All boys. All boarding. Grades 9-12.

Twenty Inducted into Cum Laude Society

Ten fifth formers and ten sixth formers were inducted into the Woodberry Forest Chapter of the Cum Laude Society on April 12, 2017, in Bowman Gray Auditorium.  Academic Dean Curtis Phillips presented the certificates and pins, and former Woodberry Forest School faculty member Tom Parker addressed the new members and the community.
 
 
Mr. Parker reflected on his thirty-six years of service at Woodberry Forest.  He recalled the transformative impact the school had on him during his early years as a teacher — when he arrived at Woodberry, he was the youngest member of the faculty.  “If I was going to hold students to the school’s standards, then I had to meet those expectations myself, both the big and the little things,” he told students.  “And on the occasions when I fell short, students noticed. And I noticed.”  Over time, he said, the small daily demands — tasks like arriving on time, being well-prepared, or attending chapel and seated meals — of serving not only as a teacher but also as a role model shaped him and set him on a path to personal growth and a satisfying career as an educator.  And he learned that what he calls the “luminous aura” surrounding Woodberry Forest is created by, not imparted upon, members of the community.  Reminding all not to cut corners and to set a high standard for themselves, he said, “Students, faculty, and parents are the source of what makes Woodberry Forest ‘not just another school.’” 
 
Thomas J. Parker was a member of the Woodberry Forest School faculty from 1980 to 2016.  He received the school’s Distinguished Service Award upon his retirement.  The holder of the Lawrence Lewis Jr. ’37 Chair, Mr. Parker taught English, coached football and baseball, and served as director of college counseling and director of admissions. Before his arrival at Woodberry, Mr. Parker taught at The Fessenden School. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Williams College and a master’s degree in education from Boston University.  He and his wife, Hilary, have a son, Warren, who graduated from Woodberry in 2003.
 
 
The Cum Laude Society is a high school honor society recognizing up to twenty percent of the students of each class who exhibit values that parallel those of Woodberry Forest School: excellence, justice, and honor. The Woodberry Forest Chapter was established in 1952, and all faculty who were Phi Beta Kappa members are considered to be members of the society.
 
 
Woodberry Forest admits students of any race, color, sexual orientation, disability, religious belief, and national or ethnic origin to all of the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, sexual orientation, disability, religious belief, or national or ethnic origin in the administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic or other school-administered programs. The school is authorized under federal law to enroll nonimmigrant students.