Student Clubs and Organizations

The African American Latino Alliance Club's open membership invites all students to join who support the community and the Club’s mission: “Community = Unity, We are Stronger Together!” Education and conversation are valued.  The Club will watch controversial videos followed by discussion, which help students feel safe by expressing their hardships while supporting other students to open up about their experiences. In the winter term, the Club focuses on Black History by promoting increased awareness of historical facts presented in written and spoken word.  Martin Luther King Jr. Day provides another avenue for raising awareness in the community.  Recently the Club joined its peers at nearby Taft School to hear Dr. Cornel West speak. It celebrated Poetry Month by having club members recite poems by African American and Latino authors during morning meetings.   Faculty Advisor: Ms. Degrazia

All students are welcome to join the Rumsey Chorus, the School’s vocal group which performs several times a year. In addition, Blue Dog Voices, an audition-based singing group affords students further opportunities for solo singing and to develop harmonizing talents. Both groups are led by Mrs. Evans P'18, a career educator and Founder and Artistic Director of SingOut!, Connecticut's Premier Glee Group for Young Voices.  Mrs. Evans values an innovative choral experience that nurtures the intellectual, artistic and personal development of young adults through the medium of the vocal arts. Faculty Advisor: Ms. Evans

Buddy Club is designed to foster community between Upper and Lower School students through interactive events while building relationships, promoting empathy, and creating a supportive environment for all students.  Buddy activities are carefully curated to cater to both student groups' age range and interests and include activities such as reading, games, artistic creations, and music. Organically, Upper School students act as mentors and role models, and Lower School students can look up to and learn from their older Buddies.  Faculty Advisor: Mr Anderson

Cafe FAB club members engage in activities that tie in with words, books, and reading! Weekly, the library transforms into CafeFAB, including tablecloths, special lighting, and music - setting the tone for book discussions and exploration as well as enjoying a snack from croissants to cookies, to muffins, and more. Students who love reading, who may not like reading, and everyone in between, sign up for Cafe FAB. The acronym "FAB" stands for "feelings and books," which could also be short for "fabulous!"  Students create journals and read a couple of books. Sharing their love of books included meeting virtually with 5th-grade students from South Carolina who were super excited to discuss Sharon Draper's Out of My Mind and Kwame Alexander's Crossover with Rumsey's Cafe Fab students.  Faculty Advisor: Mrs. DiLorenzo

Andrew Roraback '24, formed The Chess Club as an opportunity to play his favorite game with friends. Initially, the club used an online chess app to play with each other and online opponents and after a month, moved to chess boards. The group continues to evolve its format and membership, changing pairs weekly to allow stronger players to coach and others to learn. Sometimes, students are observers when two strong players challenge each other.  In the Spring, the Chess Club will host a tournament inviting students from the entire community. Faculty Advisor:   Ms. Kappler

Adamant Haters of Comic Sans

The Writing Club is who we are
We arrive here from near, from far
Encouraged and cheered by years and time
Our prose delivers, our poetry rhymes

Fingers to keys, pen to paper
Thoughts unfinished we revisit later
Experimenting with words and with power
All this and more in under an hour

The Drone Club was created in 2022 by Alan Zhou '24 and allows BlueDogs to learn about and experiment with drone technology.  Their flight patterns are often seen around campus and are not just limited to the sky but include remote-controlled cars and boats. This club allows members to take impressive photographs and see a new perspective of Rumsey's campus landscape. Working in the maker space, students perform machine maintenance and upgrades. Faculty Advisor: Mr. Dyball

The Environmental Club was founded through student interest in improving campus sustainability and striving to make the community aware of climate change.  One of their goals is to raise awareness about how their decisions impact our local environment and the world. Members explore volunteer opportunities in the local community such as cleaning hiking trails and campus grounds. Faculty Advisor: Ms. Dunham

The Finance Club engages students in conversations and activities surrounding current events, capital markets, money management, and investing. Students play a MarketWatch game in which each invests $10,000 fictional dollars in the stock market. Club members track individual progress and celebrate the achievement of those with the most robust returns.  Field-trip opportunities abound, such as the New York Stock Exchange, including attending a CNBC taping of the morning show Squawk with David Faber and visiting the 9/11 memorial.  

Led by Rumsey's own Nurse McDevitt, RN and CPR and First Aid instructor, The HeartSaver Club meets weekly during the Spring term.  Upon completion of the course, students will be certified in American Heart Association HeartSaver First Aid/CPR/AED. Nurse McDevitt said, “As a staff nurse in the Health Center, I wanted to do more to help students prepare for life situations. The club quickly filled with V, VI, and VII Form students. Many students joined the club to prepare for jobs like babysitting and ski instruction.”

The Peer/Focused Study Group is for students looking for help from peers on homework or those looking for a quiet focused place to get work done during Extra Help on Fridays.  Students request sessions over Zoom instead on Mondays and Thursdays from 8pm-9pm. Faculty Advisor: Mr. Perreault

The Student Government consists of elected Form Representatives and is led by the Senior Committee.  As the student body's voice, they create a fun and active school environment connecting our student body, promoting community, and fostering the importance of service and charitable giving. They work throughout the year, organizing and volunteering for student events such as dances, spirit days, and community service. In addition, the Student Government will facilitate successful fundraising events such as the annual canned food drive, the holiday stocking stuffer toy drive, and other student-led awareness campaigns. Faculty Advisor: Mr. Perreault

The Yearbook Club is open to any VIIth Form student interested in producing a fantastic book filled with memories everyone can enjoy. The yearbook, Echo, represents the traditions of Rumsey Hall School through text and images while capturing significant events and daily happenings. Seniors captivated by photography and photo editing are encouraged to join this year-long club. Layout and graphic design skills are areas students work on perfecting as they work together to publish annually. The Club distributes the yearbook a few days before the commencement ceremony so that friends, teachers, and administrators can write individual sentiments on the blank pages provided. Faculty Leader: Ms. Dufresne

Each week the yoga and meditation club meets for a half hour. We start each meeting by checking in with each other and determining what we need. Our time together is spent enjoying restorative yoga poses and flows, guided meditations, or a simple sound bath as we sit quietly and clear our minds of the week's clutter. Faculty Advisor: Ms. Saxe