Service yields more than the predictable rewards
At Milton, community service is a choice, not a requirement. Students say this makes the commitment more meaningful. Every week more than 250 students use their free periods to volunteer in over 30 different organizations in the Greater Boston area. Students travel in small groups to tutor in local schools and centers, visit elderly in assisted living homes, and work with disabled children and adults. Some students return to the same placement year after year. We spoke to six of these students about their experiences—the challenges, the...
read moreNew Evalutation Dynamics Get Results: K–8 Early Adopters React
Public debate about how to evaluate teachers still fuels talk shows, opinion blogs and cocktail parties. Perhaps the nationwide discussion is passionate because a teacher’s competence and skill affect student outcomes more powerfully than any other factor. Milton’s Strategic Plan prioritizes student experience, and that leads directly to building a top-notch community of educators. We depend upon teachers who are in touch with each other and the world, their disciplines, and up-to-date, effective practices. The Strategic Plan builds on...
read moreBoys’ Basketball Team Ended 2012–13 as League Champions
Milton fans burst into exuberant celebration as the boys’ varsity basketball team earned the Independent School League Championship title in a 54–53 win over Noble and Greenough. At the final buzzer, students rushed the court as players celebrated their victory, the first league championship in the team’s history. Both teams had strong records going into the game on Friday night, and Nobles led in scoring for most of the game. In the final 15 seconds, Milton had possession of the ball and was down by one point when Coach Lamar Reddicks...
read moreNational Recognition for Student-Writer Victoria White
The wall on Victoria White’s (I) side of her room in Hathaway House is covered in not-your-average-teenage-girl décor. “I have a big bulletin board where I collect poems that I like,” says Victoria. “I think I might drive my roommates crazy, because they have all these cool posters and I have a big wall of text!” Always a strong writer at Milton, Victoria is being recognized nationally through numerous awards and accolades this year. She was one of 150 high school students chosen as a YoungArts National Finalist, where students are...
read moreIndu Chugani: A New Dean, Set to Realize a Strategic Goal
Indu Chugani, Milton’s dean of teaching and learning, has been busy on campus since July 1, and was happy to meet faculty and students when everyone returned to campus. Indu’s role is new to Milton. The heart of her job, Indu says, is “working with faculty on identifying teaching practices that will allow every Milton student to realize his or her full potential.” The position description says that the dean of teaching and learning “oversees the professional growth of the faculty.” Indu describes that as “constantly reviewing and...
read moreMilton Joins in Leading the Trend Toward Educational Partnerships
“This is good news. This is good news for everyone, for all children,” Todd Bland said at the launch this year of the National Network of Schools in Partnership (NNSP) at the National Association of Independent Schools annual conference in February. NNSP promotes and supports educational partnerships to develop, test and share cross-school innovations that affect the educational experience of children in all settings. More than 250 independent school educational leaders attended, and heard Maureen Dowling, director of the Office of...
read moreBeloved “Coach Mac” Inducted into Massachusetts Coaches Hall of Fame
Milton Academy’s head football coach for the past 17 years, Kevin MacDonald—or “Coach Mac”—says his work with his players off the field brings him the most joy. “I love being involved with the players’ college process,” says Kevin. “Nothing makes me happier than the number of students we send on to play college football.” During his tenure—with a record of 87–43–3—roughly 100 Milton players have gone on to play college football, 19 at the Division I level. Nick Bland ’13, a team captain in 2012, is playing for...
read moreMilton Scientists Share Their Culminating Work
Advanced science students were also advanced communicators at Milton’s Third Annual Science Symposium in the Pritzker Science Center. For students enrolled in advanced biology, chemistry, physics and environmental science, discussing independent projects that they’ve pursued over the last several weeks of the second semester is their culminating work. Milton science faculty invited Caleb Warren ’13 and Lydia Emerson ’13 to be the symposium’s keynote speakers. Caleb and Lydia framed the event by sharing their experiences of doing...
read moreCommencement Speaker 2013
Jenny Slate, Milton Class of 2000, was a student speaker at her own graduation, on this stage 13 years ago. On the eve of that graduation, Jim Connolly, Jenny Slate’s advisor during her years in the Upper School, made a grand pronouncement, he wrote, “Your youth is but a prelude to the greatness that awaits you.” In fact, Mr. Connolly had a great sense of where her talent might land her. “In my nightmares,” he wrote, “I see you doing a ‘Saturday Night Live’ impression of [me] and I cringe.” An actress and comedienne, Jenny...
read more