91̽��

91̽��’s programming for new students and parents begins on Tuesday, September 4. Opening of school activities are designed to help families start to form an understanding of the community we strive to build, the many people who make up our community, the partnerships and the individual contributions we all make to help form this dynamic learning environment. We know that while new students are surrounded by welcoming faces, they are making their way over unfamiliar terrain.

Our programs in the opening days are geared toward helping everyone get acclimated—to feel confident about who and where they are. These programs are designed by in-house experts—our own faculty and students—who know what being new to 91̽�� feels like and what experiences will be helpful in those first few days. Each person at our School contributes to the 91̽�� environment in big and small ways every day.

For the opening of school schedule, visit the opening of school calendar. Links to your child’s opening of school schedule will also be posted in your my91̽�� account.

Twenty-one Upper School students traveled to New Mexico with the Community Engagement Program this summer, where they visited Navajo Nation and participated in service projects including working at a local food bank and doing repair work at their host mission, as well as at elders’ homes.

This was the School’s first service trip to New Mexico. The students stayed at the Elim Haven Mission and divided their time between local service opportunities and the Summer Youth Organization, a nonprofit camp co-founded by 91̽�� alumna Claire Opel ’06.

Beginning in May, Class I students went “on project,” spending the weeks before graduation exploring scientific questions, cultural practices, community engagement, career possibilities and artistic endeavors about which they are passionate.

“Senior Projects are an exciting way for students to really explore their passions and interests, or to learn something entirely new,” says Academic Dean Jackie Bonenfant. Often, seniors reveal interests that they hadn’t had the chance to display during their time at 91̽��.

Numerous 91̽�� students were recognized for their short stories and poetry this year. Senior Jessica Wang’s short story “Child from the Stars” will be published in Hyphen magazine. Founded in 2002, Hyphen is a nonprofit news and culture magazine that tells the stories of Asian America. Jessica began writing the story at the end of her junior year in her creative writing class. She continued working on it over the summer at the Iowa Young Writers’ Studio.

Qualifying among the country’s most competitive math students, Lawrence Kim (IV) recently represented 91̽�� in the highly selective United States of America Junior Mathematics Olympiad (USAJMO).

Lawrence qualified for the USAJMO by scoring high in a series of math competitions. He then sat for the nine-hour USAJMO over a two-day period, where he competed against fewer than 250 other students from the United States and Canada. The test consisted of six questions, for which Lawrence had to present essay-style mathematical arguments, and required him to work in a testing room away from all electronics and outside influences.