Dear Families and Friends of Northwood School,
As I and all Northwood’s faculty and staff prepare for the opening of school this fall, we have many reasons to be grateful and many people to thank for last year’s success despite the specter of Covid. First, I would note that our students were not merely cooperative with the restrictions the pandemic necessitated but displayed impressive reserves of thoughtfulness and good spirits that speak to their character. Parents were patient as we made difficult decisions, always with the student's health as our top priority. The faculty put substantial effort into giving all students (in-person, synchronous, asynchronous), the most engaging and personalized education possible. The kitchen, maintenance, office staff cheerfully handled the extra work our response to special circumstances entailed. We have many reasons also to be excited about forward progress we have made this summer. The faculty, our co-curricular leaders, our admissions and advancement offices have all committed to the enhancement of their missions; new teachers, coaches, and support staff bring tremendous skill sets and experience.
Our admissions office finished the year with new leadership when Gino Riffle was named director. In a year in which much contact with applicants was on Zoom rather than in-person, we managed to hit our enrollment target: 183 students will be attending - 144 boarders, 39-day students. About a quarter of our students are international, hailing from 19 countries and four continents.
One major change in the campus is underway if slightly behind schedule. The new turf soccer field now looks to have a mid-late October completion date. The field will offer our teams a much-improved venue for their practices and games. The school expresses much gratitude to the donors who made this possible.
Another office with new leadership and personnel is the advancement office. It will be headed by Pete Ticconi, whose former stints as top gifts officer include Williams, John Hopkins, and Georgia Tech. He will be joined by faculty members Tom Broderick as head of the annual fund, Steve Reed as head of alumni relations, Diane Scholl as events coordinator, and Stephanie Gates as executive assistant. I will continue to work closely with Pete to oversee capital gifts and planned giving. As the school moves into the future, making the improvements necessary to offer the best education and living environment for our students will be contingent upon the generosity of our alumni, parents, and other friends of the school.
For over a century, Northwood’s Adirondack setting has provided its students with some of their most memorable experiences. For many years these activities were the province of NOC, the Northwood Outing Club. Eventually, the name lost currency, though the activities continued under the able leadership of recently retired Don Mellor. This year we have re-established the old name and entrusted the guidance of these activities to a new leader - Bobby O’Connor, who will be assisted by Mr. Mellor. The NOC co-curricular will include a myriad of options: climbing, backcountry and front country skiing, backpacking, wilderness navigation, and outdoor living skills. It will be an option for one, two, or three trimesters.
Two other signature programs at Northwood will also have new leaders. Mark Morris ’77 returns to Northwood for a second time as head hockey coach after a long and distinguished career coaching college and professional teams. His assistant will be Steve Mallaro ’06 who captained Northwood’s first forty-win season ever in Coach Morris’s first stint here. Steve has been both an assistant and head college coach. The team will compete in the newly created and highly competitive Prep Hockey Conference. The ski program will be helmed by Tom Biesemeyer, noted Alpine racer who competed in World Cup races beginning in 2010 and was ranked in the top thirty men in Super-G. All our coaches will be working with our new athletic director, Trevor Gilligan ’03.
Academically, last year’s Covid accommodations reminded us with a not-so-gentle nudge that we must continue to enhance our programs and our pedagogy. The Advanced STEM research program moves forward with new resources thanks to a $100,000 matching grant from the E. E. Ford foundation; local foundations and friends of the school have already moved us close to the required match. Eight students have already planned unique projects, including a new venture using drones to conduct field-based research. An Advanced Humanities Research Program will debut as a sister program to the STEM program. We are also launching the New Honors Independent Study Program with 23 students doing term-long or year-long projects. New electives include outdoor activities as well as music appreciation, chorus, instrumental music, new dance classes, and personal finance. The HUB, where many of our most innovative courses – robotics, design, entrepreneurship – take place, has a new director, Stacy Prime.
This year also marks a special anniversary for Northwood. It was in 1971 that our first cohort of young women was admitted (perhaps the best decision we’ve ever made). Their many achievements will be honored in various ways during the year.
This letter has focused on changes, but I would emphasize that we are determined to continue the traditions of what we do best. We remain committed to great classroom teaching complemented by the willingness of our faculty to offer their time generously outside the classroom-giving extra academic help, listening empathetically as students navigate the path to adulthood, and modeling the balance of competitiveness and empathy implied in our core values: respect, responsibility, courage, compassion, and integrity. We will continue to climb and grow together.
Sincerely,
Mike Maher
Headmaster