This weekend, Middlesex kicked off the 2016-17 school year with two of our most popular student activities. On Saturday night, the Bancroft Courtyard resonated with the twang of banjos and the stomp of cowboy boots as new and returning students alike Do-si-doed in our annual square dance. The following day, the community gathered again—this time on the Circle—for some friendly…
On a beautiful morning this past Sunday, new Middlesex students were treated to a 20-year-old school tradition. When new students arrived on campus, Middlesex upperclassmen wearing t-shirts emblazoned with the invitation “Ask Me!” were stationed on the steps of Eliot Hall, ready to welcome new families. Ask Me kids helped new families through registration, unloaded carloads of boxes, ran up…
The Middlesex campus and its residents experienced fierce weather —but no injuries or major damage—after a tornado touched down in Concord early Monday morning. The tornado, while a relatively rare phenomenon in New England, brought winds close to 100 miles per hour and left a trail of destruction 400 yards wide and a half-mile long throughout Concord. But it did…
Middlesex students don’t just compete on the field, ice, court, and river. They debate bills in Model Congress, wage war in Sumo Robot Competitions, and build Mathematical Models for sport. This past spring, a number of students participated—and thrived—in rigorous competitions for both Computer Science and French. Head of Computer Science, Ashok Pillai, and Head of the French Department, Chantal…
This past May, 210 Middlesex students participated in at least one Advancement Placement test, a national college-readiness program that assesses high school students in a variety of academic subjects. Scores were released in June, and the 2016 AP results rank among some of the best Middlesex students have achieved, reflecting their commitment to not only stretch themselves through advanced coursework,…
Behind the schoolhouse and up a curved path is a plot of land where the echoes of Landry House construction are muffled by an enclosure of trees. Here sunlight filters regularly through the Estabrook Woods, the former home of renowned naturalist Henry David Thoreau who once famously asked, “What use is a house if you haven’t got a tolerable planet to…
With school out for summer, our faculty has been digging into their personal reading lists. Here’s a sampling of books that can be found in their beach bags: Fiction Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgramage, Haruki Murakami Americanah, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Outlander Series, Diana Gabaldon Dubliners, James Joyce When We Were Birds, poems by Joe Wilkins The Night In…
This spring, Alex Banay concluded a 40-year tenure in which she served as the Head of the Classics Department, Dean of Faculty, and Senior Master. In her graduation remarks, Head of School Kathy Giles thanked Mrs. Banay for her remarkable career at Middlesex: Alexandra Banay began her career at Middlesex when she was fresh out of university, arriving in the…
This spring, Carmen Beaton retired after serving Middlesex for 28-years in both the Dean of Students’ Office and the Spanish Department. At commencement, Head of School Kathy Giles reflected on Mrs. Beaton’s immeasurable impact on the School: Carmen’s twenty-eight years at Middlesex have made the same kind of mark on the School that the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs and…
Each summer Middlesex School students and faculty, both new and returning, participate together in the All-School Read (ASR). The ASR is an opportunity to think about topics of personal and political significance. Successful texts engage our imagination, our conscience, and our intellect. They invite us to look critically and creatively at ourselves, our communities, and our world. This summer’s All-School…