News & Events

On October 15, our whole student body went to the Rock Point Center for our fourth annual participation in Sundog Poetry Center's "Share Your Heart, Share the World" poetry day. We were joined by three other Vermont schools in a day of poetry workshops, writing time, a presentation by local poet and artist Tina Escaja, and a reading of student work.

This year our students started the year reading the graphic novel March: Book One by civil rights leader and congressman, John Lewis, in collaboration with co-writer Andrew Aydin and award-winning graphic artist Nate Powell. Teachers selected this book, not only because it is an inspiring and compelling historical narrative, but also because it was the Vermont Reads selection for 2019. Vermont Reads invites people across the state to read the same book and participate in a wide variety of community activities related to the book’s themes.

Most science classes include instruction in scientific methodology and discussion of the advantages this system of problem solving presents. However, it can be a challenge to keep this topic fresh and relevant. In Chemistry, our class has tackled scientific methodology from the ghoulish and fascinating perspective of toxicology.

On June 8th, we held graduation for the class of 2019. These exceptional students inspired so many people to speak on their behalf during the ceremony, with moving stories of their growth, strength, and talents. We are forever grateful to their families for sharing these wonderful students with us.

Over April vacation, five students and two staff members from Rock Point School traveled to Oaxaca, Mexico. The trip was in coordination with SURCO, a non-profit grassroots organization combining consulting, academic programs and local activism. While they were in Oaxaca, students did a homestay with local families, visited historical and cultural sites, and connected with local artists and educators.

As part of our ongoing visiting writer series at Rock Point School, we invited Rachel Lindsay, local artist, writer, and cartoonist, to share her expertise with our students. Lindsay is the author of RX: A Graphic Memoir about her experience working in the pharmaceutical industry and coping with mental illness. She also writes a weekly comic strip called Rachel Lives Here Now in Seven Days and was named an "Artist to Watch" by the Comic Report!

For the second year, students participated in a day of poetry called "Share Your Heart, Share the World" with the Sundog Poetry Center. This year, the event featured Vermont Poet Laureate, Chard deNiord. Currently, deNiord is a professor at Providence College and lives in Westminster, VT. He is the recipient of the Pushcart Prize (1998) and was included in Best American Poetry (1999).

Get Your Kid into the Right College and the Right College into Your Kid As an Educational Consultant, David Altshuler helps students and their families choose and apply to colleges, universities and boarding schools. On April 12th at 6 p.m. he will join us in the Rock Point School library to present on his book Get Your Kid into the Right College and the Right College into Your Kid. In his presentation, David will discuss the importance of fit over prestige when looking at schools and try to debunk some myths about college admissions.

Students and staff traveled to Nicaragua over February break. For several years we have been traveling with Compas de Nicaragua (Friends of Nicaragua), a non-profit organization that supports “Women in Action”, a group of 40 women who organize health and education projects in the impoverished settlement of La Primavera in Managua. Compas de Nicaragua also supports aa farmers co-op in La Paz, Carazo who carry out sustainable living projects. Compas organizes several service learning trips to Nicaragua each year. Their mission is to promote cultural exchange and improve lives through service learning trips and sustainable community development.

Our students are hard at work getting ready for our drama performance on February 22 at 6 p.m. Earlier this winter, students began writing plays in workshops with the Vermont Young Playwrights' Project. Some students continued editing and developing their plays so that they could be performed this month. Each student at Rock Point is involved in the production in some way, either as a writer, director, performer, set builder, costume designer, or crew member. Some enthusiastic students are taking part in multiple aspects of the production! The one-act plays range from the fantastical to the funny to the serious, and we can't wait to see the finished products.