Recently, I traveled to Cairo for Shattuck St. Mary’s Educational Services (SSMES) to meet with a potential partner who would like to bring an American branded school to Egypt. During my time there, we visited the Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza– a stunning building with millions of ancient artifacts and more stunning views of the Pyramids.

The excavated intricacies of King Tut’s tomb are on display here, and, from time to time, good old King Tut himself is on display. It is perhaps the crown jewel of the museum for most people. For me, however, the real treat was a visit to the adjacent Khufu’s Boats Museum. There, centered inside a wrap-around sloped walk, is a fully restored boat–the largest and oldest wooden boat ever discovered–originally built to carry the pharaoh on his eternal voyage after death.

While the Ship of Theseus debate (Through the Arch, Winter/Spring 2022) would ask whether King Khufu’s boat is actually still King Khufu’s boat if all the 1,600 wooden planks have been replaced (plank by plank and with no metal fasteners), I was interested in the way King Khufu’s boat has been given new life. A new purpose. To be completely honest, I was awestruck.

Perhaps no other Shattuck St. Mary’s Head of School is as familiar with St. Mary’s Hall and the St. Mary’s campus as I am. Courtney and I began our life at Shattuck in Mackall Hall, the apartment complex often confused as a carport tucked in the right corner of the SMH campus. For five years we lived in the apartment at the front end of the building, sat outside on the covered porch on nice evenings, and learned the walk from there to the Shattuck campus via the woods.

Back then our dogs, Hideki and Bernie (and yes, all of our dogs have been named after Yankees), used to wander off when they had the chance, and the girls living in St. Mary’s were more than happy to let them run through the building–much to my embarrassment. More often than not, however, they would make their way over to Harrington House on the far left end of SMH Campus. Looking back, I like to think they were guiding us to where we would eventually settle and live, but the reality is that John and Bobbi Sumner left their dog’s food in the garage. Hideki, always on the hunt for a free meal, knew where to go to get it.

Not long after Peter and Joe were born, we moved from Clapp Dormitory to Harrington House and have been there ever since. This is now our twelfth year there, and quite a lot of living has happened. When the boys were about four, I ran miles and miles around the circle in front of St. Mary’s training for the Twin Cities Marathon. I knew every crack and towards the end of each long run would lament the slight incline the road takes as it raises to the front of the building.

Courtney spent the last two of her twenty years at Shattuck as Associate Head of School and Middle School Director, overseeing dramatic changes to the two floors of classrooms, adding some much more age-appropriate hallway decorations, and working to foster the caring, supportive environment students at that age need to be successful. Those years also coincided with Peter and Joe’s first years at Shattuck; this May, they concluded their time in our middle school program.

I have twenty-two years of memories so far at Shattuck St. Mary’s. Seventeen of those years, St. Mary’s campus has been my home. And I couldn’t be more grateful for that. Next year, the school days at SMH will be a lot quieter as all classes will be held on the Shattuck campus. With the SMH South housing 6th-9th grade boys and SMH North housing 6th-9th grade girls, however, I anticipate the evenings will be a bit more active.

It has been said schools are not museums and as soon as they become so, they risk relevance. I’ve always agreed wholeheartedly with that statement, but only if you don’t believe in the new life the “artifacts” you are observing take on. St. Mary’s Hall is an artifact, and a beautiful one. One which commands awe and, like King Khufu’s boat, holds generational memories. But, as the school evolves, St. Mary’s Hall continues to take on a new life, and with it, new memories.

As we look to the future and the new life for St. Mary’s Hall, it is important and essential to reflect on our experiences and memories–and, it is important to recognize there will always be new memories to be made. So consider this issue of Through the Arch our Love Song to St. Mary’s Hall.

I hope you enjoy.