Director's Blog

List of 20 news stories.

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  Guest Blogger: Elizabeth Carney, Lower School Music and Band

  1/24/2020
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• 

  Guest Blogger: Middle School Academic Dean Zoe Tuohy

  1/17/2020
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• Guest Blogger: Middle School Academic Dean Zoe Tuohy

  10/17/2019
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• Lower & Middle School Director's Blog: August 2019

  8/27/2019
  This past July, my wife and I attended a concert with some friends at an extraordinarily small venue. For starters, the fact that we were able to go out and see a concert—as parents of three young children—was a minor miracle. To the point, though, seeing one of our favorite bands up-close-and-personal was a real treat.
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• Lower School Closing Ceremony 2019

  6/4/2019
  Good morning students, teachers, parents, and friends, and welcome to the Lower School Closing Ceremony. It’s hard to believe, but summer will be here in just a couple of hours. It was another terrific year in the Lower School. Highlights include Peace Day, the Reading Rodeo, Field Day, our Wednesday Town Meetings, fourth grade C.H.O.W., learning about the salt marshes, the second grade Mommy and Me Tea, and the list goes on-and-on. I want to thank all of the students for an amazing year, and thanks to the teachers for your hard work and professionalism each and every day. Additionally, thanks to all of the parents out there for sharing your children with us at Gill. It takes commitment and sacrifice to send your children to a school such as GSB; fourth graders, please stand and acknowledge your parents on this special day.
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• Middle School Closing Ceremony 2019

  6/4/2019
  Good morning students, teachers, parents, and special guests, and welcome to the 2019 Middle School Closing Ceremony. The end of another school year is upon us, and today is a day to celebrate and to wish our eighth graders all the best as they leave middle school and begin the journey through upper school.
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• 

  Lower & Middle School Director's Blog: The Unspoken Curriculum

  1/16/2019
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• The Power of Curiosity

  10/11/2018
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• Beginning Again

  9/6/2018
  "And suddenly you just know it's time to start something new and trust the magic of beginnings."

  --Eckhart

   

  As the months of April and May bring new life to the earth, the months of August and September bring new life to schools. Last week I had the pleasure of sharing a few words (and the above quotation) with some of our new students, and I asked them to consider the following questions:
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• Timeless Summer Months

  7/24/2018
  Years ago, shortly after my first child was born, a friend gave me a book about baseball and fatherhood titled, Covering Home. At the time, I was coaching high school baseball and entering the world of parenthood, so the book was relevant and impactful. This spring with the birth of our third child—and the onset of the baseball season—I dusted off Covering Home and flipped through many of its pages. It's a work I referenced in a blog three years ago, and it remains relevant due to its thoughtfulness and healthy perspective on parenting.
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• Closing Remarks 2018

  6/5/2018
  Good morning, and welcome students, teachers, parents, and special guests to the 2018 Middle School Closing Ceremony. It is my pleasure to share a few words with you as we end another school year and prepare for the summer months.
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• The Power of Reflection

  12/5/2017
  In this year's Upper School Choir concert, one song in particular caught my attention. Titled, "As We Move Forward," by the Family Crest, two lines rang loud and true to me:

   

  All of us are in this life together;

  All of us are in this spin forever.

   

  Even without the context of the music, these words invite us to pause for reflection—
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• Building Bridges

  10/4/2017
  The great 19th century American author Herman Melville once wrote: “We cannot only live for ourselves. A thousand fibers connect us…And along those fibers, as sympathetic threads, our actions run as causes. And then they come back to us as effects.”
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• The Power of a Smile

  8/22/2017
  Last week in an email, I asked Middle School parents to share this message with their children regarding the upcoming school year: “be a friend and make a friend.”

   

  As the new school year approaches, there is nothing more exciting than the prospect of reuniting with old friends and sparking new relationships. The school years are indeed about active learning and the pursuit of artistic and athletic challenges, but they are also about socialization. Learning how to interact with others in a healthy manner is fundamental to the upbringing of a child. In fact, respectful, thoughtful dialogue is indeed a requirement for an informed, deeply compassionate citizenry.
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• Closing Ceremony 2017

  6/6/2017
  Good morning, and welcome students, families, and teachers to our 2017 Closing Ceremony. My name is Kyle Armstrong, and I am the Middle School Director at Gill St. Bernard’s; it is my pleasure to share a few words with you as we end another school year and prepare for the summer months.
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• The Winning Metric

  3/7/2017
  Like many in our country, I am anticipating the beginning of baseball season, the great American pastime. Not only does the crack of the bat and smell of grass arouse my senses after the winter slumber, but the warmth of spring delivers the world anew.
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• Wannabe Thespian on Empathy

  2/15/2017
  Most of us have been there. Think back, if you dare, to a time in middle school or high school when you were in a play, musical, or even a class skit. Nerves were probably frayed and no doubt energy filled your body.
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• Building the Core

  12/13/2016
  In the midst of the holiday season, it is easy to get entangled in day-to-day logistics. In school, it's about managing the calendar, fitting in tests and quizzes, organizing concert rehearsals, and generally trying to find a resting point before the winter recess.
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• It’s a Social World

  9/27/2016
  It was the fall of 1994, and I was a freshman at Trinity College. I distinctly remember writing my first email—ever—from the college library. I wrote to a friend, and I was amazed that my letter could be sent instantaneously, without postage. That friend is now my spouse, and we often communicate via text message; who would have guessed? …on either front.
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• Middle School Closing Exercises Address 2016

  6/10/2016
  Welcome students, teachers and families to our 2016 Middle School Closing Exercises. It’s been a fantastic year in the Middle School, and I am pleased to share a few words with you today before we head into the summer.
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