Worcester Academy
81 Providence St 01604 Worcester, MA, US

For his Views From The Hilltop entry, Doug Poskitt reflects on our return to campus last week and the dedication of WA's faculty. View the full blog at www.worcesteracademy.today/Views8

The recording of WA's MLK Celebration Webinar is now available to view, complete with a performance by slam poet Andre Bradford (a.k.a S.C. Says).

WA honored Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. last week with an all-school MLK Celebration Webinar that included a discussion of Dr. King's social and racial justice legacy and how our students see its impact on WA, as well as a performance from slam poet Andre Bradford (a.k.a S.C. Says).

The WA girls hockey team participated in the Boston Junior Beanpot last winter and raised over $1,600 to benefit the Travis Roy Foundation. Sadly, Travis Roy passed away in October. This is a tribute video for Travis from the Junior Beanpot teams. The message from our team starts at the 11:53 mark.

This quote embodies what the WA Diversity Committee is working to accomplish for the student body, and the #WeAreWA campaign is here to lift your voices! In the near future, we will solicit submissions from you!

Here’s a behind the scenes look at our Middle School production of The Wizard of Oz. The show will stream in February. More news to come but you won’t want to miss this!

As kind friends and supporters of Worcester Academy, you know what a life-changing impact an Academy education can have on a young person's life. It's because of friends like YOU that WA continues to shape persons of honorable character, who make a positive impact wherever they go in the world. We recognize that times are tough. A gift of any size is generous! Thank you for your pride in WA and the high value you place on a Worcester Academy experience! Your support ensures ...we can deliver our mission uninterrupted by the difficulties posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. We are grateful, that in difficult times, there are people such as you who believe in the opportunities a WA education provides. Many thanks for your kindness! Your generosity ensures our graduates continue to Achieve the Honorable. Visit www.worcesteracademy.today/GiftToday. If you'd prefer, you can also mail your donation to Worcester Academy, 81 Providence Street, Worcester, MA 01604. If you have already made your gift today, please accept our thanks!

It is with sadness that we inform the Worcester Academy community of the passing of beloved WA friend and legendary Worcester Academy athletic director and boys basketball coach, Donald E. Rowe, who passed today at the age of 91 following a short illness. Dee as he was affectionately known to all, graduated from the Academy in 1947 and became a towering presence on the Hilltop, and in American NCAA and professional basketball, in the second half of the 20th century after re...turning to WA and building the Academy athletic program into a prep school powerhouse. He later ushered in the modern era of basketball as head men's coach at the University of Connecticut and took a lead role in founding the NCAA’s Big East Conference, which earned him the John W. Bunn Lifetime Achievement Award from the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2017. Until recently, Dee had maintained a constant, reassuring presence at Worcester Academy, regularly attending the WA’s Rowe Family Scholarship Golf Tournament, Reunion Weekends, the Varsity Club dinner, athletic events of every kind, and other special events. As a special assistant to the head of school at WA, he was instrumental in generating essential support for the Academy, including fundraising for the Rowe Family Scholarship, which has benefitted many dozens of Academy students over the years. He was a member of the Worcester Academy Hall of Fame and was a recipient of its distinguished Varsity Club Award. We love you, Dee, rest in peace. And many thanks from the Worcester Academy community for your friendship and for your dedication to WA over these many years. We send our deepest condolences to the entire Rowe family and to your many friends and loved ones around the globe. The Rowe family has announced that funeral services will be private, but a celebration of his life is to be held at a future date when the COVID-19 pandemic has abated and conditions allow. (This post will be updated as additional information may become available)

Happy Holidays from WA!! When Ms. Cinquanta designed this concept after the October snowstorm, we had no idea if we would even have snow on campus when it came time to post it. Now, with campus buried in snow and winter break just around the corner, today seemed like the perfect day! WA wishes you all a safe and restful break and a happy and healthy 2021!

Don't miss the latest Views From The Hilltop blog entry! Jake Sumner captures the spirit of our community with his view of WA, making for a great read as we approach winter break. www.worcesteracademy.today/Views6

There is a new date for Reunion Festival 2021June 19, 2021! Alumniplease update your calendars to reflect the new date.

Congratulations to WA's Model United Nations delegates who were recognized by the St. John's Prep Model United Nations Conference Committee! The delegates were complimented on their professionalism and their ability to adjust to a Zoom-based experience. Our award winners were Diya Sadhu '24 for Best Delegate, Raghu Kommalapaty '21 for Best Negotiator, and Jacob Palermo '23 for Best Negotiator.

Views From The Hilltop returns this week with Meagan Farraher's blog entry! Read about her WA experience at www.worcesteracademy.today/Views5!

Did you know that Mrs. Walker has a column in the Worcester Business Journal? For this week's column she interviewed Mr. Sumner about what it means to be an ally. Be sure to take some time to read this powerful and insightful interview featuring two people that we are proud to have representing the WA community every day.

This quote is critically important for WA and every school across the nation, as we grapple with inequities compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing fight for racial justice for all. Celebrating our differences empowers all of us and creates new and exciting pathways for connectivity. We're proud to use this quote to launch the #WeAreWA campaign. Check back every other week for a new #WeAreWA post from WA's Diversity Committee.

We're excited to feature our first student "Views From The Hilltop" entry! Gabby is one of the students behind the #WeAreWA Diversity Committee campaign launching later today. Learn more by reading Gabby's blog entry and keep an eye out for the first #WeAreWA post this afternoon! www.worcesteracademy.today/Views4

It's #GivingTuesday! Make a gift in honor of your Worcester Academy experience and those WA faculty and friends who have made an impact in your life! https://www.worcesteracademy.org/support-wa/give-now Many thanks for your continued support and friendship! We couldn’t do it without you! #WAAlums

One thing we are always thankful for is the WA communityHappy Thanksgiving to all of you and your families!

A big thank you to the amazing WA parents for providing a bagel breakfast for our faculty today! Complete with individually wrapped bagels and individual cream cheese packets. Thank you!!

We’re excited to announce a student-driven project through our Diversity Committee! Keep an eye on Facebook and Instagram each week for a #WeAreWA post from the committee. Coming soon! Here’s a little bit more about WA’s Diversity Committee: The Upper School Diversity Committeeadvised by Bonnie Walker, the Director of Equity and Inclusionpartners and supports US students directly, and with outreach to faculty and staff, alumni affinity groups, special interest and allianc...e groups works to elevate DEI initiatives in the Worcester Academy community. The DC also engages in MLK Day celebration and Diversity Day events. The Committee, composed of student representatives from each grade and two student heads, will plan programming and initiatives for WA, often in collaboration with the aforementioned groups and additional community partners. Additionally, the Diversity Committee partners with and supports the efforts of the Pillars and other student leaders across the campus community. See more

Our newest "View From The Hilltop" entry features one of our new faculty members/coaches! Visit www.worcesteracademy.today/Views3 to read Kevin Snyder's story. And be sure to follow the new girls' tennis team [email protected]_girlstennis.

Congratulations to these student athletes on signing their National Letter of Intent to play D1 sports! Kelli Buckley - UMass Lowell Women’s Soccer Bella Nascimento - Manhattan College Women’s Basketball... Kyle Rizy - Bryant University Baseball Mackenzie Ryder - Binghamton University Women’s Soccer

Here’s a sight we don’t see every daythese officers were in the area and decided to take a walk/ride through campus. Thanks for visiting WPD & Friends of the Mounted Police Unit - Worcester!

Today we honor those who have served and sacrificed for our country. To all the veterans within the WA community and beyond, we thank you for your service.

The Quad: October vs November. But which is which?

Visit www.worcesteracademy.today/Views2 for this week's insightful and inspiring entry in our new "Views From The Hilltop" blog! #AchieveTheHonorable

We received some amazing feedback from a parent who attended our Oct. 18 Open House! We're so proud of our Student Admission Ambassadors and our Admission team for the work they've put into these virtual events this year. There's still time to sign-up for the virtual Open House on Nov. 8! Visit www.worcesteracademy.org/open-house to register!

Check out this OskeeVision/WATV News report about last week's Halloween snowstorm. Produced by Devin Perry '20.

We've launched #ViewsFromTheHilltop blog! With each entry we'll take a look at WA through the lens of a different community member, telling a personal story about their WA experience. This will be a collection of stories from different points of view, reminding the WA community what connects us and makes us all Hilltoppers. For the first story, visit www.worcesteracademy.today/Views1

Ms. Taradash came prepared for the weather this week!

We are so excited to announce that Kevin Breen will be our 32nd Head of School! Mr. Breen, head at the Marshall School in Duluth, MN, for the past eight years, and former director of enrollment at the Brooks School in North Andover, will succeed Mr. Cino as Head of School effective July 1, 2021. We look forward to welcoming Mr. Breen and his family to the WA community in 2021!

WA is a proud sponsor of The Hanover Theatre and Conservatory for the Performing Arts’ Edgar Allan Poe Double Headerthe only in-person theatrical performance in the state! Tonight is our WA exclusive show...socially distanced, of course. We can’t wait to see what our friends at the Hanover Theatre have done for this special show!

Some highlights from today: Pumpkin Painting in Kellner and a Grade 7 outdoor science lab.

Thank you to everyone who attended our first virtual Open House on Sunday! Please contact the Admission Office if you have any remaining questions about the application process. We're looking forward to you joining the WA community!

Thanks Guertin Graphics! Can't wait to see some photos of our alums wearing these hats!

WA is featured prominently throughout the Greater Worcester Community Foundation's bloghere's the latest entry discussing the "Poetry for a Cause" project that Mr. Stephenson's Spanish class completed in April. Keep an eye on the GWCF blog for future stories about WA!

Today was the perfect fall day for an outdoor science lab about energy and heat! Our 8th graders were testing how different materials conduct or insulate heat. This is the lead up to the Yeti Challenge, when they are going to use what they've learned to design a cup that will be the best heat insulator.

There’s a lot to smile about on this World Smile Day. Oskee wanted to take a moment and welcome a new friend to the neighborhoodthe new Worcester Red Sox mascot, the one and only Smiley Ball! He and Oskee will be spending a lot of time together at Polar Park over the next few years! Smiley Ball : @gowoosox. Check out their Instagram for more pics of their event today.

Happy World Smile Day! Keep smiling (even under the masks)!

Just another day on the Hilltop... (Video courtesy of Mr. Mull)

Coach McNamara and Mr. Moore got a tour of Polar Park today and you can spot WA over the right field wall! Thanks to the WooSox for the great tour!

WA will be hosting two virtual Open House events this fall! Guests can register at www.worcesteracademy.org/open-house.

The date is set for the WA Reunion Festival 2021May 1, 2021. If you’re a member of a class ending in 5, 0, 6, or 1, then save the date!

The Board of Monitors Tapping ceremony will be live-streamed at 1:30 at the link below. www.worcesteracademy.today/BOM2020 Congrats to this year's BOM!

Today was National Grandparents Daysince we won’t be able to gather in person this fall for our annual Grandparents Day event, we thought we would honor all WA grandparents with a look back at last year’s event. We look forward to celebrating a time when we’ll be able to host you on campus!

Things definitely looked different for the start of this school year! Whether you’re a student in the middle or upper school, a parent, a faculty/staff member, our Sage team, or part of our maintenance and cleaning crew, thank you for adapting to all the new policies and procedures this week. Let’s keep doing our best to keep one another healthy and safe. Have a great weekend!

Please help keep WA healthy and pay attention to Little Oskee’s safety tips!

WA reopens tomorrow! We can’t wait to welcome you backor welcome you to the Hilltop if it’s your first day! For info related to WA’s reopening visit www.worcesteracademy.today/reopening

Grace O'Leary '22 was quoted in a story in the Worcester Telegram & Gazette this week! For the full story visit www.worcesteracademy.today/TG1918.

A great day on the Hilltop as we welcomed our new students for orientation! We had lots of help from our student leadership groups. Welcome to all of our new Hilltoppers!

Our faculty and staff wrap up their first week of the 2020-2021 school year tomorroweveryone is working hard getting ready to welcome students back!

In case you missed the live stream, the recording of WA's graduation ceremony is up on the Class of 2020 page! Congrats again to all of our graduates!

An impressive 7th place finish for Kaz Grala '17 in his NASCAR Cup Series debut yesterday!

Given our delayed graduation ceremony last week, some members of the Class of 2020 will go right from graduating to going off to college...depending on what their college is doing about reopening. No matter what the start of your college experience looks like, WA is wishing the Class of 2020 the best as you make the transition to college students or your next step after WA. We hope you will all continue to Achieve the Honorable!

Graduation definitely looked different this year (not to mention it was two months later than planned!) but we are so proud of WA’s Class of 2020 and all of their many, many accomplishmentsover the years and especially throughout the last few months. Congrats Class of 2020, we know that you’re moving on to great things, and we can’t wait to see them all!

Great speeches today from salutatorian Rohan Krishnan, valedictorian Carlin Stewart, and our commencement speaker Lt. Governor Karyn Polito. Congrats WA Class of 2020!

Graduation Day! Congrats to the class of 2020! The live stream of the graduation ceremony will be starting in a few minuteswww.worcesteracademy.today/Grad2020.

Here's the live stream link for tomorrow's graduation ceremonywww.worcesteracademy.today/Grad2020 We'll be going live around 9:45 a.m.!

Our Head Admission Ambassadors put their creativity to work this summer and created this video for new students looking at WA. Filming and submitting their part of the video from both near and far, the ambassadors share what they love about WA!

It is with great sadness that we share the news that Sue Moynagh passed away earlier this month. For fifty-five years, Sue was a fixture at WAas a member of the Dining Services team where she cared for WA students as if they were her own family. She was invested in her work and entirely committed to our students. She often took them under her wings," as she would say, especially if they seemed homesick or worried. Most importantly, she was there for them and was a presenc...e they could count on. So many students formed a special bond with Sue over the yearsso much so that in 2015 students produced a video in her honor! Sue retired in 2017 and a year later was inducted into the Worcester Academy Hall of Fame. She was also an inaugural recipient of WA's Staff Appreciation Award in 2007. Sue's dedication to the WA community shone through in her Hall of Fame induction tributeEven when there was a blizzard I went to work...I lived right here in the neighborhood so I could walk up when nobody else could make it in. I’d say, ‘They’re my kids, and I have to take care of them.’" Sue will be missed by generations of WA students, faculty, and staff. Our thoughts and condolences are with Sue's family through this difficult time.

Updates to the Class of 2020 page! -Mr. Cino's update from earlier today regarding graduation registration has been added. -WA Gradsbe sure to visit the page to hear a special audio message from actor/comedian H. Jon Benjamin '84 (Archer, Bob's Burgers).

Yesterday the WA community received an email letter from Mr. Cino and Mrs. Walker detailing our diversity, equity, and inclusion priorities. That letter was followed up this morning with a letter from WA's board president, Jim Pietro. Mr. Pietro announced a $100,000 donation to launch WA's Resilience, Equity, Affirmation and Leadership Initiative (R.E.A.L)! Thank you to Jim Pietro and Terrie Hanna for this generous and important donationand for helping to create something that will have R.E.A.L. impact at WA! For more information visit www.worcesteracademy.today/REAL

Did you know that the city of Worcester has honored Juneteenth and African-American culture with an annual festival since 1997? This year's celebration will be virtual and will be held tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. Visit the event page for information on how to view Worcester's 2020 Black Heritage Juneteenth Festival.

On Wednesday, June 3, 2020, a response to the murder of George Floyd and the national climate went out from our Head of School, Ron Cino, to the WA community. Prior to Mr. Cino's letter, an internal campus response was sent and we focused our immediate attention to students, faculty and staff, and the Black Alumni Association, followed by broader internal listening circles and debrief sessions. We will continue our listening and debrief circles in the short-term, and in the l...ong-term, through training, learning and development for faculty, staff, and students. We will lean into building our equity and inclusion efficacy and structures, so that we can create the needed change in our own school community and in the greater society, which is foundational to our mission and core values. Naming the deep-seated roots of racism, prejudice, inequity and injustice in our society, is the base for plotting strategic action. Mr. Cino's letter is available at the link below.

It is with great sadness that we inform the Worcester Academy community of the passing of Margaret Peg Blackburn, 85, wife of legendary WA coach Tom Blackburn. Peg, long a friend of Worcester Academy, and a former coach for WA, died June 4 at the couple’s Harwich Port home. In addition to Tom, Peg is survived by her children: Tracey Crowell ’77; Thomas Blackburn ’80 and his wife, Maria; Kelly Blackburn Curran ’82 and her husband, Eoin; and James Blackburn ’85 and his wife,... Abigail; Peg will also be missed by her eight grandchildren: Cody, Jessica, Caleigh ’09, and Gabrielle Crowell; Benjamin, Sydney, Cole, and Jake Blackburn; and one great-grandchild, Carver Wingate Crowell. The funeral will be private with a memorial service to be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to Christ Church Episcopal, 671 Route 28, Harwich Port, MA, or the UMass Alumni Network of Cape Cod. To read the complete obituary, visit https://www.ccgfuneralhome.com/obit/margaret-j.-blackburn. Our deepest condolences to the entire Blackburn family.

We are closing in on the finish of our Commencement 186 campaign and can’t do it without you! Help us reach 186 gifts of Honor on June 5! https://www.worcesteracademy.org/support-wa/give-now... Thank you for your support! If you have already made your gift today, please accept our thanks!

Commencement 186 Is Here! Today's the Day! 186 gifts of Honor on Commencement 186 the original scheduled date for the Class of 2020's graduation.... Help us Honor 2020 Hilltoppers by making your gift now! Offer words of support and encouragement to this year's Hilltoppers and honor a WA experience. Gifts of all sizes matter and are appreciated. https://www.worcesteracademy.org/support-wa/give-now

The newest addition to our Class of 2020 page is a College Decisions video. This was completely student-produced by our Class of 2020 Alumni Transition Team! Thank you to all of them for their hard work to make this video happen! Class of 2020 Alumni Transition Team: Sophia Brady, Lucas LaRoche, Ulisses Pereira, Elianna Rodriguez, Gege "Gloria" Xue, and Jiajia "Jessica" Zhuo.

The countdown is on. Can we count YOU in? Commencement 186 is a few days away and we are counting on YOU! Won't you take a moment now to honor a 2020 Hilltopper? Your words of support and encouragement for our students and school community mean the world to us!... Don’t delay! Be one of the 186 honor gifts by making your gift now at https://www.worcesteracademy.org/support-wa/give-now Thank you for your support!

Don't forget to pick up a copy of the Worcester Telegram & Gazette today! And head over to www.telegram.com to see our Class of 2020 takeover! (For the full effect of the takeover, visit via desktop)

The latest addition to the Class of 2020 page is a video with messages from some of our alumni to our graduates! https://www.worcesteracademy.org/campus-life/class-of-2020