FALL 2013 1 Nightingale- Bamford School Volume 8 Issue 1 Fall 2013

FALL 2013 1

÷e Blue Doors TheNightingale-Bamford SchoolVolume 8Issue 1Fall 2013

2 THE BLUE DOORS FALL 2013 1

ForewordA note from Head of School Paul A. Burke

10 | Articulate,Thoughtful—and BriefClass VIII students learn the power of the micro-essay.

12 | Opening DoorsNightingale’s internship and mentorship programs are evolving and growing in new and exciting ways.

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Contents4 8

Meet Jennifer ZaccaraOur new associate head of school comes to Nightingale with big ideas and depth of experience.

22 | Class of 2013Cheers to our graduates!

24 | HallwaysStories and photographs from around the schoolhouse

33 | Class Notes

40 | Voices

You Have Your Life KitEmmy-nominated actress Kerry Washington inspires the senior class with a powerful Commencement address.

14 | ReunionAlumnae gather for a terrific weekend celebration.

20 | New Spaces at NightingaleThe lobby and science labs have a whole new look.

THE BLUE DOORS

Volume 8, Issue 1Fall 2013

A biannual publication ofThe Nightingale-Bamford School20 East 92nd StreetNew York, New York 10128nightingale.org

We would like to hear from you! Letters to the editor, class notes, story suggestions, corrections, and any questions you have may be directed to [email protected].

DESIGN

Pentagram

LAYOUT

CZ Design

PRINTING AND MAIL ING

Allied Printing Services PHOTOGRAPHY

All photography courtesy of subject unless otherwise noted:

Cover, Jennifer Zaccara, student headshots, Reunion photo 3, journaling class, new spaces, LS assembly, and Skai Konyha by Nicki Sebastian

Denise Sinclair ‘68, Head of School for a Day, and Open Mic by Susan Tilson

Kerry Washington and Commencement by Matthew Septimus

Reunion photos 4, 7, and 13 by Matthew Sussman

All other Reunion photos and Growing Every Girl benefit by Jennifer Taylor

Kitty Gordan farewell party and Class XI/Class VIII collaboration by Darrel Frost

Bassless Accusations by Victoria Jackson

Soccer team by Whitney Tilson P’14, P’17, P’20

Scene from I Came to Look for You on Tuesday by Yi Zhao

On the cover: Margaret Lachman ‘17 works intently on her geometric plate in Mr. Travanti’s Class IX ceramics class.

2 THE BLUE DOORS FALL 2013 34 THE BLUE DOORS

FOREWORD

The Promise of the Pivot

Recently, Denise Sinclair, Class of 1968, returned to Nightingale to address our Upper School students. When introducing Ms. Sinclair to the girls, I said that hers is an example of a well-lived life. She was the first female investment banker for Bear Stearns. She helped bring Coca-Cola to China. She speaks five languages. Currently, she is a financial advisor in the private wealth division at Oppenheimer and Company and works directly with the Pentagon’s Wounded Warriors project, advising women on how best to translate skills learned in combat to civilian (often corporate) settings.

Ms. Sinclair referred to Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In, saying that if she were to write a similar text, her title would be Pivot. Her message to the girls was clear: keep one foot anchored in your integrity and the other pivoting to meet the expectations of those who sit on the other side of the desk or await you on the other side of the world.

Pivot may be the best word to capture Nightingale’s current moment. We have firm footing thanks to our long-standing commitment to educating every girl’s heart and mind. Strengthened by Denise, and by alumnae everywhere, we pivot to seize new opportunities for today’s Nightingale girl.

We are pivoting toward new technology. This year we have expanded the reach of our iPad program and expect that by September 2014 we will have a fully integrated one-to-one program. A three-year initiative, our exploration of iPads commenced last year with a faculty pilot and continued this year with distribution to most Middle and Upper School students and access to Lower Schoolers via classroom sets.

Leveraging technology helps teachers discover new ways to be true to our aspirations. To take one example: in a recent faculty meeting, Middle School science teacher Nicole Seibert introduced a dynamic and highly interactive presentation application to her colleagues. Inspired by the potential of this technology, Class II homeroom teacher Melissa Rice then discussed using it to track her students’ reading comprehension over the course of a year. She envisioned recording girls’ voices to accompany text on the screen and then returning to that recording later in the year so her students can witness their progress and feel emboldened by hearing the development of their individual voices.

We are also pivoting to new opportunities in New York City. Last May we became New York City’s charter member of the National Network of Schools in Partnership, an organization founded to support educators and community leaders in the design, implementation, and improvement of high-impact partnerships; and this fall we hosted a meeting of independent and public school leaders from the Young Women’s Leadership Network to discuss how we can work together to advance the education of girls. We are also in the first full year of our exciting new partnership with the 92nd Street Y, which has already made a positive difference to our physical education and athletics programs. We are always seeking to forge new relationships across the city and around the world so we can continue to have the benefits of a small school with the opportunities of one much bigger.

In her presentation to the Upper School girls, Denise Sinclair talked about how reading Jane Eyre in the fifth grade at Nightingale opened a new world to her. She also remembered how the stories told by teachers from England who arrived at Nightingale after World War II in search of expanded opportunities captured her imagination and got her to wonder about life beyond 92nd Street. Our goals are the same today. A Nightingale education, and the teachers who provide it, bring girls from one place to another. When our students move on from Nightingale, they will leave anchored in well-honed habits of success, nourished by an education rich in content and grounded in adventure. And they can then pivot toward a life of great promise, knowing that Nightingale alumnae like Denise have paved the way for them.

Paul A. BurkeHead of School

Denise Sinclair ’68 addresses the Upper School at assembly.


To the graduates of the Nightingale-Bamford School Class of 2013, congratulations, ladies! I am honored and humbled to be here, but to be honest I can‘t help thinking there must be some mistake.

I mean, you know I went to Spence, right?I was one of those girls cheering against you during

volleyball games.I sang in Triple Trio. We compete against Bassless

Accusations at Acappellooza!So it seems like you‘ve looked beyond the competitive

nature of our academic relationship. And from what I understand, that is who you are.

In the past, you may have had the impulse to compete with one another.

But I‘m told that today, you have learned to comfort each other in failure, and celebrate each other‘s successes—be they award-winning app designs, athletic achievement in cross country, or, yes, a cappella accomplishments that put Triple Trio to shame.

And that is just one of the reasons why—although I may have been cheering against you way back then—I‘m cheering for you now.

And I‘m not the only one.Look around. All of these people are cheering you on.

And today‘s celebration would not have been possible without their support: your teachers, your friends, the entire staff of the Nightingale-Bamford School, the trustees, your fantastic head of school, Paul Burke, and of course your families. Remember to thank them today.

this larger world. All of your life kits are different based on your unique journeys—but there are some striking similarities.

So let‘s open it up. Let‘s take a look at a few of the more noteworthy, choice items in your life kit so that when you leave here, you are aware of what you‘ve got and how to use it in the world.

The number one item is the courage and ability to chart unknown waters.

Today, more than any previous moment in your life, you are proving, as you sit here, that you have learned to courageously show up for the unknown.

That is how you made it to this point—by learning and growing and evolving outside of your comfort zone.

You have had countless challenges, exciting new beginnings, learning curves that turned you upside down and inside out. And that is what today is: another new beginning, a commencement, yet another invitation out of your comfort zone. Ahead of you, there are challenges that will—I guarantee you—break your heart, and celebrations that will make your spirits soar, the likes of which you cannot even begin to imagine sitting here.

But if you show up to those experiences as you have shown up for your education—with courage and commitment and grace—you will continue to experience great success.

The second item in your life kit is the knowledge that you have learned how to learn. Rigorously.

In this fast-moving, ever-changing world, you are leaving here not only with vital dates, numbers, formulas, theories, metaphors, paradigms, and ideologies, all of which will

At the risk of sounding cliché, I remember my high school graduation like it was yesterday. My love for my school and for my classmates made me worry about leaving.

By the time you get to senior year in schools like ours, there‘s almost nothing you do at home that you haven‘t done here: eat, sleep, read, write, watch movies, play games, exercise, take showers, change your clothes, blow-dry your hair, put on makeup, laugh, cry, pray, argue, hug, occasionally study, live.

This school has become your home. Your classmates have become family. Sisters.

But it‘s time to leave the nest. And you must be wondering, maybe worrying, “What is that going to be like?” Because, ladies, the world is not exactly like Nightingale-Bamford.

But what are the differences? What should you expect? Well, as a Spence girl, I can help you with that.

Nineteen years ago, I left my “home” with a diploma very similar to yours—granted, yours is the updated and upgraded 2.0 version, with a different school name at the top.But even so, I left here with that document that is about to be ceremoniously handed to you, and I went forth into the world.

So I want to tell you, from my own personal experience, a little bit about what I‘ve learned between then and now, and how to make the most of the honor and privilege being bestowed upon you today.

What you are receiving today is not just a diploma. It‘s a life kit. You‘ve built it over your four, or eight, or thirteen years here—maybe without even realizing it. You have a kit filled with supplies that will help you adjust to, face, and embrace

Kerry Washington, an accomplished actress and dedicated advocate on behalf of women and girls across the globe, addressed our graduating seniors at Nightingale’s annual Commencement Exercises on June 13, 2013. In her remarks, included below, she celebrated the strength that our students derive from one another and the power of their collective experience.

continue to serve you.But you are going out into the world with an understanding

of how to accumulate knowledge, discover new information, and integrate it into your being.

You haven‘t been taught what to think. You have been taught how to think. And that will be invaluable no matter where your path takes you.

I really had no idea, sitting at my high school commencement, that I would make my living as an actor.

But I share with people all the time that what I love most about developing character and breaking down story is the research, the study of a person and of a dramatic work of art.

Whether it‘s a Broadway play, or a Tarantino film, or a television show, I approach my work as a student.

And I learned how to do that in a place very similar to this.No matter what field you‘re going into, new discoveries

abound, and you have to stay educated and educable in order to remain creative, authoritative, and relevant.

And that brings me to a third item—the gift of meaningful relationship.

Let me explain: for the rest of your life, you will remain a Nightingale-Bamford girl.

That means there are certain expectations you will carry—for the most part, it will be positive. People will expect you to be smart.

They will expect you to be worldly. They will expect you to be capable. And they will expect you to be accomplished.

Similar assumptions will be made when they hear what colleges and universities you went to. These are heavy

Kerry Washington and Head of School Paul A. Burke

You Have Your Life Kit


expectations that can sometimes be difficult to bear—but you can‘t let that weight forestall you from seeking guidance.

You can‘t let it keep you from reaching out to others.Out there in the world, you may find yourself thinking that

you can‘t ask for help. But remember how you leaned on each other here. To this day, I lean on my sisters from Spence.

Those friendships are unlike any other, because we have known one another since the most significant developmental years of our lives.

The bonds you all have are strong, and no matter how far away from each other you are, they will keep you close if you remember to stay connected.

And your sisters are not the only ones you can turn to for help.

You have tremendous support available to you—from your teachers here who have guided your intellectual advancement and who will miss you as much as you miss them (if not more!), from the professors and mentors at the universities you will attend, from your fellow Nightingale-Bamford alumnae, your friends, your families, your parents.

Do not be timid in seeking their guidance, their counsel, their advice—and acting on it. But I also encourage you to be conscious of how blessed you are to have these resources.

For all of your brilliant accomplishments—those under your belt and those still to come—you must remember that the doors that have opened for you have not been opened for everyone.

There is a lot of injustice in the world.I‘m reminded of that every time I visit Savoy Elementary, a

school I‘ve adopted as part of President Obama‘s Turnaround Arts Initiative.

Savoy is in Anacostia, one of the poorest neighborhoods in Washington, DC. This is a place where most households earn less in one year than what it costs to attend a school like this for one year.

Many Savoy students come from families living at or below the poverty line—almost every student is eligible for free lunch from the government, and, in many cases, it‘s the best meal they‘ll get all day.

Every visit to Savoy is a reminder that some of the things we take for granted are a distant aspiration for others.

Savoy students are embracing a new way of integrated arts learning that they hadn‘t experienced before—because they just hadn‘t been given the chance.

Why am I telling you this?Because when I work with these students, I see bright,

motivated, young people who will share a future with all of you. When you leave here today, you are heading off to places where you will cultivate the ability to shape a great deal of that future.

But they don‘t have the same kinds of resources that you do.Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “All men—” and we‘ll

assume, of course, that he meant women.Forgive him for that.

“—are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality.”This means that what we do affects the lives of those

around us, both directly and indirectly. This school has fostered that knowledge within you.

Because of the small numbers and tight quarters and because of the value placed on honest exchanges of ideas and feelings, you all see how far reaching the ramifications of your actions can be in this small world that you lived in.

It has caused many of you to value the importance of being kind, conscious, respectful, supportive.

Those kinds of interactions have become a normal part of your everyday existence. Do not forget that.

What is going to happen when you leave here is that your community, what you call and think of as your community, is going to expand.

And you will need bigger hearts and longer arms to embrace it.

You are now going to become members of larger and larger circles of influence, where your actions have the potential to affect more people.

Please remain responsible. Continue to celebrate and support the successes of people who are different from you.

You will not always see this same kind of behavior reflected back to you.

Resist the temptation to be anything other than what your now larger global community needs you to be, a Nightingale-Bamford girl at her best.

Because that‘s the final item in your life kit I want to mention—an understanding of the power of compassion.

Compassion helps to bind us more tightly to one another—as friends, as community members, as a country, and as a world.

So as you pick up your diploma, remember also that you are walking away with a life kit. Take a look at it this summer and for the rest of your life and ask yourself, “What do I have? What do I want? What should I trade in, upgrade, keep, store, lose?”

I began by telling you that I was a bit worried at my graduation. You do not have to be.

I am telling you what I did not know back then: You have what you need.

And what you do not have, you know how to get, because you are not afraid of new beginnings and you have learned how to learn.

Keep asking. Keep searching. Keep building and keep connecting with your new, larger, community—with compassion and grace.

Keep being a Nightingale-Bamford girl, an NBS woman, and keep redefining the levels of excellence that that title entails.

Congratulations ladies. And thank you so much for letting a Spence girl share this day with you.

No matter what field you’re going into, new discoveries abound, and you have to stay educated and educable in order to remain creative, authoritative, and relevant.


Associate Head of School Jennifer Zaccara arrived at Nightingale in July after spending 12 years on the faculty at the Taft School in Watertown, CT. She brings to us a wealth of experience in crafting curriculum, working with faculty, and developing integrated programs involving multiple departments.

Over the course of her tenure at Taft—and in addition to her teaching duties in the English department—Dr. Zaccara held a number of different positions, including mid class dean, English department head, and, most recently, associate dean of faculty. Her many roles as associate dean included heading the mentoring program and the faculty cohort program and directing the faculty discussion series, which featured outside speakers and talks to facilitate collaboration and problem-solving both inside and outside of Taft. In addition, Dr. Zaccara was responsible for the evaluation of first- and second-year faculty and ran a “film your class” program for in-house professional development.

While at Taft, Dr. Zaccara made critical contributions to the English curriculum, instituting an annual “Shakespeare in Performance” month, which included performance training for teachers, sonnet and soliloquy competitions, school-wide senior performances of scenes, and a culminating Renaissance festival with a traveling performance troupe and school dinner. She also initiated the development of an oratory program for grades 9–12 and linked Taft with peer schools in a discussion about character education that was launched through an evening program hosted by Taft and led by experts in the field.

Since arriving at Nightingale, Dr. Zaccara has spent a great deal of time in conversations with faculty in order to learn their perspectives on the challenges in developing twenty-first century curricular initiatives while still maintaining and cherishing what is traditional and working well at Nightingale. “I see my work as a bridge between the past and the future,” she says, “and I want to continue getting faculty to collaborate on ways to move our school forward for our girls to prepare best for the new world we face. My first areas of focus include re-envisioning the Middle School program with developmentally-appropriate curricula, supporting a technology vision, and linking faculty professional development with evaluation. I am also working on developing language in our handbooks for students and faculty as well as in our school culture that will build student responsibility, independence, and community.”

In all of her efforts, Dr. Zaccara has placed the Nightingale girl at the center of her plans: “I will be working on ways to cultivate a girl’s voice, her passions, and her confidence in the academic and non-academic experiences she has at Nightingale, and I hope to record the growth of each girl so that she graduates with a record or diary of her evolving self.” She has clearly hit the ground running, and we are thrilled to have her as part of the Nightingale community!

Jennifer Zaccara Meet

Our new associate head of school has immersed herself in all things Nightingale, from curriculum development and faculty programming to the classroom experience and student life.


by John LougheryLast spring, Middle School students gathered for their weekly Morning Meeting to celebrate three things: good prose, fresh thinking, and extreme brevity. The occasion was a reading of eight micro-essays.

The essays were the product of an assignment given every spring in Class VIII English. Over the course of three weeks, students are asked to write three micro-essays and then to work on revisions of at least two of them. A micro-essay can be defined as an essay that is strictly limited to one typed page. (If the essay goes on to a second page, the teacher stops reading at the bottom of the first page.) What does this mean? Why this severe insistence on so short a length requirement? It means no slow “lead-in” to the topic, no flab, no filler, no digressions, no repetitive conclusion. It means being conscious of every sentence, every dependent clause, every adverb and prepositional phrase.

Everyone knows that it is possible to have worthwhile ideas but to express them poorly or inadequately. Everyone knows that it is possible to write well-crafted sentences that can‘t disguise a content that is thin or unoriginal. Writing at great length presents the possibility that something meaningful will be said, eventually, if the writer can hold the reader‘s attention long enough, but that approach brings needless risks. After all, life is short. Time is precious.

How much harder to write lean—to have something important to say, but to say it with maximum concision, in prose purged of any excess yet still retaining some flair,

some life in the language. That challenge is what the Class VIII English teachers talked to their students about when beginning this project. We offered a list of potential topics, but students were free to choose their own. The students agreed that writing one perfect page turned out to be infinitely more challenging than writing three or more pages.

The choice of a topic became part of the lesson itself. That some topics lend themselves to good prose and fresh thinking more readily than others quickly became apparent. We talked at length about earnestness as a trap good writers want to avoid. (One class ultimately arrived at a communal definition of earnest that seemed to fit: “dully sincere.”) We talked about literary tactics they might employ and how unsatisfying it usually is when a writer plainly states her beliefs without recourse to imagery, metaphor, anecdote, humor, or analogy.

Ms. Deschamps, Mr. Whitehurst, and I picked eight (out of 80) micro-essays to be read by their authors at the Morning Meeting. We could easily have selected several others that were as droll, witty, vivid, or surprising.

The micro-essays that follow are examples of essays that are anything but “dully sincere.” They are, instead, examples of young women establishing a voice, sharing an outlook, and seducing an audience—which is, of course, what real writers do.

A longtime member of Nightingale‘s faculty, John Loughery is head of the English department.

Articulate, Thoughtful —and Brief

How to Become A True New YorkerNATALIE MARGULIES ‘17

After one year and twenty-three days of living in my apartment, I know the following about my neighbor: she has purple rain boots with pink stripes, she has a faded brown doormat, and she apparently has never heard of flats because her shoes are always at least

four inches high. But I don‘t know her name. Apparently, she doesn‘t know mine, either. Our interactions go as far as a half-smile when we pass each other on Third Avenue or an awkward elevator conversation at the beginning of the week.

Every Monday morning, right as the elevator doors are almost shut, a hand slips through the crack. Sometimes it‘s my hand; sometimes it‘s my neighbor‘s. And every Monday morning, I flash her a polite smile, which she reciprocates. After a few seconds, the tension is always palpable; I feel it dunking me underwater as I gasp for breath. “Fancy seeing you here,” I blurt out. She laughs politely. I rack my brain for something, ANYTHING else to say. I look up, as if the answer is on the ceiling. Time stops. All of a sudden, every grubby fingerprint on the mirror amplifies. We are only on the fifth floor? I look at her to find she appears to be fascinated by the hemline on her dress. Third floor. I open my mouth to say something. Second floor. I shut my mouth. Lobby. I break free from the tension, resurface, and carry on with my day.

We, as proud New Yorkers, like to think of ourselves as outgoing, approachable, and talkative. We like to think we know our doormen or the hot dog vendors outside of our houses on a personal level. But in truth, we embody the stereotype that all New Yorkers are impersonal and isolated. People say that you have to kill a cockroach or steal someone‘s cab to become a true New Yorker, but really all you have to do is ignore the saying, “Love thy neighbor as thyself” and then, congratulations, you‘ve passed the test.

National Poetry MonthBY SARAH PALMER ‘17

The arrival of National Poetry Month raises some important questions concerning the relevance of poetry in modern life. Does poetry have a purpose in today‘s world? Is it very much alive, or is its role in modern life insignificant?

Many would argue that poetry is alive and well; poems are still published and poetry is studied in schools. But I would argue those are not the determining factors. I remember once reading a statistic that cited a certain collection of Edna St. Vincent Millay‘s poems as a national best-seller in the 1920s. Since then, it seems that the general public‘s interest in poetry has diminished. Poetry today may thrive at universities and other intellectual

hubs, but how many ordinary people read poetry just to experience it, to feel it, and be captured by its beauty? Not as many people now read poetry for just that—to read it. In the highly specialized and competitive world of the twenty-first century, every moment presents itself as a chance to get ahead, not to indulge one‘s literary tastes. Poetry could seem like a pointless literary exercise. Reading poetry also requires a certain patience and curiosity, the combination of which seems to be rare today.

Poetry is a part of our universal culture; it is a way in which humans have expressed themselves for millennia. I believe poetry is still relevant because of its ability to captivate and inspire. Emily Dickinson, one of my favorite poets, once wrote, “There is no frigate like a book/ To take us away/ Nor any coursers like a page/ Of prancing poetry.” Another poem I like is Excelsior by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. (The title also happens to be the motto of the state of New York.) A noted piano pedagogue is quoted as having said, “No art without life, no life without art.” Poetry, while not one of life‘s necessities, adds an extra dimension to life which is just as important.

Awkward EncounterBY JULIE COLEMAN ‘17

Recently, I saw one of my old camp friends while riding the bus. We said that we would keep in touch after I left camp two years ago, but school starts, and sometimes brains are too lazy to comb through details that are not of the utmost importance. I didn‘t

recognize her at first, but something about her face sent a flicker through my mind. I was about to say some cheesy “it‘s a small world” line, but then realized how awkward the next 10 blocks would be if she a) wasn‘t actually my friend or b) did not recognize me. I tried to catch her glance for about 10 minutes until I finally returned to staring out the window. It felt wrong to pass up an opportunity to reconnect with a friend, and I finally decided to say something. I shifted in my seat and was about to open my mouth when she stood up and ran off the bus, the doors nearly closing on her backpack.

I got home feeling dissatisfied and angry, as I usually pride myself on being forward towards people. So, I looked her up on Facebook and sure enough there was the girl I had seen on the bus earlier today. She accepted my friend request, and later wished me a happy birthday by hastily posting “hbd” on my timeline. I truly wonder if she recognized me on the bus, and if maybe similar thoughts were going through her mind.

Yesterday as I passed her walking up the street, I looked straight at her and flashed a smile. She glanced at me as if I was a dented paperclip suddenly pulled out from the depths of a filing cabinet, and quickly brushed passed me without a word.

I wonder if she even recognized me in the first place, or if she is just one of those people who accepts seemingly random friend requests on Facebook. On one hand, she could be scratching her head, and trying to remember where she had seen me before, or simply wondering why that creepy girl just gave her a funny look.

Precision in writing is the focus of a three-week unit in Class VIII English.


alumnae mentors help usher those same girls toward their next adventure beyond the blue doors.

Now, the internship and young alumnae mentorship programs are being brought together as just one part of an exciting new initiative called Open Doors. The full scope of this program is still evolving, but—as the name implies—it

An enduring example of the supportive community fostered at Nightingale is the beloved tradition that brings together our oldest and youngest girls on the first day of school; each senior waits at the blue doors to greet a Kindergarten girl, take her hand, and escort her to her classroom. From that moment on, her experience is guided by those who have come before her. Every girl in the Nightingale community is supported by a vast network of mentors—students, teachers, alumnae, and parents—who open doors of opportunity and understanding for her and are invested in her success.

Nightingale’s flagship internship and young alumnae mentorship programs are both rooted in this tradition. Setting Nightingale apart from other independent schools, these engaging programs allow our students to develop meaningful relationships with Nightingale alumnae and parents, provide them with critical exposure to life and careers beyond the blue doors, and empower them to advocate for themselves. The internship program opens doors to careers our students may not have even known existed, as they explore a variety of fields before entering college; the relationships they form with Nightingale alumnae, parents, and friends of the school provide support and encouragement as they step outside their comfort zones and embrace new experiences. Similarly, the young alumnae mentorship program matches current seniors with recent graduates who help them to navigate the transition between high school and college. Just as the seniors brought the Kindergarteners through the blue doors at the start of their Nightingale experience, the young

aims to open doors for our students by exposing them to leaders in a variety of fields, helping them to develop their own leadership potential, and harnessing even more opportunities for life experiences outside the blue doors.

The first new offering from Open Doors is a speaker series intended to bring in accomplished individuals who are making a positive impact on their industries and on society and to engage our community in a meaningful dialogue about important issues. The first Open Doors speaker—Mika Brzezinski, journalist, co-host of “Morning Joe” on MSNBC, and long-time advocate for women—addressed Class VIII and Upper School girls in mid-November.

The concept behind Open Doors was developed by a dynamic alumnae and parent advisory group consisting of Elena Hahn Kiam ‘81 P’14, P’17, creative director of lia sophia; Prudence Solomon Inzerillo P’25, former CNN anchor; Alexandra Lebenthal ‘82 P’14, P’22, CEO and president of Lebenthal Holdings, LLC; and Dina Powell P’20, P’23, president of the Goldman Sachs Foundation and global head of corporate engagement. This highly dedicated group of women oversees the current components of the Open Doors initative and meets frequently to generate new ideas and opportunities.

The success of Open Doors will rely upon the continued involvement and generosity of our incredible community, and we welcome your participation. To learn more, please contact Amanda Goodwin, director of alumnae relations, at [email protected] or (212) 933-6508.

THe PromISe oF THe INTerNSHIP ProgrAm

• Since 2005, our internship program has placed students in some of the premier organizations in the city; we personally match each student with an internship that matches her interests.

• Over 90% of students pursue an internship in their junior or senior year.

• Our program guarantees an internship for any interested student and eliminates financial and logistical barriers to a student’s full participation.

• Every student receives resume, cover letter, and interview training; she learns how to advocate for herself and gains invaluable skills for life after Nightingale.

• The Nightingale alumnae, parents, and friends who host interns have a vested interest in fostering our students’ growth; they often take on a mentorship role that lasts well beyond the internship experience.

• Our graduates who held internships during their time at Nightingale report that the program was transformational in guiding their career choices, either by ruling out a previous interest or helping them discover a new one.

[Left to right:] Nicole Chan ‘14 and Sabrina Sobers ‘14 held different internships this summer, but found themselves collaborating on the same photo shoot for the J. Crew winter catalogue: Nicole worked for the art director and Sabrina for the photographer, Nightingale

parent mei Tao of mei Tao Photography. Cara Thomas ‘00 showed Alison Tilson ‘14 the ropes at ?What If! Innovation Partners

OpeningDoors

Nightingale’s internship and mentorship programs are evolving and growing in new and exciting ways.

Every girl in the Nightingale community is supported by a vast network of mentors—students, teachers, alumnae, and parents—who open doors of opportunity and understanding for her and are invested in her success.


1) Lucinda Zilkha ‘02, Ingrid Deming ‘02, and Elizabeth Emmons ‘022) Liberty Rees ’73, Linda Lachman Mitchell ‘73, and Mary Jane Reilly Nichols ‘73.3) Current students look at special reunion class posters showcasing yearbook photos from years past.4) Ashley McLean ’93, Cheryl Prasad Ferrufino ’93, Celena Kingson Knox ’93, Juliet Rothschild Weissman ’93, Meg Hadlock ’93, Mary Richter, ’93, Karen Pantzer Gelder ’93, Shoshanna Lonstein Gruss ’93, Lindsey Gordon Schwabe ’93, Lisa Mercer Kroiz ’93, and Naomi White Randolph ‘93

4

On May 17–18, alumnae gathered at the schoolhouse for Reunion 2013. Returning alumnae were offered the opportunity to visit classes in all three divisions, and many took advantage; they loved being back in the classroom and reuniting with former teachers, as well. Over the course of the first day, alumnae reminisced with one another at the “Nightingale Then” roundtable discussion, attended the

“Nightingale Today” panel to ask questions of Upper School girls, and heard Head of School Paul A. Burke‘s vision for the school‘s future at his “Nightingale Tomorrow” presentation and discussion.

At our annual Founders‘ Day assembly, we honored Mary Richter ‘93 (see page 27) with the distinguished alumnae service award and the late Lady Malcolm Douglas-Hamilton ‘28 with the distinguished alumnae achievement award (see page 38 for more information on this fascinating alumna who passed away last January). The Founders‘ Day assembly brought in more alumnae voices through two new features: a discussion with alumnae and their class of 2013 daughters—Lala Manger Fleming ‘84 and Samantha Fleming ‘13, Cathy Hoffman Glosser ‘84 and Hannah Glosser ‘13, Kim Jordan Nass ‘78 and Marin Nass ‘13, and Dini von Mueffling ‘84 and Tati Esposito von Mueffling ‘13—and a new segment called

“Nightingale Memories,” in which five alumnae created a living history of our school. We are grateful to Sarah Taub ‘06, communications chair of the Young Alumnae Committee, who took an oral history from members of the Class of 1943, and to decade representatives Patricia McMurray ‘63, Hillary Johnson ‘76, Odette Cabrera Duggan ‘83, and Wendy Long Mitchell ‘93 for sharing their memories, which are featured in these pages.

A festive all-alumnae cocktail party on Friday evening provided the opportunity for reconnecting with old friends as well as current and returning faculty, and celebrating Associate Head of School Kitty Gordan, who retired in June after more than 40 years of service to Nightingale; a highlight of the night was an eloquent tribute to Mrs. Gordan delivered by Hillary Johnson ‘76 (see box on page 31). On Saturday, members of reunion classes had one last chance to reminisce over lunch before Reunion 2013 drew to a close.

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Reunion 2013

N I G H T I N G A L E T H R O U G H T H E D E C A D E S : T H E 4 0 s

By Sarah Taub ‘06 This past spring, it was my pleasure to learn about and speak with members of Nightingale‘s Class of 1943.

Lest anyone think these alumnae were old-fashioned, they truly pioneered the Veritas-Amicitia-Fides spirit.

The Class of ‘43 studied a definitive curriculum—and as a testament to Nightingale‘s tradition of excellent teachers, the ‘43 alums still remember their favorite classes, which included: Ms. Wade‘s classics, Ms. Saxton‘s English, Ms. Kaiser‘s mathematics, and drama. (Trial By Jury was one of the highlighted performances of the class of 1943.) There was a student government, of which Mary Janvrin was president and Barbara Davis was vice. There was also a chairman of social services.

The class of 1943‘s sartorial statement proved to be a timeless classic: students wore white blouses, navy blue skirts, and sweaters—nearly today‘s uniform, though the hemlines have moved north. As a young woman in 1940s New York, social engagements were popular at the Stork Club and Rye & Gingers were the popular drink. A social registry was kept up among families in their respective neighborhoods to keep everyone informed as to where their children were at school—and when they were home and eligible for potential dates.

Some Nightingale alumnae continued their academic careers at colleges like Vassar, from which alumna Barbara Davis graduated as a math major. Ms. Davis spoke to me with great spirit and enthusiasm about her time at Nightingale and how well it prepared her for her career. Indeed, between 1946 and 1957, Ms. Davis held a wide variety of jobs, from working as a junior mathematician for Douglas Aircraft in California to holding positions at Time magazine, Gimbel‘s department store, and the Chicago Tribune in Paris (for 6 months in 1949) before going into public relations. Ms. Davis finished her professional career at the Narragansett Times, where she ran the front office from 1957–1983.

Considering what it must have been like to grow up during World War II and experience such a time of monumental global change, I feel very proud as a Nightingale alumna that looking back on her impressive life, Ms. Davis summarized her experience as a Nightingale girl by saying: “I learned more at Nightingale that has been valuable to me than anywhere else.”


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By Patricia McMurray ‘63 • Mrs. Davis, our formidable history teacher who wore

her hair in a bun and taught us to read The New York Times. She loved FDR!

• Standing up when older women or teachers entered the room.

• No real course choice. No pants—ever. Shoes so clunky that they reminded us of eighteenth-century colonial shoes.

• No colored sweaters unless it was Friday and you were a senior.

• Glee Club and morning prayers every morning. We sang two hymns and heard a reading by faculty from the Bible.

• Falling in love with beautiful music through Glee Club and the music at morning prayers.

• Lots of homework and very high standards. I think we must have done three hours every night in Upper School.

• We read wonderful literature: Huckleberry Finn and To the Lighthouse, in English. Le Noeud de Vipères and Lettres de Mon Moulin in French.

• We learned how to write. Mrs. Norris, our English teacher, was relentless in her criticism of anything vague and lacking in specificity. We wrote a lot!

• Great sense of community. We knew we all were supposed to care for each other.

• When we were younger, lining up to say goodbye to our teachers each day and curtsying as we shook hands.

• So many of our teachers seemed incredibly old. They were all probably younger than I am now. Strange how quickly the years roll by!


By Hillary Johnson ‘76 After the trauma of the Vietnam War and the Watergate scandal as well as New York City‘s fiscal crisis, it seemed like everyone in the mid-to-late 1970s needed a dose of serious silliness. So along came disco, platform shoes, the pet rock phenomenon, and an album called You Can Tune A Piano But You Can‘t Tuna Fish. That said, Nightingale was not a trendy place but very focused on providing us with a classical education.

• We were encouraged to read the daily New York Times and taught by Headmistress Joan McMenamin how to fold it properly so we could read it on the bus or train.

• We entered and exited the school building through the black doors near Madison Avenue—the Blue Doors did not yet exist. We curtsied when we shook hands with our teachers.

• Right off the gym was a small office that housed Miss Goode and Miss Hamilton and they were the ones who made the “trains run on time at Nightingale.” Their two dachshunds loped down the hallways when they weren‘t napping.

• Our tests and quizzes came hot off a printer called a ditto machine. The print was purple and the duplicating fluid used lent a distinctive aroma to those sheets. Yes, we used to sniff our tests.

• We ate fish on Fridays, frequently creamed tuna with beets. I will say no more.

• The school uniform was much as it is today, except that we wore BLOOMERS rather than PE shorts. You should thank your lucky stars.

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5) Kitty Gordan greeting alumnae at the evening cocktail party6) Jessie Page ‘037) Patricia McMurray ’63, Renne Jarrett Bilson ’63, Diane De Vries Ashley ’63, Susan Torrey Coppock ’63, Dana Dauterman Ricciardi ‘63, and Virginia Kirkland Stuart ‘638) Bellamy Printz ‘83, Naomi Wolfensohn ’83, Amanda Sullivan ‘83, Miven Booth Trageser ‘83, Helene Tanous Bartilucci ‘83, Susan Barnes Walker ‘83, Tabitha Estabrook Claydon ‘83, Lili Root Bianchi ‘83, and Odette Cabrera Duggan ‘83 (in front) 9) Alicia Berns Burns ’88, Laurie Garrett Thornton ’88, Liz Victory Anderson ’88, Suejin Yang ’88, and Mary Goldman ’8810) Andréa Demirjian ’81, Allison Sellin Weiskopf ’81, and Ann McChord


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By Wendy Long Mitchell ‘93 What happened in the world while our class made its journey through Nightingale from 1980 to 1993?

MTV premiered; the first space shuttle —Columbia—soared into space; Michael Jackson‘s Thriller came out; Cabbage Patch Kids were born; CDs were first released; AIDS was discovered; the Chernobyl disaster; Madonna‘s first tour; the space shuttle Challenger exploded; the Berlin wall fell; the Cold War ended; and the Gulf War began.

What do we remember from our lives as Nightingale students?

• Singing “Row by Row” with our beloved Mr. Mahoney (I‘ll spare you a rendition).

• Rolling up our uniform skirts and securing them with safety pins.

• Macbeth, Iolanthe, Pirates of Penzance

• Glee Club

• Having a home away from home while our schoolhouse was being renovated—standing up in second grade across the room from Karen Pantzer Gelder and introducing ourselves as the “new girls.” We were both so happy that someone else in the class had really frizzy hair.

• Pound Ridge and paper mache canoes.

• The payphone near the Juliet window in the gym.

• Being inspired by Mrs. McMenamin for almost our entire tenure, and saying goodbye to her upon her retirement in 1992.

• The beginning of life-long friendships.

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By Odette Cabrera Duggan ‘83 • Friday snack bar fundraisers

• The first school jackets

• Burgundy-colored school skirts

• L.L. Bean bluchers

• 1983 AAIS Basketball Champs!

• John Lennon assassinated—give peace a chance!

• Sandra Day O‘Connor becomes the first woman on the U.S. Supreme Court.

• Michael Jackson‘s Thriller album is released!

11) Vandy Woods Boudreau ’88, and Ariel Childs ‘8812) Josette Bailey ’72, Susie Heller ’69, and Achla Eccles (past faculty)13) Top Row: Emma Carron ’08, Margot Lachaud ’08, Regina Willensky ’08, Lily Fraser ’08, Alex Savona ’08, and Kate Fraser ’08. Bottom Row: Sara Nosaka ’08, Andrea Levien ’08, Claire Gilbert ’08, Devon Welsh ’08, and Lily Zhang ‘0814) Carah Lucas-Hill ’00, Nancy Cruz Morning ’98, and Meghan Townsend ‘98

Save the Date!

Reunion 2014

For all alumnae

Honoring all classes ending in 4s or 9s

May 16–17, 2014


Sophia Kiam '14 (left) and Chloe Spellman '14 in the new expanded lobby vestibule

New Spaces atNightingaleAs our schoolhouse expansion project kicks into high gear, several new spaces—completed in summer 2013—have already been unveiled to the Nightingale community.The lobby has a brand-new look that retains some traditional elements but is bright and modern, with clean lines and an improved layout that has made a positive difference in the flow of people in and out of the building. Up on the fifth floor, all of our students are learning in new state-of-the-art science labs equipped with the latest technology. The labs also feature innovative chairs and tables that are easily moved to customize the classroom for collaborative work and class discussions.


Cla

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3 As members of the Class of 2013 were packing their bags and getting ready for their first days of college life, we asked them why they had chosen their colleges and how Nightingale had prepared them for success once they got there. With unsurprising eloquence, our students reflected on how their Nightingale experiences had shaped their choices and how ready they felt for their next adventure; a few of their answers are below:

Throughout the college process I was looking to replicate Nightingale in my college experience (except co-ed this time!). I chose Bowdoin for the community and camaraderie that Nightingale taught me to value. I wanted to go to a school that emphasized the intellectual and had a bit of quirk, and I found that at Bowdoin. Nightingale taught me the importance of friendship and gave me lasting relationships that I will value and cherish forever. But most importantly, Nightingale taught me how to think. It taught me how to debate, have a voice, and never give up. It gave me the skill set to be an independent woman not afraid to take charge and for that I will always be grateful.Laura Plimpton ‘13

I chose my college (Wesleyan University) because I was looking for a creative, passionate academic environment with the small classes and teacher-student relationships of my Nightingale experience. I wanted a place where students love to learn and are truly engaged in their studies and extracurricular commitments. Nightingale has prepared me for success in such a rigorous academic environment by teaching me to speak eloquently, boldly, and proudly about my opinions and thoughts in the classroom. It has shown me that one has to take risks in order to succeed, whether it‘s by auditioning for plays, having a long conversation with a teacher in the hallway, or submitting to a literary magazine. Although I will be a small fish in a big pond once again, I will not be afraid to be adventurous and actively seek challenges if I can benefit from them in the future. Alexandra Stovicek ‘13

I chose the University of Chicago because I loved the school‘s quirky intellectualism and inquisitive spirit. Nightingale has prepared me for success by teaching me to embrace the unknown and to dive headfirst into all of my endeavors.grace mcLeod ‘13

College BoundNow in their first year of college,

members of the Class of 2013 can be

found throughout the country and

beyond. From the woods of Maine to

the coast of California, the plains of

Iowa to the rolling hills of Scotland,

our most recent graduates are

attending the following colleges

and universities:

Amherst College

Barnard College

Binghamton University

Boston College

Bowdoin College

Brown University

Colby College

Colgate University

College of the Atlantic

College of William and Mary

Colorado College

Dartmouth College (3)

Davidson College

Emory University

Grinnell College

Hamilton College

Macalester College (3)

Middlebury College (2)

Northwestern University (2)

Oberlin College

Princeton University

Skidmore College

Southern Methodist University

University of Chicago (2)

University of Miami

University of Pennsylvania

University of Rochester

University of St. Andrews

University of Southern California

University of Vermont

Vassar College (2)

Wake Forest University

Wesleyan University (2)


Ha l l w a y s

Stories and photographs from around the schoolhouse

Clarissa Bronfman ‘19 works in her journal in ms. Tobin’s new Class VII art course, “Unplugged: Journaling into mindfulness.” In this class, students explore the art of journaling through painting, drawing, collage, personal essays, and poetry in order to, as ms. Tobin explains, “cultivate an inner life which is key to becoming a self-reliant, resilient, and mindful whole person.”

varsity soccer team tops aais season standings

For the first time since 1993, Nightingale’s varsity soccer team are the AAIS season champions! Their 7-1-1 record was a testament to their hard work and perseverance on the field, and earned the Nighthawks a berth in the NYSAIS championship tournament. For the seven seniors anchoring the team, reaching this goal is the culmination of four years of varsity play; the banner that will go up in the gym will be a tangible reminder of the 2013 season for years to come. Congratulations to the players and coaches on their impressive achievement!

ms and us students excel on national latin exam

Nightingale students once again scored extremely well on the annual National Latin Exam, which was offered last February under the joint sponsorship of the American Classical League and the National Junior Classical League. In its 36th year, the exam was taken by over 140,000 students of Latin from all 50 states and 15 foreign countries.

In their first year of exam eligibility, 32 seventh-graders earned a ribbon and certificate for outstanding achievement in the Introduction to Latin exam and another five received certificates for achievement. Students in Classes VIII—XII earned an impressive 36 summa cum laude certificates and gold medals, 14 maxima cum laude certificates and silver medals, 12 magna cum laude certificates, and 5 cum laude certificates.

Several Nightingale students also earned special book prizes for their consistently excellent scores on the exam over a number of years: Hope Jin ‘13 and Solveig Gold ‘13 were recognized for winning gold medals for four and five consecutive years, respectively, and Olivia Herrington ‘14 earned book prizes not only for receiving gold medals for four consecutive years, but also for achieving a perfect score in each of those four years—an accomplishment matched by only two other students who took the exam worldwide!

grace mcleod ’13 wins prestigious writing award

Last spring, Grace McLeod ‘13 received a National Gold Medal from the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards for her personal essay, “Stay Gold, Ponygirl” as well as a National Silver Medal with Distinction (and $1,000 in scholarship money) for her entire writing portfolio! Her portfolio—which included humor essays, poetry, personal essays, and a screenplay for a short film—placed her in the top 20 out of roughly 230,000 submissions in the country. Grace has now joined the ranks of an incredible roster of Scholastic Art & Writing Award winners, including such luminaries as Andy Warhol, Sylvia Plath, Truman Capote, Richard Avedon, Robert Redford, and Joyce Carol Oates.


sienna gruss ’23 is head of school for a day

Students and parents may have noticed a change in leadership upon entering the schoolhouse on September 27 as “Head of School” Sienna Gruss ‘23 began the day shaking the hands of her peers at the blue doors. Over the course of her morning filling Mr. Burke’s shoes, Ms. Gruss met with key administrators, planned the lunch menu with Chef Hinds-Ortiz, and crowned the Nighthawk at the Upper School Homecoming pep rally! After a wrap-up meeting with Mr. Burke, Ms. Gruss met with her class over lunch to go over all of the important decisions she had made throughout the morning.

Students from Class XI public speaking and Class VIII history collaborate with one another in october on issue speeches related to the NYC mayoral elections.

class viii kicks off middle school open mic

Thanks to the success of the program last year, the music department is once again hosting class-specific Open Mic sessions for Middle School students. These low-stakes performance opportunities allow the girls to take risks and showcase their musicianship in a safe and supportive environment. With only a few weeks to prepare their material, Class VIII girls performed for each other in early October. The line-up of acts included piano and guitar performances as well as impressive vocal renditions of everything from show tunes to pop songs. In the photo at right, Zora Ilunga-Reed ‘18 sings “As We Stumble Along” from The Drowsy Chaperone.

ceramics student garners arts awards

Nina Naghshineh ’14 was recognized last spring by the Scholastic Awards of New York City for her realistic sculptural ceramics work. She earned honorable mention for both her lung sculpture and her toothpaste tube sculpture, as well as a Silver Key for her realistic depiction of a worn-out shoe made at double its actual size.

The 2013 recipient of the distinguished alumnae service award, Mary Richter ’93 has taken on her largest role for Nightingale yet—as the new director of institutional advancement. Mary joined our staff on July 1, 2013 and brings to Nightingale a wealth of development experience in the independent school world. She served most recently as director of development at the Allen-Stevenson School, but also spent seven years at Brearley in two different roles (campaign director and director of annual giving) and two years at Brooklyn Friends School as associate director of development.

Mary says that she is honored to be in a position to help the school grow further: “Today’s Nightingale has the heart and soul of the school I know from my days as a student, but I am continually impressed with new dimensions at the school, such as the award-winning debate team, the Arrive app, the improved advisory programs in Middle and Upper School, the incorporation of social justice into the Middle School curriculum, and teaching girls to find their voices K–XII. And what a joy to be cheering for Nightingale teams again!”

Mary Richter ’93 Returns to Nightingale as Director of Institutional Advancement


lower school girls explore the nightingale community

At their October 3 assembly, Lower School girls focused on building community behind the blue doors. As part of an ongoing effort to build relationships within our community, two intrepid third-grade girls took to the stage to interview Director of Safety and Security Jim Meury. Class III homeroom teacher Naomi Hayashi noted:

“Though we have many familiar faces working to keep our school running smoothly, we don’t always take the time during the busy school day to get to know each other as individuals.” This assembly allowed the Lower School girls to observe and learn from a meaningful conversation with a staff member they might not know as well as their teachers on the fourth floor, and set them on a course to strike up more of such conversations on their own. Over the next few weeks, each grade will be in charge of finding out fun facts about different faculty and staff members throughout the schoolhouse; their interviews will be posted on the fourth floor for all to see, as the Lower School girls continue to forge their community bonds.

Rebecca’s roots in girls’ education run deep; she is the product of an all-girls school, the Dana Hall School in Wellesley, MA, and only recently stepped down from her position as chair of their board in order to take on this new role at Nightingale. Dana Hall recognized Rebecca’s years of dedication to her alma mater by awarding her the 2013 Distinguished Service award.

A graduate of Princeton and the University of Virginia School of Architecture, Rebecca is the founder and principal of her eponymous firm, Rebecca Rasmussen Architects. She is also the mother of Callie Grunwald ’19 and has been an involved Nightingale parent for years, serving most recently as president of the Parents Association for the 2012–2013 school year.

Head of School Paul A. Burke commented that Rebecca brings to this new position a broad understanding of both Nightingale’s mission and school governance in general. “She is very much the right leader for this important moment in our history,” he stated. “I am honored to work with her in this new way.”

Rebecca Rasmussen Grunwald P’19 has been named president of Nightingale’s board of trustees, replacing Nina Joukowsky Köprülü ’79, who stepped down in June after more than 20 years of dedicated service to our school.

Rebecca Rasmussen Grunwald Takes the Helm as President of the Board

sophomore brings national bullying prevention day to nightingale

On October 7, Upper School students wore blue shirts to call attention to the pervasive danger of bullying as part of National Bullying Prevention Day/Blue Shirt Day. This initiative was brought to Nightingale by Skai Konyha ‘16, who was drawn to the issue of bullying when she saw that it was becoming a trend nationwide. “I was constantly hearing reports on the news of teenagers commit-ting suicide because of bullying,” she said. “This became a very sensitive subject for me because I know the feeling of loneliness. Bullying was very common in the middle school I attended before coming to Nightingale; [some] girls became anorexic, depressed, and suicidal because boys discovered they could play on girls‘ insecurities.”

As part of her National Bullying Prevention Day initiative, Skai presented at Upper School assembly and talked to Classes V and VI about what it means to bully, and the difference between being mean and being a bully. She urged Upper School girls to use the day to take the time to think, in her words: “to think about what they are saying and doing and how it is perceived. To gain a tiny bit of confidence to speak up if they notice bullying happening around them.”

Skai views National Bullying Prevention Day as the first step to a long movement. “I really hope girls become more aware of the bullying that may take place inside or outside of the Nightingale community and be a voice for others who have not found theirs yet.”

nightingale debaters win state championships

You can’t argue the success of Nightingale’s debate team. After two days, nine rounds, and a 3-0 victory in the finals of the New York State Forensics League Championships last spring, Annie Abruzzo ‘16 and Megan Yang ‘16 were named the 2013 New York State Forensics League Novice Public Forum Champions! Teammates Sophia Kiam ‘14 and India Dasbach ‘14 received trophies for advancing to the JV octofinal round of the tournament and garnered a great deal of positive attention—when they dropped from this round, not a single JV or varsity girl remained in the competition. (Faculty advisor and debate coach LE Hartmann-Ting proudly declared that this makes them, “by their own calculations, the best girls in the state—reasoned like true debaters!”) The full Nightingale team, which also included Rebecca Lin ‘15 and Isabella Beroutsos ‘15, came in fourth place overall.

Hosted on April 13 and 14, 2013, the championship asked teams to debate the following resolution: “The continuation of current U.S. anti-drug policies in Latin America will do more harm than good.” The team prepared for

months to qualify for this event—practicing both in and out of school and even over spring break.

The Nightingale debate team is already off to a strong start this school year and interest in the team has never been higher—15 Class IX students have joined the team and are already making their mark; the two-person teams of Olivia Nikkanen ‘17 and Natalie Margulies ‘17 and Sarah Cope ‘17 and Michelle Gebo ‘17 made it to the finals in the novice division in the October 11 tournament at Regis High School!


bassless accusations wins audience favorite award

With their rousing renditions of a Les Miserables medley and a mash-up of Cher Lloyd’s “Want U Back” and the Jackson 5’s “I Want You Back,” Nightingale’s student-run a cappella group, Bassless Accusations, won the “audience favorite” award at Horace Mann’s fourth-annual Acappellooza competition last April. In addition to Nightingale, the competition featured a cappella groups from Dalton, Horace Mann, Scarsdale High School, Spence, and Trinity.

catherine steiner-adair returns to nightingale

The student center was filled to capacity on September 19, when clinical psychologist and author Dr. Catherine Steiner-Adair returned to Nightingale to discuss her new book, The Big Disconnect: Protecting Childhood and Family Relationships in the Digital Age. Drawing on her decades of experience with children, educators, and experts across the country, Dr. Steiner-Adair spoke about the battle with device dependence and advised parents on how they can best

“achieve greater understanding, authority, and confidence as they come up against the tech revolution unfolding in their living rooms.”

Current and former faculty members gathered at a festive cocktail party to celebrate Kitty gordan's 43 years of service to Nightingale. [From L to r:] Blanche mansfield, Kitty gordan, Paul A. Burke, Diana Frangos, and John Loughery.

her—could it be? She was wearing SLACKS! Times

change and she did too, albeit in her deliberate

and thoughtful way. Neither of my daughters got

to experience Mrs. Gordan as a classroom teacher,

but I know that they benefited from her leadership

in countless other ways. As associate head of school,

she has been both the intellectual and moral compass

of Nightingale and a touchstone for the faculty.

The curriculum is a testament to her engagement

and her ability to balance Nightingale’s traditional

foundation with its transformative mission. Talk

to her about online learning, technology in the

classroom, exchange programs, or foreign language

instruction, and you appreciate that Kitty Gordan

is mindful of pedagogical trends and thoughtfully

receptive, without being buffeted by them.

An accomplished teacher like Mrs. Gordan

reminds us all that teaching, when well done,

is an art, but even more an extraordinary act of

generosity. Four decades worth of students—and

their parents—thank you, Mrs. Gordan, for your

rigor, your leadership, and the generosity that

you have shown to us all.

by Hillary Johnson ’76 P’12, P’17

More details, please! Remember that? For those

who don’t, that was Mrs. Gordan‘s signature line

when she taught us history back in the 1970s. It was

her summons to step up, to give more than just a

pat answer, her challenge to us to engage completely

in the discussion at hand and explore all facets of

an issue. The time spent in her classroom was an

adventure in synthesis, analysis, and the pursuit of

intellectual connections. With her quiet persistence,

she taught us to find the strands of logic, to savor

the intricacies of history—in short, to think deeply

and well. For my Nightingale cohort, her classroom,

her conversation, and yes, even her quirks, were

central to our Nightingale experience.

When I returned to Nightingale as a prospective

parent 15 years ago, Kitty Gordan’s was the first

familiar face that I saw—and the next time I met

More Details to Come:A Tribute to Kitty Gordan


reports: “I have been practicing tai chi with the society for just over six years and enjoy going to class there twice a week in addition to the class I teach. It is keeping me physically and mentally fit as I make my way through my eighth decade.”

Corny Wadsworth robart ‘57 reports: “Good health and spirits this year. Enjoying singing in a local chorale and taking little excursions to music workshops in New Hampshire, keeping up correspondence and visits with close family at a distance (Wilmington, DE; San Jose, CA; Zurich, Switzerland; Copenhagen, Denmark; and Sarasota, FL). Overseeing downsizing and property sales and rentals. Best wishes to all.”

Jill Hyde Scott ‘57, who taught in Thailand in 1962, writes that “In February through March of this year, my husband, Denny, and I took a month-long trip to Thailand (below). The changes since 1962 in Bangkok especially are astounding with the proliferation of high-rise buildings, the population explosion, and roads swamped by traffic; but the people continue to be as warm and welcoming as ever, and the country remains endlessly fascinating and intensely beautiful.

Barbara Wright gatje ‘48 enjoyed a small boat cruise along the Dalmatian Coast last summer, starting in Split and ending in Athens. Barbara visited many ancient sites including Diocletian‘s palace; Greek, Roman, and Byzantine ruins in Albania; and the Parthenon in Athens “with the splendid new Acropolis Museum at its base.” Barbara writes: “I thought many times of our beloved teacher, Miss Wade (aka Mrs. Boecklin) who made ancient history live for us. Every Friday our class went to the Met to visit all the ancient artifacts from Egypt to Rome. What fun. Hope the school still takes advantage of this nearby treasure.” [Ed. note: Nightingale students regularly visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art and many other local museums as part of our Visual Education Program. For more information on the program and a reflection on its first 10 years, see the fall 2012 issue of this magazine, which can be found in The Blue Doors archive at nightingale.org.]

Penny reed Putnam ‘48 welcomed her tenth great-grandchild this summer. She writes: “It is great fun to see them coming along. Our oldest great-granddaughter aged 10 lives with her parents, a brother, and a sister in New Hampshire so we don‘t see them often. They all came for a visit in August, which we enjoyed. I got to play Old Maid, Concentration, and

We enjoyed some marvelous meals along the way and luxuriated in the steamy, tropical air after the snow and cold of the New England winter.”

Annabel Stearns Stehli ‘57 returned to New York in May for a 10-day visit that included seeing Nora Ephron‘s Lucky Guy (starring Tom Hanks) on Broadway with Jill Hyde Scott ’57 and marianne Duggan o‘Brien ’57, and visiting with her son, daughter-in-law, and three grandchildren in Hoboken as well as Patsy Tucker ewert ‘55. Annabel writes: “Moving from New Orleans to Chapel Hill, NC June 1, to continue to be near youngest daughter. Active granny role with her kids. Books still in print, Georgiana Institute (non-profit) still going. Life is good.”

Joan Plowden Younce ‘57 and her husband Gordon are living aboard the Grey Goose (a “wonderful boat”) in Florida in the winters and spend summers in Middletown, Rhode Island with their three children and 11 grandchildren.

Joan Turner Derrenbacker ‘57 reports that she enjoys going to her family‘s camp on Big Moose Lake in the Adirondacks in the summer, spending time with her small flock of grandchildren, and teaching bible studies in her home. Her three children, their spouses, and their children live nearby.

Patsy Lee eoyang ‘57 writes: “I‘m now working again, as my brother gave up running our family real estate business and passed it to me in January. We‘re still living our nomadic life, spending January to June mostly in Indiana, going to Europe (France, Spain mostly) in June/July, and to Hong Kong—via Hawaii—until mid-December, then returning to Indiana (via Hawaii for the Christmas holidays)

Go Fish for the first time in many years. The two-year-old boy loved our beagle, Rachel. We see the rest of the youngsters more frequently… My husband Chris had a quintuple bypass last January but has made a good recovery. It takes longer at 84. We saw Starr Kopper ‘48 for a short visit in June on her way to Maine with her two dogs.”

marion Birdsall rendon ‘56 reports: “This has been a busy year. At the end of April, my daughter Leone and her husband, Ken Litt, had two beautiful fraternal twin boys. In May, my eldest grandson, Federico Castro, graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in chemical and biomolecular engineering and in July began his job as a management consultant. The month of September saw my daughter Ann and I, along with my two sisters, Jean and Helen, in Ireland to celebrate ’Come Home to Ireland’ for a ’Gathering’ of descendants from Lord Fitzwilliam’s Estate in Wicklow County.”

gay Booth greenleaf ‘57 writes that she has been keeping active in retirement as a volunteer with the Denver Art Museum Gift Shop, the archives of the western history/geneaology department of the Denver Public Library, and as an instructor with the Taoist Tai Chi Center, where she has been teaching an introductory class for seniors since March 2011. Gay

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c l a s s n o t e s

Class notes are published twice a year in each issue of The Blue Doors. If you have any

updates you would like to share with your classmates, please e-mail them to [email protected].

On Friday, March 8, 2013, nearly 550 members of our community gathered to celebrate Nightingale at the Growing Every Girl benefit, held downtown at the Metropolitan Pavilion. The festive evening included cocktails and a seated dinner, and featured silent and live auctions, followed by dancing late into the night. Attendees circulated the room, mingling with friends, bidding for auction items, and having an all-around fantastic time. In all, more than $900,000 was raised in support of every girl at Nightingale—a new record for our benefit event!

A highlight of the evening was the more than $350,000 raised to support Nightingale’s exciting new partnership with the 92nd Street Y. This partnership allows us to have exclusive use of the Mack gym in the Y’s May Center for athletics practices from 3:30–5:30 p.m. every day as well as the use of two gyms for physical education double periods during the school day; this access has effectively doubled our space for athletics practices and physical education and is already having a positive impact on our program.

growing every girl benefit

members of the Pe and athletics faculty cheer the community's strong support for the 92Y partnership.


in January. Eugene is very busy; his newest book—on comparative literature—was published last year to excellent reviews, and he is often invited to guest lecture. In fact, we‘re now at Rutgers, where he‘s given two lectures. We had dinner with Dede Bonnett guessous ’57’s daughter, Nadia, who is doing a post-doctoral year here, and were hoping Dede could join us as well, but she wasn‘t able to get away from Morocco at this time. We visited Jill Hyde Scott ’57 and Denny last year, and enjoyed it tremendously. Our sons are doing well: the older made partner at Goldman Sachs in 2010 and the younger has remarried a lovely lady who makes him very happy. The grandchildren are flourishing: Chloe is learning Mandarin and Kyle took up cello recently. And we have new stepgrandchildren, so the family expanded!”

Patsy Hanson ‘61 writes that she and her husband, Michael, are planning a fall 2014 barge trip in France with eve Stuart ‘61.

gail Dravneek Harvey ‘64 writes: “I am very happy to report that I graduated summa cum laude in May 2013 from the University of Rhode Island as a double major in hIstory and gender & women‘s studies. It took me almost 50 years to get my undergraduate degree but it was worth every moment. I often thought of Mrs. Davis, our wonderful history teacher, as I progressed through my majors‘ classes and how I wished she was still with us [so I could] tell her of my achievement. She was always my inspiration for academic excellence. There is also an amusing echo of my Nightingale years as I was president of URI‘s Providence campus student government board from 2011–2013, which really took me back to my senior year when I was the president of the school.” Gail also notes that she “finally got a Facebook account” and would love to hear from classmates.

Janet Smith riben ‘64 reports that she is married to Swede Staffan Riben and living in Stockholm again after a number of years abroad in Venezuela, Norway, New York, and Denmark. Janet writes: “We are both retired but my husband still works as an energy consultant and I still am on hand to help people wanting to buy or rent in Italy. We have one daughter, Anna Silvia Riben, 27, adopted from Ecuador when she was three months old and now working as an assistant buyer for a jewelry firm.”

elizabeth Cary mungall ‘66 writes that “For this year‘s conservation project, I have radio-collared a selection of dama gazelle bucks to determine home range size. These results from a pasture of more than 20,000 acres in West Texas will help managers safeguarding this critically endangered North African species on US ranch lands, as well as help biologists working to reestablish native populations.”

Jill Combier Danger ‘67 reports: “I am still loving living in Paris, France managing musicians, being a gallery assistant, writing, and studying to become a trader! My daughter, Julie, had a son, Ethan, who is now 14 months old and a honey! She works in advertising and my son, Mike, is an English teacher.”

Denise Sinclair ‘68 shared her exciting news that she accepted an offer to join Oppenheimer & Company as a financial advisor and portfolio manager. She writes that this “is a wonderful opportunity for me and my clients.”

Liz Levitt Hirsch ‘69 writes that she is busy expanding Levitt Pavilions across the country, with Denver is slated to open in 2016. Liz proudly reports that Jimmy Webb performed his iconic song from the 1960s, “MacArthur Park” live for the first time ever last summer in MacArthur Park at Levitt Pavilion Los Angeles; fans from around the world flew in to attend the historic concert. And in September, Levitt Shell Memphis made national news when it presented Lisa Marie Presley performing at the venue where her father first headlined back in 1954.

Catharine guiher ‘77 auditioned for and got a spot dancing with the Timeless Torches, the senior dance team that performs at home games for the WNBA‘s New York Liberty professional women‘s basketball team!

Katie Williams Fahs ‘79 writes that she and Zoe Weil ‘79 enjoyed a visit in Maine this summer at Zoe‘s Institute for Humane Education (below). Katie reports that they “also had fun looking at an old yearbook and reminiscing.”

Christina Wright ‘79 reports that she is a private educational consultant and the founder of TheWrightTutor.com. She assists families navigating the college admissions process, helping students find their voices and meet their deadlines for college application essays. She also works with students in middle school, high school, and college on reading and essay-writing skills. Christina and her husband, artist Drew Lowenstein, are empty-nesters now; their daughter, Fiona, is in her sophomore year of college.

Sakina Jaffrey ‘80 had a prominent role as White House Chief of Staff Linda Vasquez in the first season of the Emmy-nominated original Netflix series House of Cards, starring Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright.

rosemary Williams Begley ‘73 paints original artwork for Disney, which she reports is a “thrilling experience.” She has numerous original oils for sale throughout the Disney theme parks and was invited in 2013 to paint for the Disney Cruise Line as well. Rosemary writes: “My dear husband is very supportive and encouraging, and we are also proud of our son who is studying to become an architect, and who, I believe, is far more gifted in art. We look forward to visiting our older son and his family soon, including two wonderful grandchildren ages 7 and 10. In June during a brief visit to NYC from Kansas, I had the delight of catching up over dinner with my dearest old friend and classmate Valerie Urry ‘73.”

Debe Cohen Holland ‘75 reports: “Now that our three kids are grown and on their own, my husband, Nick, and I are moving to our dream house by the ocean in Gloucester, MA. I have been in touch with Karen Scanlan mangan ‘75 and, through her, get updates on former classmates, but I would love to hear from anyone passing this way.”

erika robinson ‘75 writes: “I am completing 25 years of public school teaching in New Jersey this year while I simultaneously begin my next incarnation as vice president for educational development at The Armory Foundation in NYC. My days are hectic, full, and fun, and I occasionally have the chance to meet my daughter for a meal, as she is in her junior year at Columbia University. If anyone knows of a good deal on a year sublet or rental, let me know! The commute is the thing I find the most trying. I will put up with it for a year, but after that, I think full time in the city is what I am looking for!”

Cathy Cramer ‘77 (see mK Wong ‘86)

the Shelter Island Yacht Club‘s summer program. I took up sailing a couple of years ago and enjoyed my weekly Sunday Sunfish races. I recently went back to work full time as in-house counsel at DIRECTV Latin America, where I work principally on content/rights acquisition deals for distribution on our satellite television platform in Latin America.”

rosamaria Caballero Stafford ‘82 writes: “PJ and I continue towork together as we’ve done for the last 18 years! Sofia started her freshman year as a Robertson Scholar at Duke. She continues to blog for The Huffington Post and is a freshman blogger for Duke, in addition to her ongoing advocacy work for international girls’ education issues... Paloma is a tenth grader busy with soccer and her work as assistant curator for the fourth annual TEDx@Hewitt conference on Nov 16; her first few months of school have been a non-stop search for fabulousspeakers.”

Lisa Train ‘84 writes: “We have moved back to London after eight years in Austria. Fortunately my sister, Nina Train Choa ‘81, is living in London so we will spend some time actually living in the same city! I look forward to reconnecting with a few other alumnae in the area.”

Jessica glass ‘85 reports that she recently completed a documentary, The Fuentidueña Apse: A Journey from Castile to New York for the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She‘s been invited to screen the film at the International Archaeological Film Festival of the Bidasoa in Spain, where she will be honeymooning with her husband of three years, Dave Raymond, who is also the audio engineer for the film.

mary Kendall (mK) Wong ‘86 writes: “What a surprise to bump into Cathy Cramer ‘77 at the Sanctuary For Families Zero Tolerance Benefit on June 4, 2013! [above] Cathy is a board member and I have been involved with Sanctuary for the

spring. I go to the US once a year, usually in August. This summer I saw Francesca Andrews goodwin ‘87 and Alison Sellin Weiskopf ‘81 in Quogue.”

meg mcCary ‘87 appeared onstage in New York this fall at La MaMa in I Came to Look for You on Tuesday by Chiori Miyagawa. Inspired by the tsunami in Japan, the production was described by reviewers as

“creative, engaging, and quite brave,” “enthralling theater,” and a “poignant yet unsentimental puzzle box of a play.” Meg writes:

“It‘s been such an honor to work with the remarkable cast and crew on this beautiful piece.”

meredith Wong ‘87 reports that she recently visited Naneen ortiz ‘87 in Portland, ME and Kirsten meisinger ‘87 and mK Wong ‘86 in Boston, MA. She writes: “[Kirsten] is a physician working with an immigrant population, and travels to Brazil every few months to help with their health care. In addition to learning Portuguese, she is also learning the Nepalese language in order to communicate better with her patients! Naneen and her husband, Mike, took me on a wonderful hike on Bradbury Mountain, made delicious home-cooked meals, and played host to me for the weekend in beautiful Buxton. [Naneen] leads a busy life with her husband and daughter, a full-time job in healthcare, and still finds time to manage a full house of pets and and a foreign exchange student to boot. I continue my work at the Jewish Museum where I develop programs for adults with disabilities, and look forward to expanding the Access programs there.” Meredith coordinated a wonderful tour of the Chagall exhibit for Nightingale alumnae at The Jewish Museum this fall.

Lisa Frankel ‘81 writes: “I am the NY Outreach Manager for Hazelden. Hazelden was founded in 1949 and is the original

‘Minnesota Model‘ for treating alcoholism and substance abuse issues, as well as co-occurring disorders.” Lisa reports that she was primarily hired to represent Hazelden‘s NY locations, which include two outpatient locations and TriBeCa Twelve, a collegiate sober residence for young adults.She says hello to everyone!

Stephanie Ardrey Hazard ‘81 was recently elected to the board of the Theatre Artists Workshop in Norwalk, CT, a professional group she initially joined as an actress. Earlier this year, she reached the semi-finals of the Manhattan Repertory Theater‘s spring competition with her performance in a one-act play, and she also appeared this fall in an original play (and directed another) at TAW‘s playwrights’ festival. Stephanie reports that she traces her love of acting back to Nightingale when, cast as Joseph in the annual Christmas Pageant, she stepped onto the stage for the very first time.

Lexie masterson ‘81 reports: “Still living up near Rhinebeck. My company, ClairvoyantBeauty.com, is three years old and we‘re making great progress! I live on an organic farm and am within 30 minutes of my sister and her brood…My brother and his wife have a six-year-old boy and a two-year-old girl and live in Brooklyn, so I am a completely besotted aunt! I picked up two cats when I was living in Mexico (Petey and Prue) and a border collie named Jack.”

Dina Schefler Nemeth ‘81 reports that her daughter, Annabelle (who attended Nightingale until they moved to Westchester a few years ago), just started at Choate this fall.

meg von mehren ‘81 writes: “[I am] living outside of Philadelphia with my husband, Eric, and two sons, Jake (12) and Andrew (8).” Meg works at Fox Chase Cancer Center, where she specializes in cancers of muscles, bones, and fat, directing both the clinical trials office and the sarcoma program.

Christina roig morris ‘82 writes: “We spent another great summer on Shelter Island where our sons, Luke (12) and Sebastian (11), continued to race Optis at

past 20 years, the most recent 10 years as co-chair of their benefit production committee.” MK also wrote in that she and her sister, meredith Wong ‘87, spent 10 days in Honolulu with their mother last May to celebrate a family friend‘s wedding; while there, “it was such a treat for my sister and me to have dinner with Jane reilly mount ‘85 and her family at the Outrigger in Waikiki” (below).

Allison Voehl Cohen ‘87 reports that she is living in Woodbridge, CT with her husband, David, and their two daughters, Sydney (10) and Emma (7). Allison is a pediatrician in private practice and David is an orthopedic surgeon, specializing in sports medicine.

regina george Longoria ‘87 writes: “I have lived in Madrid for 13 years now. My husband, Pablo, is a Spanish architect and we have two children, Natalia (6) and Lucas (2). I received my masters in arts administration here in Madrid in 2009 and I have worked on and off on many wonderful international performing arts events over the years (music and theater festivals, opera productions, etc.). However, with the current economic situation in Spain, funding and sponsorship for all culture is very limited so I have been teaching English as a foreign language to professionals and I really enjoy it. I love living in Madrid but I do miss New York and unfortunately I never seem to be around for any of the alumnae events in the

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meg mcCary ‘87 with Jens Rasmussen in I Came to Look for You on Tuesday


Alex Failmezger ‘92 writes: “My family and I moved to Portland, Oregon over the summer. We are loving the slower pace of life, having a real backyard in the city, and the wonderful outdoors.”

gigi Chen Leporati ‘93 gave birth to Jada Rose Leporati on July 12, 2013 (below). Jada and her big sister, Elise, are both doing well.

Alexander Hudson Lehman Ronis was born to Sage Lehman ‘93 on January 2, 2013.

Laura Beech mcClung ‘93 welcomed a baby girl in 2012.

Lisa Steele Stevenson ‘93 and her husband, Philip, welcomed Evelyn Elizabeth Stevenson on July 23, 2013 (below). Lisa, Philip, and Evelyn live in New Canaan, CT.

Anna Sobel ‘97 welcomed her first child, a boy, Milo Elijah Bender, on August 31, 2013 (below). Anna writes: “He‘s healthy and doing great, and I‘m taking a brief maternity leave before returning to work November 1 to act in a show called The Skinner Servants Tour here in Holyoke, MA, and then I‘ll resume driving all around New England with my own puppet shows. As for how to handle childcare when my husband is also a freelance performer (musician)—and whether to take the baby along to gigs—that‘s still up in the air, but we‘re loving being parents so far!”

Caroline Whitbeck ‘97 received her PhD in comparative literature from the University of Pennsylvania in August 2013.

emily Driscoll ’98 reports that she has started BonSci Films, a production company specializing in science and art documentaries. Her films about New York oysters, invasive species, and plankton and plastic have received awards and screened at film festivals and museums, as well as aired on PBS stations. She teaches science video production in New York University's master's program in science journalism and still plays badminton every week, a sport she began playing at Nightingale!

Alison Vasios Flannery ‘98 reports that she had a baby boy named Liam Flannery in September 2012. Alison is the assistant head of Lower School at Poly Prep.

elizabeth riley Fraise ‘98 welcomed Harcourt Wilson Fraise (“Court”) on May 1, 2013 (above). Court weighed in at 7 lbs. 7 oz. and was 20 inches long.

ellen Warfield ‘95 and her fiancé, Blaise Bace, welcomed a son, Lucian Warfield Bace, on September 18, 2013 (below). Ellen reports that her only regret is that Lucian will never be able to go to Nightingale!

Brooke Bancroft ‘96 gave birth to Alexandra Tyler Bancroft (Lexi) on September 9, 2013 (below). Brooke writes that older siblings Teddy and Pearson “are loving being the big kids!”

Sophie mcmanus ‘96‘s first novel, The Brightest Day, is to be published by Random House in February 2014.

Joanna mason Anderson ‘03 writes: “We moved! Michael and I moved to California for his new job this summer. We also bought a house in Hermosa Beach—a walk to the beach! Our other news is that we are expecting a baby due end of December. I will send a photo and update as soon as the baby is born (we are going to wait to find out if it is a boy or a girl). Had a baby shower in NYC a couple of weeks ago and several Nightingale friends attended [see photo below, with Blair Kenney ’03] (also was able to visit Nightingale and say hello to old teachers and coaches). Missing NYC but getting settled and liking our new life out here on the West Coast.”

Astrid Hill ‘03 and Ryan Dattilo were married in New York City on April 13, 2013 (below). Astrid is president of Monticule Art, an art advisory business that helps collectors and corporations build contemporary art collections. Ryan is a restructuring associate in the New York offices of the Chicago-based law firm Kirkland & Ellis.

Shaquinah Taylor ‘03 married Khalid David O‘Sullivan Wright on September 5, 2013, in Montego Bay, Jamaica. Shaquinah writes:

“Two of my Nightingale classmates, Danielle Tappitake ‘03, and Chevelle Dixon ‘03 were in attendance!”

Lisa Hauptman ‘88 writes that her daughter, Ariana Jacqueline Parnia, was born on April 18, 2012.

Vanessa Leneman o‘Friel ‘88 welcomed a son, Rory Henry O‘Friel, on July 16, 2013. Rory joins big siblings Cillian (8), Angus (7), and Charlotte (5).

Lisa Harewood Velummylum ‘90 welcomed baby Nicholas Velummylum in January.

elizabeth De Santo ‘91 recently joined the faculty of Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, PA as assistant professor of environmental studies. She writes:

“I‘m always happy to answer questions from Nightingale girls who may be looking at F&M and/or thinking about a career in the environment.” Elizabeth may be reached at [email protected].

Alyssa Drewes ‘91 and her husband, Jeffrey Dzwonkowski, welcomed a daughter, Daisy Ellen Dzwonkowski, on July 6, 2013. Daisy joins proud big brothers, Eli Samuel (6) and Drew Charles (3). Alyssa writes: “Can‘t imagine life as a family of five ever being dull. We feel truly blessed!”

Susannah Canfield Hurd ‘96 and her husband, Steve, welcomed a baby girl, Ellory Emmet Hurd, on November 4, 2012. Ellory joins big brother, Ethan Cass Hurd, who turned three in August. Susannah also notes that her father, Cass Canfield Jr., passed away on July 30, 2013 at the age of 90; he died peacefully at home.

Debbie rabbino Bhatt ‘96 writes: “I‘m thrilled to announce the birth of my daughter, Caroline Bhatt, born in April 2013, and pictured here (above) at 5 months with my 3-year-old son Andy. I‘m also thrilled to announce the birth of my niece, Francesca Bisbano, the daughter of my sister, Anne rabbino Bisbano ‘01.

Athena Hill ‘97 married Dan Sapir on May 25, 2013, in Negril, Jamaica.

Lauren Potters Horn ‘97 writes that she and her husband, Doc Horn, are thrilled to announce the birth of their second child, Sawyer Eloise Horn (above), born in London, England on July 19, 2013. Sawyer joins proud big brother Wyatt (2 1/2).

Jenny Flandina ‘94 is living in Chicago with her husband, John, and daughters, Charlotte (4) and Eloise (3). Jenny writes: “I started at Deutsche Bank in July. Charlotte started junior kindergarten at Latin in September. All is good!”

Laura Kirk ‘94 (see faculty and staff notes)

Sabine gruffat ‘94 directed and produced I Have Always Been A Dreamer, an essay film about globalization and urban ecology, which had its New York premiere as part of Documentary Fortnight 2013: MoMA‘s International Festival of Nonfiction Film and Media, the 12th annual two-week showcase of recent documentary films examining the relationship between contemporary art and nonfiction practices and reflecting on new areas of documentary filmmaking. Sabine‘s documentary travelogue portrays two cities in contrasting states of development: Dubai, UAE, and Detroit, Michigan.

Laura Davis Stahl ‘94 gave birth to James Faulkner Stahl on May 3, 2013 (above). Laura reports that Hailey, 2, adores her new brother and has really taken to her big sister role.

Amanda Field Jordan ‘99 and her husband, Jonathan, welcomed their first child, Katherine Hillary Jordan, on April 9, 2013. Amanda writes:

“I hope that Katherine will be a part of the Nightingale community in the future.”

margot Hill ‘00 married Colin James Kirby in Telluride, Colorado on August 17, 2013. Margot is an executive director at Morgan Stanley in New York, where she works with the firm‘s hedge fund clients on marketing strategy and business development. Colin is an associate in the technology group of Lowenstein Sandler, a law firm in New York.

Zoe Settle ‘00 reports that she recently became engaged! She writes that she joins a “slew of Class of 2000 gals” who have gotten engaged in the last couple of months: Fernanda Winthrop ‘00, JoJo Cohen ‘00, Celene menschel ‘00, and Liz Niemiec ‘00.

Anne rabbino Bisbano ‘01 (see Debbie rabbino Bhatt ‘96)

Nadja Hansen ‘01 works in the publications/editorial department of The Metropolitan Museum of Art and recently interned at Nightingale in John Loughery‘s art history class.

Courtney Quinn Wyman ‘01 and her husband, Peter, welcomed their first child, William Henry Wyman, on April 2, 2013. Courtney writes: “We absolutely love the addition to our family, but are disappointed he won‘t be able to attend Nightingale!”

Ingrid Deming ‘02 reports that she recently received her master‘s from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey—now Rutgers—as a physician assistant. She currently works in the department of internal medicine at the New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center.

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Members of the Class of 1993 gathered to celebrate Irene grassi osborne ‘93‘s baby shower [from L to R:] Lauren Hirshfield Belden ‘93, mary richter ‘93, Irene grassi osborne ‘93, Sage Lehman ‘93, and Shoshanna Lonstein gruss ‘93

A large contingent of the Class of 1988 gathered at the home of Liz Victory Anderson ‘88 for reunion cocktails last May


Music teacher Deadra Hart gave birth to a son, Gryphon Emmanuel Joyce Hart Kennedy, on May 13, 2013 (below). Deadra reports that mom, dad, baby, and big sister, Ceres, are “all home, doing well, and enjoying this special time together.”

Former Kindergarten teacher Liza Lowell Helwig and her husband, Keith, became the proud parents of Christopher Lowell Helwig on March 14, 2013.

Head of School Emerita Dorothy A. Hutcheson received the distinguished alumna award from her alma mater, the Westminster Schools in Atlanta, Georgia, at their commencement ceremony on May 18, 2013. Dorothy is in her second year at Union Theological Seminary here in New York and is an intern at the Church of the Heavenly Rest, where she delivered her first sermon on October 6, 2013.

Kindergarten homeroom teacher robin Daley and her husband, Jack, welcomed their second child, Myles Robert Daley, on February 26, 2013 (below).

History and Class V homeroom teacher Jena epstein and her husband, Eric, welcomed their son, Jonah David Epstein, on September 16, 2013 (below).

Former Lower School music teacher Jennifer Florez gave birth to a son, Agustin, on January 7, 2013 (below).

English teacher Laura Kirk ‘94 gave birth to Theodore Kenan Kirk on August 19, 2013 (below). Theo weighed in at 7 lbs 9 oz and, according to his mom, “he is a total love!”

Former math teacher meredith mcNamara welcomed a daughter, Lillian Jane, on July 12, 2013 (below). Meredith writes that mom and baby are healthy and happy!

Class I homeroom teacher Stacey Shen gave birth to a daughter, Irene Rosalie Etlinger, on September 29, 2013.

Physical education teacher Allison Trotta gave birth to a son, Francis Michael Trotta III, on April 14, 2013. Allison reports that mom, dad, big sister, Lillian, and baby are all doing well.

Former French teacher rosine Donhauser passed away on July 14, 2013 at the age of 88. Remembered by former associate head of school Kitty Gordan as

“a very good teacher with a deep knowledge of French literature and very high standards,” she is survived by her children and grandchildren, including Caroline Donhauser ’78.

Former school nurse Paula gordon passed away peacefully among her family on October 11, 2013. When sharing this sad news with the Nightingale community, Head of School Paul A. Burke commented: “Those of us who had the privilege of working with Paula knew her to be as kind as she was expert. She was, in our parlance, all heart and all mind.” Paula is survived by her husband, Philip, and two daughters, Amanda gordon ‘89 and margaret gordon ‘92.

Ann Sayre Wiseman ‘44 passed away on April 23, 2013 in Corvallis, Oregon. Her long and varied career as a teacher, artist, and author included teaching workshops on art, creativity, and expressive therapies; exhibiting her work widely; and publishing 14 books.

Former director of annual giving Sherrie Ager and her husband, Brian, welcomed a son, James Henry Ager, on April 1, 2013 (below).

Former history teacher Joe Bord and his wife, Nicole Luna, welcomed their daughter, Zara Luna-Bord, on August 15, 2013 (below).

David Colón, former head of the history department, has been appointed headmaster of the Wakefield School, a preschool–12th grade college preparatory school in The Plains, Virginia.

faculty and staff notes

in memoriam

a progressive health center in Rhode Island. After-work activities include making movies, reading queer zines, and fixing up my new old motorcycle.This winter I‘m apprenticing with a goat farmer in Maine, learning the skills I‘ll need to start my own intentional-community homestead next year!”

Dwaina Screen ‘09 graduated cum laude from Queens College, CUNY in June 2013 and is working full time as a middle school mathematics teacher at the East-West School of International Studies, a public school in Flushing, NY, while also pursuing a masters in mathematics education at Teachers College, Columbia University. Dwaina writes: “I am currently enjoying the challenge of finding balance between all of these new experiences and maintaining my wonderful Nightingale relationships. I even got the exciting opportunity to teach Ms. du Nouy‘s son, Sebastian, swim lessons as a lifeguard at Trinity Day Camp this past summer.”

exie robertson ‘11 has been spending her fall semester at NYU Madrid (below). She writes:

“I‘ve been loving the Madrileña way of life—from the tapas to the Prado, it‘s all been a blast!”

Charlotte Winthrop ‘04 married Wellington Sculley (“a St. Bernard‘s boy,” she notes) on August 10, 2013. The Nightingale contingent at the wedding (above) included Fernanda Winthrop ‘00, Daphne Steinberg ‘04, emilie ghilaga ‘04, Serda Yalkin ‘04, Ali Berry ‘05, and elizabeth Winthrop ‘97 (not pictured).

Jackie Kier ‘05 recently moved to Philadelphia to enter the MBA program at the Wharton School of Business. At Wharton, Jackie is involved in the Public Policy Initiative, and is a member of the Wharton Social Venture Fund, a student-run impact investing firm.

melanie Kimmelman ‘06 writes that she recently joined David Zwirner in New York, where she is working in press and marketing. Katie Bolander ‘08 is living and working in the Gambia as a member of the Peace Corps.

Sophie goodwin ‘08 loves working as a research analyst at an investment fund.

Angela mellon ‘08 writes: “Since graduating from Brown this spring, I‘ve been managing a community garden and farmers market at

A posthumous recipient of Nightingale‘s 2013 distinguished alumnae achievement award, Lady Malcolm Douglas-Hamilton ’28 passed away on January 14, 2013 at the age of 103. Born Natalie Scarritt Wales in 1909, she grew up in Boston and New York City, where she attended Nightingale and then Columbia.

Lady Malcolm lived a life of privilege, yet worked tirelessly in support of those in need. In 1939, soon after Britain declared war, she (then known as Natalie Latham), asked the British ambassador to the US what Britain needed that ordinary Americans could supply. The answer: knitted caps for sailors. So she got to work, building a national organization with nearly 2,000 branches and over 1.5 million volunteers working to send to Britain not only knitted items but also X-ray machines, ambulances, children‘s cots, surgical instruments and more, all labeled “From your American friends.”

For her services in WWII, Lady Malcolm became the first non-British woman to be named an honorary Commander of the British Empire, an honor bestowed upon her by King George VI in 1946.

Bundles for Britain was just the first of many organizations Lady Malcolm Douglas Hamilton founded. At the request of the White House, she created a related group, Bundles for America, to aid Americans during the war. In 1947 she established Common Cause, an anticommunist group, with her third husband, Edward Bragg Paine. Among other things, the organization shipped food during the Berlin airlift and sheltered refugees (sometimes in her own home).

After the death of her third husband, Natalie met Lord Malcolm Douglas-Hamilton, and they married in 1953. Together, they started the American-Scottish Foundation to strengthen ties between Scotland and the United States. After Lord Malcolm‘s tragic death in a plane crash in 1964, Lady Malcolm continued to devote herself to the foundation, organizing “Scotland Week” in New York City and creating the annual Scottish Ball fundraiser. She also established the Wallace Award, celebrating an individual‘s contribution to American-Scottish relations, as well as Scotland House, a gathering place for those with Scottish roots and a center for Scottish culture.

lady malcolm douglas-hamilton ’28


Voic

es

Andrea Levien ‘08 is a Research Associate at FairVote, a voting rights and electoral reform organization in Washington, D.C., where she focuses on presidential elections and Electoral College reform.

When I tell people that I work in electoral reform, I usually get a blank stare and questions like,

“Electrical reform? What‘s that?”“Electoral. You know, elections and voting.

Making them fairer.”“Oh. Well that must be interesting…”The funny thing is, electoral reform really is

interesting! You hear people, especially those who are interested in politics, complain about how corrupt our political process is and how troubling it is that bad politicians keep getting reelected. What few realize is that with better election laws, many of the problems with our politics can be solved.

Although FairVote, the organization for which I work, addresses several different deficiencies in our political process, I focus specifically on a reform for presidential elections called the National Popular Vote plan (NPV). NPV would change how states allocate their votes in the Electoral College, thereby ending the geographic discrimination perpetuated by our current system.

Any New Yorker will understand that this reform is desperately needed. Because states currently allocate their electoral votes on a winner-take-all basis—meaning that whichever candidate wins the most votes in the state receives all of that state‘s electoral votes—candidates are only incentivized to campaign in the states in which it is unclear which candidate will win the most votes.

There is little doubt each election cycle regarding who will win New York‘s 29 electoral votes. Therefore, presidential candidates, both Democratic and Republican, use New Yorkers

solely for their checkbooks, and save their actual campaigning and “Get Out The Vote” efforts for the residents of swing states like Ohio, Florida, and New Hampshire. As I was tasked with researching the ways in which our current Electoral College system affects presidential campaigns, I got to see in detail just how stark this inequality is: during the 2012 general election campaign, Barack Obama and Mitt Romney campaigned in a grand total of 10 states, and spent more than 99% of their advertising money in those same 10 states. Three-quarters of Americans were completely ignored by the two men vying to be their Commander-in-Chief. Yes, it‘s that bad.

Under NPV, states commit to giving their electoral votes to the winner of the national popular vote in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, rather than the winner of their statewide popular vote. However, they will only begin to do this once states controlling a majority of votes in the Electoral College (270) have passed the law. That way, the winner of the election will always be the candidate who wins the most votes nationwide, and every vote in every state will be equally important. NPV is currently halfway to activation: so far, 10 states controlling 136 electoral votes have enacted it, and advocates are working to ensure that New York passes the legislation soon.

I‘m not alone in thinking this discrimination based on geography is a problem. Since 1944, when Gallup began polling Americans on their opinion of how presidents should be elected, a majority has always preferred a popular vote for president to our current, winner-take-all system. Currently, about two-thirds of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents say they would prefer a national popular vote.

Knowing that my work this past year will help put New York back on the electoral map in presidential elections has been really exciting, and I can‘t stress enough to any Nightingale girls reading this how rewarding it is to work for a cause you believe in. Sure, there will be disappointments along the way. For me, that came in the form of legislators in Connecticut, the state where I attended college, deciding to defer action on the NPV legislation for the time being. But there will also be triumphs, like when the New York State Assembly passed NPV for the first time in June, or when I was given the opportunity to appear on a Washington, D.C. news program to discuss how National Popular Vote can improve presidential elections. Those triumphs will make all your hard work worth it.

If you‘d like to learn more about fixing our broken presidential election system, visit fairvote.org/national-popular-vote. For general information about FairVote and the other kinds of work we do, visit fairvote.org.

Here we feature the voice of someone in the Nightingale community. If you would like to share some of your thoughts or experiences with others in the community, please contact us at [email protected].

HEAD OF SCHOOL

Paul A. Burke

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Rebecca Rasmussen Grunwald, President Blair Pillsbury Enders ‘88, Vice President Elena Hahn Kiam ‘81, Vice President James D. Forbes, Treasurer Gregory Palm, Secretary

Clarissa BronfmanPaul A. Burke, Ex-officioJames S. ChanosBrenda EarlBrooke Brodsky Emmerich ‘91, Ex-officioAlexander EvansDouglas FeaginShoshanna Lonstein Gruss ‘93John HallJohn J. HannanPatricia Gilchrist Howard ‘62Steven B. KlinskyPaul LachmanValerie Margulies, Ex-officioCurtis Mewbourne Renan PierreDina PowellDebora SparMary Margaret Trousdale

HONORARY BOARD MEMBERS

Jerome P. Kenney Nina Joukowsky Köprülü ‘79Susan Hecht Tofel ‘48 Grant F. Winthrop

HEAD OF SCHOOL EMERITA

Dorothy A. Hutcheson

PARENTS ASSOCIATION OFFICERS

Valerie Margulies, PresidentStacy Calder Clapp ‘91, Vice PresidentNatalie Stange, Secretary/Treasurer

ALUMNAE BOARD

Brooke Brodsky Emmerich ‘91, PresidentZoe Settle ‘00, Vice PresidentElizabeth Victory Anderson ‘88, SecretaryAmie Rappoport McKenna ‘90, Chair, Alumnae Fund

Paul A. Burke, Ex-officioElizabeth Boehmler ‘94Elizabeth Riley Fraise ‘98Sage Garner ‘04Daphra Holder ‘03Hillary Johnson ‘76Siena Kissel ‘06, Ex-officioElizabeth Friedland Meyer ‘89Palmer Jones O’Sullivan ‘94Melissa Providence ‘02Gaby Santana ‘06, Ex-officioMelissa Elting Walker ‘92

OFFICE OF INSTITUTIONAL

ADVANCEMENT

Mary Richter ‘93Director of Institutional AdvancementAmanda GoodwinDirector of Alumnae RelationsKristin MorseDirector of Annual GivingJessie Page ‘03Advancement AssociateAndrew PetersonDatabase ManagerKaty ReitzDevelopment OfficerNicki SebastianDirector of Digital CommunicationsSusan TilsonDirector of Publications

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Documents

FALL 2013 1 Nightingale- Bamford School Volume 8 Issue 1 Fall 2013