RE Log Spring 2023

26 Ransom Everglades LOG SPRING 2023 From the Board Chair At the RE Homecoming last fall, I walked around the upper school grounds in amazement. The campus rippled with energy. Face- painted students cheered on their friends and moved in grinning packs from venue to venue. Alumni wore Ransom green, Everglades blue and “Dig-Pink” pink, and they beamed with an unmistakable Raider Pride. Hand-made signs and pom-poms pumped up the spirit. Patrons reconnected around food trucks and lined up for cotton candy. Fellow parents slapped me on the back and said: “Can you believe this?” I saw former faculty, multiple generations of families, longtime friends, young people I’d never met. It was a blend of RE’s past, present and future, and on that night, we were all on one team, cheering like the World Cup was on the line. The football team’s last-minute victory in the last of multiple sports contests put an exclamation point on an incredible event. Homecoming 2022 brought what felt like an explosion of joy. The best thing about it? Though it was a special day, it wasn’t unique. As the cover of this magazine says, this has been a year of joy on campus. We have had more spirit events, cultural celebrations, parent involvement and alumni engagement than at any time in recent memory. Our applications for admission and annual fund donations are near or at record highs. We opened La Brisa last fall, have a new upper school humanities building on the horizon, and plan to improve both campuses in exciting ways – more about that in a moment. Yet even as we advance building initiatives, enhance technology on our campuses, and work to ensure the highest levels of innovation, we remain connected to our history. We are marching to a happy beat; we are all going in the same direction; and we are relying on 120 extraordinary years and the people who shaped them as we move decisively into the future. My fellow trustees and I have been encouraged by the spirit of collaboration, community and good will among our administration, alumni, faculty and parents, and we expect that spirit to drive many positive developments and our board’s priorities for years to come. The progress we are making led to the unanimous decision by the board’s Head of School Search Committee to extend that search into 2023-24 to ensure that we find a truly exceptional candidate to be RE’s next head of school. We have complete confidence in the ability of Interim Head of School Rachel Rodriguez, Chief Operating Officer and Interim Head of the Upper School David Clark ’86 , Associate Head of School John A. King Jr. and the rest of RE’s My fellow trustees and I have been encouraged by the spirit of collaboration, community and good will among our administration, alumni, faculty and parents, and we expect that spirit to drive many positive developments and our board’s priorities for years to come.” “ REflecting on a Joyful Year Great news in 2022-23 sets the stage for a bright future