RIVERSIDE REVIEW Annual Report 2018 - 2019 Table of Contents
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RIVERSIDE REVIEW Annual Report 2018 - 2019 Table of Contents 1 Head of School’s Message 16 Global Citizenship in the Preschool Years 2 Board of Trustees Year in Review 18 1st Grade Global Citizenship: Passports Around the World 3 Celebrating Mr. Ron 20 2019 Commencement 4 Honoring Our Faculty & Staff 22 Honors & Awards 5 Bo Cotton & J Beatty Williams Outstanding Service Awards 24 Class of 2013 6 Leading the Way 25 Alumni News 7 New Faces at Riverside 26 The Promise Fund & Author in Residence 27 Capers: Cheers to 70 Years 8 Professional Development & The 4th Annual Daily’s Riverside Speakers Kids Duathlon & Tot Trot 10 Student Achievement 28 Riverside Parents Association 12 Health & Wellness Focus 29 Business Partners in 6th Grade 30 Promise Fund Donors 14 Using Design Thinking for Service 36 Endowment Funds Subscribe to RIVERSIDE Reminders The Weekly E-Newsletter of RPDS • Current School News • Alumni News • Announcements • Upcoming Events • Links • Photos • Videos Stay connected with RPDS! Visit www.rpds.com/reminders to subscribe! 830 Oak Street | Jacksonville, FL | 904.353.3459 [email protected] | www.rpds.com RIVERSIDE REVIEW Head of School’s MESSAGE 2018-19 It is with gratitude and appreciation that we look back upon the 2018-2019 school year at Riverside Presbyterian Day School. As you will see in this year’s Riverside Review, the last academic school year was another outstanding one for RPDS. Most notably, we celebrated RPDS’s 70th year as a pioneering and beloved independent elementary school, and with the leadership of the Board of Trustees and the help of the community, we completed our new comprehensive strategic plan. For generations, RPDS has embraced the tradition of remaining at the forefront of education and advancing its programming and offerings to ensure every student receives an outstanding education, all while building the foundational skills and dispositions for lifelong learning and personal achievement. This issue of the Riverside Review honors the traditions that are uniquely RPDS and celebrates the innovative and forward-thinking spirit of the community. As a conscientious community, we continue our work of fulfilling Riverside’s mission and our dedication to safeguarding its future. Our 2019-2024 Strategic Plan renews our commitment to broadening the learning and experiential opportunities for our students, supporting and enriching our passionate and accomplished faculty and staff, providing a safe and engaging campus reflective of our dynamic child-centered approach, and ensuring accessibility and sustained institutional excellence for generations to come. Our established goals and priorities provide a clear vision for Riverside’s future. We look forward to implementing the strategic plan during the coming years and remain grateful for the work of the Board of Trustees and the contributions from faculty, parents, and alumni. While the strategic priorities and goals keep us thinking ahead to the future, we continue to enjoy and appreciate the dynamic and rewarding activities occurring on campus each day. This year we welcomed two nationally known speakers, Rosetta Lee and Jim Reese, to engage with our faculty to develop their expertise and practices so that they may best provide our children with instruction and programming related to global competencies and deep thinking. Award winning author-illustrator Brian Collier also visited RPDS and shared his story and artwork with our students as part of our new Author in Residence series. We invite you to learn more about these visits in the pages that follow. Also included in this year’s review are stories highlighting the many ways our faculty are guiding students to transform their thinking about the world in which they live and drive change in tangible ways. This type of learning is a hallmark of our programming and serves as the foundation that allows our students to emerge from RPDS as life-long learners who are poised to become their best selves, take initiative, and care deeply about others and the world. When students graduate from RPDS, they leave with exceptional academic preparation, a deep respect for themselves and others, an eagerness to serve, and a strong moral grounding. This year’s class of 2019 embodies the RPDS Graduate Traits and leaves a legacy of service and strong leadership. We honor our graduates and wish them all the best as they embark on new adventures and the next stage of their educational journeys. This is an exciting time to be a part of RPDS. As we live and celebrate the many wonderful traditions that make Riverside special, we look forward to preparing our children for a future in which they will flourish and thrive. Thank you for generously supporting the mission of our school and for helping RPDS to provide an outstanding elementary school experience for our students. We look forward to our continued partnership to ensure our children live, lead, and serve as conscientious citizens. Ben Ketchum Head of School 1 Board of Trustees John-Paul Saenz YEAR in REVIEW President, RPDS Board of Trustees The 2018-2019 school year was another great year for all of us to celebrate. Riverside Presbyterian Day School (RPDS) successfully delivered to over four hundred students on its mission to educate the mind, nurture the spirit, and foster the development of the whole child. This year was also personally meaningful and important to me and my family. As parents, Jennifer and I experienced firsthand the culmination and final outcome of an RPDS education. Our oldest daughter, Mia, graduated from the sixth grade. She and her classmates are not only ready for the next step in their educational career - they are now well prepared to excel. RPDS provides the best faculty and unmatched academic programming to achieve this result. They have all learned the importance of helping others by participating in community service projects. RPDS has a clear culture of servant leadership that teaches them not only how to help others but, more importantly, why it matters. The graduating class is a group of young boys and girls with amazing character. RPDS instills in them, among other honorable traits, the importance of humble pride, self-discipline, ambitious purpose, and respect for others. All of these traits provide an invaluable foundation of character that will serve RPDS students well their entire lives. Most admirably, the sixth grade class displayed all of these traits with an outward, visible love for one another. I had the opportunity to accompany the class on their Washington, D.C. field trip and witness how much they truly cared for each other. When one of their classmates fell ill early on the trip, I saw them come together on their own initiative to give him a class souvenir of the trip he had missed. Unknowingly, they displayed this loving care throughout the year by celebrating their successes together and helping each other when needed. At the end of the year, realizing that it defined who they were, they chose love as their class theme, #ByOurLove. As parents, Jennifer and I could not be more proud of our daughter and of her classmates for what they learned at RPDS and, more importantly, for who they became. Our youngest daughter, Lucy, will be a fifth grader next year, and we have never been more confident in the value and benefit of an RPDS education. I believe it’s simply the best school. This year was also my last year serving as president of the RPDS board of trustees. I have greatly enjoyed the experience and look forward to continue serving RPDS as a board member in other capacities. We are fortunate to have an active and diverse board of trustees that is deeply committed to the long-term success of RPDS. I am thankful for each trustee, for all of their individual contributions, and for the opportunity to be part of such a special team. Under the new leadership of Brooke Rice, the board of trustees is in better hands than ever. I am especially grateful for Ben Ketchum’s thoughtful vision and leadership, the talented and caring team of faculty and staff, and the community of engaged parents, grandparents, and alumni that makes RPDS such an excellent school and foundation for our children. Congratulations to all of us on another great year for RPDS and on many more to come, John-Paul Saenz President, RPDS Board of Trustees Board of Trustees Elizabeth K. Ball William H. Klima, Jr. 2018 - 2019 Joseph L. Barrow Rev. Dr. Nicholas Louh Paula P. Brice Elizabeth G. Meux Jenny Brumback Curry G. Pajcic John-Paul Saenz Benjamin H. Campen Titus J. Pittman President Ronnie S. Carter Matthew S. Stevenson, M.D. Brooke W. Rice Mary Katherine Fackler Kristen Surface Vice President Colleen E. Haley Shannal L. Thomas Marcela S. Beard M.C. Harden, III Scott C. Verlander Secretary & Treasurer 2 Martin S. Harrell CELEBRATING “Good morning, Mr. Ron!” These are the same words every Mr. Ron! child proclaimed with a joyful smile as they stepped on to the campus. These greetings represented a true appreciation for everything Mr. Ron did for RPDS and are reflections of both the love and gratitude all feel toward this friend, colleague, 15 Years of Service and dedicated member of the RPDS community. at RPDS We thank Mr. Ron for his meticulous attention to the smallest of details and for his commitment to ensuring our students had a pristine environment conducive to learning. Whether it be ensuring our safety, maintaining the facilities, or cheerfully engaging with children and faculty in a skit, video, or school performance, Mr. Ron never failed to deliver or captivate our hearts and minds with his humor and kindness. Without pause, Mr. Ron’s default was serving the needs of those around him.