12.30.2010 New Year Message from Headmaster, Randy Richardson
In addition to sending out a Happy Holidays greeting from a beautifully snowy Oliverian campus, I want to share some of our good news. As our first semester draws to a close, we have a wonderful and expanding student body. I am happy to report that we have nine new students joining us on January 3rd, and more applicants who are interested in joining us for our second semester which starts on February 14th.
We are pleased to welcome students during the year because our mission drives us to support students who may have struggled in other school settings. With this in mind, it is not surprising that some of our most successful students have come to Oliverian during the school year, perhaps because they even more fully understand their need for our unique school. We are pleased that our clear outreach about our philosophy, program, and the kinds of students we best serve seems to be helping students and their families in the selection process.
Often with the help of consultants, families are coming to us with a better sense of Oliverian as a school determined to provide a balance between the best of two educational alternatives. While these alternatives are right for many students, we believe our students need the best of both worlds. They need some of the expectations, freedoms, and responsibilities of a traditional boarding school balanced with the small community and support offered by a more therapeutic school. While we are committed to structure and support for our students, we believe that too many restrictions and too much structure will slow their development toward becoming more independent and college-ready adults.
Virtually all of our graduates will be ready to move straight to college and greater independence because we have provided the right combination of structure and freedom, challenge and support. While the guidance of faculty advisors and counselors is essential, the opportunities for independent decisions and all of the learning that comes from the related successes and failures play a vital role at Oliverian. We believe that providing the right balance to help provide these opportunities, and striving to find the right balance for each student are arguably the most important gifts of an Oliverian education.
We look forward to welcoming a fascinating mix of new students to Oliverian in the new year, and we are likely to open an additional dormitory this year as we continue to find students who are the right match. We are also accepting applications for our exciting 2011 Summer Session, as well as the 2011-2012 school year.
Thank you for all of your support in 2010, and we look forward to a great 2011.
Warmly, Randy Richardson Headmaster
12.27.2010 End of Year Giving
For many donors, the calendar year-end is a traditional time to make gifts to their favorite charities. Your late-December gift to The Oliverian School opens doors to endless possibilities for our current students and their teachers - and may also yield a tax savings for you.
Here are a few important tips for calendar year-end gifts to Oliverian:
Online: Make a gift now and check it off your to-do list! Otherwise, you will have to remember to make your credit card gift BEFORE 1:00 p.m. (Eastern Time) on December 31.
Telephone: If for some reason you are unable to make your credit card gift online, please call Carl Lovejoy in the Office of External Affairs at 603-989-5368 (ext. 7101) before 5:00 p.m. (Eastern Time) on December 30. The office will be closed on December 31.
Mail: If you are making a gift to Oliverian by check, and for tax purposes you want your contribution to count for the current calendar year, your envelope must be postmarked by December 31. Please be aware that for mailed credit card gifts, the legal gift date is the date the charge is posted to your account, rather than a postmark date. We recommend that mailed credit card gifts be mailed TODAY.
Best wishes for a happy and healthy 2011.
12.22.2010 Discussion Club
Led by humanities teacher, Kara Kliesing, Discussion Club meets on a weekly basis to cultivate conversations that explore “big picture” questions. At a recent meeting, Adam Unger ’11 (Beverly Hills, CA) prepared a delicious steak dinner, and Sam Schwartz and Will Regnell opened the meeting by contributing original music and artwork.
Recent topics have been: What is morality? How do I decide what is "good"? What is toleration? Should we tolerate intolerant people? What is education? What should it be? Is self-reflection important or indulgent? Where do gender roles come from, how do they affect our actions/thoughts, and how do we overcome them? Nature or nurture? How do we develop an identity, and what influences that process? How do these influences manifest themselves in our daily lives?
12.20.2010 Donation to the School
Lenora Ellison ‘13 (Belmont, MA), poses with the School’s new loom – generously donated to the Art Department by Ms. Marilyn Cohodas, mother of Rebecca Nolan ’09. Interested in reading more about how you might support the School in a similar fashion? Visit the Oliverian Wish List
, or contact Carl Lovejoy, Director of External Affairs, at clovejoy@oliverianschool.org
or 603-989-5368.
12.14.2010 School Connections Workshop
Carl Lovejoy, Oliverian’s Director of External Affairs, recently attended the School Connections Workshop in Miami – the third such event in which Oliverian has participated this fall. Earlier School Connections Workshops, attended by Oliverian’s Director of Admissions, Barclay Mackinnon, were held in Baltimore and San Francisco and were attended by educational consultants based primarily in the United States. The Miami Workshop, however, was specifically for international educational consultants and student placement agencies. Each Workshop gives school representatives the opportunity to spend a brief, albeit quality, period of time with interested consultants over the course of a frenetic two day schedule. At the Miami Workshop, Carl was able to introduce Oliverian to almost 30 consultants from more than 16 countries – an efficient and cost-effective way to increase the School’s global outreach.
12.10.2010 Visit to The School
Douglas Cummings, Executive Director of
Independent Schools Association of Northern New England (ISANNE) visits Oliverian. Pictured left to right are Barclay Mackinnon, Oliverian Head Emeritus/Director of Admissions, Doug Cummings, Executive Director of ISANNE, and Randy Richardson, Oliverian Headmaster.
12.08.2010 Annual Fund Appeal
Dear Friends:
In the next week or two, you will be receiving The Oliverian School’s 2009-2010 Annual Report in the mail. As you will read, we enjoyed a record setting fund year – a statement that few schools can make! It is quite evident that parents, alumni and other friends of the School are pleased with the work being done here on campus, and want to make sure that Oliverian remains a vibrant, supportive option for students in the future. With all charities working aggressively to earn donor support, we are humbled by the fact that so many individuals chose to direct their giving towards Oliverian. We simply cannot thank last year’s donors enough for making the 2009-2010 fund year the incredibly successful one that it was!
Now it is time to turn our attention to the 2010-2011 fund year. As a relatively new, tuition driven school, if we were to depend on tuition dollars alone, Oliverian’s future would not be nearly as bright. Tuitions alone do not fully support the School’s budget, so we look to our parents, both current and past, as well as our alumni, trustees, and other friends of Oliverian for donations to support the current operations of the School. While the goal of the 2010-2011 Annual Fund at $105,000 is a lofty one - particularly in this challenging economic climate, please be mindful of the fact that your additional generous support of Oliverian goes far to enhance the day-to-day life here in Pike. Many of the activities offered at the School this year, such as the equestrian program and our photography class, just to name two, are the direct result of the thoughtful additional support of our donors, and have had an immediate impact on the Oliverian experience for students and faculty alike.
The 2010-2011 fund year ends on June 30, 2011, but our hope is that you will consider a tax-deductible (Oliverian is a registered 501 (c) (3) charity) gift or pledge in support of The Oliverian School today. Making a gift to the School has never been easier, and you may do so by visiting our Giving page on the Oliverian website (www.oliverianschool.org). While on the website, you may find it interesting to read about the many ways in which you may support the School. If for any reason you would prefer not to make an online gift, you may call the Oliverian Business Office at 603-989-5100 (ext. 7014) and speak to Janice Hatch about making an Annual Fund contribution with a credit card or, you may, of course, send a check made payable to The Oliverian School.
The Oliverian students and faculty join me in thanking you, in advance, for your generous support of the Annual Fund. We appreciate all that you do for the School, and we look forward to hearing from you soon.
Sincerely,
Carl J. Lovejoy
Director of External Affairs
12.01.2010 Fall Firewood Drive 2010
The entire Oliverian community gathered together to support local families in need of heating assistance through the Fall Firewood Drive 2010. Throughout the year, students and faculty chopped, split, and stacked wood in preparation for this daylong event. Jesse Mohr, Director of Stewardship, worked closely with the Haverhill Welfare Assistance Department to identify families in need of heating assistance. After a long day of hearty physical activity, students were eager to offer support to local families in their community.
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The Oliverian School admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national and ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarships and loan programs, and athletic and other school-administered programs.
Oliverian School • PO Box 98 • Haverhill, NH 03765 • 603.989.5100 • info@oliverianschool.org An Alternative College-Preparatory Private Boarding School located in picturesque New Hampshire
