has grown to include broadcast capability, and we now have several student sportscasters, making for a livelier audience experience. Students Scott Kimball, Peter Trudelle and Ross Anderson (Class of 2001) were the student muscle behind this project, supervisedbysciencefacultymemberDaveHafleigh. Scott,PeterandSeniorBradBurtonhavealsobeen sportscasters at Stanford this year.
Panther Pals matches younger (and new) students with older students to be sure of a friendly face in the hall and voice on the phone when questions arise. Senior Aimee Epstein and Dean of Students Erik Carlson created the program over the summer.
Dorm Parties. Following on the tradition of including day school friends on weekend dorm activities, the “dormers” this year threw parties for the entire school—one at Halloween and one an afternoon ping-pong tournament. (The Fathers Martin and Maurus face-off was the most popular match.)
Testing...Testing
The Priory emphasizes individual achievement, which is hard to include in a general report. However, standardized test scores are also important and our students do very well on them.
National Merit Recognition: 12 students in the Class of 2003 (almost 26% of the class). Four are semifinalists.
Advanced Placement Scholar Recognition: 17 students (sophomore, junior, senior and ‘02 grads).
National Scholars: Charles Kou, Class of 2001 and Harvey Jones, Class of 2002, were announced this fall.
AP Art National Recognition: The portfolio of Claudia Meyer, Class of 2002, was selected for high honors by the AP program, and her work is being displayed nationally.
SAT Average for the Class of 2003 is 624 on the verbal section and 618 on the math section—both up from last years class averages. Our PSAT results show a consistent upward trend over five years.
Eighth graders’ GPAs change less than a letter grade in either direction when they enter the Priory freshman class.
Eugene Koenig’s recent life, as he struggled against a rare health condition, was an inspiration to many in the Priory community. His death on Nov. 19, 2002, saddened the entire community.
Friends and Neighbors
Our relationship with neighbors and town officials in Portola Valley is strong, and I look forward to good work together in the coming year. Our on-site housing project was of benefit to both the school and the town. A town-school agreement, which resulted in a parcel of land behind the school being zoned as three residential lots, was a long process but a good compromise. Those lots are now for sale and proceeds will provide for the monks’ retirement, then the school endowment.
Priory students are involved in trails cleanup, charitable endeavors, town events, local theater and music groups in Portola Valley and all the mid-Peninsula communities. Our graduation requirement of 100 hours of community service most often benefits in the mid-Peninsula.
Local residents use the Priory facilities in numerous ways from choral group practice to neighborhood association meetings to athletic activities. WoodsidePriory’splayingfieldsand gym facilities are used virtually to capacity by both adult and youth athletic teams.
—Tim Molak Headmaster
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