CAPTAIN'S CORNER

Dear St. Margaret's friends and families,

February is always a challenging month. Snow causes sports events to be postponed and schedules to be altered. And just as our thoughts long to turn toward Minimester and Spring Break, it is time to settle down for serious exam review. Now that we have passed the midpoint of the school year, we have also turned our attention toward graduation for the seniors and further St. Margaret's opportunities for our underclass students. College acceptances are announced each week along with an impressive array of leadership, service, and merit scholarships, and underclass students will soon be meeting with Mrs. Farmer to make their course selections for 2003-2004.

In preparation for the next steps in all of our students' lives, we have reflected together on what it means to be an independent school graduate, and, more specifically, a graduate of St. Margaret's School. Recent research by the National Association of Independent Schools provides some surprising conclusions. Both colleges and employers value graduates of independent schools for two qualities: integrity and communication skills. One character quality and one life skill, both learned powerfully within the close community of an independent school.

Integrity: we know it when we encounter it and we certainly know when it is missing, but can we define it? Our Honor Code puts the elements of integrity in front of students as they make choices in all aspects of their lives. Integrity challenges them to make the right choice rather than the easy choice, and it is only through practice that they learn the difference. Our mission states, "Founded on the Episcopal tradition, both honor and character are developed." In chapel services, residential and town meetings, and announcements, by reflecting on our choices we help our students appreciate the dimensions of integrity and its importance in their lives.

Communication skills are easier to define, teach, practice, and measure. Soon it will be time to listen to senior speeches and independent study presentations, to publish the yearbook and the literary magazine. Already alumnae have returned to tell us about their incredible success in college courses and first jobs because they really learned to write at St. Margaret's. Teaching students to communicate is embedded in the curriculum and in our traditions.

Finally, consider the incredible strength of these two qualities in combination-integrity and the ability to communicate that strength of character in actions and words! I take great pride in knowing and recounting the stories of our graduates who carry this winning combination beyond their school years here. It is wonderful to know that others do, too!

Sincerely,
Margaret R. Broad,
Head of School

COMPASS POINTS

19-21 - Second trimester exams

21-23 - Closed weekend

24 - River Day; Minimester begins

7 - Spring break travel begins after 2 p.m.

18 - Boarding students return by 7 p.m.

19 - Third trimester begins