The Frederick Gunn School Board of Trustees announced March 15, 2023, that Emily Raudenbush Gum has been enthusiastically and unanimously selected to serve as the 12th Head of School, beginning in the 2023-24 school year.
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Congratulations to the cast and designers of the fall play, Men On Boats, and the winter musical, Head Over Heels, who together have been nominated for a total of 15 Halo Awards, including Best Performance by a Cast in an Ensemble Production, Best Contemporary Play, Best Contemporary Musical, and The Fearless Award.
On May 21, the College Counseling Office hosted a signing ceremony to celebrate the accomplishments of nine standout student-athletes, who have commitments to study and play sports at colleges and universities in the fall. The students represented six different varsity teams in three sports at Gunn and were supported by their families, coaches, and peers, who wished them continued success in their academic and athletic endeavors.
On Sunday, May 28, 2023, The Frederick Gunn School will graduate 85 students, representing 18 states and 11 countries, in the Class of 2023. This year will mark the 173rd Commencement of the school, which was founded in 1850 by Frederick Gunn, a pioneering educator, courageous abolitionist, and rugged outdoorsman, who is recognized by the American Camp Association as the founder of recreational camping in the United States.
On Saturday, May 27, The Frederick Gunn School and its student-led community service club, Gunn Gives Back, will host the “Gunn Runn.” The run is open to all and will begin at 1:30 p.m. on the Koven-Jones Glade on campus. Participants may run or walk the route.
The Frederick Gunn School Music Program will present Lovely Day, a Spring Concert featuring students in String Ensemble, Vocal Ensemble, and Jazz Band under the direction of Ron Castonguay, Director of the Arts and Music Director. Family, friends and the community are invited to attend the performance one night only, Wednesday, May 17, at 7 p.m., in the Tisch Family Auditorium of the Thomas S. Perakos Arts and Community Center. Admission is free. No registration is required.
On May 5, The Frederick Gunn School will welcome five accomplished alumni back to campus to speak with current students about their college experiences, career paths, and the impact that being a Gunn graduate has had on their lives. Alumni Career Night is hosted by the Alumni & Development Office and will be moderated by Otoja Abit ’04, a first-generation Nigerian-American writer, director, producer and actor. The event will be held from 7-8:30 p.m. in the Tisch Family Auditorium of the Thomas S. Perakos Arts and Community Center and is open exclusively to current Gunn students and faculty.
Students in Kent Burnham’s Advanced Acting class will perform A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare on May 8 and 9 at 7 p.m. in the Tisch Family Auditorium of the Thomas S. Perakos Arts and Community Center. As of May 29, the May 9 performance is SOLD OUT. A limited number of seats remain for May 8. Advance registration is required.
Friends, family, and the community are invited to attend, A Chamber Concert: An Eclectic Mix of Music Solos & Small Ensembles, on Sunday, April 30, at 7 p.m. in the Tisch Family Auditorium of the Thomas S. Perakos Arts and Community Center. Registration is not required and admission is free.
YoYo Zhang ’24 was honored with a Pepsico Engineering Award at the 75th annual Connecticut Science & Engineering Fair for her research on "the feasibility of a water quality sampling and monitoring catamaran." Open to all 7th through 12th-grade students residing or enrolled in Connecticut schools, the fair was held March 6-18 at Quinnipiac University. Following preliminary judging, which was conducted virtually, Zhang selected to present her research as a finalist. She received her award and a medallion at Quinnipiac on Saturday, March 18.
Two teams will represent The Frederick Gunn School in the 2023 NEPSAC Championship Finals on Sunday, March 5. Boys Varsity Basketball and Boys Varsity Ice Hockey both advanced to their respective tournament finals after winning the semifinals on Saturday.
Gunn Boys Varsity Hockey upset #6 seed Tilton School 5-4 in the NEPSAC Boys Ice Hockey Tournament quarterfinal at Deerfield Academy on March 1. The #3 seed Highlanders will face #2 Seed Holderness School on Saturday, March 4. The game will be played at 2:30 p.m. on an outdoor rink at Holderness in New Hampshire, which is under a winter storm warning, with heavy snow predicted.
Boys Varsity Basketball pushed past #6 seed Governor’s Academy 79-69 to win the NEPSAC Class B Boys Basketball Quarterfinal at Deerfield Academy on March 1. The Highlanders, the #3 seed, will take on #2 seed Millbrook School in the NEPSAC Semifinals on Saturday, March 4, at 1 p.m. at Millbrook.
Two Frederick Gunn School teams have earned spots in the 2023 New England Championships. Boys Varsity Basketball is the #3 seed in the NEPSAC Boys Basketball Tournament Class B Bracket. The Highlanders will face #6 seed The Governor’s Academy on Wednesday, March 1, at 3:30 p.m. at Deerfield Academy.
Thirty-one students in the Technique & Artistry co-curricular program as well as the Introduction to Printmaking and Digital Photography classes at Gunn will have their original artwork featured in the Kent Art Association’s 31st Student Art Show. The opening is this Saturday, February 18, from 2 to 5 p.m., with an awards presentation at 3 p.m., at Kent Art Association, 21 South Main Street in Kent.
In February, 15 students from The Frederick Gunn School Model United Nations program will travel to Washington, D.C., to participate in the 60th North American Invitational Model United Nations (NAIMUN), the Western Hemisphere’s preeminent high school Model UN conference. Gunn students will be among more than 3,300 participants at the four-day conference, one of the oldest in the country, featuring “40 mini-simulations, ranging from standard committees like the UN General Assembly and the Security Council to crisis simulations of various regional organizations, national cabinets, corporate boards, and political organizations,” NAIMUN said. The conference is staffed by 250 undergraduate students from Georgetown University, and seeks to “inspire, educate, and empower the next generation of leaders in government, business, and international affairs.”
The Frederick Gunn School Theatre Program will present Head Over Heels: The Musical on February 23, 24, and 25 at 7 p.m. in the Tisch Family Auditorium of the Thomas S. Perakos Arts and Community Center. Family, friends, and the community are welcome to attend. No registration is required. Admission is free.
Hearts for Action, a student club at The Frederick Gunn School, is supporting an American Red Cross Blood Drive on Sunday, April 2, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Thomas S. Perakos Arts and Community Center on campus. Qualified students, faculty, parents, and community members are all invited and encouraged to participate in this annual event honoring Margaret P. Addicks for her 45 years of service to the school and the Town of Washington. Walk-ins are welcome but appointments are strongly encouraged. Please use this link to set up an appointment online. Donors can also save time by completing the Red Cross Rapid Pass.
The Frederick Gunn School celebrated and learned about the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on Monday, January 16, with a full day of programming, featuring presentations by Kip Bordelon and Pascale Musto, two seasoned Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging practitioners. Working in partnership since 2016, they form a unique and insightful team on matters of leadership and DEIB. As a team, they complement one another in style and enhance each other’s strengths. Both are graduates of New England boarding schools and thus love working with the independent school community.
Four student-artists from The Frederick Gunn School were selected to participate in the annual Connecticut Regional Scholastic Art Awards, the largest juried student art exhibition in the state. Their work will be featured through February 3 at the Donald and Linda Silpe Gallery at the University of Hartford.