On May 24, during the 174th Commencement ceremonies, Associate Head of School Jeffrey W. Ketcham recognized outstanding members of the senior class for their athletic and academic achievements.

“We have had an exciting week as we have celebrated many student accomplishments and appreciated the results of the passion and creativity of their endeavors during the school year,” Mr. Ketcham said. “While we could not possibly recount every awesome outcome of this very talented student body, I am honored to share with you the most notable of those accomplishments and recognize overall distinction among the class of 2015.”

Seniors had been honored during the annual Athletic Awards Assembly on Friday, May 22. Mr. Ketcham asked these incredibly talented athletes to again stand and be recognized. First, he called upon the 24 seniors who received the Blanket Award, which recognizes seniors who have participated on a team every season during their junior and senior year (or students who missed only one season during either their freshman or sophomore year, if they been at Williston for more than two years).

Mr. Ketcham also recognized the two Senior Athletic Awards, given to the outstanding young man and young woman for “general excellence in athletics, with emphasis on good sportsmanship, and helpful spirit.”

Continue reading →

Students and faculty assembled on the Quad on Saturday afternoon to celebrate what Head of School Robert W. Hill III described as “the essence of our lives at Williston: academic accomplishments” during the annual Academic Awards Ceremony.

“Hard work, persistence, resilience, determination, integrity—whether in the classroom or in an extra-curricular pursuit—are traits that should always be praised and will take you far in life,” Mr. Hill said during his opening remarks. “This year teemed with incredible intellectual and creative accomplishments generated by students all year long—often outside of the public gaze.”

The academic awards ceremony began with Peter Valine, Williston’s Dean of Faculty, recognize and sharing thoughts about the departing faculty. Mr. Hill III noted, “Each year there are faculty that move on from Williston and we are diminished by that.” He commended the school’s teachers, who he described as  “unique in my experience in the ends to which they go to advise, mentor, listen, and support their students.”

Read the full text of Mr. Hill’s speech here.

Awards Quick List

History
English
Visual and Performing Arts
Science
Mathmatics
Latin
French
Chinese
Spanish
Additional Awards
School Awards

Spring Athletic Awards (presented May 22, 2014)
Cum Laude Inductees (presented January 16, 2015 and May 24, 2015)

Continue reading →

The dozen members of the incoming faculty are not only joining a thriving community at the Williston Northampton School, they’re bringing an even stronger sense of community with them. Some of the new faculty members have spouses already at Williston; others are coming with their families to live and work at the school.

“It’s a fairly diverse group, but there are common themes,” said Dean of Faculty Peter Valine of the 12 new faculty members. “One thing that’s common to all of them, and this doesn’t always happen with each rookie class, is that they’ll all be living on campus.”

Mr. Valine said that having the new faculty both work and live at the school will create deep community connections—especially since so many of the faculty have had experience at other independent schools.

“All of them bring enthusiasm and excitement,” he said. “It’s like this infusion of energy and ideas that I think is incredibly exciting for the school.”

Meet the new faculty for 2014-15:

Continue reading →