Episcopal placed fifth overall at the Louisiana Mu Alpha Theta State Convention in Baton Rouge. This is only the second time in eight years that Episcopal has placed in the top five and ties the team's best finish in those eight years! The 37 Episcopal students competed against 753 students from 33 schools. Congratulations on this tremendous accomplishment!

​Individual Test Awards –
Theta – 10th  Joy Lee
Alpha – 3rd Abhay Basireddy
Mu A – 12th  Lara Rende
Mu B – 14th  Arohi Gopal

​Area Test Awards –
Alpha Advanced Math – 4th James Christian and 16th Shuhei Niwano
Alpha Trigonometry – 13th Justin Dynes and 14th Katie Knight
Open Functions – 1st Abhay Basireddy
Open Statistics - 1st Elaine Gboloo
Mu Integration – 4th Lara Rende
Mu Differentiation – 5th Clay Burton and 12th Mason LaFerney
Mu B – 3rd Arohi Gopal, 4th Nicholas Johannessen, 8th Alex Nelson, and 13th Gautam Mahes

​Game/Team Awards –
Descartes Theta – 6th Laura Gboloo
Descartes Alpha – 4th Tochi Mbagwu
Descartes Mu B – 4th Matthew Bickham
Theta Gemini – 3rd Joy Lee and Eugene Jiang
Alpha Math Bowl – 5th Abhay Basireddy, James Christian, Justin Dynes, KC Shimada
Mu A Math Bowl – 5th Ellie Sim, Lara Rende, Mason LaFerney, and Clay Burton
Mu B Math Bowl – 6th Nicholas Johannessen, Adam Reid, Gautam Mahes, and Gracie Veillon
Alpha Top Cipherer - Abhay Basireddy

Overall School Awards –
8th Theta Interschool
2nd  Alpha Interschool
5th  Mu Interschool
5th Sweepstakes 

The annual Mums of Alums spring luncheon was recently held at the home of Anne McCanless. The event was a great way to celebrate spring and the Episcopal family.

Several Lower School writers were recently recognized by the Capital Area Reading Council for their work. In addition, three students were selected as state winners. Congratulations to the following students!

Episcopal Lower School teacher Cory Lemoine is active in local literacy efforts and a strong proponent of encouraging students to write. “Writing serves an important purpose in our lives: communication,” Lemoine wrote in an Episcopal blog post. “It’s our job as teachers to prepare students to learn who they are as writers and utilize those strengths so that students can be successful presently and in the future.  Know that your children are being encouraged, challenged, and celebrated in their writing growth and will continue to do so for many years to come! We are proud of all of our little writers and look forward to seeing how much they truly grow!” The smiling faces of the recent Young Author winners is confirmation of that preparation and the encouragement students receive. Congratulations to all of this year’s winners!

To read more from Cory, click on his blog post Growing Great Writers. 

I am confident that you will join me in welcoming Patrick Hundley as Episcopal’s interim Director of Advancement. Patrick joins us during an exciting period in our development efforts as we prepare Episcopal to meet the needs of the next generation of leaders. The Academic Commons, the new athletic field house and the Quest Center in Foster Hall are all examples of our progress.

Identifying an experienced development leader was imperative for ensuring that Episcopal’s commitment to excellence continues. To secure the very best candidate, we partnered with the executive placement firm, The Registry. The Registry is the nation’s gold standard for interim administrative placement and has placed approximately 600 senior leaders at nearly 400 institutions since the firm was established in 1992. The Registry typically works with colleges and universities to provide the proper placement of senior leaders. With their trusted tenure in administrative placements, we felt The Registry was the right choice to identify Episcopal’s interim Director of Advancement.

With nearly 40 years of experience in development, Patrick will be a catalyst for the completion of our Spirit • Mind • Body Capital Campaign. Over the course of his career, Patrick has established major gift campaigns for colleges and universities across the country. He has a proven track record of boosting annual giving and coordinating development efforts in a way that is sustainable and impactful for the institutions he serves. A few examples of his recent success include raising nearly $7.5 million in just 13 months at Delta State University, re-energizing Delta State University alumni chapters and establishing an annual giving program that doubled annual gifts at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. Patrick is a strategic thinker and we look forward to supporting his success here at Episcopal.

Patrick will work closely with Development Committee members and Capital Campaign Director, Mellie Bailey. He has already begun efforts to support the new Episcopal athletic field house. Please look for a big announcement coming soon regarding new recognition opportunities for the facility. These opportunities will provide additional ways for Episcopal families and friends to be a part of this historic project. Under Patrick’s leadership, you will see a renewed focus on alumni engagement. Patrick will also lend his expertise to additional development efforts as he directs the development department going forward.  

Patrick, a Tennessee native, and his wife, Susan, are already enjoying Baton Rouge. I am certain that your hospitality and suggestions for exploring all that the area has to offer will be welcome. Patrick and Susan have three children, Sarah Ruth McCracken, Patrick, Jr. and David Norton. Patrick and Susan recently celebrated the first birthday of Sarah’s first child, Cooper Alan McCracken. (No direct relation to “our” McCracken's.) Cooper joins three other grandchildren, Carter, Hudson and Campbell Norton.

Please lend your support and encouragement to Patrick and his team. This is a rewarding time to be a part of the Episcopal community as we continue to celebrate new campus developments, exceptionally talented students and highly qualified, dedicated faculty and staff.

Head of School

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There is nothing quite like the joy and enthusiasm of our younger Knights learning. With their outside voices, they proudly proclaim their answers or eagerly demonstrate their newfound knowledge. Their tiny fingers turn pages and build models. As they transition to Middle School, they make thoughtful observations and conduct innovative experiments. They confidently tackle new technology and use it to improve and explore their world.

The new Episcopal Quest Center will celebrate and reinforce the joy of learning in Lower and Middle School. The center, which will be located within a renovated Foster Hall, will provide room to explore with project and experiential-based spaces equipped with microscopes, digital data collection tools and areas for science experiments, aquaponics and gardening. Quest, or Question • Uncover • Explore • Synthesize • Test, will feature adaptable, flexible spaces designed specifically with Lower and Middle School students in mind.

Just imagine the hands-on experiences kindergarten students will have as they learn about the five senses within their own Chemistry Kitchen. This fully-functioning kitchen will provide opportunities for students to explore cooking, baking and other food safe sciences. Spaces such as an Investigation Station, Early Childhood Design Studio and Upper Elementary Design Studio will provide a stimulating environment in which our youngest Knights can participate in activities such as science learning and project-based lessons. Lower School students are certainly not strangers to technology and spaces such as the Virtual Learning Lab will help them continue to explore robotics and coding. The Quest Center is sure to be filled with the excitement of students as they make new discoveries and celebrate success.

As Middle School students learn more about their world, they will be able to simulate a faraway land, explore landforms and travel across the globe without ever leaving the Quest Center. Students will also learn the intricacies of coding and robotics within the Digital Media Lab, a space that is sure to be frequented by members of groups such as the Girls Who Code Club. In the Middle School Design Studio, students will enjoy space for learning about everything from earthquakes to water systems. All of the spaces are designed to be age-appropriate, with room to grow, to meet the needs of the next generation. With the creativity and expertise of Episcopal teachers, it will be exciting to see the lessons and activities that are created within such an inspiring space.

Today’s schools are charged with preparing students for a rapidly evolving future. Advancements in technology will usher in career options that are not currently available and future generations must be ready to successfully take on these new roles. According to a report by the National Association of Independent Schools, schools must prepare students for the following essential capacities for the 21st century:

• Analytical, creative thinking and problem solving
• Complex communication – oral and written
• Leadership and teamwork
• Digital and quantitative literacy
• Global perspective
• Adaptability, initiative and risk taking
• Integrity and ethical decision making

​The Episcopal Quest Center is just one of numerous developments underway on campus to ensure that the school continues to meet the needs of our students. Upper School students are now learning math, science, engineering and technology in the new Academic Commons. The athletic field house is being built to provide our athletes and students a modern facility dedicated to health and wellness. We invite you to help bring innovative learning spaces to Lower and Middle School through the Quest Center, a major gift initiative of Episcopal School of Baton Rouge.

To learn more about the Quest Center and how you can be a part of this important project contact Katie Thompson, Director of Annual Giving and Stewardship, at 755-2741 or thompsonk@ehsbr.org for more information.

PreK-3 students are immersed in their annual lesson on homes. For 12 weeks, the youngest Knights have studied all aspects of homes, including what can be found inside a home, how they are constructed and different types of homes. With the construction underway on Episcopal’s campus the last two years, this project has expanded to include lengthy discussions on the actual construction process. Last year’s PreK-3 students frequently visited the Academic Commons build site and this year’s students are just as enthusiastic about the new athletic field house.

Teachers Kristen Cascio and Karen Murchison use creative concepts to make the lesson meaningful for three year olds. Students bring in photos of their own bedrooms and discuss how their rooms are similar and different from their classmates. During any given week, these little Knights can also be found taking a campus tour where they make observations about the buildings and structures. “This helps them notice the big world outside themselves,” says Cascio.

In true PreK-3 fashion, the building unit includes plenty of hands-on activities. Students got their hands dirty recently as they worked with Academic Technology Coordinator Betsy Minton to mix their own cement foundation using flour, water, salt, sand and aquarium rocks. As they learn more about the steps for building a structure, students use Legos, Lincoln Logs and other building materials to recreate structures. They also tap into their creativity by drawing, painting and making journal sketches of houses.

The three year olds enjoy the experience and they are achieving several developmental milestones along the way. As they compare windows and doors, they are learning to notice similarities and differences and make connections. With each stroke of the paintbrush, they are exercising spatial awareness. As they test the stability of their cement, they are making observations and even drawing journal sketches of the experience. At three years old, students are eager to learn and excited to share. Much of the learning they do is absorbed through purposeful play, such as that in the building unit.

Just as a home begins with a strong foundation, an education is also established with a strong foundation of mastering the basics and developing an enthusiasm for knowledge. The annual PreK-3 building lesson is a great example of encouraging this early love of learning. The new Episcopal Quest Center for Lower and Middle School is sure to provide even more new and exciting opportunities for students to learn. The space will be located within a renovated Foster Hall and will be designed specifically with the needs of Lower and Middle School students in mind. Students will have access to project and experiential-based spaces equipped with microscopes, digital data collection tools and areas for science experiments, aquaponics and gardening. The Chemistry Kitchen, Investigation Station and Early Childhood Design Studio are sure to inspire young learners as they expand their world.

Looking for books to read with your little builder? Below is a list of the books used in the PreK-3 building lesson. If you have a favorite building-related book, leave a suggestion below in the comment section.

• Let’s Go Home by Cynthia Rylant
• How a House is Built by Gail Gibbons
• Construction by Sally Sutton
• When I Build with Blocks by Niki Alling
• Dreaming Up by Christy Hale
• Building a House by Byron Barton

Congratulations to the newest members of the Episcopal permanent art exhibit.

Each year, the Episcopal art teachers select artwork from a rising fifth grader, a rising eighth grader and a graduating senior to add to the school’s permanent student art exhibit. The exhibit is a celebration of the individual student contributions to Episcopal and the school’s commitment to arts education.

Five Episcopal AP art students are sharing their work with the Baton Rouge community. Caitlin Davis, Sophia Graves, Claire Hook, Katie Knight and Ian Sabolik were selected to participate in "The Real-Life Experience" Juried High School Exhibition. In addition, Katie Knight was selected to apply for the Paul A. Dufour & Julia Dufour Richardson Scholarship. The scholarship awards high school students an opportunity for private mentorship from a local artist. Katie’s work entitled “Allyson” also earned honorable mention. According to the Gallery website, the exhibition features over 50 works of original art produced by students from East Baton Rouge public and private high schools. More than 240 works were submitted for inclusion in the exhibition. The exhibition is on display from now until April 25th.

Seniors Lauren Smith and Ethan Wax are bringing their thesis LAUNCH presentations to the Ebb and Flow Festival this weekend. Join them downtown on Sunday from 2:30 pm to 3 pm at the IDEA Stage. The Ebb & Flow Festival is an annual event featuring visual art, film, music and local cultural offerings. To read more about the festival, click here. To learn more about  LAUNCH, click here.

Three Episcopal students were chosen as the winners of the Louisiana Chapter of the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese 2019 Poster Contest for their original digital poster entries in the 9-12 Category.

​Congratulations to the following students:
First place: Ruby Friloux ’22
Second place: Mollie Hyde ’21
Third place: Ashton Wood ’20

The contest is sponsored by the National Hispanic Honor Society Chapter “El Buen Pastor” at Episcopal. The goal is to verbalize the appreciation for other languages and cultures, to promote creative thinking and to encourage cross-curriculum collaboration. Madeleine Cope ’19 and Alex Nelson ’21 organized the contest with assistance from the Comp Design class. The winners will represent Louisiana at the National Poster Competition, with the final judging taking place in May.

Congratulations to this year's inductees!

The National Honor Society is a nationwide organization which recognizes those high school students who excel in the areas of scholarship, leadership, service and character.  Juniors and seniors who have maintained at 3.67 GPA in the core classes (foreign language, science, social studies, mathematics and English) and who have demonstrated excellence in the areas of scholarship, leadership, service and character to a faculty council are selected for membership.