Monthly Musings

This is part of an ongoing series of informal communications with Portsmouth Abbey School's constituents.  Current parents, alumni, past parents and friends have all expressed an interest in hearing more about our school, more often.  It is meant to be one element among a number of activities designed to keep you better informed about the School, the Monastery and our community.

Seasons Greetings!: The Communications Office at Portsmouth Abbey School, along with the entire School community wishes you a merry Christmas, and a joyful New Year.

Christmas Semiformal with Festive Flair: We had a large group of students sign up for the Christmas semiformal dance this year. The Social Committee decorated with illuminated trees and snowflakes...even an ice sculpture of a tree was placed in the winter garden fountain. Chocolate covered strawberries and Christmas petit four and cookies helped to fuel the dancers. Formal photographs were taken. Please visit the Photo Galleries on the School Website for pictures of this event.

Clothe-A-Child Raises Record Amount: Once again the Portsmouth Abbey School Clothe-A-Child campaign has beaten its own year-on-year record. This year $5,500 was raised, thanks to the hard work of students, and donations of students, parents, faculty, staff and friends. The money went to buying coats for over 130 children through the Newport and Fall River Salvation Army organizations, and schools in Central Falls and Newport. Cash donations were also made to Star Kids and Basics For Babies. Basics For Babies is a not-for-profit organization founded this year by Collette Laflamme '05. Collette spent some weeks last summer volunteering at an orphanage in Romania and was so moved by the shortages and suffering she witnessed there, she founded this charity to raise money to send supplies. Many thanks and congratulations go to all the donors and volunteers for this momentous effort.

Winter Athletic Season Off To A Winning Start: The winter athletic season is off to a promising beginning. The Girls' Varsity Ice Hockey team traveled to South Hamilton, MA for the Annual Pingree School Christmas Ice Hockey Tournament returning as champions for the 2nd year in a row. They defeated tough competitors such as Windsor and Berwick Academy, advancing to the championship game against the strong team of Masconomet with the final score being 4-1. The Boys' Varsity Ice Hockey and Basketball teams have had some intense, close victories leading to outstanding school spirit and support from the Raven fans. In addition, the new Squash and Fitness Center has played a huge part in the success of the season. More than 150 athletes and faculty members filter through the center daily between the Boys' and Girls' Squash teams, Strength and Conditioning classes, individual athletic teams, and regular fitness center hours. We are enthusiastic about the remaining winter season and are hopeful the Ravens will continue to build on the solid foundation they have set prior to breaking for Christmas vacation. Good Luck teams!! Visit the Athletics Pages on the School Website for the most up to date news and results.
 
Register Today for 2005 Alumni Events: Events are planned for La Jolla, Los Angeles, and San Francisco in the middle of January, and you can register online today.  We hope to see you all there.  Please contact Sarah McDonough at smcdonough@portsmouthabbey.org or 401.643.1276 for information regarding these or any other events.

SENE All League and All New England Students Announced: The names of the Portsmouth Abbey School soccer and cross country athletes are now available in the Athletics News section of the School Website. Congratulations also go to Tom Gleason '05 and PJ Arroyo '05 who were named All New England footballers.

On-line Parents' Community Launched: We are pleased to announce that a Parents' Community has now been added to the Portsmouth Abbey Website, accessible through the Alumni & Parents Section.  In the next few weeks we hope that you will use this new section and find it useful. Long term, we are planning a password protected Community, enabling more features tailored to the specific needs of our parents. To make sure that this Community is used, and useful, we need to hear from you! Please send us any input about what we can add to make this a more valuable tool. Please contact Sarah McDonough with any suggestions at 401.643.1276 or smcdonough@portsmouthabbey.org.

Fall Athletic Awards Announced: In a special assembly in December, Al Brown, Director of Athletics, announced the winner of the Fall Athletic Awards. Coaches' Awards were presented for each sport, along with an MIP award, and recognition of the Captains Elect. For a full list of the award winners, click here.

Top Male AP Scholar For RI: Andres Valenzuela '03 has been named as top male AP Scholar for Rhode Island. Andy is now an undergraduate student at Notre Dame University. This represents the second consecutive year of top AP graduates for Portsmouth Abbey School. Last year, Maia Fedyszyn '02 was the top female AP Scholar for Rhode Island. Maia is now studying at Dartmouth College. Congratulations!

The Answer to the November Musings Question: "How much did Dom Leonard Sargent pay for the property that has become Portsmouth Abbey School?"
The original owner of the 65-acre estate, Mrs. Hall, sold the property to Dom Leonard for $5,000 in cash and a mortgage of $5,000. She also gave him the furnishings of the fifty-four year old Manor House, two large barns, a farmer's cottage, a garage, a stone boathouse, and gazebo. Dom Leonard said of the estate, "The problem was not of supplying, but how to modify the elegancies."

The December Question of the Month: Who 'is' the regular Santa Claus at the School Christmas Assembly, and how many times has this person played the role? Please email answers to communications@portsmouthabbey.org

If you have questions, comments, or ideas, please contact the Communications Department at communications@portsmouthabbey.org.

Kathy Heydt Director of Communications

Nicky Piper Asst. Director of Communications

For all issues related to the School, please contact Tony Klemmer at tklemmer@portsmouthabbey.org or Jim De Vecchi at jdevecchi@portsmouthabbey.org at any time. We welcome the opportunity to hear from you.

Tony Klemmer '73 Assistant Headmaster Institutional Stewardship

Jim De Vecchi Headmaster

Visit our web site at: www.portsmouthabbey.org