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 Receives Two Technology Grants: Portsmouth Abbey School has received two grants from foundations that support secondary schools. The first, from the E.E. Ford Foundation of Towson, MD, is a $50,000 grant directed toward faculty support for technology training. The grant has a 3:1 matching component. The matching dollars will be used to purchase equipment such as smart boards and overhead projectors for the classrooms and the balance of the funds will seed Portsmouth Abbey School's first endowed fund dedicated to ongoing faculty support in technology. The second grant from the Benedict Foundation for Independent Schools of Vero Beach, FL is in the amount of $15,000. This grant will allow our Science Department to purchase laptop computers to be used by students for lab work. This grant has a 2:1 matching challenge and these funds will also be invested in future technology training for our faculty. For further information regarding the two grants, please contact Senior Development Officer Tony Manory at (401) 643-1244 or tmanory@portsmouthabbey.org. For all information on School development activity, visit the Alumni & Parents section of the Website.

Presidents Come to Carnegie Abbey: Former Presidents of the United States, George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton spoke at Carnegie Abbey for the Club's World Leadership Guest Series. The year long series includes leaders from around the globe who have been invited to discuss world events with Club members and guests. Many Portsmouth Abbey School students and faculty were invited to hear the two men speak of their political careers, life after the White House, and the state of their golf game. Some of the faculty and students who attended also asked questions of the visiting Presidents. For information on other events at the School, visit the Events section of our Website.

A Big Thank You From the Development Office: Portsmouth Abbey School thanks the hundreds of alumni, parents, and friends whose philanthropic participation helped the School reach its milestone million dollar Annual Fund goal. Your generosity is vital to every moment in the classroom, every lesson learned on the athletic field and stage, and every friendship built in our student Houses. Each year, your generous participation ensures the continuation of Portsmouth Abbey School's unique campus atmosphere and reaffirms your singular role in the Portsmouth Abbey community. On behalf of every student, teacher and monk, thank you. Special thanks to the class agents, the reunion fundraisers, the parent and phonathon volunteers, and the leadership giving committee whose dedication made this year a tremendous success. Visit the Alumni Giving Pages of our Website for more information, or donate on-line.

Reunion 2005 Invitations are out: If you are a member of a class ending in 0 or 5, or in the Class of 1954 and older, your reunion year is here, and your invitation should be on your mantle. Send in your reply card today, or respond online using our Event Registration Webpage. Also, visit the Website for accommodation and schedule information. Are you an alumni artist celebrating a reunion this year? If so we would like to include a sample of your work in the alumni art show in the McEvoy Gallery during Reunion Weekend. For more information on having your work included, or any other questions regarding Reunion, please contact Sarah McDonough at (401) 643-1276 or smcdonough@portsmouthabbey.org.

Summer Brings New Look to Campus: Visitors and community members will find wonderful enhancements to the lower portion of campus when returning to School this fall. The roadway from the Manor House to the gymnasium has been widened and repaved. Parking spaces have been added and more clearly identified for Admissions Office visitors and faculty residents of St. Mary's and St. Benet's Houses. Additionally, a vehicle turnaround has been installed directly across from the McGuire Arts Center. This feature will greatly improve traffic flow on the campus' lower road and will facilitate the arrival and departure of athletic teams. Capping the project is the construction of a new park space on the former site of two tennis courts between the McGuire Art Center and the former student center. The green space will include a fountain and provide a wonderful area for outdoor activities on the lower campus. This work, made possible through the generosity of an alumnus, is part of Portsmouth's ongoing efforts to provide thoughtful campus stewardship. Check out the construction photos in the Photo Galleries on our Website.

Golf Tournament: We are gearing up for the 5th Annual Scholarship Golf Tournament at Carnegie Abbey on Friday, October 14th. In the four years that golfers have gathered to swing their clubs in aid of the Portsmouth Abbey School Scholarship Fund, the tournament has raised a cumulative sum of nearly $85,000, $25,000 of which was raised at last year's tournament. With the inclusion of corporate sponsors for this year's tournament we are well on our way to exceeding last year's results. To find out more about becoming a corporate sponsor for this high profile and worthwhile event please go to Golf Tournament Sponsorship on our website or contact Sarah McDonough at smcdonough@portsmouthabbey.org or 401.643.1276 . Register online today for The 5th Annual Scholarship Golf Tournament, as numbers are limited.

Robert Sahms Finishes his Tenure as Director of Summer School: Robert's final year as Director of Summer School was a typically busy and fun one. This summer, out of the 72 students who attended, 17 had been here a previous summer. For one boy from Spain, this was his fourth summer, and for two other students, this was their third summer. Returning students are an indication of the good health of the program. Thirteen of our students were children of alumni. Part of the mission of the school is summed up in the themes for the past three summers. "Be kind" (2003) and "We are family" (2004) were the mottos used in the past. For Summer 2005 the theme was "nice attitude" taken from Philippians 2:5. It says, "Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus." Robert said "This was a wonderful way for me to end my term as Director of Summer School. I had the privilege of working with a fantastic group of faculty and a wonderful collection of kids from all over the world. Besides the book learning, we hope we sent the kids home with a ‘nice attitude'. We tried to point to Jesus as our role model for our attitude. Summer School is in good shape. I wish Michael Bonin the best as he takes over the helm, and I hope he continues the theme idea for Summer School. I will patiently wait for the unveiling of the theme for Summer 2006." For photos of Summer School 2005 go to the online Photo Galleries. For further information on these, and all other, faculty members, please visit our Faculty Directory online.

Back to the Bookstore: Visit the School Bookstore online today for all of your Back-to-School shopping needs. Choose from three beautifully presented gift ideas, containing all of the Portsmouth Abbey School necesseties for your returning student. Or create your own. Either way, order today to make sure we have your complete order ready for the opening of School. Please e-mail marruda@portsmouthabbey.org with any questions.

Calendar of Events: The upcoming school year promises to be a busy one for the Office of Development and Alumni Affairs, with networking receptions scheduled across the country. The most immediate of these are close to home, starting with a Current Parent Reception on Wednesday, September 14th at the New York home of Paul and Tracy Taylor P '08. This is closely followed by the Providence Reception on Tuesday, September 27th hosted by Scott and Cyndi Nebergall P '06 and Hugh '90 and Colleen O'Donnell at The Westin, Providence. Check the Parents and Alumni Events Calendar regularly for more information on these and other upcoming September, October and November events on campus and in the following cities: Annapolis, Philadelphia, LA, San Francisco, DC, NYC, Boston, Portland, ME and Manchester, NH. To RSVP, to any Portsmouth Abbey School event please go to online Event Registration. We hope to see you soon!

The Summer Bulletin is On Its Way to You: Watch your mailboxes in the next couple of weeks for the arrival of the Summer Bulletin. Read about our faculty and students from around the world who are at Portsmouth Abbey School today - how they came to be here, and how they are made welcome through international campus activities. Along with the regular Class Notes, News of Note, Book Review, and Point of View features, this is a Bulletin with a global perspective. As always, the Communications Office would love to hear from you about this, or any other, Bulletin. Please contact us at anytime at communications@portsmouthabbey.org.

School Welcomes New Assistant Director of College Counseling: Erica Schratzmeier is our new Assistant Director of College Counseling. She has come to us from Fordham University, where she worked in the Undergraduate Admission office for over 5 years. She has worked with students from all over the United States including Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska, as well as the Bronx and Westchester Counties in New York State. She has also advised the Rose Hill Society, Fordham's Student Ambassador program, and has worked with many community-based organizations interested in visiting Fordham's Rose Hill Campus. At Fordham, she started a "Senior Interviewer Program", where she trained current Fordham seniors to interview prospective students for admission. Erica graduated from Fordham University in 1999 with a B.S. in Psychology and a minor in Spanish Studies. She looks forward to continuing to work with high school students, learning more about Portsmouth Abbey, and helping students find a college that is the right fit for them. To see a complete list of faculty, please visit the online Faculty Directory.

Answer to the May Musings Question: "When was the last time that Portsmouth Abbey School Athletics won six league titles in one season?"
Until this spring, Portsmouth Abbey School had never won six league titles in one season!

The Summer Question: How many Portsmouth Abbey School alumni are now on the faculty here? 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