News &
Events

Welcome to our new website! I wanted to give you a sense of life at Woodhall during this time:

I hear and feel and smell the crunch of fallen leaves under foot as I walk the campus woodland path, crossing the bridge that the boys in Outdoor Challenge have been rebuilding. Through the trees, I see the soccer team scrimmaging on Phoenix Field. Behind the Athletic and Performing Center (APAC), I scramble over the stone walls, built in a time when these woods were a farmer’s field, and I hear Coach Phuntsok blow his whistle as the basketball runs shooting drills in Mattson Gymnasium. Max and Adam and Mr. Spaulding step outside from the Abigail J. Woodhall Theatre to take a break from hanging lights. At the trail’s edge, Harold is splitting wood – ash, maple, and cherry. Nearby in the Student Activity Barn, George and Matt swarm up the bouldering wall.

I emerge from the woods, passing the greenhouse where Ms. Overstrum and Aaron are planting cold weather plants, kale, and lettuce, and the like. On this warm, late autumn day, the beehives burst with activity. Walking between the APAC and the permaculture garden, I hear Avi practicing his drums in the music room and Henry playing the piano in the art gallery, while Kyle, Zach, and Mr. Marcinek play Magic: The Gathering on the picnic table outside French Hall, and sounds of a raucous ping-pong game between Ben and Will reverberate from the Student Center.

Making my way to Founders Hall, I see Chef Griffith prepping the outdoor grill – it’s steak night for dinner. Mrs. Mokriski-Schley and Josh and Connor are collecting rocks from the STEM Lab construction site for their Andy Goldsworthy-inspired sculpture. By the pond, Mr. Gelzheiser gathers his AP English Literature class for enrichment hour; and, at the gazebo on the hillside, Mr. Vincent meets with Jason for an impromptu advisory meeting.

I am most grateful that, in this school year particularly, the Gentlemen of Woodhall have been able to gather in person and on campus with their adult mentors. We are learning and growing as a community, striving to live and act by the school’s core values of integrity, compassion, and respect; and, as we face these challenging times, we embrace compassion, above all.

I hope that we will have the opportunity to meet soon: to walk together on campus, physically distanced, of course, during these times – somewhat apart, yet always together.

--- Matthew C. Woodhall
    Head of School