Always Learning Newsletter - October 2022
Table of Contents
Greetings From Epiphany!
Dear Friends,
Every issue of Always Learning impresses me with what is happening at Epiphany, and I work here! From a new golfing program to a graduate taking on a leadership role in the Gardening & Greenhouse program to a week studying marine biology on Hurricane Island, our students have so many opportunities. Thank you to the Hamilton Company for their generous financial support. Thank you to Milton Academy for your students who volunteer and for use of your pool this summer. Thank you to the donors behind the 529 plans, and thank you to each and every one of you reading this newsletter. Together, we are doing so much for these wonderful children.
Your Grateful Fan,
The Rev. John H. Finley IV
Partner Spotlight
The Hamilton Company Charitable Foundation
This month we’re excited to highlight The Hamilton Company Charitable Foundation for our Partner Spotlight! The Hamilton Company has been a strong supporter of Epiphany for the past few years, helping us fund critical programs to provide family outreach, meals for our students, and much more. Please join us in thanking The Hamilton Company for their ongoing support of our community, and, if you are looking for an apartment or a place for your business, please check out what they have to offer. Their partnership has been a godsend!
Epiphany Stars: Graduate Profile
Dário Brandao ‘17
Dário Brandao ‘17 exemplifies many of the great qualities we see in our graduates. He's hard working, intellectually curious, and ambitious. We are so glad Dário has stayed in close contact with Epiphany, working in our garden and greenhouse program for the past four years. He has been the driving force behind making our garden multicultural and multilingual, researching and growing crops from our different community and bringing dynamic guest chefs into the garden. Mx. Inglis, the Director of the Gardens and Sustainability, believes “Dário is a gifted teacher and expansive visionary who is wise beyond his years but holds onto an incredible sense of fun and joy. I am so grateful he decided to work in the garden and even more grateful that he has dedicated so many years to this work!”
Dário reflects fondly on his time at school, highlighting the importance of an Epiphany. Dário remembers Epiphany as “one of, if not the most impactful and enjoyable school in my whole academic career. The connections, memories, and lessons that came from this school will stay with me for the rest of my life.” As a senior at Boston Latin School, he hopes to take his passion for gardening and nature to the next level and is interested in pursuing a degree in environmental science or landscape architecture in college. Wherever Dário ends up, he knows that Epiphany will always be a place he can call home. We’re so proud of him and can’t wait to see what he gets up to next!
Learning is Cool: Epiphany Curriculum Highlights
A great start to the year
We’ve had a great start to the school year! As our students and faculty get settled into the routine, we’re happy to say that we’ve largely returned to the way things were before the pre-pandemic, while still making sure we’re rigorously protecting our community from the virus. For example, on the one hand, students and teachers now eat together again, in our traditional family style. The conversations and the smiles are wonderful. On the other hand, we are still doing PCR testing all staff and students every week for COVID-19. If this is the “new normal,” we are good!
Early Learning Center Corner
Celebration of Knowledge
On August 26, we hosted a Celebration of Knowledge for our first cohort at the ELC. Some in the group are leaving us for new schools, while others are staying here for Pre-K, and we honored them all. The celebration featured many of our favorite parts of our Middle School graduation. For example each child was individually being recognized for his or her unique gifts and personality, and to conclude the ceremony, the whole room joined in extending their blessing onto the children. To help families understand Epiphany’s hope for an abiding relationship with every child, Emily Centeio ‘01, our inaugural Director of Graduate Support for the ELC, gave a powerful testimony about her own experience as a graduate and then announced a major new initiative, the creation of $3,000 529 plans for all the children in the ELC! We’re so proud of our graduates, and moments like this remind us that Epiphany is indeed a special place.
A few pictures from the Ceremony
Epiphany News
Milton Academy’s Community Engagement Day at Epiphany School!
On Wednesday, October 12 we welcomed twelve students from Milton Academy for their Community Engagement Day. This day is a great opportunity for the students to learn more about what we do at Epiphany, while helping with hands-on tasks. Luckily, it was a beautiful day, and we were able to tackle a lot of outdoor projects in the gardens. Once their tasks were completed, they played with our 5th and 6th graders in the gym. For decades, the students at Milton Academy have been helping out here, and we are wildly grateful for their abiding support.
Mr. Jones’s Drawing Featured at the MFA
We’re excited to announce that Mr. Jones’s work is being featured at the MFA! In response to the Obama presidential portraits being shown at the museum, the MFA called for community submissions of portraits of leaders in our community. Mr. Jones submitted his work, and we couldn’t be more proud that it was featured as a part of the larger community response. To view Mr. Jones’s and many other artists' work, please visit the MFA’s website, and, if you are interesting in commissioning a Ryan Jones original, please let us introduce you
Summer Intensive
In August, we wrapped up our annual Summer Intensive Program at our middle school campus! Summer can lead to significant learning loss, particularly for students who already face more educational difficulties. Through our program, we teach critical social and educational skills, while mixing in fun extracurricular activities like golfing, Jiu Jitsu, and swimming at Milton Academy. Our program gives kids a safe, fun, and educational environment to spend their summers, and we’re excited to do it again next year!
Hurricane Island
Thanks to the support of a generous family, our rising 8th graders took a special trip in June to Hurricane Island in Maine's Penobscot Bay, where they spent five days and four nights immersed in outdoor education free from any technology as well as the heat and noise of the city. On the island, our students hiked, swam, and explored the nature around them. We also hosted team building activities like rowing and creating rafts out of bamboo, plastic jugs, and rope. Our 8th graders also had plenty of fun with rock climbing and campfires at night. It was an unforgettable experience for our lucky students!