Rowland Hall is a special place.

We all know it. It is an institution older than the state of Utah, built on principles of education that promote personal and academic excellence. And at the heart of the school is community; in fact, the school’s first strategic priority is to cultivate a community where each member thrives. That’s because a feeling of belonging is a key component of a good education—it builds positive relationships, increases engagement, promotes diversity and inclusion, and supports student well-being.

A feeling of belonging is a key component of a good education—it builds positive relationships, increases engagement, promotes diversity and inclusion, and supports student well-being.

With a 3PreK-through-twelfth-grade program, Rowland Hall is one of a handful of schools to encompass such a range of ages and stages of development in a single community—and, in the near future, on a single campus—giving us unique opportunities to build community across grade levels. But even with two campuses, faculty and staff are using cross-divisional connections to benefit students, and an extra-special bond has been nourished between our kindergartners and seniors. For years, each kindergarten class has visited the Upper School as part of their community unit, and would later present the graduating class with a gift, a handmade bookmark, in the spring. This year, though, kindergarten-senior interactions have become more frequent, which is creating even deeper bonds.

“We started with the gratitude project the seniors do every year around Thanksgiving,” said English Department Chair Dr. Carolyn Hickman, who has long worked with college counselors Michelle Rasich and Coral Azarian to provide stress-busting opportunities for seniors during college admission season. This year, said Dr. Hickman, they decided to include kindergartners in that project as a way of building community between the campuses. “The seniors helped kindergartners create gratitude garden posters. It was great seeing them on the floor with their younger partners, helping them write and sound out letters.”

This senior visit to their kindergarten friends helped to emphasize the idea that Rowland Hall, while made up of 15 grades and four divisions, is one large community. And it’s inspired the two grades to look for other opportunities to reconnect, resulting in a second senior visit to the McCarthey Campus, where the older students and kindergartners decorated and raced wooden cars, played in the snow, and cut out snowflake decorations for the Upper School’s winter dance.

“It’s a good reminder that the school is bigger than our little bubble,” said kindergarten lead teacher Mary Grace Ellison, as opportunities to create connections between older and younger students have profound impacts. While the kindergartners get to know more about where they are going, the seniors get to look back on where they have been—and reflect on how it has shaped them as lifelong learners. “To play is to learn, but by the time they are seniors the time and space for playfulness in their lives is limited,” said Dr. Hickman. “So to remember through these interactions that learning is a kind of play, to have a little flashback of that, I think is really valuable.”

“For me, connecting with the kindergartners is an extremely unique opportunity to reflect upon my own personal academic journey at Rowland Hall,” said senior Macy Olivera. “I look forward to the experience because the kindergartners provide an unmatched amount of energy and excitement and remind me of how far I have come as a learner.”

For me connecting with the kindergartners is an extremely unique opportunity to reflect upon my own personal academic journey at Rowland Hall. I look forward to the experience because the kindergartners provide an unmatched amount of energy and excitement and remind me of how far I have come as a learner.—Macy Olivera, class of 2023

The visits to the kindergarten classrooms are completely voluntary on the part of the seniors—after all, they are pretty busy with advanced classes, extracurriculars, college plans, and other commitments. Despite that, every senior has made time to take the trip up the hill, many because of their own memories of being on the McCarthey Campus, as well as how their interactions with older students made them feel more part of the community.

“When I was younger, it made me feel included to have the ‘big kids’ make me feel like they wanted to be with us, not like they had to be,” said senior Eli Borgenicht. “So, I always try my best to look like I want to be there and help them have a good time. Making these kindergartners' days with fun activities brightens my week.”

While the seniors have primarily traveled to the McCarthey Campus this year, the kindergartners did get to visit their older buddies on their turf at the Lincoln Street Campus during their annual visit to the 9th and 9th neighborhood as part of their community studies. The kids stopped by to see where the older students go to class, study, eat, and play. They even got to meet Roary the lion. “From an early childhood standpoint, allowing these children to be really involved in learning about their community is huge for them,” said Mary Grace. “It's important for them to find their place in the world and understand it through a community lens.”

The partnership between the seniors and the kindergartners, as well as the buddy programs in other grades, strengthens the bonds and ensures that supporting a strong community priority is lived every day at the school. It will be exciting to see the opportunities for community growth once all grades are on one campus.

“It’s beautiful to see these connections,” said Mary Grace. “This could be all the time. This could be the new normal very soon.”

Community