From the Head of School
Joining forces to ensure healthy students
Like any proud academic institution, Ransom Everglades strives for distinction in all realms. We cheer on our teams and students, don our RE green and blue, and share our Raider Pride. Yet when it comes to our students’ health and wellness, we prefer to stand with our peer schools rather than stand out, substituting a spirit of collaboration for a competitive spirit. Two weeks ago, for the third time this school year, Ransom Everglades partnered with a local school – Carrollton School of the Sacred Heart – to provide health and wellness programming to our community. We have worked to deepen our relationships with neighboring schools knowing that, when it comes to student wellbeing, we are all in this together.
On January 15, Carrollton Head of School Heather Gillingham-Rivas joined me on the Lewis Family Auditorium stage for a live virtual Q and A with noted child psychologist and author Lisa Damour entitled “The Teen Years: Parenting Strategies with Dr. Lisa Damour.” As I told the parents from both schools who gathered for that special event, the mental health of students is not a challenge confronting just one school; it affects all of us. Action steps that benefit all of our children elevate the entire community.
Last September, RE and Palmer Trinity School jointly hosted speaker Mike Domitrz of the Center for Respect; he not only spoke to RE students about sexual consent and respect in relationships, but he also offered informative evening sessions on both campuses for parents. Later in the fall, RE and Carrollton worked together to plan a visit from Matthew Bocchi, a noted author and speaker on addiction and trauma. Bocchi addressed parents from both schools at Carrollton, and he will return this spring to speak with our students.
These partnerships illustrate our commitment to The RE Way and, in particular, the core value of Joy and Wellbeing. Our promise is to prioritize the wellbeing of our students, ensuring that they feel supported by the community, have ample opportunity to explore their varied interests, and find joy and balance in their lives.
Our health and wellness curriculum is extensive and comprehensive, and it is grade-level appropriate. Director of Counseling Isis Perez-Gonzalez created the upper school Student Wellness Board and engineers our various programs, working closely with Susy Diaz, our Middle School Counselor. Our counseling team also works closely with a number of trusted partners from the non-profit sector to expand the range of offerings to students during the advisory period.
For the ninth year, the Health Information Project – an organization started by Risa Berrin ’99 – has trained RE juniors and seniors to present critical health information to RE ninth graders. Our sophomores benefit from seminars provided by the Antonio Tsialas Leadership Foundation, where they learn the pillars of compassionate leadership. Our 11th graders are exposed to “Strategies to Navigate the 11th Grade” in monthly programming; and the Class of 2025 is the third to participate in our Life After RE Seminar Series. At the middle school, Physical Education Department Chair Michelle Mondell oversees mental health programming through the Open Parachute organization.
Mrs. Perez-Gonzalez exchanges advice and ideas with other local counselors through a consortium in which she is active. Whenever a partner school experiences a tragic event, other schools leap into action, making members of their counseling community available to assist. We have experienced the power of these relationships on our campus.
In everything we do, we strive to excel. And yet we know that when it comes to the health and wellbeing of our students, we are at our best when reaching into the community, sharing resources and working together.
Rachel RodriguezHead of School
Middle School
2045 South Bayshore Drive, Coconut Grove, FL 33133Phone: 305 250 6850
Upper School
3575 Main Highway, Coconut Grove, FL 33133Phone: 305 460 8800
Founded in 1903, Ransom Everglades School is a coeducational, college preparatory day school for grades 6 - 12 located on two campuses in Coconut Grove, Florida. Ransom Everglades School produces graduates who "believe that they are in the world not so much for what they can get out of it as for what they can put into it." The school provides rigorous college preparation that promotes the student's sense of identity, community, personal integrity and values for a productive and satisfying life, and prepares the student to lead and to contribute to society.