The Rivers School

Alum Profile: Nicki Hunter ’05 🎭

“The most important thing I learned from Rivers, and what is really serving me in my career in the theater, is being a well-rounded person who’s attuned to the world,” says Nicki Hunter ’05.

In December 2025, Hunter became the artistic director of Manhattan Theatre Club, one of the largest not-for-profit theaters in New York City producing shows on Broadway and off-Broadway every year.

Hunter believes art can heal, and she’s just as passionate about the power of live performance now as she was as a teenage actor at Rivers. “There’s a reason why theater has sustained so many ups and downs through human civilization,” she says. “It’s one of the most cathartic, most communal, most impactful forms of art.”

📎 Read the full story: https://ow.ly/eOiy50ZgoP9.

📸 Pictured: Hunter participated in many productions at Rivers, including playing Helena in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” (photo 2, pictured dressed in white) and Penelope in “The Odyssey” (photo 3, pictured dressed in red in the back row).

Happy ! Today’s art is by Ella Croom ’28 🦞 🐋

“The lobster plate was made out of stoneware, while the whale shark was made out of porcelain,” Ella shares. “I have always loved the beach and have enjoyed spending summers near the beach, which is what inspired both of these pieces. For the lobster, I was inspired by the New England coast, and I like how the natural stoneware, when fired, kind of looks like sand against the red lobster. For the whale shark, I like how the lighter blue border looks like the ocean surrounding the whale.”

During a recent retreat, Head of School Ryan S. Dahlem and the senior admin team put community engagement into action by volunteering at Village Table Wellesley 🍽️

Before the volunteering experience, Rivers Director of Community Engagement Lucas Malo provided an introduction for the team—just like he does for our students—emphasizing the deep impact of local partnerships. Then, team members rolled up their sleeves at Village Table, working together to prepare and package 150 breakfast sandwiches.

Thank you to Mr. Malo for grounding the senior admin team in our mission, and thank you to Village Table Wellesley for an incredible partnership!

The Rivers School Conservatory recently concluded its yearlong 50th anniversary celebration with a free community event under the tent on Lank Quadrangle 🎶 🎉

This culminating anniversary event was a concert, of course—but it was also an opportunity for reunions and new connections. Attended by nearly 400 guests, the event brought together current RSC students, RSC faculty and staff, returning RSC alumni, and the broader Rivers community to celebrate a legacy of musical excellence.

📎 Read more: https://ow.ly/AwEo50ZcTXM

📸 Pictured: Former RSC Director David Tierney, Executive Director of Performing Arts Javier Caballero, and former RSC Director A. Ramón Rivera (photo 2); keynote speaker Matthew Aucoin (left) with Sharon Schoffmann, his RSC teacher from sixth grade through high school graduation (photo 4); Eve Ticknor, daughter of RSC founder Ethel Bernard, was an honored guest at the event (photo 5); Rivers Head of School Ryan S. Dahlem joined the event’s jazz performance (photo 7); camaraderie and performances throughout the event (photos 1, 3, 6, 8, 9, 10).

Happy ! Today’s art, made in Jeff Nisbet’s Mindfulness in Drawing course, is by Zach Noxon ’28 🔵🟢

Zach reflected on his experience in Mindfulness in Drawing, saying, “The more I leaned into the class, the more mindful I became, embracing every breath. I always thought I could never be mindful and that it was something I wasn’t born with. Taking this course helped prove myself wrong, showing when I slow down and embrace my silence, I could do anything I put my mind to.”

Slides 1 and 2 are from a project that began with the study of 20th century artist Barbara Hepworth. Students then learned about the Zen Buddhist meditational “kōan” and were challenged to synthesize their understanding by creating an abstract work of art. Once completed, they created a handwritten, 1,000-word “origin story” from the perspective of a visual component in their painting.

Slide 3 includes two pieces from a project in which students studied the Japanese aesthetic of wabi-sabi. Students photographed visual representations of wabi-sabi at Camp Nonesuch using analog film cameras and developed their film in the darkroom. They then picked one photo to render as a graphite drawing.

Alum profile: Eve Stone ’22 🏒 🥅

Eve Stone ’22 embodies the full-circle journey of a student-athlete returning to give back to the community that shaped her. While excelling in her senior season at Stonehill College this past winter as a top Division I goalie, Stone also made the time to coach girls’ hockey at Rivers.

“I always say to the girls that resilience is the most important part of hockey. It’s really just about how you respond to adversity, not the adversity itself,” Stone says.

📎 Read the full story by Shea MacLaughlan ’27: https://ow.ly/SU1I50ZaFeZ

Happy ! Today’s art is by Sawyer Atwood ’29 🎞️

Sawyer shares, “This photograph visualizes the feeling of vertigo and anxiety, basically trying to show how the world feels unstable and disorienting when you’re scared or nervous. I used a slow shutter speed with zoom blur to create this sense of rushing, distorted movement that mirrors what it actually feels like to lose your balance or grounding. The high-contrast black and white editing makes it feel even more jagged and intense, like it’s transforming a regular landscape into what an invisible emotion might look like if you could see it.”

In the Honors Seminar in Life Sciences Research, Rivers students conduct live genetics research through breeding strains of transgenic fruit flies as part of the Stan-X program 🔬 🪰

The program at Rivers, which is finishing its second year, is taught by Upper School science faculty member Sequoyah Reynoso. It gives students a head start in college-level—and even graduate-level—research.

📎 Read more: https://ow.ly/V5ZM50Z85rN

📸 Pictured: Students in the “Fly Lab” (photos 1 and 2); biologist and entrepreneur Derrick Rossi P’26, ’29 spoke to the seminar students in April (photo 3); a group of Rivers students presented at the Stan-X conference in Lawrenceville, NJ, in May, along with other schools in the program (photo 4).

Happy ! Today’s art is by Alison Leiva ’27 🌅

Alison shares, “This is a CMYK monotype and was made by combining cyan, magenta, and yellow layers. It was based off of a photo I took of my younger sister at Paine’s Creek Beach in Cape Cod. This is one of our favorite spots to go see the sunset in the summer, and I was inspired by the beautiful colors and scenery in the photo. I like the way you can see the pathway into the distance and how I was able to include the details of the rocks, ocean, sand, and marsh all in one photo.”