Sydney Gibson ’15: It all began in the spring of 2010; a group of musically inclined Episcopal Academy teachers came together to form Flash Mob. The band came about when an EA student contacted a few teachers to see if they were interested in performing at Artsfest. Three of those contacted, Doug Parsons, Rob Maier, and Bryan McDermott, gladly accepted the invitation. Since then, those teachers have assembled at least once a month to practice for their various gigs. In the past, Flash Mob has performed at multiple events, including Open Mic Night, the Faculty Christmas Party, and Graduation Day. Currently,…
Author: TECHALERT
Toni Radcliffe ’14: Episcopal cancelled Peace Day, an all school day event to educate on and celebrate diversity, in order to compensate for lost academic time that the multitude of snow days has created. Administratively, the decision appears logical. After two weeks of J-Term and losing more than a week to snow days, classes are far behind. However, by immediately cancelling this student-led event, Episcopal failed to realize the extreme significance of Peace Day. As a largely homogenous community, Episcopal rarely has the opportunity to introduce its students to other cultures. In the past, the Upper School has not had such…
On November 1st, 2013, @EA_Athletics posted a tweet promoting the football showdown between EA and Malvern that was to be broadcast that very night. After the game, no final score was ever reported. One week later, @EA_Athletics tweeted the live first-period score of the EA-AIS field hockey game, which would decide the winner of the banner; no score was ever reported. Two months later, @EA_Athletics posted a tweet promoting the boy’s basketball Inter-Ac opener between EA and Haverford; no score was ever posted. The easy answer is that these scores were never reported by accident. However, this conclusion seems very…
Katie O’Reilly ’14: Some members of the Episcopal community recently reacted with dismay to the annual Star-Fest auction invitation. This year’s planned theme was a ‘White Affair,’ a theme that sought to give a more glamorous undertone to a typically modern fundraiser. Unfortunately, many in the EA community saw the proposed theme as insensitive to our efforts to promote diversity. This episode is a great opportunity for Episcopal to improve itself from within. But simply changing the name of an auction theme does not create diversity. Remember however, that diversity comes from the mind and the spirit, not just the outside.…
Michael Smerconish ’14: While we as a school impose numerous means of deterring cheating in a classroom setting, EA possesses an unexplainable naivety when it comes to the role of the internet in take home assignments. By underestimating the power of Google in finding a similar or exact copy of a student’s assessment, teachers only fool themselves and weaken the school’s stance on academic integrity. In 0.48 seconds, I was able to find an identical AP problem set to the one I was recently assigned as part of a take home test. In 0.32 seconds, I came across the entirety of…
Chris Stein ’16: After visiting the University City Hospitality Coalition, Allison Camp ’14 felt enlightened. “Because of UCHC, I see that you can’t always tell by looking at someone that they’re homeless. Hard times can strike anyone.” UCHC was founded by a group of students at the University of Pennsylvania, local residents, and clergymen who were determined that the misery and loss of life that occurs due to the inability to find food or shelter should be eradicated from Philadelphia. Former Director of Community Service Robert Trumbull explained that the people at this organization are “great in that they are non-judgemental…
Alexa D’Ambrosio ’17, Sonam Saxena ’17: For the past 229 years, each headmaster at the Episcopal Academy has played a pivotal role in supporting the school and fostering a sense of community. As a tradition of showing gratitude, EA has commemorated the headmasters’ service by hanging a painted portrait of each outside the Sherrard Board Room in the Crawford Campus Center. “Since the school was founded in 1785 there have only been 11 heads of school,” including Dr. TJ Locke, explained Lenard Haley form the Development Office. “When they retire they have a portrait done.” After the move to the Newtown Square…
Alexa D’Ambrosio ’17, Sonam Saxena ’17: For the past 229 years, each headmaster at the Episcopal Academy has played a pivotal role in supporting the school and fostering a sense of community. As a tradition of showing gratitude, EA has commemorated the headmasters’ service by hanging a painted portrait of each outside the Sherrard Board Room in the Crawford Campus Center. “Since the school was founded in 1785 there have only been 11 heads of school,” including Dr. TJ Locke, explained Lenard Haley form the Development Office. “When they retire they have a portrait done.” After the move to the Newtown Square…
Isabella Sanchez ’16: In a small room in the maintenance building from 3:45 to 6:15 a group of 23 students work together to build EA’s next winning robot. A winter sport, Robotics requires a commitment equivalent to that of a varsity athlete. Aside from it’s regular meetings during sports the Robotics team meets Saturdays from 10 A.M. to 4 P.M. This year’s team will be attending two local competitions in March and a regional one in Houston with hopes of winning and getting to Nationals. Robotics begins along with the other winter sports, in November. Edward Mathisen, faculty advisor for the…
Isabella Sanchez ’16: In a small room in the maintenance building from 3:45 to 6:15 a group of 23 students work together to build EA’s next winning robot. A winter sport, Robotics requires a commitment equivalent to that of a varsity athlete. Aside from it’s regular meetings during sports the Robotics team meets Saturdays from 10 A.M. to 4 P.M. This year’s team will be attending two local competitions in March and a regional one in Houston with hopes of winning and getting to Nationals. Robotics begins along with the other winter sports, in November. Edward Mathisen, faculty advisor for the…
Claudia Teti ’16: For the majority of problems that arise at Episcopal, the school relies on the discipline committee, the faculty, and the administration to settle the issue. However, when a situation occurs that the school cannot handle on its own, EA’s legal team offers it’s assistance. The attorneys of the firm Lamb McErlane protect and assist the school in these legal matters. Dr. Catherine Hall, Assistant Head of School, noted “We use the team for stuff that is outside of the box, totally unusual, or something that calls into question the policy that we have.” Planning for J-term highlighted the…
Claudia Teti ’16: For the majority of problems that arise at Episcopal, the school relies on the discipline committee, the faculty, and the administration to settle the issue. However, when a situation occurs that the school cannot handle on its own, EA’s legal team offers it’s assistance. The attorneys of the firm Lamb McErlane protect and assist the school in these legal matters. Dr. Catherine Hall, Assistant Head of School, noted “We use the team for stuff that is outside of the box, totally unusual, or something that calls into question the policy that we have.” Planning for J-term highlighted the…
Grant Plotkin ’16: Ham Clark, former Episcopal Academy Head Of School, recently visited EA for the first time in six months since his departure. Scholium decided to check in with Clark and learn about his experiences as the new headmaster of the American Community School (ACS) in Beirut, Lebanon. Clark described the American Community School (ACS) as “very different from EA, not as academic and far less athletic.” When asked about the differences between the two schools, he stated that while both contain high achievers, EA students can be more motivated than ACS students who mainly plan to continue their family…
Grant Plotkin ’16: Ham Clark, former Episcopal Academy Head Of School, recently visited EA for the first time in six months since his departure. Scholium decided to check in with Clark and learn about his experiences as the new headmaster of the American Community School (ACS) in Beirut, Lebanon. Clark described the American Community School (ACS) as “very different from EA, not as academic and far less athletic.” When asked about the differences between the two schools, he stated that while both contain high achievers, EA students can be more motivated than ACS students who mainly plan to continue their family…
Rohan Rajogopalan ’14: Episcopal Academy’s summer programs are undergoing revisions to offer several new courses, including higher level Math courses and a continuation of the J-Term App Challenge course. Dr. Cathy Hall, Assistant Head of School, who is overseeing the new summer curriculum, described the courses as exciting opportunities for “students who really want to go further in Math, Science or Technology.” Likewise, athletics will be another focus as several varsity coaches are offering summer programs to build upon success during the school year. “What we are trying to do is to build a better connection point so that what we…
Rohan Rajogopalan ’14: Episcopal Academy’s summer programs are undergoing revisions to offer several new courses, including higher level Math courses and a continuation of the J-Term App Challenge course. Dr. Cathy Hall, Assistant Head of School, who is overseeing the new summer curriculum, described the courses as exciting opportunities for “students who really want to go further in Math, Science or Technology.” Likewise, athletics will be another focus as several varsity coaches are offering summer programs to build upon success during the school year. “What we are trying to do is to build a better connection point so that what we…
Leah Yao ’15: Andrea Danial, Head of Lower School, has recently resigned from her position and will be leaving Episcopal at the end of June. Dr. T.J. Locke, Head of School, notified Lower School parents last Tuesday that Danial is looking to take on new leadership roles at other schools. According to Locke, “differing views and priorities for advancing the Lower School program,” led to her leave. Locke noted that Danial, after six years at EA, has made contributions in “the implementation of a new math program, the expansion of our student support program and implementation of a more integrated technology…
Wilson Smerconish ’16: Peter Anderson will join Episcopal’s faculty when he replaces Rachel Tilney as Director of Enrollment Management, known to many students as Admissions Director, this upcoming fall. Anderson, a Vermont native, graduated from Middleburry with a BA in American history and currently leads the admissions department at Lancaster Country Day School. He began working in admissions-related roles when he worked as the Director of Financial Aid at Loomis Chaffee School in Connecticut. “I liked that work, but wanted to test the waters outside education,” said Anderson. In 1992 he received an MBA from New York University’s Stern School of…
Sam Niu ’15, Eunice Ju ’15: Formula scoring, the practice of penalizing students for incorrect answers, used on standardized tests such as the SAT and AP exams, may soon be a thing of the past. Head of School T.J. Locke broke the news to Scholium, saying, “‘Formula Scoring’ is going away in future versions of the SAT. No more penalty for incorrect answers.” This change may neutralize the carefully conceived strategies that so many SAT preparation programs focus on. By penalizing incorrect answers, the SAT has prompted students and tutors to develop methods for maximizing the chance of scoring high on the…
Leah Yao ’15: Starfest, an annual fundraising event hosted by the Episcopal Academy Parents Association (EAPA), has met controversy over this year’s theme titled “WhitEAffair” for being offensive and exclusive. The title “WhitEAffair” stems from the concept of a “White Party”, where the decor and participants are dressed in white. The Starfest Committee liked the visual concept and chose “WhitEAffair” as the theme for its 2014 dinner and auction event on March 1st. However, after invitations were sent out there were mixed reactions. Some felt the theme was offensive and exclusive because it seemed to imply racial connotations and stereotypes of…