The Griffin: A Monthly Newsletter from the Head of School

Dear Garden Community,

Welcome back and Happy New Year to all. Along with muted holiday celebrations, a fifteen year old tradition survived our unusual winter holidays. Inspired by a much older Latin American tradition where dolls stuffed with unpleasant reminders of the past are burned to provide closure, Good Riddance Day was celebrated over break. Yes, 2020 was, at best, a very difficult year.

We have much to look forward to in 2021 and are excited to unveil our strategic plan in the weeks ahead so everyone can see the map for the future of Garden School. Yet, we would not be doing our collective efforts justice if we failed to reflect on how fortunate we are despite the challenges that COVID brought to our community in 2020.

Some might say our greatest achievement was unlocking the gate and opening. We did this against many odds because of the support of the incredible team at Garden and with help from outside professionals. We were able to develop and execute on an ambitious plan to reopen back in July and have taken the steps required to keep our doors open safely almost every day since.

Uncertain of how the year would go, we doggedly pursued every day available and have gone to great lengths to make the year as normal as possible. Albeit limited and in unusual form, we have held activities like Debate and HAM Radio, a limited contact intramural athletic season, preserved treasured Garden traditions like a Halloween celebration, a senior-sponsored Pasta meal, a Curriculum Showcase, and the Thanksgiving Feast, and opened essential after school and Foundations programs.

Early on, we made the case for opening, figured out what it would take, and embraced the challenge. Our ethic was framed by the understanding that our young people need to learn and our teachers are uniquely equipped to facilitate that learning and development. This case for instruction, along with asking how we do it safely, has prevailed in our decision making and everyone in the Garden community should be proud.

We learned to be nimble and prepared in the face of unpredictability. Safely, we have kept our doors open all but seven days this year. It has never been a given that we would be able to do so though. In the summer, our faculty and staff put unparalleled effort to develop robust and comprehensive remote classrooms for those students who could not be in person and an entirely other full school plan when and if we needed to stay home for reasons outside of our control.

This has resulted in children who joyously attend a high quality program each day, families that may return to work, and learning when our students need it most delivered by those who provide it best. We are regularly reminded of our mandate - to honor the primacy of learning - and with each impressive college acceptance that rolls in (NYU, Duke, Howard, Rochester, Bentley, BC, etc.) we are reminded that the return on the investment in a Garden education is real.

Though we have much to forget about 2020 and much to look ahead to in 2021 and beyond, we should all take the time to reflect on just how incredibly fortunate we are and also on the collective efforts it has taken. Thank you to all Garden faculty, staff, students, and families for doing the hard work to give us just a sense of normalcy when it is a little hard to come by. Wishing everyone a very happy new year.

Best,
Chris

Wondering where this year’s senior class is headed next year? While not all acceptances are back yet, we have some terrific highlights to share so far.

Clarissa M. was recently accepted to Duke University, whose acceptance rate is just 7% this year. Soleil W. was admitted to Howard University, located in Washington D.C. and boasts such alumni as Kamala Harris, Toni Morrison & Thurgood Marshall. Justin F. was admitted to the highly competitive Tandon School of Engineering at NYU. Fellow senior Cailee M. was admitted to Boston College on a full-ride scholarship through the prestigious QuestBridge program.

These talented future alum join members of our recent past such as Mirabella C. ‘18, who is currently double majoring in Neuroscience and French at Barnard College. Just across the street from her, Matthew V. ‘19 is studying Astrophysics with a concentration in Comp Sci at Columbia University.

We also want to congratulate our students pursuing the natural sciences, such as Matthew R. ‘19 who is studying Economics and Data Analytics at Wesleyan University while also playing for their Varsity Soccer program. He joins the likes of Aneesh D. ‘18 who is in his junior year at UC-Berkeley, majoring in Applied Mathematics, and Taher R. ‘20 who is Pre-Med at Emory University.

Rounding out this talented and dedicated group are Anthony P. ’18 who is pursuing a degree in History at Princeton University with an eye towards law school, Patrick H. ‘19 who is studying science and the humanities at UCLA, and Joelle G ’20 studying Political Science at Wellesley.

We are so proud of all our students and want to applaud them for their continuing efforts to push the boundaries of knowledge as they prepare to lead the next generation. We will keep you updated as the acceptances of the class of 2021 keep rolling in. Thank you, Griffins!

At Garden, we begin fostering leadership skills in students from a young age. Sixth-graders, for instance, take advantage of the school’s developing technology to broadcast morning announcements directly to all Lower Division classrooms by Zoom. Each week, two students from the class - one remote and one on-site - are chosen to present the school’s current events. They identify schedule changes, review lunch menus, announce birthdays or class celebrations, highlight student work around the building, and even tell a fun joke-of-the-day.

The job of presenting these announcements is no easy task. It requires a collaborative effort between students and classes to gather the most pertinent events happening across grades N-6. The rewarding feeling that comes from such an experience, though, cannot be underscored. Presenting announcement spotlights the class as leaders within the division; it supports each students’ sense of self-worth as public speakers within the community; and it champions the students’ personal growth as they prepare for future leadership roles in the Upper Division and beyond.

It also affords the students a chance to reflect on their involvement and seek ways to grow and improve, and creates opportunities to strengthen relationships and build connections with peers especially between students learning in person and those learning from home. All of these are essential elements to the school’s mission and prove that learning opportunities beyond the classroom are part of what makes the Garden School experience so special.

Lucas, class of ’23, has been named an official Literary Scholar by the Robert Burns Society of New York City. After submitting his essay on the themes of Grief and Endearment in the poetry works of the 18th Century National Bard of Scotland, the reviewers exclaimed that they were impressed with the content, style, and depth of Lucas’ writing. This award typically is given to a University student. With Awards in the last several years going to students at Barnard and Hunter College, Lucas joins an impressive host of fellow Burns Scholars. Congratulations Lucas for winning this prestigious award and for demonstrating admiration and appreciation for classic poetry!

As we shared with you earlier this week in the note from Kat Sullivan, Garden school is looking ahead to the future and that means kicking the re-enrollment and enrollment season off just a bit earlier than usual this year. Financial Aid applications may be started now by completing this form with applications for aid due by January 22nd and our new electronic re-enrollment contracts will be on their way in just a few weeks. Questions about re-enrollment or admissions can be sent to Kat Sullivan at ksullivan@gardenschool.org or admissions@gardenschool.org

We are pleased to announce that Mr. Alex Castro was unanimously voted up to join the Garden School Board of Trustees on December 21st. An Information Technology Specialist, Mr. Castro serves as Senior Director of Core Infrastructure Engineering at the New York Times. He is the father of a fourth and sixth grader and recently lent his expertise to the Technology Committee for the Strategic Plan. Mr. Castro will continue to provide vital insight both professionally and as a current Garden parent. We are honored to have his leadership as we chart the next chapter for Garden School. When asked why he felt called to serve Garden, he said, “Garden School should be a pillar of the community in Jackson Heights and beyond. Garden’s students and parents are some of the fundamental elements of the foundation of this pillar of excellence”.

Andrew Ramsaran, Class of 2000

Andrew had a rich experience at Garden. Among the many academic and extra-curricular successes, he proudly served as Student Council President before heading off to attend St. John’s University where he earned a BA in Criminal Justice. After college, Andrew became a police officer in 2005 and worked in the Bronx Public Housing Bureau and was then promoted to Detective in 2009. He served as a Detective in the Narcotics Unit until 2016 while simultaneously pursuing a graduate degree from John Jay in Protection and Emergency Management. Andrew now serves on the 19th precinct Detective Squad Grand Larceny Apprehension Team. Last year, he and his wife Eva welcomed a daughter Finley Rose and Andrew is currently a proud member of the Garden School Board of Trustees.