Operation Sisterhood

Sophia Academy students had an awesome day with Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich, author of our all-school summer read Operation Sisterhood. She traveled from her home in New York City for a day that included a school tour with 8th grade ambassadors, reflective literature circles with 5th and 6th graders, and an all-school assembly for Sophia students and mentors.

In addition to writing several children’s books, she has written for various outlets, including PBS Parents, Read Brightly, American Baby, Healthy Kids, and some of her childhood favorite hip hop fanzines. Olugbemisola has worked extensively in youth development and education, and was twice awarded a public service fellowship by the Echoing Green Foundation for her work on a creative arts and literacy project with adolescent girls.

This amazingly prolific author of wonderful fiction and nonfiction books for young people inspired us with her story and her journey, and by candidly answering students' insightful questions, from "How has being a published author changed you as a writer?" to "Is it challenging to be a woman of color in publishing?" to "What does it take to effectively market a book?" The visit was made possible by a grant from Rhode to Success through our partnership with MentorRI. Thank you, Olugbemisola, for joining our sisterhood! We can't wait for you to come back! 

Barbara Papitto and Ysanel Torres, 2023 Women of Wisdom

Sophia Academy is thrilled to celebrate Barbara Papitto (above left) and Ysanel Torres (above right) as our 2023 Women of Wisdom. This honor recognizes women who exemplify Sophia’s social justice mission and core values of courage, responsibility, respect, and peace.  

“With their shared dedication to empowering communities of color in Rhode Island, Barbara and Ysanel are innovators for social justice, and we are delighted and honored to celebrate them,” said Maura Farrell, Head of School. “In very distinctive ways, they light a path for Sophia students and other young people with their lives of passion, service, and advocacy.” 

Barbara and YSANEL will be honored at the Women of Wisdom Celebration event on May 8, 2023, at the WaterFire Arts Center.  They join a group of impressive Women of Wisdom from previous years, including Suzanne Murray, Joan Wernig Sorensen, Anne Szostak, Liz Chace, Suzanne Magaziner, Sister Mary Reilly, Stacey Abrams, Toots Zynsky, and Latsany Lopez.

Please visit the Women of Wisdom Celebration page for event updates and, beginning in April, to purchase tickets.

Barbara is the founder and a trustee of the Papitto Opportunity Connection, (POC) a non-profit private foundation dedicated to listening and working together with Rhode Island’s Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) communities to empower and create individual success stories by investing in education, job skills training and entrepreneurial ventures. A core focus of POC’s work is supporting children impacted by systemic racial injustice in Rhode Island. She also founded and leads Read to Succeed, whose mission is to imbue young people with a love of reading, and motivate them to maintain literacy skills over the summer months. Since its establishment in 2008, Read to Succeed has funded $2.2 million in scholarships for young Rhode Islanders. Since Sophia joined Read to Succeed in 2021, Barbara has visited the school many times to deliver the students’ Read to Succeed books and to honor those who complete the program each year. Her generosity, sense of humor, and humility have touched the Sophia community. 

YSANEL, a 2011 Sophia Academy graduate, is an Afro-Caribbean artist who advocates for social justice and gives voice to unsung communities of color—particularly women—through public art, performance, and installations. YSANEL grew up on the South Side of Providence in a community of people from Dominican Republic, where most of her is family is from. “Lucky for me, Providence was (and still is) entirely a melting pot of various diasporas, so I learned arts and culture through both a personal and collaborative lens,” she reflects.  Her career as a public artist started at 16, when she began transforming utility boxes on Providence streets with her project Sound the Alarm on Female Empowerment, portraits of inspirational women. In 2017, the City of Providence awarded her its first Public Art residency. Working with youth and staff at the Madeline Selim-Rogers Recreation Center, YSANEL designed and painted Madeline, a permanent mural at the Rogers center.

This event supports Sophia Academy’s tuition-free program, whose mission is to engage girls from low-income families on a joyful quest for self-discovery and opportunity through a middle school education grounded in social justice. If you are interested in sponsoring the Women of Wisdom Celebration, please email Heidi at hfraitzl@sophia-academy.org to learn more. 

Sophia Academy Announces Marie D. Myers as Next Head of School

SOPHIA ACADEMY ANNOUNCES
MARIE D. MYERS AS NEXT HEAD OF SCHOOL

PROVIDENCE, RI – Sophia Academy, an independent all-girls middle school in Providence (grades 5-8), recently announced Marie D. Myers will be their next head of school, beginning July 1, 2023. She is currently Director of Enrollment Management at Concord Academy in Massachusetts. Myers will be taking the reins from Maura Farrell, who is leaving Sophia after five tremendous years of growth for the school.

Founded in 2001, Sophia Academy’s mission is to engage girls from low income families on a joyful quest for self discovery and opportunity through a middle school education grounded in social justice.

Read the full community announcement here: https://www.sophia-academy.org/hossearch/#december_16

A Joyous Opportunity

Sophia Academy students recently shared a unique opportunity to meet Quinn Mason, a visiting composer at the Rhode Island Philharmonic, engaging in conversation to learn about his journey as a 26-year-old Black composer and conductor.

Now an internationally published and celebrated musician, Mason offered his personal story as a young man of color in the classical music field, and encouraged students to remain humble no matter their level of success. Students and faculty were delighted to be treated to an improvisational piano performance by Mason, at the request of a student. Later, many of the students attended the Philharmonic’s season opening performance that featured Mason’s work, "A Joyous Trilogy."

“It has been an honor to work with Sophia Academy in our multi-year partnership…Music is now a part of the fabric of the Sophia experience…with classes ranging from general music to ethnomusicology to various ensembles. Both Sophia and the RI Philharmonic are committed to removing opportunity gaps for students through excellent programing grounded in social justice, which makes for a special partnership,” said David Beauchesne, Executive Director of the RI Philharmonic Orchestra & Music School.

Sophia Academy students with RI Philharmonic visiting composer Quinn Mason (center).

The Intersection of Environmental and Social Justice

The next time you visit the Roger Williams Park Zoo, be sure to drop a donation of nonperishable food in the new Community Food Pantry installed at the entrance!

As part of the Environmental Justice Academy cofacilitated by Roger Williams Park Zoo & Carousel Village staff and Sophia Academy, and made possible with support from United Way of Rhode Island, last year's seventh grade designed the Food Pantry to combat food insecurity. The finished product was unveiled on November 3.

“…Our class was discussing social and environmental justice. We decided to make a food pantry for everyone. We wanted people to not starve from hunger and make them feel safe in this community,” said eighth grader Peniel Saidon at the ribbon cutting ceremony.

The students created initial designs in four small groups. “Each group made a decision of what the pantry would look like. We had to measure the length, the width and height. Then we all got together and put the design as one, using half of each design and measurement,” explained eighth grader Evelyn Tillman.

This year’s seventh grade will participate in the Environmental Justice Academy as well, and produce their own project on an issue of their choosing.

Pictured left: Science teacher Alyssa Wood, Dean of Students April Samuels, 8th graders Peniel Saidon and Evelyn Tillman, and Meg Archer from the RWP Zoo cut the ceremonial ribbon on the new food pantry (pictured right) installed at Roger Williams Park Zoo.

Read to Succeed: Success!

In Year 2 of Sophia’s partnership with Read to Succeed, all students took part in the summer reading program, and 29 earned a $1,000 college scholarship by reading all of the required six books and passing a comprehension quiz for each.

Each spring, Read to Succeed generously provides Sophia students with six summer reading books each student chooses, and in the fall hosts an awards assembly to recognize students who completed the program. In each of their four years at Sophia, students have the opportunity to earn $1,000, which is invested in the Rhode Island 529 college scholarship program.

"We are incredibly proud of our students for taking this opportunity to not only maintain their reading and comprehension skills over the summer, but also work towards their future college careers. After this year's awards ceremony, the entire school is motivated to keep reading and earning!" said Melissa Moniz, Director of Middle School.

Reach to Succeed was founded by Barbara Papitto and her late husband, Ralph.

Congratulations Read to Succeed Scholars!

Fifth Grade: Arianna, Milanya, Jade, Giulia, Javeria, Eliana, and Jadelynn

Sixth Grade: Herianna, Michaela, Shasta, Mariah, Zinnia, Ahmari, and Maria

Seventh Grade: Kamil, Arlenys, Zion, Ivanna, Alivia, Azmyralda, Jaslene, and Tehillah

Eighth Grade: Kashley, Saige, Kelsy, Nayelys, Aurie, Peniel, and Evelyn

Mondays are for Moving

Every Monday, the seventh-grade classroom is quiet while its 16 usual inhabitants take to the outdoors, hiking throughout Rhode Island with Sophia’s newest educational partner, Movement Education Outdoors (MEO).

Seventh grader Layanna holds a small crab found in the salt marsh

“MEO is a program where you learn history about the land you are on. You get to learn about different types of plants, trees, leaves, and more. We have learned about plants that can make other things; for example, one time we saw a plant that makes root beer, and another plant that smells like lavender,” described seventh grader Kamil Martinez.

Founded to eliminate barriers to access, MEO provides youth of color and limited economic means with programs that encourage them to experience wellness in an outdoor environment, to become mindful stewards of their bodies and environment, and to be leaders for justice in their communities.

Social studies teacher and seventh grade advisor Nilu Syed explains: “Every week, the girls learn something that will ultimately enable them to complete progressively more difficult hikes. The first week, we learned about salt marshes and the importance of biodiversity. The next week, we learned about the importance of land acknowledgment and how the wealth of Jamestown was built on Black and Brown labor.”

“I like how we get into nature and learn about new things, like identifying rocks, mushrooms, leaves, the land we’re on, and how to hike,” said Alivia Harris. “At the end each day, we write a reflection to think about what we saw, heard, and learned.”

Reflecting on the new partnership, Head of School Maura Farrell remarked: “MEO provides an incredible opportunity for our students to access the outdoors in a way that beautifully weaves together our social justice curriculum and wellness programs.”

Seventh graders explore the salt marsh.

Women of Wisdom 2022: Career Symposium

Each year, our Women of Wisdom celebration honors courageous, wise women who make a lasting impact on their communities. On May 26, Sophia Academy students, faculty, and staff welcomed more than 40 guest speakers to share their educational and career journeys, showing our students and young graduates by example that they, too, have the inherent talent and wisdom to follow any pathway they choose.

In small discussion groups, guests answered questions pre-written by our 8th grade host committee, including: How did you learn about your current career? How do you deal with people who look at you and jump to conclusions about what you are capable of? Through your hardships, what keeps you going as a leader? What advice did your mentors give you to become who you are today?

Learn more about our symposium panelists and sponsors at www.sophia-academy.org/22wow.

Coded Treasure Hunts

What do the ancient armies of Julius Caesar and a class of modern-day middle schoolers have in common? The answer is not as surprising as you might think – it's coding! This April, Sophia Academy participated in a special Hour of Code Week, both on and off the computer.

Sixth graders Nathalia and Ivanna work together to decode the location of their secret treasure.

Science teacher Alyssa Wood and math teacher Emily Fisher collaborated to create a special assignment with a twofold goal: to demonstrate coding beyond a computer screen, and to familiarize students with how words are put into “code.” The focus of their exercise was the Caesar Cipher, a type of code attributed to Julius Caesar. In this special code, letters replace each other using a numerical ‘shift.’ For example, “A” would become “B” in a shift of 1 (since all the letters were shifted over 1). The word “here” would then become “ifsf” using this shift. Try it out for yourself. What would “school” become using a shift of one?

Students began by creating their own cipher wheels: two paper wheels, both with the alphabet written along the edge. The smaller of the two wheels was fixed to the larger with a pin, so that letters could spin match to each other. Students then practiced coding and decoding words using different shifts. Once students grew comfortable shifting letters around, Ms. Wood and Ms. Fisher gave groups of students coded messages. Once decoded, these messages led to secret treasures hidden around the school building – some were even buried in the school yard!

In addition to the sweet treats, students also found the satisfaction of breaking a code and the fun of writing their own. In each hour-long lesson groups of students used persistence, teamwork, and critical analysis to break their codes. Although they never touched a computer, the skills practiced in their Caesar cipher lesson are critical to computer coding. Teams of coders must be thorough in reading lines and lines of computer code and communicate with each other about what they find. The Caesar cipher lesson served as an introduction not only to coding and decoding, but to the soft skills that make coders successful.

Besides, at the end of the day, who doesn’t love writing in secret code?

Written by Emily Fisher, math teacher and 8th grade co-advisor

Head of School Will Step Down after Next Year

On May 23, Maura Farrell, pictured below with the Class of 2022 in fifth grade, announced that she will step down as Sophia Academy's Head of School in June 2023. In a letter to the community, Farrell wrote:

"I will always be proud of the work we have done together, and humbled by the trust you have placed in me. Even in a pandemic, we advanced our school. To ensure we remain relevant and responsive to our changing world, and that Sophia maintains financial sustainability, in the last year we established five Strategic Priorities and launched a 20th Anniversary Campaign, raising more than $4 million.

Our time together has resulted in several proud accomplishments, including strengthening our foundation, investing in our people, and broadening our programs."

The Board of Trustees has established a search committee including representation from the Trustees, staff, parents, and alumnae, and they have begun the process to recruit candidates.

To read Maura's full letter and stay updated on our Head of School search, please visit: https://www.sophia-academy.org/hossearch.