NEWS & EVENTS: SIA IN THE NEWS STORY DETAILS

OPENING CONVOCATION 2004-2005
By Diane J. Hulse, Head of School
Presented at Middle School and Upper School Convocations

September 9, 2004 - Welcome back to school. This is a special year at Staten Island Academy. It is the beginning of our 120th year, and we will be celebrating that milestone in many ways.

This is the third year that we have started school with a Convocation. Convocation is a word that has its roots in Latin, and it means, “calling together.” We have a calling together of all students and teachers at the beginning of the year so that we may start our voyage through the school year with common thoughts.

My thoughts this year revolve around the history of the school. Most of you, I suspect, do not know much about the history of your school. You probably know that the school was founded in 1884, but you may not think of that date as anything other than a number. We are actually one of the oldest schools in New York.

It is very important for everyone in this room, however, to realize that this anniversary and our place in this venerable institution’s history are anything other than ordinary.

I often think of time as a journey. When I think of that metaphor, I think of both the beginning of the journey and what happens on the way. We always are taking journeys through time. We take short journeys through time and long ones. We have the journey of this week, the journey of our summer, the journey of our Upper School or Middle School career. Sometimes the journeys are full of surprises, other times they are ordinary. Sometimes they are rocky, and other times they are exhilarating.

What about Staten Island Academy’s journey through time? It’s been a very long one–120 years now, and there is no end in sight. What are some of the things that have happened along the way?

• You’ll hear a lot more of this later in the fall, but in 1884, Staten Island Academy’s first building was in Stapleton, and that building still stand
• Staten Island Academy built a beautiful building in St. George near the ferry in 1894
• The Vanderbilts sent their children to Staten Island Academy
• Staten Island Academy required all students to study German and English and Latin at the same time
• Staten Island Academy’s library was nationally known one of the best classical secondary school libraries in America
• Staten Island Academy merged with at least six other schools since its founding
• Staten Island Academy has had very famous people associated with it, people like Booker T. Washington, Jacob Riis, famous philosophers, playwrights, athletes, and scientists
• Staten Island Academy used to own Walker Park in Staten Island and gave it to the City of New York.
• Staten Island Academy moved to Todt Hill just before the Verrazano Bridge was built
• Many of our alumni–some of whom are parents of people in this room, some of whom are teachers-went to school both in St. George and here because this campus was the Lower School and the one in St. George was the Upper School

I also think that it is interesting to understand what was happening in the rest of the world at the beginning of the school’s journey
These are some things that also happened in 1884:

• Corner stone of the Statue of Liberty laid
• Washington Monument completed
• Chester Arthur was president
• There was no Verrazano Bridge. In fact there were no bridges to Staten Island at all. Staten Island Academy was founded five years before the first bridge to New Jersey opened.
• Staten Island Academy was founded 20 years before Curtis High School. George Curtis, for whom Curtis High School was named, was on the Board of Trustees of Staten Island Academy.
• Staten Island Academy was founded 35 years before Wagner College moved to Staten Island and five years before Staten Island was even part of New York City.

Founded less than 20 years after the Civil War, Staten Island Academy endured World War I and II, the Depression, and the formation and dissolution of the Soviet Union. Staten Island Academy students saw men walk on the moon for the first time. They were part of the school through the Alaska Gold Rush, Civil Rights marches, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr’s life, the Beatles arrival in America, and the invention of computers and television. In fact, Staten Island Academy is part of all that America is today.

Clearly, Staten Island Academy has stood the test of time, and its journey through time has been an excellent one.

The journey for you this year will be an extraordinary one, too. The opportunities will be unbelievable. Much at the Academy is new. It’s all been put in place for you.

We will start new traditions this year. There will be a Founders Day so that we can celebrate the people who started our school, who started us on this journey. There will be the House System, and new athletic fields. There are many newly renovated classrooms throughout the school – in the Lower School, Early Childhood building, and in your spaces. Both computer labs and all computers are new. There are new teachers, new programs, a new Upper School and Middle School lounge. Coaches’ offices have been renovated, and there are new deans.

What is not new is that you have an extraordinary group of teachers who care deeply about you. They want nothing other than your success. They want your journey through this school year to be your best ever.

A word that is similar to journey is pilgrimage, but pilgrimage implies that the journey is an exalted one and that it has moral purpose. Being part of Staten Island Academy and being a piece of its history, as you are, means that you are starting your pilgrimage through the school year today. One of the best things about school is that every year we all get a new beginning. We get to start over and make a new journey, a new pilgrimage.

I hope that the metaphor of history as a journey through time will stick in your mind this year and that academically, athletically, artistically, and socially you will travel to places that you never before imagined possible. I want you to drive yourself hard, but drive carefully. You only get to do this year of your life once. Don’t run out of gas. Steer around obstacles. Enjoy the breeze in your face. Visit exotic lands.

I want you to make a very important decision. Who will steer your vehicle? Will you be the driver on your journey this year or will you be just a passenger?

• As you embark on your pilgrimage/journey, I also want you to think about what it means to be a member of the Staten Island Academy community. Here at SIA:
• Everyone is held to a higher standard than people in many other schools
• We have a higher level of responsibility to do what is right and what is good
• We have a responsibility to the past, present, and the future of our school. We carry on a tradition of excellence that generations of former faculty and alumni began. Future generations will look back on how we did and what we did for the school when we were here. We are joining the thousands of pilgrims on the road to excellence.

I am sure that you know that:

• Not just anyone can become a member of this community
• People can only be at Staten Island Academy if they are dedicated to upholding our school’s motto - independence, integrity, achievement
• People who do not adhere to the guidelines of the school cannot be here. Please read the school handbook. It details our expectations.

Here is my promise to you this and every year as I join you on the journey:

1. I will care very much about how you are doing in school. I will visit your classes, go to your games, watch your plays, eat with you at lunch, get to know you as people
2. I will listen to you
3. I will take you seriously
4. I will trust you
5. I will set very high standards for you because I know that you can meet them. I believe that students at this school are very smart, and I will help them be the best that they can be.
6. I will honor the school.
7. I will work very hard, finally
8. I promise you that I will always do what I think is right.

I know that each and every one of you has the potential to make our school a better place because of your presence, and I also know that you attend one of best and oldest schools in New York City. What a combination. I am glad that you are along for the ride.

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Press Contact: Maureen McShane, Director of Communications at (718) 987-8100, ext. 805, mmcshane@statenislandacademy.org.