KENT—South Kent School closed out its centennial year with a jam-packed banquet Saturday, June 8, which saw alumni from across the country congregate to share memories and make new ones.
“It was so packed,” said Marge Smith, who is writing a definitive book about the school’s first 100 years. “After the meal, there were lots of standing ovations and people paying tribute to the school.”
Smith said she has been relying heavily on alumni during her research for the book, establishing a Facebook page on which she posted questions and pictures. “I’m looking at myself as almost an editor,” she said. “I gathered most of the information for the early chapters from school newspaper and I have an Facebook page with about 500 alumni who have helped with book. I keep saying, ‘This is a book written by you boys, for you boys.’”
She met several of her correspondents during the dinner Saturday. “It was amazing,” she said, saying that there were multiple generations of South Kent School families present, including Krystal and Corey Greenberg, whose infant son, Paul, is great-grandson to Paul Abbott, a virtual institution at the school, having served as a dean, teacher and coach for half a century. “Anytime we have a gathering, we take all the faculty brats and take pictures,” Smith said. Little Paul was included this year, even though his parents are not yet sure whether he will attend the all-boys private school.
Smith said that part of the goal of the centennial book is to celebrate the school’s ethos, established by its founder Samuel Bartlett and to trace its evolution. “It’s a 10-chapter book, with each chapter dealing with a decade,” she said. “It traces the school’s evolution but demonstrates that it has remained a small, community-oriented school. Bartlett’s goal was to educate the whole boy and that is what the school still aims to do: to teach self-confidence and respect for others. They want to produce good global citizens who understand what it means to be part of a community. That is essence of South Kent and what it is trying to transmit.”
South Kent School was established in 1923 as an offshoot of Kent School. Kent School’s founder, Fr. Frederick Sill, did not want that institution to grow too large and so the second school was established on the former Judd farm. Bartlett was its first headmaster and introduced his “Trinity of Values,” which are encapsulated in the school motto: “Simplicity of Life, Directness of Purpose, Self-Reliance.”
The first cadre of students, some 24 young teens, arrived to an unfinished school accommodated in a large farmhouse. From the beginning they were expected to work as a community and 100 years later, that spirit remains.
The centennial year brought alumni together in events held all over the country and culminated last weekend with the Alumni Weekend, which included the annual SKS golf tournament, held this year at the Club at River Oaks in Sherman.
Alumni were also encouraged to share their stories and experiences at South Kent in the Archives Room, where their anecdotes and reflections were recorded on video. The interviews will be crafted into a commemorative Centennial video.
The weekend included such diverse activities as Emmy-award winning actor Gordon Clapp, ’67, performing an excerpt from his show “Robert Frost: This Verse Business,” as well as reflecting on his life as an actor; a 50th-year reunion reception for the Class of 1974; an alumni cook out, class cookouts, sports of varying kinds and much more.
