News & Events

Each year, we gather before everyone heads off for November vacation to celebrate, express gratitude, and enjoy a feast. The Thanksgiving service is designed by students with help from staff members. This year, students read poems they selected, shared traditions, and thanksgivings. One student brought in Christmas crackers, his own family tradition, which meant we ended the service with everyone wearing paper crowns! 

When students were asked what they were thankful for this year, they shared the following:

• All of my friends at Rock Point
• My opportunity here
• Bodie and all the dogs
• 5 Guys Burgers and Fries
• The opportunity to better myself
• Second chances
• Animals
• My brothers
• My family
• My friends
• Rock Point's Teachers supporting me so I can thrive in school
• My room
• Kevin's great food
• Rock Point and its community
• The care I receive from my friends
• All of the staff and students being nice and inclusive
• My efforts become a better person

Our students are always reflecting on what is important to them and this list shows what they value in their lives. It also serves as a reminder, going into the holiday season, that the most significant things in our lives are not things. They are the people, places, and animals that we love and the communities that embrace us. 

We were so happy to see so many alumni, former staff, friends, and family at our Thanksgiving celebration. Our community has a rich history and we love seeing former students and staff return to share their stories! The service ended with one of our students performing an original song she wrote on her cello. You can watch her performance below:

On May 3rd a group of Rock Point School students headed to the Flynn Center for the Performing Arts for a day of theater workshops and performances! Our students have participated in the Vermont Young Playwrights' Project for almost twenty years and we were honored to be part of the festival again this spring. In the fall, students began working on writing original ten-minute plays inspired by workshops with a professional playwright. They continued to edit their plays before submitting them to the festival for selection.

The Vermont Playwright Project invites students from schools all over the state to participate. Selected plays from each school are performed by professional actors at the festival. Sophomore, Jeff Morley, had his play "Air Port" selected for a cold reading and senior, Jesse Ruigomez's play "My Side of the Water Cooler" was selected for a staged reading. Both plays elicited many laughs from the crowd. We are so proud of Jeff and Jesse for creating these excellent plays and sharing them with a wide audience!

On February 20th and 21st Rock Point School students performed the plays they have been working on for the past few months. The process began with playwriting workshops run by a professional playwright with the Vermont Young Playwright's Project. Four students, Yukiko (10th grade), Val (10th grande), Jeff (10th grade), and Jesse (12th grade), continued to edit and develop their plays for production. 

The plays ranged from funny to tragic to searing political commentary. 

• "823" by Val (grade 10) - A father and daughter struggle to find a way to get closure as their wife and mother dies.
• "Alice in Cafe Poirot" by Yukiko (grade 9) - Alice wants to tell William that she loves him, but keeps getting interrupted by a series of mishaps in a busy cafe.
• "Airport" by Jeff (grade 10) - A bumbling duo attempt to board a plane for their mother's wedding, but are held up by the head of TSA, who has a personal bone to pick with them.
• "Brett is the Best" by Jesse (grade 12) - A satirical look at a corrupt lawyer who has a backwards idea to get his client out of a jam, involving inventing, and then getting him out of, a juicy scandal.

What: Four 10-minute plays

• "823" by Val (grade 10) - A father and daughter struggle to find a way to get closure during a family tragedy.
• "Alice in Cafe Poirot" by Yukiko (grade 9) - Alice wants to tell William that she loves him, but keeps getting interrupted by a series of mishaps in a busy cafe.
• "Airport" by Jeff (grade 10) - A bumbling duo attempt to board a plane for their mother's wedding, but are held up by the head of TSA, who has a personal bone to pick with them.
• "Brett is the Best" by Jesse (grade 12) - A lawyer has a backwards idea to get his client out of a jam, involving inventing, and then getting him out of, a juicy scandal. 

Join us for a fun night of original entertainment! 

*Photo from the 2018 School Play

Our students are hard at work getting ready for our drama performance on February 22 at 6 p.m. Earlier this winter, students began writing plays in workshops with the Vermont Young Playwrights' Project. Some students continued editing and developing their plays so that they could be performed this month.

• "Cat Play" by Cory grade 12 -- A cat escapes from her owner, after becoming tired of living her boring life as a domestic suburban house cat. 
• "Gay Disease" by Lily grade 10 -- A high school boy deals with having a crush on another boy; he faces the hurdles of being bullied, but is ultimately supported by caring friends.
• "Unknown" by Josh grade 11 -- A man wakes up in an abyss, unsure of whether he is alive or dead, hearing only a voice that forces him to examine his life's choices.
• "Sure Thing" by David Ives (not an RPS student) -- A professionally written comedic play about the perils and joys of dating.

Please join us on February 22nd for a night of drama, creativity, and laughter!

The culmination of our Playwrights Project happened on May 12th at the Flynn Theater. The Vermont Young Playwrights' Festival is a day long event where students from across the state participate in workshops on acting, writing, and directing plays.

Before the festival, students participate in writing workshops with professional playwrights to compose 10-minute plays. Our students began their writing process in the fall and many of them continued to revise and refine their plays through the winter. In February, we performed four of these plays at the school, and in April students submitted their plays to the Vermont Young Playwrights' Festival!

Two Rock Point student plays were chosen for performance (one a staged reading and one a cold reading) at the Festival. AJ's "Second Chances" received a cold reading, while Jesse's "Take Off" earned the title of featured play and was given a staged reading by professional actors. 

The Vermont Young Playwrights Project is one of our favorite activities of the year. Through writing, revising, and performing, students gain insight and confidence in the writing process.

The performance of Jesse's play can be seen in the video below, starting at 15:15.

The culmination of our Project Based Learning focus was a series of four plays performed on February 23rd. The plays were written, performed, directed, and produced by students. Our students conceived of everything from the make-up to the lighting to the music during scene changes and we are so proud of all of their hard work. 

The four plays were as follows:

"Take-Off" by Jesse Ruigomez (grade 10) - in this comedic play a morally dubious billionaire gets his comeuppance with an unexpected twist at the end.

"Second Chances" by A.J. Jackson (grade 12) - a couple is able to resolve their complicated issues and come to terms with mortality.

"The Towers" by Josh Santora (grade 10) - this play is a window into conversations in an office breakroom on the morning of September 11, 2001.

"Kids These Days" by Allison Zindle (grade 11) - a comedy, set in a nursing home, where the residents have a little fun with their reluctant teenage volunteer.

English teacher, Abbey Baker, guided students through the writing, directing, and acting process. Gus Buchanan, History teacher, helped students construct sets and set up lights, while Jean Waltz, Art teacher, helped students paint backdrops. As always, it was a team effort!

This year's performance was dedicated to former English teacher and founder of the Rock Point drama program, Marylen Grigas, who passed away in mid-February. Her creative vision and love for Rock Point and its students was an inspiration and a guiding force for all of us.

For more pictures of the performance, see our Flickr album! Videos of the plays will be posted as soon as we finish editing.

As part of our project based learning curriculum, students are writing, producing, and performing several short plays again this year. Every student will take part in making this performance happen - from writing the plays to making costumes to promotion of the event. We hope many of you can make it to the performance to see the exciting culmination of several months of work!

(Photo on left is from last year's performance)

When: Thursday, February 23, 2017 from 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm 

Where: Rock Point School Library

What: Performance of several short student-written plays!

Check this space for more information and updates in the coming weeks!

Rock Point hosted it's second talent night of the year this weekend! Dorm staff, Kelly, has been encouraging students to share their performing talents with the school and several students organized the events!

Students played the guitar, sang, played the piano, told jokes, and some even wrote music for the occasion.

We are looking forward to hosting several more of these events through the year and encouraging students to continue practicing their talents.