Chat with us, powered by LiveChat

The Winchendon School

The best college prep school for students with significant unrealized potential

Show on Home Page

Girls Basketball Leadership Announcement

As some may have heard, Coach Matt Stevenson has announced that he will not return to coach the girls’ basketball team for the 2023-2024 season. We are appreciative of Coach Stevenson’s efforts and commitment to our students this past winter.

While disappointed with Coach Stevenson’s departure, we are pleased to announce that we are enthusiastically elevating Winchendon’s dynamic assistant coach Niya Johnson to be the next head coach of our girls’ basketball program.  As we looked around the region at prospective coaches, it became clear to us that the best potential leader for our vision of a highly competitive girls program was “already in the house”. In just her first year, Coach Johnson earned the respect and appreciation of the girls and their parents for her leadership and knowledge of the game.

This opportunity for Coach Johnson and The Winchendon School is made much more attractive knowing that she will move into this role with the highly skilled coaches Kevin Kehoe and Kenny Green as mentors and supporters. Coach Green and Coach Johnson worked closely this past winter, and as Coach Green has said, “Coach Johnson knows every aspect of my playbook.” That proved to be a pretty successful playbook!   As well, Coach Kehoe, the Director of Winchendon’s basketball program, is revered for having successfully mentored many younger coaches who have gone on to great success.

In reflecting on the opportunity, Coach Johnson quoted Maya Angelou saying “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” Coach Johnson went on “This quote inspires me every day. Being a bridge and a mentor, on and off the court, for student-athletes as they find their way and transition from high school to college has always been a dream of mine. Being able to share my passion, my story, teach, and inspire others, is one of the many reasons I am thrilled to step into the role of Head Coach for the Winchendon Girls’ Varsity Basketball program. I am excited and look forward to continuing to build and work with the fantastic returning core group of girls that push, challenge, and motivate me every day, in addition to some new and exciting student-athletes who are being recruited to our roster. Every day is an opportunity for us as a program, on and off the court, to lay the bricks for the foundation that makes us the most respected, intentional, and competitive program in New England!”

We will begin a search immediately for an assistant for Coach Johnson, and we will be specifically looking for someone who can not only assist her on the bench but also with recruiting top student-athletes to our girls program.

Once again, we are appreciative of Coach Stevenson’s work with our team this past year – and thrilled with the opportunity to see Coach Johnson move into the leadership of this program for the coming years.

Meet Julia!

Even before she arrived at The Winchendon School, Julia knew she wanted to major pre-med in college. In the fall, she will be attending Williams College as a Biology major. What’s really interesting, however, is what she didn’t know when she arrived. In the four years, she’s been here, Julia’s fallen in love with Spanish and Latinx history – all of which she discovered with service and leadership opportunities from The Winchendon School. Julia won’t just be majoring in Biology at Williams, she’ll be a double major with Spanish and Biology.

If there’s a Winchendon School bucket list, Julia may have hit every item on the list. From student body co-president to a role in every theater production since her first year, Julia exemplifies stepping up to take advantage of all the opportunities we offer all our students. And be sure not to miss Julia in her last performance as the Fairy Godmother in this year’s musical, “Cinderella.”

Catch “Cinderella” on May 12 and 13th on our Massachusetts campus and follow along as the performance comes together on Instagram at @winchendon_performingarts.

Meet Summer!

An honors student and three-season athlete, Summer holds an on-campus job in the Marketing Department at The Winchendon School and fills her time outside of classes with studying, participating in student-run organizations such as WACA (Winchendon Alumni of Color Association), and hanging out with friends.

Before she graduates, she wants to check off every item on her Winchendon School bucket list. What’s left? Stepping out on stage in a musical! Summer’s one of the amazing cast members in this year’s musical, “Cinderella.”

Catch “Cinderella” on May 12 and 13th on our Massachusetts campus and follow along as the performance comes together on Instagram at @winchendon_performingarts.

Congresswoman Lori Trahan Meets The Winchendon School

By Sydney Brown ’23

On Tuesday morning, I saw firsthand the commitment it takes to serve as a politician within the Massachusetts 3rd District. As Mrs. Lambert introduced Congresswoman Trahan, I listened from the viewpoint of a senior in high school about to embark on my college journey and soon-to-be career in business. From being the first Portuguese-American in Congress, a grandchild of immigrants, receiving a scholarship to play volleyball at Georgetown, to growing through the ranks of what it takes to be at the top serving a community were all elements I held immense respect for and could relate to. After receiving various questions, Trahan delved head-first into the policies she has focused on, one being mental health, which I work closely with through initiatives along with another student Julia ’23. 

The Congresswoman’s conversation wasn’t only an inspiration because she showed that it’s easy to judge a person based on what you see on the outside or their political affiliation, but it’s even harder to be in the position of working in a highly divisive, fast-pace moving, and intense job environment. This was evident in having to balance her family life, being in DC three times a week, and continuing to work for the citizens of her district every single day. 

At the same time, I was in complete awe of her character and knowledge; her immersion in sports with a reference to the NCAA record-breaking numbers that occurred especially for the women’s side, pushing for women to have a seat at the table in business, her presence in high-tech, and the correlation between TikTok’s effect on individuals even without the ownership of the app itself, were clear elements to an individual who has done her research. 

No matter our opinions, our values, or what our belief reaches towards in politics, it’s situations like these that can really exert oneself to the different realms of being a powerful leader in the world.

Student body president, Austin Gatlin ’23 thanks the Congresswoman for sharing her experiences.

All Politics are Local: Robert Kennedy Meets Students from The Winchendon School

New Hampshire Institute for Political Studies at St. Anselm’s College recently hosted Robert Kennedy. Students were able to attend – and were so impressed and moved by his talk, that The Winchendon School faculty member Tiffany Pellegrini said, when her students returned from the talk at Saint Anselm’s College on Friday, March 3rd, they were bursting with enthusiasm and the topics discussed bubbled over into her classroom. 

“It was a very rewarding experience to see the students engaged in civil discourse and debate around the role and responsibility of the individual and government in regard to personal health, community safety, and the environment.  One discussion led to another as they eventually started brainstorming potential business and government solutions to a reduction on the reliance on fossil fuels or ways to tackle the opioid crisis.”

Tiffany Pellegrini, TWS Faculty

Mrs. Pellegrini put the day’s lesson plan on hold so the students could continue their authentic discussion.

“I put my lesson on hold, so they could continue.  As a teacher, mother, and educator it was a very beautiful thing to see and hear our present generation of students and future voters take such an invested interest in discussing and debating domestic and international current events in hopes to find a solution.”

Robert Kennedy greets students from The Winchendon School
logo