Look for the latest issue of The Westonian in your mailbox! Remember that you can also always find digital versions of the magazinehere on our website.
If you’d like to contribute a note for Class Notes for an upcoming issue, you may submit your note (and photo!) on this page of the website, or email the Alums Engagement Office at alums@westtown.edu.
One last reminder: if your physical or email address changes, please be in touch with the Alums Engagement Office to update your contact information!
We are thrilled to share that our Dining Room has been re-certified as a 4-star Green Restaurant this year! Special thanks go to Chef Josh Jackson and the Green Coalition, our Upper School sustainability club. Some of the hard work that contributed to the re-certification includes:
🌱Removing single-use disposables from the Dining Room 🌱Returning to a no-plastic-water-bottle policy in the Upper School 🌱A roll-out of the Green Container Program (a check-out and return system for reusable to-go containers) 🌱Collecting and composting kitchen waste on site 🌱Removing single use sauce packets, switched to AWSM sauce condiments (co-founded by Westtown alum Paul Lehmann ’99) 🌱When possible, products are purchased from local sources first
Wow! We did it! Thanks to the generosity of 542 donors, we not only met our goal of $200,000 but also exceeded it by $91,824! This sets a new record as Westtown’s most successful day of giving.
Gifts to the Westtown Fund provide critical resources for our students, faculty, staff, and community, including financial aid, program support, and professional development. The Westtown Fund is an essential source of revenue, providing 5% of our operating budget.
In addition to the significant impact of the dollars raised, 1799 Day showcased the spirit of philanthropy from Westonians around the world! Thank you!
On Friday, November 3, 2023, members of the community—including classmates and friends of Barbara and Allan Staats ’56—gathered for the dedication and ribbon cutting for the newly renovated Barbara and Allan Staats House. After a welcome from Anne Roche, Clerk of the Board of Trustees, Head of School Chris Benbow and Dean of Advancement Ellen Urbanski addressed the gathering. Once Benbow cut the ribbon, the Advancement team hosted a reception and open house.
Formerly known as the Lane House, the building was completed in 1920 to be used as a faculty residence. It has remained primarily a space for faculty and staff housing, and most recently served as a second health center during the pandemic. “And now, friends,” shared Head of School Chris Benbow at the ceremony, “it is the Allan and Barbara Staats House! As many of you know, Allan attended Westtown from 1953 to 1956, and he and Barbara were active in the life of the school for decades, visiting campus regularly for class reunions and other events, including Commencent in the Greenwood…Allan described his deep appreciation for what Westtown taught him both as a student in the classroom and as a whole person. He noted that his years at Westtown were among his most memorable, and that he developed values and dispositions that grounded him throughout his life, including the critical importance of maintaining hope and positivity.”
The Staats have been tremendously generous to Westtown School over the years supporting the Westtown Fund, financial aid, capital projects, and several endowed funds. “Although we lost Allan in 2020 and Barbara in 2022, their legacy lives on,” shared Ellen Urbanski, Dean of Advancement. “Through their estate, the Staats’ generosity is now providing additional support to financial aid, the endowment, the Center for the Living Arts and the Staats House renovation. The Staats’ estate gift also provided resources for us to endow their annual Westtown Fund gift, which will support the Westtown community in perpetuity. Allan and Barbara understood the importance of community and took great pleasure in being with friends and family. In 2021, as we were preparing to honor his life during Alums Weekend, Barbara told me, ‘Allan loved Westtown and is smiling down on all of us knowing that his gifts bring joy to Westtown students, faculty and staff.’ While I do wish they were with us today, I imagine they are both smiling on us this afternoon and cheering on our work together on behalf of Westtown School.”
“Living and learning together—and from one another—is an essential ingredient of the Westtown experience,” continued Benbow. “The community we build here each and every year—each and every day, really—the life long connections we make, and the ways these experiences and relationships shape who we are and how we move through the world simply would not happen without the generosity and intention of people like Allan and Barbara. Financial support for our students and families remains one of our highest priorities, and as someone who has known some of the young people who have benefited directly from Allan and Barbara’s generosity, I also know how much Westtown has benefited from the gifts those young people bring, grow, and share with us daily. We are thrilled to have another welcoming community space on campus where we can connect alums, parents, guardians, grandparents, students, faculty, staff—all members of our community. When I look at this building, I will continue to think with gratitude of Allan and Barbara, of their generosity, and of the connections and community they continue to help make possible.” The Staats House will now serve as offices for the Advancement Department and as a welcoming entertainment and meeting space for the entire Westtown community. The next time you are on campus, we invite you to stop by the Staats House to see this wonderful space. Until then, enjoy the gallery of photos from the ribbon cutting!
On Friday, October 3, 2023, members of the Board of Trustees, donors, students, Visual and Performing Arts Department faculty, and community members gathered for the groundbreaking for the Center for the Living Arts (CLA). Anne Roche, Clerk of the Board of Trustees, opened the ceremony and read the land acknowledgement, and Head of School Chris Benbow, Director of Pre-K- 12 Visual and Performing Art Alex Ates, and ninth grader Jamila Burgos shared in the ceremony before ground was broken.
The groundbreaking marks the beginning of the third phase of the CLA renovation and expansion. During Phase I, renovations included creating a dedicated sculpture studio, a natural-light ceramics studio, and a reconfigured digital arts lab. The rehearsal spaces for choral and instrumental music were revitalized, state-of-the-art soundproof music practice rooms were created, and the green room and dressing rooms for theater productions were updated.
Phase II of this project focused on the Barton-Test Theater which received wall finishings to sharpen acoustics, a new theatrical sound systems and lighting, HVAC installation, new catwalks, expanded storage and safety upgrades, and aesthetic renovations to the scene shop and costume storage areas.
Head of School Chris Benbow shared with the gathering, “The vision for this final phase of the renewal speaks to our collective belief in the importance of the arts at Westtown. It will tie the entire Center together by means of an exciting addition, replacing unused space with a stunning gallery, creating a formal visual arts wing, adding flex performance space, and common gathering areas. Alongside critical modifications for accessibility and an aesthetic upgrade of the building’s façade, we will take advantage of one of the most beautiful vistas on the Westtown campus with additional outdoor education space, tying the community together around the arts.”
Alex Ates, Director of Pre-K-12 Visual and Performing Arts, said, “To mark this occasion, I’d like to make three brief points as to why I love the name ‘The Center for the Living Arts.’ First, the word ‘center.’ Not only is this facility the center of operations for our artistic activity, it is also in the center of Westtown’s campus. When I first visited Westtown, it moved me that the CLA was located right next to the Meeting House, as both facilities feel like soul siblings, both are containers designed to induce divine expression and the equally divine reception of expression. Another way to think about the word ‘center’ is that the process of centering before Meeting for Worship is a similar process to centering before creating art, or receiving art. When we center ourselves, we ground ourselves in place. We also connect with others, we meet each other where we stand. Second, I love the term ‘living arts.’ We all agree that this building will be state of the art and will be a testament to Westtown’s commitment to creative expression. However, it’s a building. What I’m most excited about are the experiences of living that this building will contain, elucidate, and catapult. The arts are a way of expressing our aliveness. At a school like Westtown, where we see folks grow through childhood, we see a lot of living. This building will center the art and the heart of all that living. Finally, I’ll note that our department has been intentional in preparing for this moment to ensure that everyday we center living arts…As a department, we have cleared and aligned our thinking to ensure that we’ll engage these new facilities with mission-driven zest.”
Jamila Burgos ’27, winner of the North Penn High School Black History Month Oratorical Contest and winner of the Winner of the Valley Forge Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Patriots Challenge, read a poem she wrote to celebrate the event entitled, The beauty of the world fit into one moment. You can read her poem here.
The special (and wonderful!) shovels used for the groundbreaking were created under the leadership and guidance of Middle School Art Teacher Cindy Hodgson, now in her twenty-first year at Westtown. Her Eighth Grade Visual Arts classes decorated the shovels to represent the various artistic disciplines taught at Westtown. The designs and artwork used on the shovels were inspired by visiting artist Todd Drake who worked with Middle School students during his residency last year to create linocut prints based on the Quaker SPICES: simplicity, peace, integrity, community, equality, and stewardship.
At the conclusion of the groundbreaking—and just as the rain clouds opened—the gathering enjoyed a lovely reception in the Science Center. You can see more photos from the event here.
On a final note, we share our thanks to this community! Every phase of this exciting project was made possible through a tremendous outpouring of generosity from alums, parents, parents of alums, and friends of Westtown.
Stay tuned to eCollections and other publications for updates on the progress of the CLA!
We were fortunate, and it seemed fitting, to have a beautiful day when we gathered as a whole school to celebrate the start of the year! Students, faculty, and staff assembled in the Greenwood for our Opening-of-School Assembly. Head of School Chris Benbow kicked off the festivities, then our Student Body Presidents—seniors Zaria Johnson, Kien Dang, and Olivia Bley—led the crowd in cheers. Finally, Benbow led the traditional roll call of the classes to great fanfare. There was even a special appearance by the moose! Check out the photos here.
On Wednesday, June 7, eighth grade families gathered in the theater for the Eighth Grade Closing Ceremony. After an essay reading by Jamila Burgos ’27 and words from Principal Will Addis, students were presented with their certificates. As they rose to receive their certificates, recordings of each students’ reflections on their time in Middle School were shared. Congratulations to our rising ninth graders! Enjoy the entire gallery of photos from the closing ceremony here.
On a lovely, sunny June 10, the Class of 2023 received their diplomas in the Greenwood. This class of 98 graduates has joined our vast global network of alums, and we wish them well as they embark upon their next adventures!
We have created a page on our website where you can watch individual videos of our student essayists – Tara Kumar, Tyler Greenberg, Chloe Costa Baker – and Milo Salvucci, who was selected by the class to deliver the valedictory address. We invite you to watch the full Commencement ceremony below!
Please enjoy the photo galleries from Commencement and you can learn about the college destinations of members of the Class of 2023 in the gallery of photos of College Shirt Day. Take a moment to check them out!
On Thursday, June 8, Lower School students, families, and faculty gathered in the Meeting House for the Fifth Grade Closing Meeting for Worship—the Meeting to celebrate their graduation from Lower School. From the facing benches, each fifth grader stood and spoke about their time in Lower School, as is tradition, and families and teachers spoke out of the shared silence in the worship time that followed. Visit our gallery to see more photos from this special day! Congratulations to all our rising sixth graders!
Commissioned by the Class of 1910 in memory of classmate William C. Engle, N. C. Wyeth’s The Giant was presented to Westtown on Alumni Day, June 2, 1923. The painting reflects Engle’s love of the sea, childhood imagination, and the friendship between artist and subject. The children in the scene are Wyeth’s five children, with Engle represented by the young man in the white hat.
An artist himself, Engle attended the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia and later studied with N.C. Wyeth, living in Chadds Ford. He spent the summer of 1916 on a classmate’s family farm in West Branch, Iowa, in an attempt to recuperate from tuberculosis. That summer he painted three landscapes, which now hang in the Main Building. Unfortunately, Engle succumbed to tuberculosis later that year in November on his 25th birthday.
When William Engle came to Westtown in the fall of 1908, the only art class offered was freehand drawing. Engle always made time for his art, however. Westtown classmates later said that between classes he was always out with brush and palette, painting about the countryside. Fifteen years later, when The Giant arrived at Westtown in June 1923, George Whitney—student and friend of N. C. Wyeth—was completing his third year as the school’s director of fine arts and expanding the arts department. Bacon Cottage, which included new art studios with lots of natural light, was dedicated on the same day as The Giant.
Since The Giant came to live at Westtown 100 years ago, the fine arts program has greatly expanded. Today, Upper School students can choose from Intro to Studio Art: 2D and 3D; Drawing and Painting; Photography and Digital Art; Ceramics; Sculpture; Woodworking; and Studio Art Forum. The Giant arrived at Westtown during a time when fine arts were gaining greater appreciation, and that has continued. However, you don’t need to be a student in art class to appreciate The Giant—it still hangs in the Dining Room for all to enjoy, and was restored last year to preserve it for generations to come. ~Chrissie Perella Clement, Westtown School Archivist
At the Annual Meeting of the WAA Board, this film by Erik Freeland ’80 was screened. Please enjoy this lovely tribute piece to The Giant.
