Page 3 - Priorities #52 2012-March/April

WFROM THE HEAD OF SCHOOL Dear Priory Community,
We are in the midst of our WASC visit as I write this letter, and Father Martin just walked in to tell me his committee meeting this morning had gone very well. He sits on the Philosophy and Purpose chapter and helped prepare our response to the questions. Like Father, we hope all the meetings and visits go well, and that when the team leaves they will take a part of the Priory with them – in a new idea, a new way of doing things or the importance of “listening... with the ear of their heart.” We feel fortunate to have six very accomplished professional educators from Southern California and the Bay Area on our visiting team and look forward to their report and recommendations to the community.
As I reflect on what has happened since my last Priorities letter, I would like to share some of the highlights:
Father John Fortin, OSB former Headmaster of the Priory returned as our speaker for our annual faculty/staff retreat at Vallombrosa in mid-February. Father John had not been on the campus in 30 years and was pleasantly surprised by the new facilities and the upgrading of others. One of his first jobs at the Priory was replacing Father Maurus in the boys’ dorm, a position that taught him all he needed to know about boys age 12-18. Father now teaches Philosophy at Saint Anselm College and has written a number of books, most recently on reflection during the season of Lent.
Our musical – Beauty and the Beast – played to full houses and to rave reviews. When our new performing arts complex was finished in the fall of 2007, we knew it would provide better opportunities for our students wishing to further their talents in drama and choir. This production merged those into what many are saying was the best Priory performance/production of all time. One of the telling signs was the number of younger audience members who stayed glued to their seats for the entire two-and-a- half hours. Kudos to our drama and tech faculty in fostering a true love of the arts among our students.
We have hired the architect firm MK Think from San Francisco to assist us in the next phase of our master plan. This phase will focus on the building and renovation of academic classroom space. Our consultants, Campbell and Company, conducted a feasibility study last spring and we are currently planning the steps to begin fundraising for these projects. – always we begin again!
The Priory continues to spread its hospitality and values around the country. At the recent NAIS meeting in Seattle, I had the pleasure of catching up with former staff members. They were valued members of our community when here and left to follow dreams in other parts of the country. One is Head of a distinguished Quaker school in Washington DC, and another has been at a very progressive high school in Los Angeles for 10 years, another is Associate Head of a well respected elementary school in the Bay area and another is Dean of Faculty at one of the larger boarding schools in southern California. We appreciated the talents and gifts of each of these people while at the Priory and believe that a little bit of our magic finds its way into their new schools.
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Our musical – Beauty and the Beast – played to full houses and to rave reviews. When our new performing arts complex was finished
in the fall of 2007, we
knew it would provide better opportunities for our students wishing to further their talents in drama and choir