Families Sample Groton Life at Parents Weekend

Parents came from twenty-four states and fifteen countries to immerse themselves in life on the Circle during Parents Weekend, October 21–23.
 
Outdoors, brilliant foliage enhanced the warm welcome and provided a scenic backdrop for autumnal walks and athletic contests. Indoors, parents attended performances, receptions, and nearly 2,400 conferences with teachers and advisors.
 
The Saturday afternoon program, a Parents Weekend highlight, featured remarks by parent leaders and Headmaster Temba Maqubela. In a perfect preface to Mr. Maqubela’s remarks, Anson Jones ’17 sang “Imagine” by John Lennon, touching listeners with both her beautiful voice and the powerful lyrics. The headmaster displays a recording of “Imagine” on his desk, and he referred to it as he spoke about his own focus on inclusion and the steps taken by previous Groton’s headmasters.
 
Imagine how the founder of the school, the Reverend Endicott Peabody, twice invited Booker T. Washington, a man born into slavery ... to come and speak to Groton students, in 1899 and again in 1904,” Mr. Maqubela said. He then noted the courage of Headmaster Jack Crocker, who invited Martin Luther King, Jr. to speak at Groton in 1963, several years after admitting the school’s first African American student. “Imagine the courage of that man at the time,” Mr. Maqubela said.

The headmaster went on to reference the decision under Headmaster Roland Cox to admit girls to Groton, the work of Headmaster Bill Polk to solidify gains of gender and racial diversity, and the decision under Headmaster Rick Commons to fully fund students whose families earn less than $75,000 a year.
 
He also spoke of the GRAIN (GRoton Affordability and INclusion) initiative, as well as the new and successful GRACE (GRoton Accelerate Challenge Enrich) summer program—explaining the important distinction between an achievement gap and a preparation gap. “Prepare them before judging that they did not achieve,” he said.
 
After Mr. Maqubela's remarks, many parents attended workshops presented by Director of Global Education Nishad Das, who discussed Groton's 2017 Global Education Opportunities (GEOs), and Chief Technology Officer Elizabeth Preston, who outlined recent and future technological enhancements at Groton. In a Friday workshop, Director of Counseling Sheila Fritz-Ellis had tackled the topic of perfectionism with parents. 
 
Visitors also had the chance to watch a rehearsal of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (on stage November 4–6) and to enjoy a musical evening at the annual Parents Weekend concert, featuring instrumental and vocal ensembles, dance, and Second Formers on steel drums. On Sunday morning, the College Counseling Office led sessions for the parents of Third, Fourth, and Fifth Formers.
 
For the 2016 Parents Weekend, Groton was pleased to welcome families to campus from around the country and the globe. From the U.S., they traveled from Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, and the District of Columbia. From outside the U.S., they came from Bermuda, Canada, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Pakistan, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Sweden, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom.
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