Winter Greetings from Dr. Zaccara

Dear Vermont Academy Alumni,
 
As I write, the wind is whistling around Fuller Hall, and it sounds like a scene out of Dr. Zhivago. This is our last week of school before Winter Break, and we are all walking around with glowing faces and red cheeks in the cold morning air, and with a sense of excitement about our upcoming holiday plans.
In the year and a half since I arrived at Vermont Academy, I have done a lot of listening, researching, and writing to get at the core of what makes our school distinct, and where we can carve out a niche in the ever-competitive world of New England boarding schools. We are a school with current students and graduates who seem to gravitate toward entrepreneurship, different modes of engineering, business development, innovative ideas, and technical expertise. That technical expertise includes design, the arts, and sciences. Thanks to a Saxtons River neighbor’s donation, we now have a maker space at 26 Main Street in Saxtons River, where we have rented space for Vermont Academy. It is good to have a sign and flag on Main Street and an operational after-school program in robotics for public and private school students taught by our teachers and students. This space brings together the community and our areas of expertise in such a wonderful way. I hope you will come see it.

This is an important moment in the school’s life when we are striving to take the lead in 21st century technologies, global and local partnerships, and a science and design-based footprint for our future academic plans. Our alumni are at the heart of these plans, which is why we are beginning to put together a networking group for alumni who own his or her own business. If you would like to participate or find out more information, please send your updated contact and business information - and any questions - to alumnus Peter Flatow ’62 at peterjf@outlook.com. I also want to encourage you to follow VA on LinkedIn and Facebook. We want to connect with you – and hear from you!

And last but not least, please consider making a gift to this year’s Annual Fund. Your gifts to our annual fund will support our beloved school, allowing us to continue time-honored traditions that trace back to our early days, while also forging ahead with innovative new ideas and programming for our students and faculty. We are also committed to refurbishing our beautiful but aging original campus buildings through our fundraising efforts (more to come). We are working deliberately and with a plan to take care of our buildings, grounds, and forest. A head of school nearby (and a competitor, no less) shared with me that “no one has student support like Vermont Academy and no one has a more beautiful campus.” I agree.

Happy Holidays to all of our community at Vermont Academy! I wish you and your families a wonderful New Year – and hope that you will come see us, either on campus or at one of our regional events, in 2019!

Warm Regards,

Jennifer
 
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Vermont Academy is a coed college preparatory boarding and day school in southern Vermont, serving grades 9-12 plus a postgraduate year.