News & Events

The Ooky Spooky race is just around the corner! Saturday, October 24th come join us at 9 am (registration begins at 8am) for a spooktacular run! Each year, we host this fun, costumed, 5k race to benefit COTS (Committee on Temporary Shelter). Families and children of all ages are welcome! There is also a "fun walk," for people interested in exploring the Rock Point property and watching the race. As usual, prizes will be given for best costumes, as well as those with the best time in each category. The course is an all-terrain adventure on trails, the bikepath, and the beach.

This year we are welcoming several new staff members! At the end of last year, we said goodbye to some truly excellent Residential Educators. Courtney, Selina, and Joe have gone on to graduate programs around the country and all are continuing their work in Human Services. Kate, our head of dorm, and Collin got married and are persuing their love of adventrure, teaching school in Mexico. We will miss them, but we have been lucky to find new educators who bring their own gifts to Rock Point. Let us introduce them!

Lonnie and CJ made a trip down to Randolph, VT to the Chandler Center for the Arts to see Jo Dee Messina, a Rock Point alumn! Jo Dee attended RPS in the 80's and has since become one of Country Music's biggest stars. Messina has had nine #1 songs including “I’m Alright,” “Bring On The Rain” (a duet with Tim McGraw), and “My Give A Damn’s Busted.” She has won countless awards including the Academy of Country Music’s Top Female Artist of the Year and CMA’s prestigious Horizon Award, receiving critical acclaim for her explosive singing style and electrifying performances. She's also recently published a book, "Chicken Soup for the Soul: Thanks to My Mom," a collection of stories on all the many aspects of motherhood! Lonnie has been a huge fan of Messina for years and was so excited to connect with her before the show!

Our 2015 Reunion was a blast! Former students and staff came from far and wide, and from classes as far back as 1952, to join us for a beautiful weekend. We loved seeing alumni returning with their families! It was wonderful to meet children and partners of our former students, as well as to see some parents of our alums. Headmasters CJ Spirito, John Rouleau, and Russell Ellis entertained us with stories of Rock Point going back 40 years. Check out photos from the photo booth here. Check out more photos from the weekend here.

Since 1995, the Vermont Young Playwrights' Project has been pairing professional actors and writers with groups of students to produce original 10-minute plays! Rock Point School has been participating in the project for almost as long and we love seeing what our students come up with! This year, our students worked with professional actor and playwright, Seth Jarvis, to write their plays. We did an in-school performance of several of the student plays in February and submitted them to the Festival in April. At this year's Festival at the Flynn Theater in Burlington, students from schools all over the state gathered to attend workshops on playwriting, acting, improv, and even stage combat! Sam McArthur ('15), our featured playwright for the second year in a row, had his play "Ghost Play" performed by professional actors, while Julia Eastham's ('15) play "Breaking Strings" was given a staged reading. The photo above is Julia discussing her play with the audience. Check out videos of the plays below!

A Southern Gothic Prom? That's right! This year's party took on a decidedly Southern flair with garden decorations and Southern cooking, but with a Gothic twist. "Think Gone with the Wind meets Frankenstein," said Prom Committee Princess Selina (also a dorm staff and creator of those delicious looking prom treats). Instead of our traditional "lame-o" rides, this year we rented a 1950's black Limo (reportedly owned by the Rockefellers) from Classic Limos! It was a fabulous night and just the beginning of our End of the Year traditions!