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While oftentimes it seems like a mad dash to the end of the academic year, the very, merry month of May brought many, merry accomplishments to Roland Park Country School.
Several of our seniors were honored for academic achievement on the national stage including a National Merit Scholarship winner, a Morehead Cain Scholar at UNC - the country’s oldest and most prestigious award, a Monroe Scholar at the College of William & Mary and a Banneker-Key Scholar at the University of Maryland. Seniors have made their college selections, some making very difficult decisions amongst the most highly selective colleges and universities in the country such as Stanford, Princeton, University of Chicago, Johns Hopkins and Williams.
May brings athletic play offs and championship contests. The Varsity Golf Team and Badminton Team were IAAM A Conference champions. Golf has earned this title for the 5th year in a row! Varsity Lacrosse earned a championship berth, and although they lost in a very well-played game by one goal, the contest was a tribute to their skill and teamwork. I couldn’t have been more proud of them – they are champions in my heart! This following quote comes from an e-mail I received after the championship game and says perfectly what makes our varsity lacrosse team so outstanding: They played with incredible heart, never giving up, the entire game, start to finish. The skill level was amazing to me, but it was their tenacity that I have been thinking about!
In May, visual artists, singers, dancers and actors in each Division showcased their talents and hard work while also signaling that the academic year is officially coming to a close! I look forward to the culmination of the school year – Commencement on June 7. I am especially pleased, yet a bit nostalgic, that our Commencement speaker will be our newest Honorary Alumna, Joan Smith who will retire this summer as our Upper School Head. I will miss Joan personally and professionally, and I am deeply grateful for her service to RPCS over the past 18 years.
The Red Hot Run 5K and Family Fun Walk brought many families and members of the greater Baltimore community to the RPCS campus on a beautiful and sunny Sunday morning in May. I hope that those of you who ran or walked had a great time getting to know the Roland Park neighborhood and celebrating with classmates and friends on our campus. It was a wonderful friend raiser and we want to thank Charm City Run for organizing our event. It was also wonderful to hear the cheers from neighbors who came out on their porches to root on both runners and walkers!
I saw a quote recently that made me think of our students and especially our seniors, “Children are always the only future the human race has; teach them well.” I hope you know that each May I host several breakfast meetings with small groups of seniors in what I fondly refer to as “exit” interviews. Their personal observations about their years spent at RPCS are thoughtful and poignant. Each year seniors invariably comment on the welcoming atmosphere at RPCS and the many ways that the School supports them and they, in turn, support each other. Seniors also comment about the quality of the faculty, noting that the teachers truly care about them while they also challenge and stretch them intellectually – just what I would hope a School that is dedicated to academic excellence would do! The faculty at RPCS takes great pride in building confident and independent young women, well prepared for the demands of college, who venture beyond our walls to become leaders in their communities.
I hope to see you on campus between now and June 7th for our end-of-year celebrations! Have a wonderful and restful summer vacation.
~J.W.B.