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.

School Store Opens in New Location: When all else was quiet on campus over the Christmas holiday, the new School Store was a hive of activity. Store Manager, Maria Arruda, and current parent, Linda Pickin, P'03 '06, worked feverishly designing the interior and then laying out inventory in the recently constructed building located between Manor House and the Student Center. Linda is the owner of the Newport Breeze store on Bannister's Wharf, Newport, and worked tirelessly, volunteering her time and experience to make the new space a customer-friendly, fun and attractive place to shop. The School Director of Operations, Paul Jestings; the Maintenance staff, led by Mario Rocha; the housekeeping staff, led by Nelson Barbosa; school carpenters Luis Raposa, Joe Costa and Armando Sousa; the Grounds Crew, led by Mitch Kriner; and even our Receptionist, Pauline St. Denis, worked day and night to produce a new Store in time for the students return after the holiday. Visit the Photo Galleries on our Website to check out the new Store, or make a purchase at our Online Store. Remember, Valentine's Day is fast approaching, and we deliver on campus!

Mark Your Calendars for Fifth Form Parents' College Counseling Weekend: The Fifth Form Parents' Weekend will take place February 18th and 19th. This year we are very pleased that Marilee Jones, Dean of Admissions at MIT will speak at 7:30 pm on Friday night in the auditorium. Parents of all students are invited to attend this talk. Ms. Jones is a terrific speaker and has a very thought-provoking and well-respected message about the college admission process. On Saturday morning, Ann Fleming Brown, Associate Director of Admissions at Union College, will be the featured speaker. The Saturday program will be more specifically geared to Fifth Form students and parents as they begin the college search process. The program will address the mechanics of the college counseling process at Portsmouth Abbey School as well as the more general nature of college admissions picture on the national level. Visit the College Counseling pages on the School Website for further information on this and other information on this department.

First Match for Girls' Squash Team: It was an historic day this month when the Varsity Girls' Squash team played their first match on January 8th, against Moses Brown, at home in the new Dom Bede Gorman Squash Center. Leah Dembinski '05 won her match 2-9, 9-4, 5-9, 9-5, 9-5, the first win for the team. Although the team as a whole did not emerge victorious, the girls played strongly showing promise for the remainder of the season. Follow this and all other athletic teams on the Athletics Pages of our School Website.

New Weekly Email for Parents: In an effort to help Portsmouth Abbey parents keep abreast of the activities and events in the lives of their teens, the Parents' Committee, with the help of Office of Development & Alumni Affairs, has started sending a weekly email to parents, highlighting some of the week's happenings on campus. Through this weekly email, coordinated by Karen Chiumento P'07, we hope to help parents stay abreast of student life including athletic highlights, upcoming school events, spiritual life and dorm activities as well as giving them a "heads up" on regional events and Parents' Committee news. Parental feedback is greatly encouraged as we endeavor to continually improve communication between parents, students and the school. If you would like to be on this e-mail list, offer suggestions or submit information you can contact Sarah K. McDonough, Development Officer for Parent and Alumni Programs at (401) 643 1276 or smcdonough@portsmouthabbey.org.
 
Athletic Milestones Being Reached by Portsmouth Abbey Students: Recently, there has been exciting breaking news about Portsmouth Abbey athletes and teams. Amanda McDonnell '05, a co-captain of the Girls' Varsity Ice Hockey team, is just 3 points away from entering the coveted 100 point club of the Portsmouth Abbey Ice Hockey Program. AJ Beaulieu '05, a shooting guard and tri-captain of the Boys' Varsity Basketball team, is the third member of the School's 1,000-Points Club. AJ scored his 1,000th point during the Ravens' win against New England Christian Academy in December 2004. Follow Amanda's progress and keep up with all of our teams on the Athletics Pages of our Website.

Intercollegiate Athletes, and School Record Breakers - Let Us Know!: Are you a Portsmouth Abbey School alum who is now playing intercollegiate sports? If so, please let us know so that we can up-date your record, follow your progress, and boast about you to our current students. Also if you, or any of your classmates, were record breakers in any sport while at Portsmouth Abbey School, help us to compile archives of all these records set and broken. Please email communications@portsmouthabbey.org with any information you can gve us.

Watch Your Mailboxes for the Winter 2005 Bulletin: The next Bulletin focuses on Writing at Portsmouth Abbey School, and features submissions from many of our alumni authors. Look out also for the regular features: News of Note, Class Notes, a Faculty Profile on Science teacher Robert Sahms, meet the new faculty on campus this year, and much, much more. The Bulletin should be in your mailboxes before the next Musings, so don’t forget to let us know what you think at communications@portsmouthabbey.org.

Fundraiser for Tsunami Survivors: Having just raised $5,500 for the Clothe-a-Child program, the students and faculty raised over $2,100 for the UNICEF Tsunami Relief Fund. This was spearheaded by the Student Council and Chantra Pimolwatana '07. She has family in Thailand and spoke at a School assembly about the devastation in that country and others in the region. The School had a Dress Down day and a bake sale right after vacation.

Warm Reception on the West Coast: While New Englanders were suffering through sub-freezing weather, Headmaster Jim De Vecchi, his wife, Deb, and other administrators were on the West Coast attending receptions for friends of the school. Last Sunday, the La Jolla Reception hosted by Eric Tassell '86 and David Cantin '86 was held at a beautiful spot overlooking the cove at La Jolla. A number of alumni, their spouses and a handful of prospective parents were in attendance for an exquisite brunch. We saw the Deans, Ralph Verlohr, the D'Arrigos and more. Two nights later in Los Angeles the Kuypers, Jon '85 and his parents Peter and Christine, as well as Bing '87 and Angela Howenstein, hosted a beautiful reception at Los Angeles' famed California Club. The spectacular building, designed by architect Robert David Farquhar and completed in 1930, was the perfect spot for Portsmouth Abbey's LA stalwarts to congregate. Names like Farley, Metz, Howland, Collins, Koehlzer, De Vecchi, Spizzirri and even Michael McDonnell '70 came. Portsmouth producers, writers, actors and directors abound in LA. A couple of nights later, the Portsmouth Abbey School team arrived in San Francisco, where a number of alumni gathered at Palio D'Asti in the financial district to enjoy some great hors d'oeuvres and news of the School with Jim and Deb De Vecchi as well as hosts Jim Sturdevant '65 and Therese Lawless, and Brian '84 and Jill Hetherington. Those present spanned the classes of 1955 to 1998 which made for great conversation and reminiscing among all those present. For news of other alumni events coming to your area, check out the Alumni and Parent Community Online.

Look Out For an Alumni Reception in Your Area: The Office of Development and Alumni Affairs is planning receptions in Florida, on March 6-11, 2005 (specific times and locations TBA), and in Washington, D.C. on April 21st, 2005 at the Metropolitan Club. For more information on these and other events, call Sarah McDonough on 401.643.1276, visit the Alumni and Parent Community Online, or simply rsvp using our Online Registration Tool.

Answer to the December Musings Question: "Who ‘is’ the regular Santa Claus at the School Christmas Assembly, and how many times has this person played the role?"
Clifford Hobbins has been the Portsmouth Abbey School Santa Claus for approximately twenty years. The first six or seven years, he had a smaller audience, in every way, as he only appeared before the young faculty children. He was later promoted to Assembly Santa Claus, for the whole School, and has been 'ho ho ho'-ing to a delighted audience ever since!

The January Question of the Month: The 50 Yard Freestyle School Swimming record was recently broken by Mike Reilly '07, with a time of 23.12. When was the previous record set, and by whom? 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