At Ransom Everglades, we understand that exceptional programs and outstanding people deserve equally remarkable places. Our campuses are designed to foster creativity, critical thinking and collaboration – spaces that challenge students to engage deeply with their education and prepare for an ever-evolving world. From historic structures that honor our past to cutting-edge facilities that shape our future, Ransom Everglades has always prioritized building for the next generation.
Now, the school is turning its attention to other critical areas of student life – expanding its commitment to the humanities, reimagining athletic spaces and creating environments that inspire the next generation of leaders and changemakers with the upcoming Humanities Center, Middle School Athletic Complex and Upper School Stadium.
At Ransom Everglades, we are building more than just buildings – we are building the future. We invite you to be part of this exciting journey by supporting these transformative places that will inspire students for generations to come.
Consistent with our rich history and long-standing commitment to the humanities, the school is investing in a new $30 million Humanities Center, funded in part by a generous gift from Brett and Daniel Sundheim P ’26 ’28.
The building will feature flexible classrooms, cutting-edge technology and spaces designed to foster collaboration and deep inquiry. This new space will enable our students to engage with history, literature, philosophy and ethics in innovative ways, continuing the tradition of academic excellence that has defined Ransom Everglades for over a century.
“At a time when distraction has become the norm, spaces that invite reflection and sustained focus are rare. Giving students the chance to slow down, to wrestle with big ideas and to find meaning in their lives – that’s not just valuable, it’s transformative.”
– Jen Nero, Humanities Department Chair
“How do you want a student to feel when they walk into your classroom? How are you going to distinguish yourself? Every classroom that you walk in should make you feel something.”
– Rachel Rodriguez, Head of School
“It’s exciting to support the next generation as they explore their interests, discover their strengths and use those strengths to do something meaningful. Ransom Everglades has always been an amazing school; this offers a chance to take it to the next level.”
Financial reporter and bestselling author David Faber addressed upper school students on the topic of ethics in business and journalism as part of the Holzman Center of Applied Ethics Speaker Series on April 7. Holzman Center Director John A. King Jr. interviewed Faber from the Lewis Family Auditorium stage before turning the questions over to students. Faber's visit to RE took place at the height of tariff anxiety and market volatility, providing fodder for pointed questions and follow ups.
Daniel Sundheim has always been a numbers guy. He went from college to Wall Street, spent more than a decade overseeing billions in assets, then started his own highly successful global investment firm. Yet when asked to name skills central to his career success, he rattles off core components of a humanities education: writing, critical thinking and public speaking.
That belief in the foundational importance of a liberal arts education, which is shared by his wife of 20 years, Brett Sundheim, inspired the couple’s $7.5 million gift for a new humanities building on the upper school campus at Ransom Everglades School.
Students in Ransom Everglades' AP Psychology classes presented their research posters on how current events can be interpreted using social psychology theories and phenomena during the 2025 Social Psychology Symposium in the Posner Lecture Hall on April 3. Thirteen groups of students under RE faculty member Jenny Carson '03 explained their findings on topics ranging from the impact of Saturday Night Live to the unlikely hero status achieved by Luigi Mangione. Fellow students, teachers and parents attended the event during the mid-day break.
RE student-poets swept the top three awards presented at the second annual Poetry Night at The Barnacle on April 9: Miguel Kumar '25 earned first place; Alexa Charouhis '27, second; and Patrick Keedy Brown '26, scored third place as Sofie Delic '28 and Arhan Shah '27 earned finalist recognition (top 15). All read their poems aloud on the lawn of The Barnacle Historic State Park with 10 other finalists from five South Florida Schools. Nearly 600 poems were submitted in recognition of National Poetry Month.
Sixth and seventh graders traveled to Washington, D.C., and eighth graders to Puerto Rico for exciting and immersive class trips from April 2-5. Students visited national monuments, memorials and museums in Washington and they traveled to the rainforest, historic landmarks, beaches and the bay in Puerto Rico, and also found time to volunteer at a local elementary school. Assistant Head of the Middle School Jess Merrick described the trips as "action-packed and enriching."
A business plan for a solar-powered, eco-friendly, dual-filtration water bottle that tracks hydration earned first place at the 12th annual Ransom Everglades Business Challenge March 11 at Posner Lecture Hall. Nina Galinsky ’26 and Blake Langer ’26 offered a passionate and thoughtful pitch for “Solar Sip,” a high-tech water bottle that wowed the RE alumni panel of judges and advanced to the Innovate South Florida 2025 High School Business Plan Competition on April 10 at Miami Dade College.
Author Jasmine Warga shared insights about her bestselling young adult novel A Rover's Story with middle school students at the seventh annual One Book, One Day, One School (OBODOS) event at RE's middle school on April 2. The renowned writer took the Swenson Hall stage to share her personal story and also chatted one-on-one with students as she signed their books. The students jointly read A Rover's Story in preparation for OBODOS, a now highly anticipated celebration of reading that includes a variety of activities designed to complement that year's selected book.
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.