CAPTAIN'S CORNER

Dear St. Margaret's friends and families,

One of the best things about living in a school community is the privilege of living on school time. Where else do you have the opportunity at least twice each year to stop what you are doing, get a little distance from your daily responsibilities, evaluate your goals, and decide if you need a course correction to get to where you want to be? I love both the discipline and the freedom of school time. As I’ve often said to the student leaders, how will you be able to enjoy your success if you haven’t established what success will look like, or developed a plan for getting there?

This is just as true of selecting and applying to a group of colleges, mentoring a younger student, bringing off a glitteringly successful Snow Ball, or figuring out how to acquire a Scotty dog mascot to encourage school spirit as it is of fine-tuning the curriculum consistent with our school mission, hiring and supporting great teachers, and establishing strategic planning goals. Now, in January, we are looking both back over the year and forward to next year. It is an exciting time!

My own school and life planning have been significantly guided by Stephen Covey’s “Seven Habits,” and his are the ideas which George McDowell and I share with our student leaders. He challenges each of us to see ourselves not separately as teacher, student, family member, athlete, dancer, or leader, but as whole people able to take responsibility for our own decisions, and through them, to have an impact on those around us. His motto, “Live, Learn, Love, and Leave a Legacy,” sounds remarkably like the end of the St. Margaret’s School mission statement: “St. Margaret’s challenges each student to make the best of herself, and, in so doing, to make a better world.”

So, imagine my joy to add Covey’s new book, The Eighth Habit, to my Christmas reading list and then to discover that this habit is exactly the one I’ve been struggling with articulating over the last few years: “Find your voice, and inspire others to find theirs.” This is the habit that takes us from the possibilities we imagine on the first day of school to achievements we celebrate at graduation and alumnae reunion. I look forward to sharing these days with you.

Sincerely,
Margaret R. Broad,
Head of School

COMPASS POINTS

30 - Junior Variety

3 - Long weekend begins at 2 p.m.

7 - Boarding students return by 7 p.m.

18-20 - Closed weekend; exam review

23-25 - Second trimester exams

28 - Minimester begins

11 - Minimester ends; Spring Break begins

Winter Reminders from the Admission Office: Join us for a winter overnight on February 13-14. Prospective boarding students, this is your best opportunity to see what it’s really like to attend SMS. Call the Admission Office today at (804) 443-3357. Contracts for returning students will be issued in early March. Your contract must be in before your daughter can choose a roommate or participate in selection/election for 2005-2006 leadership positions. Financial aid applications for both new and returning students were due January 15. Save time; go to www.nais.org/financial aid/sss and click on SSS Online. Also, be sure to send a copy of your 2004 IRS Form 1040 to the Admission Office no later than March 1.

New Dorm Challenge: $100K by April In just a few short months, St. Margaret’s has reached three milestones in the Campaign for Residential Life. Alumnae, parents and foundations matched the $750,000 challenge from Lead Donors Patrick and Jill McCuan (Megan ’04), we broke ground for McCuan House in mid-October during Fall Family Weekend, and began construction in November. Our goal now includes funding a maintenance endowment to care for McCuan House and the rest of our historic, riverfront campus. The Mary Morton Parsons Foundation of Richmond, VA, has issued a challenge to potential donors. It will match every new or increased campaign contribution made by April 1, 2005, up to a total of $100,000. Now’s the time to give–your generosity will have twice the impact! We also are grateful for a $50,000 gift from the Scott Foundation, also of Richmond, which has pledged another $50,000 in the fall of 2005, contingent upon fundraising progress. There’s still time to support the Campaign for Residential Life, and join in the vision of a campus whose very design surrounds students with opportunities for developing values and strengthening character. In addition, naming opportunities are available to honor or remember someone special. For more information on how you can join in the vision, contact Director of Development Maureen Neal at 804-443-3357 or mneal@sms.org