If imitation is the most sincere form of flattery, then the large number of current students who are the daughters, granddaughters, cousins and nieces of alumnae serve as a powerful testament to the value of a St. Margaret’s education. Although they receive no official preference in the admission process, current legacy students, both boarding and day, make up a significant portion of the SMS student body. Their individual experiences vary, yet current students and their family members who are alumnae cite many of the same benefits of a St. Margaret’s education.
     Traditions may change from year to year. Seniors no longer consider the use of the SMS front steps a privilege reserved for them. The most frequent dress code infraction no longer is wearing jeans without a belt, and breakfast sign-in no longer involves a tag board. The moral foundation reflected in the Honor Code, the challenging academic curriculum and the enduring friendships forged at SMS, however, have not wavered from generation to generation.
    “I was raised on St. Margaret’s,” said Christine Hayward ’05, daughter of Margaret Rebold Hayward ’80. Mrs. Hayward always wanted her daughter to go to SMS, but Christine wanted to go even more. In fact, she believed that St. Margaret’s had so many important lessons to teach her that she enrolled as a new student in her final year of high school.
      Sitting in her A-House dorm room, Christine laughs when she remembers coming home from school confused about grammar, because her mother would always tell her about the “little green grammar book” used by her teacher, English Department Head Shannon Spears. Twenty-five years later, Christine is learning grammar rules from the same teacher who taught her mother. Although the “little green grammar book” is no longer used at SMS, parsing sentences to identify the parts of speech is a daily ritual in Miss Spears’ British Literature class.
      Christine also has found that many of the standards and values she was taught growing up–things like making the bed, treating people with respect and serving the community–mirrored in the rules and expectations for SMS students. These similarities made the transition from living at home in Frisco, Texas, to life as a boarding student a smooth one. Mrs. Hayward believes that those tendencies will continue into adulthood. She, for example, continues the commitment to community service that she developed as an SMS student by volunteering for her rapidly growing local schools.
     Both day student Palmer Ware ’05 and her mother, Laura Smith Ware ’68, consider the principles of the Honor Code to be essential to their lives. Palmer heads the 2005-2006 Honor Council and her mother was a council member as a junior and senior.
     The Ware family’s shared legacy of involvement demonstrates their belief in the importance of trust and respect in a community. The Honor Code “shapes your emotional maturity for later on,” said Mrs. Ware.

You Could Say It's Relative

It would be impossible to list all of the legacy students who have attended St. Margaret’s since 1921. Here’s a listing of currently enrolled students, in addition to those mentioned in this article, who have followed a family member to SMS:

Ligon Brooks ’07 (mother Sara Acree Brooks ’79), Rachel Chang ’05 (sister Emily ’03), Becky Clark ’05 (sister Nikki Clark ’02), Rebecca Dickinson ’06 (aunt Lisa Dickinson Mountcastle ’81), Danielle Farara ’08 (sister Melissa ’06), Kelsey Harris ’09 (sister Sydney ’06), Neillee Katona ’05 (mother Beth Ware Katona ’76 and grandmother Betsy Ware Ware ’47), Young-Eun Lee ’08 (cousin Jee-Sun ’04), Heather Lin ’08 (cousin Maggie ’06), Ali McKeon ’06 (sister Kate ’04), Bukola Omotade ’07 (sister Tosin ’06), Blair Passagaluppi ’08 (mother Mary Alice Parrish Passagaluppi ’74), Tess Potter ’08 (sister Abbey ’06), Sarah Reilly ’06 (mother Robin Griggs Reilly ’73), Alison Ryan ’06 (sister Cathy '01), Keri Straughan '07 (cousin Laura Austin '00), Rebecca Urbanski '08 (sister Rachel '08).

Photo above: Front row, Laura Smith Ware ’68 and Dawn Allen Jacobs ’80. Back row: Palmer Ware ’05, Chelsea Jacobs ’06 and Graycie Overman ’06 with her aunt Carrie Baldwin’s 1981 SMS yearbook.

    Palmer explained that the Honor Code was “taught at home, but it was also assumed that everyone would live by it.” Upholding this tradition has been a top priority during her tenure as head.
      Any alumna will tell you that St. Margaret’s friendships last a lifetime. Mrs. Ware describes her high school friends as “the people that I have really kept up with.” As a boarder, there were many social benefits for her. She “came out of her shyness” and enjoys reunions and occasional visits from her former roommate, SMS Board of Governors Chair Sarah Belle Eason Parrott ’68.
     Former day student Dawn Allen Jacobs ’80 enjoyed the “camaraderie among students, the fact that everyone knew each person by name, and the intermingling of day students and boarders” at St. Margaret’s. The small and welcoming environment made her feel like “a stronger and more independent person. I found people to listen to my views and offer support. I felt accepted.”
     Mrs. Jacobs sees evidence of the same friendliness and amity in the relationships tht her own daughter, day student Chelsea Jacobs ’06, has formed with other students. At advisee lunch, Chelsea sits next to one of her best friends, day student Blair Passagaluppi ’07, daughter of Mary Alice Parrish Passagaluppi ’74. Both current students remember going to summer camp together at SMS and living in Latané Hall. Now they consider their friendships with day students and boarders the best thing about SMS.
     Management consultant and current Board of Governors member Carrie Baldwin ’81 appreciates that St. Margaret’s “looks at all side of the person, not only the academic.” To her, the “holistic development of the student” was the single most rewarding aspect of her life at SMS, and she sees the same comprehensive focus in the education of her niece, Graycie Overman ’06, a boarder from New Bern, NC. Graycie’s confidence has “skyrocketed” as the result of her leadership role as a prefect and the individualized attention she receives from faculty.
      Ms. Baldwin remembers “lacking confidence as a learner” and finding teachers who “taught in a customized way and went beyond the call of duty.” Roadblocks became mere obstacles as faculty experimented with ways to present material so it would engage her.
      Other alumnae frequently mentioned teachers’ flexibility and creativity as a significant advantage of an SMS education. Mrs. Jacobs commended the many teachers “willing to give more than class time” to help her learn–and now they’re doing the same for her daughter.
      When asked to highlight the difference she sees between the St. Margaret’s curriculum and that of her old school, Christine described her former school as a place where “the student has to mold to the teacher, but at SMS, the faculty mold to the student.” For Christine, that flexibility translates into increased opportunities for learning.
     Mrs. Hayward described the day in late August when she dropped Christine off at St. Margaret’s.
     “Just the feeling of being back was tremendous. I was so pleased that Christine would be a part of the school, and I felt like her time at SMS would be an enriching experience. I trusted the school, the staff and the camaraderie of a girl’s school. I knew that, by the time she graduated from SMS she would be academically complete and a well-rounded person.”
     St. Margaret’s goal is for every student to become a morally, socially and intellectually well-rounded individual. Buildings are added. Administrative changes are made. The curriculum evolves. Beyond those largely superficial changes, the school’s underlying mission and values are what alumnae appreciate the most about their education– and they want to share it with the generations after them.