by Juanita I.C. Traughber, communications director
Each summer, Operations staff spruce up and renovate buildings while hallways have less student traffic.
A piece of 2018 may be unearthed the next century if the future University School of Nashville ever has to replace its iconic Edgehill stairs again. This summer, Operations Director Erik Mash and Director Vince Durnan lowered a time capsule beneath the main building as construction crews replaced the 93-year-old limestone stairs and front porch. It contained programs from the Class of 2018’s commencement and convocation, the USN admissions brochure for prospective families, copies of The Peabody Press newspaper and 2000 Edgehill magazine, as well as Centennial celebration publications “The Story of Our School” and “The Same River Twice,” a stuffed Peabody Tiger and other USN paraphernalia from the Bookstore, and a letter from Durnan. The former limestone stairs were original to the school building which opened in 1925 and have been moved into storage at the River Campus for archiving and repurposing.
Also this summer, construction crews divided a Hassenfeld Library study room into smaller spaces with glass exteriors to increase the amount of study space for individuals and small groups while allowing natural sunlight to illuminate their textbooks and projects.
In addition to routine deep cleaning and painting, other summer projects included replacing the three-decade-old roof over the West Wing, adding a trench drain on the outdoor basketball court, improving drainage on the River Campus baseball field, replacing tiles and book bag lockers in the fifth grade hallway, and adding a ga-ga pit on the backfield for students to play a game similar to dodgeball.
Aliza Ahmed '26, Uma Ehrig '26, Victor Peng '26, Ruchika Ramachandran '27, and Yvonne Wang '27 participated in the Asian Educators Alliance conference this year in Atlanta, Georgia.
Anna Brook '30, Claire Yu '30, Clio Cherry-Pulay '29, and Liam Mooney '28 took him the championship during the 4th annual USN Middle School Quiz Bowl Championships. Two teams will travel to Chicago to compete in the National Academic Quiz Tournaments Middle School National Championships on Saturday, May 10.
Cpl. Robert Gibson joined University School of Nashville in November as a School Resource Officer, a certified police officer who is primarily assigned to a school and provides safety and security-related functions, including emergency response, safety training, traffic direction, and patrol functions.
USN Mission: University School of Nashville models the best educational practices. In an environment that represents the cultural and ethnic composition of Metropolitan Nashville, USN fosters each student’s intellectual, artistic, and athletic potential, valuing and inspiring integrity, creative expression, a love of learning, and the pursuit of excellence.