The Griffin: A Monthly Newsletter from the Head of School

Dear Garden Community,

Coming on the heels of our Virtual Gala where we honored our outstanding faculty and staff, it seems fitting to take a moment to once again acknowledge and celebrate the dynamic and tireless educators of Garden School as Teacher Appreciation Week concludes.

This week, as part of our branding work with Drexel, we held three student focus groups for one of their “customer engagement” data mining exercises. Groups included students across the middle and upper grades who were asked about the value of a Garden education.

Their insights were so heartening and such a ringing endorsement of the devotion of Garden’s teachers and the learning environment they have cultivated here. We wanted to share just a few of their comments with our entire community in case anyone was wondering what teacher appreciation sounds like through the eyes of a Griffin.

“I like how close we are to our teachers. That makes it is easy and fun to learn here. My teachers always work around everyone to make sure we are successful.”
“I could have gone to another high school, but I chose to go here because of the personalized approach and individualized attention I get from my teachers.”
“Our teachers are so kind and approachable.”
“Garden taught me to push myself and now I plan to apply to medical school.”
“We are all interconnected from students to teachers to administrators. Everyone knows our names. Everyone knows us.”
“We have such a great college counseling program and because of it, I know that I can push myself to try for colleges that are way harder to get accepted to.”
“Our teachers never leave us behind. Classes are hard, but they always stay after, meet separately, do extra so that everyone succeeds.
“At Garden School, we know not to leave anyone out. When I was new, it felt instantly like I had been here forever.”
“Here we learn that it is not all about us. We have a social impact beyond our own school.”
“We learn how to respect all people. Today we learned about Cinco de Mayo, but all year, the Equity and Inclusion work has been important and meaningful.”
“I am so thankful every day for what I get to do and learn here.”
“I’ve been to three schools and this is the most welcoming and supportive community of all.”
“Spirit week is a good example of our community. Everyone got into it and had a great time. There is a lot of enthusiasm for our school. That is not the case in other schools.”

When asked what image they think would be best suited for a Garden School advertisement, they said, "a family photo of us all". These comments are just a brief glimpse into how much our students feel known, heard, understood, challenged, and supported by the incredible faculty at Garden. Happy Teacher Appreciation Week and thank you to all of our Garden Faculty!

Best,
Chris

Next Thursday, Garden School will induct 29 members of the Upper Division to both the National Junior Honor Society (Grades 8 & 9) and National Honor Society (Grades 10, 11 & 12), which recognizes students who exhibit tremendous academic scholarship alongside extensive extra-curricular and community engagement. The application process is robust, as all qualifying members must be approved by an oversight panel comprised of numerous members of the Garden School faculty and administration. Congratulations in advance to all our new and returning members.

Each year, Garden School traditionally invites the fifth and sixth graders on a three-day, out-of-state historical field trip. These trips rotate between historic cities such as Washington D.C., colonial Williamsburg, VA, and Boston, MA. This year, however, travel restrictions made such a trip an impossibility. Nevertheless, the teachers persevered in their efforts to plan and create a week of virtual field trips around the Boston area. Because of digital resources, working with educational programs, and connecting with alumni of the school, the fifth and sixth graders toured the Isabella Stewart Gardner Art Museum, engaged in a presentation from the Freedom Trail Foundation, visited Fenway Park, and more - all from the safety of their classroom.

Earlier this spring, Garden decided to hold regular tennis matches with Manhattan-based ISAL rival Birch Wathen Lenox, who, like Garden, was eager to offer friendly, safe competition for student athletes. Yesterday, the first set of matches took place, with four members of the Garden Varsity Tennis team (Josefina ’23, Bella ’23, Ryan ’23, Mia ’24) competing. The event centered around two doubles matches and gave our players a chance to work on their skills against new opponents. More matches will follow throughout the month. As we continue to see community spread of the virus declining, our hope is for a full return to athletic competition at Garden School for all our athletes next fall. Go Griffins!

Summer Reading is upon us. This summer, students will join book clubs based upon affinities and interests and select a text from their club’s list. Our goal is to provide more agency in book selection for our young readers. We encourage families to get involved and check out the lists to help students choose. The deadline to register selections is May 15. In addition, as an Upper Division cohort, we will all read an essential and engaging book by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi, Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You. Students will complete a project based on Stamped. For their "choice book" and grade-level book -- students will complete book reviews and a project. More details forthcoming. Send any questions to English Chair, Mr. Roselli.

Mary Elizabeth "Betty" Morris 

1920 - 2021

Garden School Class of 1939
& Lifelong Queens Resident

On April 12, Mary Elizabeth “Betty” Morris, lifelong resident of Queens, New York, died peacefully at her home at the age of 100.

Mary Elizabeth, known to her family and friends as Betty, was born on December 19, 1920 in New York City, the eldest of four children of Dr. John H. Morris and Edna O’Neill Morris. She was raised in Jackson Heights, where she lived until her death. She attended Garden School with her two sisters Joan and Edna.
Betty was a 1939 graduate of Garden School and a 1943 graduate of Mount Holyoke College, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in English. In 1944 she began working for Time Inc. in New York and remained with the company until her retirement in 1986. Holding positions with Life and Fortune magazines, she relished contributing to these publications during what she called their heyday and cherished her front-row seat to the events and public conversations that helped shape the 20th Century. She was a woman ahead of her time.

But the greatest joy and privilege of her long life, she often said, was living in her cherished community of Jackson Heights. She was a frequent visitor to Garden School, and we were always happy to see her when she dropped by.

Three bricks honoring Betty, Joan and Edna will be laid in Garden’s Alumni Walk.