A school can only truly thrive when it’s changing and growing to meet learners where they are.

Rowland Hall is thriving.

This year, the school held its first-ever Impact Summit on the themes of innovation and social impact. The afternoon event brought together students, faculty, staff, alumni, and partners from the community to look at how the world is changing—and how they can change it for the better. 

“Our students are preparing to tackle the world’s toughest problems,” said Director of Community Engagement and Impact Ryan Hoglund. “It was about taking a moment to realize what can be done when we center student voices and collaborate with the community to learn together.” 

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The summit started with a panel of keynote speakers made up of established innovators from the Rowland Hall community. They covered a wide range of topics, from biotechnology to diversifying finance to the future of the Great Salt Lake. And they also gave students advice on how to succeed in their endeavors, even when success doesn’t seem possible. 

“Owning your failure—there is a real power in that. Give yourself that room and that compassion to fail and try again,” said Caroline Gleich ’03, a former candidate for the US Senate. “Remember, when people tell us our dreams are impossible or too big, we say, ‘Watch us.’”

The keynote speakers were followed by breakout sessions led by Upper School students presenting projects and research they had worked on for the past year. Again, the projects presented spanned a number of fields, from the possibilities of upcycling tires to create road pavers, quantum computing, and fungi research, to the reality of engaging in AR Debate and attending conferences on inclusion. 

Twelfth-grader Frances Hodson presented on using drones to create 3D models of potential building sites. It was a project she had worked on in her AR Computational and Mathematical Sciences class with teacher Ben Smith, and she received help from engineer, architect, and Rowland Hall parent Anson Fogel. 

“This was a really exciting opportunity,” she said. “And having everyone show up, like a completely full room, was really empowering, and it helps me believe in myself, my project, and this program.” 

The Impact Summit was put on by Rowland Hall’s newly formed Center for Community Impact. The core mission of the center is rooted in the school’s primary objective: developing people the world needs. It also exists to further one of the school’s strategic priorities: being an indispensable partner to the larger community. 

“Rowland Hall has long been a private school with a public purpose,” Ryan said. “We do not want to be insular and removed from those around us, but instead be a valued partner in co-creating solutions for other schools, nonprofits, businesses, and others in the community.” 

Rowland Hall has long been a private school with a public purpose. We do not want to be insular and removed from those around us, but instead be a valued partner in co-creating solutions for other schools, nonprofits, businesses, and others in the community.—Ryan Hoglund, director of community engagement and impact

The center has already launched several programs, including a series of breakfast meetings for community partners, a mentorship program aimed at bringing in experts from the community to work with students, and placing students in nearby schools to tutor younger children in subjects like reading and math. This summer, the center will launch its most ambitious program: Horizons at Rowland Hall. This six-week summer camp will bring students from two Title I schools in Salt Lake City to the McCarthey Campus for instruction in math, reading, swimming, and other skills. The program is the first Utah affiliate of the Horizons National program, which is aimed at reducing summer learning loss and advancing equitable educational opportunities. 

“What really excites me about this camp is that Rowland Hall teachers and teachers from Salt Lake City schools will be working together,” said Program Coordinator Kiara Rivera. “It’s an opportunity to exchange best practices and support these young learners.” 

Rowland Hall isn’t only looking at bringing the larger community in, but also putting representatives from Rowland Hall, especially students, out in the community. This work already exists with the current internship program, a robust experiential learning program led by Dr. Laura Johnson. The center is helping to identify more opportunities like these by building trust with community partners. 

“There are very few high schools in the country that are doing this,” said Head of School Mick Gee. “We are creating changemakers by letting them work with those in this community already making changes.” 

Students are being encouraged to find mentors and opportunities in fields that interest them. The real world is a lab for the curriculum being taught in the classroom. And the opportunities are endless. 

“We’ve got a small group of students participating in events we are hosting. They’re learning about the civic process and how they can engage productively on issues like this,” said Jake Dreyfous ’18, managing director of Grow the Flow. “It’s incredible to provide students at such a young age opportunities to pursue their passions and interests in a really unstructured way that allows them the freedom to do what they want to and succeed.” 

Letting the students choose where to focus their efforts, and work on projects important to them, furthers another strategic goal of the school: increasing student voice and choice in their educational journeys. Giving them that sense of ownership creates a deeper learning experience and makes it so they are more likely to continue their work. 

“As we develop relationships with community partners, we hope to find opportunities that will interest every student and let them develop new skills and capacities in themselves,” said Ryan. “Luckily, Salt Lake and Park City are such rapidly growing places with diverse interests that I don’t think that will be a problem.”

As the Intermountain West grows, Rowland Hall is growing with it. As an educational institution committed to evolving to best serve students and the community, we’re finding opportunities not only for learning, but for leading and generating changes.

“Rowland Hall is leading the charge into this new, different world,” said Impact Summit keynote speaker and Board of Trustees member Zach Smith. “They are going to change the world. I am a big believer in future generations. They are going to make the world much better than we are today.”

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