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The Board of Trustees and the Parents Association Executive are already at 100% participation as this year's Annual Fund has been the quickest out of the gate ever. For good reason, as we want to show the head search candidates visiting Portledge later this month that our trustees, parents alumni and faculty support their school. High levels of alumni participation are essential to attracting the best head of school candidates. Please join me with a gift today and help us increase participation and show that Portledge alumni proudly support our alma mater.
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Elizabeth Belt McGregor ’81
Elizabeth is married with two boys living in Charlotte, NC. She is glad the portrait of John Lennon that she drew and gave as a class gift is still hanging today.
Brian Herman '98
Brian writes, "Adam (Glickman) and I will be celebrating our first wedding anniversary on October 10. We were married in Boston last year; Jeff Silver '99 was also in attendance."
Amanda Belt Alsheimer '98
Amanda writes, "Riley McCabe Alsheimer was welcomed into the world on August 4th. A healthy baby girl weighing 7 lbs 7oz. She has a big brother named Aidan who just turned two on Sept 24th. Life with two is great but crazy! Thankfully Riley is a good baby- she slept 10 hrs last night!!!!"
Kenny Turano '99
Kenny writes, "I'm living in NYC now and working in finance. I just got married this past spring."
Kristen Blank Kalenderian '99
Kristen and husband Keith are expecting their first child in January 2012. They are very excited!
Merrit Meyer Schlanger '99
Merrit writes, "Everything with me is good. Carl Schlanger and I are married with 2 kids, (Ryder 2 1/2 and Hudson 10 months) and living in Greenwich CT. We've been here about 2 years and we love it. I see Phil often and Doug as much as we can considering he's pretty busy with his professional hockey schedule. After working in publishing for a few years, I took some time off and recently started a small jewelry company called Classic Rocks. It's a line of hand made jewelry which is currently being carried at Intermix."
Jamie Wiener Kennedy '00
Jamie and her husband welcomed their daughter, Molly Aurora Kennedy, on June 10th. They are living in North Carolina.
Bashir Desgrottes '10
Bashir visited Mrs. Schuessler at the Alumni Tent on Founders' Day, and is currently studying at St. John's University.
Alex Sheerin '11
Alex dropped by at Founder's Day and writes "I'm studying classical voice at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston."
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Dear Portledge Alumni,
Welcome to the Fall 2011 Portledge Alumni eNewsletter. We want to stay connected with you and hope you want the same, so we created this as a means to pass news and information along to you in a quick and easy manner. Please check the Portledge website on a regular basis, as we are always adding new items and updating it. If you haven't already "friended us" on Facebook, please do so. We always add new information about alumni, students and faculty that may be of interest to you.
We are all here to answer your questions and hope you will keep us posted on what you’ve been up to and the whereabouts of your fellow alumni. We especially need your help for the Class Notes section. Please send us your news at any time. You can email it to cvillecco@portledge.org.
Have a very Happy Thanksgiving! We hope to see you at the Annual Alumni Holiday Party on December 2nd in NYC.
Best regards,
Stephanie Avidon
Peter Cox
Turk Lewis ‘87
Christina Villecco ‘00 |
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Portledge School celebrated its eighth annual Founders Day on Saturday, September 24, 2011. Although the forecast called for rain all day, the weather cooperated and the activities went on as planned. The festivities began with Spirit Week and a Pep Rally, organized by the Student Council, on Friday afternoon. Upper school students decorated their class floats, which were a highlight of a parade on Saturday that featured students from pre-nursery through grade 12 along with current and past members of the Board of Trustees. Speakers at the Opening Ceremony included Steve Hahn, Head of School; Terri Austin Keogh ‘85, President of the Board of Trustees; and Eracles Diamataris ‘12, Upper School Student Council President. In his opening remarks, Mr. Hahn said, “Communities provide support, and communities have traditions. The tradition of Founders Day began so that we could have an all-school gathering at the beginning of the year in which the families of the entire community, from students and teachers to parents and alumni and current and former trustees could participate. The goal has been to have a great time together, to spend a few moments reflecting on the history of Portledge and how our school has grown to what it is today, and then to enjoy the range of activities with people of all ages interacting.” Alumni from the '70s to the '00s made visits throughout the day. Some stopped by the alumni tent to see Mrs. Schuessler and other familiar faculty faces while enjoying lunch. Others brought their little ones to the opening parade at 10:00 and stayed for rides and games. And some joined us at the end of the day (3:30) for the alumni-faculty game (see below) or for drinks in Locust Valley after the game. There really is something for every alumnus at Founders Day. Make plans now to join us next year with some fellow alumni and their families! 
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Many Alums dusted off their cleats and risked injury to participate in our 8th Annual Alumni Soccer game following
Founders Day. Alum players included Jason Becker '00, Julian Daniels '00, Bashir Desgrottes '10, Phil Han '98, Marc Perry '00, Adam Lanza '06, Turk Lewis '87, Keith Merkler '89, Walter Roll '77, and Phil Schlanger '99. This year saw a good match between two balanced teams, each comprised of alumni, faculty and parents. It was a great time. Plans are underway for a season-ending friendly with alumni, faculty and parents playing against the boys varsity team. Check the school calendar and the Portledge Facebook page for updates or email Phil Hills (phills@porltedge.org) for more information.
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This issue we are highlighting not only an alumni but someone who is giving back to Portledge as a teacher and coach. Katie came to Portledge in the middle of her pre-kindergarten year after an “awful” experience at a local pre-school. She recalls in one of the pictures she drew the water as green not blue and her teacher “scrutinized” her, leaving Katie devastated and confused. Her parents transitioned her into to Portledge, where she was able to be creative and see the world as she saw it, not as what was to be expected. This experience paved the path for Katie to venture into early childhood teaching. She believes that children should feel safe in their learning environment so they can be creative risk takers. This year Katie is spear-heading the new Reggio Emilia influenced pre-kindergarten which allows children to take the high end of learning with their passions at the forefront.
While she was a student, Katie was a competitive athlete who played field hockey, lacrosse and basketball for Portledge. She also was the yearbook editor her senior year. One of her favorite memories was performing Shakespeare in Mrs. Johnson’s English class. Katie loved the fact that students were free to say or debate anything as long as it could be backed up which helped build up her confidence. Katie also credits Mr. McIlvain with helping her learn how to express herself and in part become the person she is today. Mr. McIlvain was her advisor and he always made her and others feel safe. He encouraged his students to question things and always be proud of their unique qualities. Katie still emails Mr. Mcillvain for advice every now and then. As a teacher she aims to create the same connection she had with Mr. McIlvain with her upper school lacrosse players and on another level with her younger students. |
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Three finalists for the 2012 Head of School opening are scheduled to visit for a day and a half starting October 17th. Alumni are invited to meet the candidates in the Dunn Library (Lower School) along with parents at 8:30-9:15 am on Monday, October 17th, Wednesday, October 19th and Monday, October 24th. Candidates will also have scheduled interviews with the Alumni Advisory Group. Feel free to contact a representative with questions or comments you might have.
Alumni Advisory Group Amanda Belt Alsheimer '98 Carolyn Slanetz Chiu '85
Tom Hogan '89 Keith Merkler '89 Christina Villecco '00
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Tuesday, October 18th, 6:30
Alumni Council Meeting
Gregory Carriage House
Friday, December 2nd, 7:00
Annual Alumni Holiday Party
Professor Thom's, 2nd Ave & 14th St
Tuesday, February 21st 2012, 6:30
Alumni Council Meeting
Saturday, June 16th, 2012, 6:00
Reunion!
Portledge School |
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Robert Ramsdell (1989-1995)
History Teacher/ Advisor/ Coach/ Director of Admissions
Current Residence: Cambridge, MA
Current Position: VP, Cambridge Education (Educational Consulting)
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Five new members were selected for the 2011-2012 Board of Trustees, each of whom is eligible to serve two three-year terms.
From left to right: Bradford Mott, Dana Pagliara, Walter Oden, Valerie Yardeni and Andrew Fentress |
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You may have seen the headlines “Bear attack: How LI teen gave aid” over the summer. Well, what you may not have known was the teen deemed a “hero” was Portledge senior, Sam Melman. After a mauling by an Alaskan grizzly bear, Sam performed first aid to stabilize wounds of the three most severely injured and keep them warm by giving them his own clothing, causing him to suffer from hypothermia, until they were rescued by the Alaska Air National Guard helicopter nearly eight hours later. Sam presented his story of heroism to the upper school student body and faculty at a recent town meeting. He shared some of the gruesome details all the while showing the confidence and bravery that kicked into action during the hours following the horrific attack. The group of seven were hiking in the Talkeetna Mountains, east of Denali National Park, trying to cross a river when the bear attacked them at night.
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