Health & Fitness
Judge Laura Flynn Baldini ’88 Is Keynote Speaker as KO Begins Its 104th Year
Looking out at an auditorium she once sat in herself, Judge Laura Flynn Baldini ’88 offered some advice to current Kingswood Oxford students during a Sept. 3 assembly that officially kicked off the new school year.
Baldini, dressed in Wyvern crimson and black, spoke to the 146 Middle School students and 366 Upper School students – the largest Upper School population since 2008-09. Seventeen of these students transferred in as sophomores or juniors.
“Make a plan,” said Baldini, who graduated from Yale in 1992 and Seton Hall Law School in 1996 and has been a CT Superior Court judge since 2010. “You’ve heard the saying: ‘Fail to plan, plan to fail?’ Don’t let that happen – make a plan for yourself and stick to it.
Find out what's happening in West Hartfordwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
“Make good decisions, and be accountable,” she continued. “Take care of yourself, and seize every opportunity to find out who you are, to discover your own identity.”
The idea of “identity” – KO’s curricular theme for the 2013-14 school year – also surfaced in opening remarks by Head of School Dennis Bisgaard, who is beginning his eighth year at KO.
Find out what's happening in West Hartfordwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
As is tradition, Bisgaard announced the winners of the Dux Prize, awarded to students with the highest grade point averages in their class at the end of last year. These students are Julia Deitelbaum ’19, Natalie Eckert ’18, Noah Stanton ’17, Benjamin Waldman ’16, Lina Volin ’15, and Sophia Kruger ’14.
He also presented class flags to the youngest students (the Class of ‘20), as well as the oldest (the Class of ’14); the seniors also received two wooden plaques, on which all members of the class will carve their initials, as KO seniors have done for decades. Class president Tucker Charette ’14 and Vice President Sarah Gianni ’14 accepted the plaques on behalf of their classmates.
KO is hosting an Independent School Admissions Process Workshop on Tuesday, Sept. 17 at 7pm for those considering independent education but unsure about the application process; to register, call 860-727-5000 or email admissions@k-o.org.
Open Houses for prospective Upper and Middle School students will be held at KO on Sun., Nov. 3, and Sun., Nov. 17, respectively.
