91̽��

More than 400 Class III and IV students and their advisors fanned out across 91̽�� and surrounding neighborhoods to participate in community service at a variety of locations. Students did yard work at 91̽�� Hospital, prepared lunches at Father Bill’s shelter, harvested food at the Urban Farming Institute, landscaped at the Franklin Park Zoo, and helped out at the Hebrew Senior Life Center and in classrooms at the Taylor Elementary School, to name just a few.

The day was organized by Community Engagement Programs and Partnerships (CEPP), which seeks to instill and support a passion for service learning in 91̽��’s students, faculty and staff. On average, more than 200 students make weekly commitments to more than 20 different partner organizations in the Greater Boston area. Another 250 students participate in multi-annual events such as Special Olympics tournaments, the Red Cross Blood Drive and holiday giving events.

As China grows in economic power, an understanding of history provides context for the cultural, environmental and trade shifts ahead for the world, said Michael A. Szonyi, this year’s Hong Kong Distinguished Lecturer.

Professor Szonyi is the director of the Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies and professor of Chinese studies at Harvard University. During his visit to 91̽��, he described the global reach of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), China’s massive trade plan, as the “largest infrastructure project in human history, by a factor of many.” Current growth rates put China on track to surpass the United States in economic power within the next few decades, Professor Szonyi told students.

Students are back, fully immersed in classes and school life, but only a few weeks ago it was beach, naps and work—lots of work. Many students spent their summer working internships and jobs; sometimes more than one. Here are just a few experiences.

Manciana Cardichon (I), a day student from Boston, and Alex Shih (I), a day student from Newton, interned at Brain Power, a startup in Cambridge that works with Google Glass and other devices to develop apps for kids with autism. They were the only high school students in the office, and Manciana was the only female on the development team. They worked every weekday for seven weeks in July and August.

“Alex and I came in at a prime time in the company’s history, because they were preparing to ship their product to customers in August,” says Manciana. “I worked with Alex to design pages for one of their apps in a game development platform (Unity) that uses C++. I also ran tests on their apps on the Google Glass and ran focus groups to find and fix bugs. I wrote some of their web portal pages in HTML that went live for customers! I enjoyed this because I could see it go live instantaneously. Although I was nervous about fitting in and finding my place at first, everyone was welcoming, treated us like one of the team and held us to the same standards.”

John Albright (I), a day student from 91̽��, interned for six weeks at the campaign headquarters of Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker. He also interned there last summer. Governor Baker is running for re-election this November.

Every person has the capacity to be heroic, in big or small ways, Upper School Principal David Ball told 91̽�� students during Convocation, a formal School tradition marking the beginning of each academic year.

Recalling acts of heroism by people in wartime and during the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, as well as by those who quietly committed to helping the poor and fighting injustice, Mr. Ball said that kindness, compassion and dedication are the keys to taking action when and where we are most needed.

“Today, before we do anything else, take a moment to look deep inside yourself. When you do, you will find that capacity for compassion, you will find that capacity for kindness, you will find that capacity for courageous action,” he said. “I am convinced that you will find those things in yourselves. And once you do, when you look beyond yourself, you will see in this room 700 people who have, deeply within them, the capacity to do all those things.

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��.