Sandy Spring Friends School

 

Breadcrumb

SSFS Alumni & Friends Quarterly eNewsletter

Summer 2020

From the Archives: Paddle, 1960s

Table of Contents

Summer
2020

Features
  • Farewell, Tom: "The One About What Comes Next"
  • Welcome, Rodney: An Interview with Incoming Head of School Rodney Glasgow
  • Congratulations, Class of 2020!
  • Virtual Alumni Weekend 2020 
  • Max Goodman '14 on Climate Change and Sustainability
  • Rachel Conrad '09 Advocates for Human Rights in the Dulcepamba Watershed
Remembering Friends
  • Celia Joughin '70
  • Thea Rachel Anthony '89
  • Henry Benton '89
Join Us!
  • Stay Tuned for Fall Events!
Around Campus
  • 2020 Senior Passion Projects Pilot Program
  • "Glowing Together" Auction: Thank You!
  • Farewell, Friends!
  • SSFS Annual Fund 2020
  • Moving Up and Moving On
  • Steven Silverglade ’20 and Courier Club Launch Global Virtual Music Festival, Block By Blockwest
  • SSFS Diversity Audit Update: June 2020

Help Us Keep In Touch! 

Update your
contact information Here 

Sandy Spring Friends School

Summer  2020
Dear Friends,
 
School is over, summer vacation has begun, and the members of the Class of 2020 are now officially SSFS alumni! After a year unlike any other, this is a time for our school community to take a breath, pause, and reflect on all that we have learned before we jump right back into envisioning what school will look like in the year to come.  
 
In March, our students and teachers pivoted in just a few days to an entirely online learning experience—and carried it through successfully, all the way to the end of the year. We were fortunate, thanks to the hard work of the Board of Trustees and CFO Carylton Ganong, to receive a PPP loan that allowed us to safeguard the School's financial stability and plan for the future with a degree of assurance that would otherwise have been lacking. (See HERE for a letter regarding the loan sent to SSFS parents in May.) For those of us fortunate to be involved with the senior class (“Stronger Together”), we were able to watch as they rose to the occasion, seizing the opportunity to shape the end of their senior year and demonstrating yet again the power of young people who know the importance of Letting Their Lives Speak. 
 
On top of the coronavirus pandemic, the awakening of consciousness regarding the evils of racism made so brutally evident in the killing of George Floyd and so many other people of color has prompted Sandy Spring Friends School to renew its commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging, to grapple with what it means to lean into this moment, to be leaders in civil society and to be agents for change in the world today. (I have shared some additional thoughts in these blog posts: "The One About the Pandemic of Racism" and "Dissent and Leadership in Quaker Organizations.") We are experiencing a time of unprecedented challenge—but also of deeply meaningful moments of revelation and shared success.
 
While the year ahead remains utterly unpredictable, we know it will bring transitions, challenges—and incredible opportunities. I hope that you all take time this summer to be with loved ones, to listen to music, to read books, to be creative and to engage with the issues at hand refreshed and inspired. 
 
In peace, 
 
Tom Gibian
Head of School

Features

Remembering Friends

Join Us!

SSFS Fall Events: Stay Tuned!

One thing we have learned over the past few months is that many of our favorite events can, in fact, transition to a virtual format. So while we remain hopeful that our fall traditions—Laps for Lexi, Grandfriends Day, the post-Thanksgiving Soccer Games and Turkey Trot—will take place on campus as they have in the past, we are also making plans that will allow us to gather virtually! 

Please stay tuned for information about the fall calendar, which will include traditional events as well as celebrations of the long-time faculty who retired this year, events introducing incoming Head of School Rodney Glasgow to the community, an unveiling of the new Upper School building, alumni gatherings, and a party celebrating retiring Head of School Tom Gibian's tenure. Questions? Please contact Director of Advancement Lauren Mossman. 

Around Campus

RSS Feeds Subscribe to Alerts
Farewell, Friends!
Farewell, Friends!

This year, we say goodbye to five faculty members who have made an immense impact on the SSFS community in their collective 131 years of service to the School. Please join us in bidding farewell to Bryan Seith, Elizabeth Channer, Tom Harrison, Aimee Farley, and Ellen Hartge.

Read More about Farewell, Friends!
Diversity Audit Update: June 2020
Diversity Audit Update: June 2020

Almost a full year has passed since SSFS completed its diversity audit, a comprehensive examination of our progress in fulfilling the diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) goals of our mission and strategic plan. It is a fair time to consider what progress has been made towards the action items spelled out in the report to the community distributed last fall. 

Read More about Diversity Audit Update: June 2020