Calendar & News

On October 7, faculty and students gathered on the Koven-Jones Glade for the All-School Walk, a beloved Frederick Gunn School tradition, begun by Mr. Gunn in 1861. The weather for this year’s walk was sunny and warm, with a slight, intermittent breeze that sent the first yellow leaves fluttering from their branches. The Shepaug River was running fairly high and during quieter moments, one could hear the sound of the water rushing along. It was, in the words of Dan Fladager, Director of Outdoor Programs, “a beautiful day to gather as a school and celebrate our founder’s birthday and the beautiful area we call home by walking together in fellowship and community.”
 

The Frederick Gunn School will host the second event in its 2021 Speaker Series on Thursday, October 7, featuring Sarah Carlow and Lauren Rossman, who are both clinical legal fellows and staff attorneys with the Boston College Innocence Project (BCIP).
 

October 4th marked the 205th birthday of abolitionist, outdoorsman and school founder Frederick Gunn. In 2016, the school commemorated Mr. Gunn’s 200th birthday with a grand celebration that included an exhibit at the Judy Black Memorial Park & Gardens. This year, Head of School Peter Becker marked the occasion at School Meeting by sharing an excerpt from the eulogy the Rev. Henry Ward Beecher delivered on October 4, 1882, a little over a year after Mr. Gunn’s death. Friends and alumni gathered at the school the night before, and in the morning, filled the Meeting House on the Green. 
 

The Frederick Gunn School will have a new endowed faculty chair beginning in fall 2022, established through the leadership and generosity of Trustee Tom King ’60 and his wife, Kathy. The gift of $1 million to the School’s endowment was given to honor esteemed Frederick Gunn School educators in the fields of science, technology, engineering, math and entrepreneurship.