HEADMASTER'S BLOG

In this quarter’s painting class, Mrs. Comrie is guiding students through the essential principles of watercolor and acrylic painting, including composition, light, color, and shading. As these images reveal, students are applying these techniques with growing confidence and creativity, developing both their skills and their unique artistic expression.

Yesterday, the drama team completed a full run-through of the play from beginning to end, and they are looking fantastic! Their costumes bring the story to life, and their energy and talent make this production a true delight to watch. Opening night for The Surprise is this Friday, May 15, at 7:00 PM at the Candia Congregational Church. If you are unable to attend on Friday, there will be a second performance on Saturday, May 16, at 7:00 PM in the same location. No tickets ar

By Ellie Hyvonen The ninth grade College and Career class is currently exploring the themes of calling and vocation. In addition to working through their student workbooks and engaging in thoughtful class discussions, Miss Ellie has invited a different guest speaker to each class to share insights from a variety of professions, trades, and life callings. This week, we were pleased to welcome Bob deRose, founder of Abbey Run Construction. Bob spoke candidly with students about

Faculty culture doesn't just happen on its own. Headmaster Philbrick is cultivating essential values into the faculty culture, as much as he is with student culture. Each month, team members are seeking to increase their capacity to serve the students by staying focused on our Faculty Core Values. Each month at our Team Meetings, we pass along "Jesse the Sentinel". The award stands for: Empathy and Understanding, Proactive Hard Work, Orderliness and Self Discipline, Resilienc

By Kathy Carlson, Director of Admissions Wednesday night began with our Sentinel Slices Café, where the aroma of fresh, hot pizza and crisp salad welcomed families, faculty, and staff into a time of relaxed conversation and community. It was a warm and fitting start, setting the table—both literally and figuratively—for an evening centered on connection and shared experience before the mission trip testimonies began. The evening then unfolded into a truly meaningful time of s

Outdoor Education (OE) holds some of my favorite memories of my time at Jesse, in particular the three hikes each year. They present a unique opportunity to spend hours with peers who could be close friends or new freshmen you have not yet gotten to know. When you are on a mountain, there is not much to do besides talk, so you get to know those in your group pretty well. For the springtime hike, there is an option to do an overnight hike that is more difficult, which I decide

By Ellie Hvyonen, Faculty The ninth-grade College and Career class has begun an engaging new unit on Calling and Vocation. Under Miss Ellie’s guidance, students are working through the Calling Student Leader workbook while also hearing from a variety of guest speakers who offer personal insight into these themes. Today’s guest was the one and only Mr. Philbrick, who brought both wisdom and authenticity to the conversation. He thoughtfully explored the relationship between ca

By Jeff Philbrick, Headmaster It was another beautiful and sunny day in El Salvador with temperatures well into the 90s. We split into two groups today, one group returning to the Casa Manna building project and the other group experiencing the oasis ministry on the island, Casada. The smaller building team consisted of Faith, Ethan, Tim, Andrew, Josh, and Nolan. The objective was to move the building project as far forward as we could on this last day. And wow, did we deliv

By Jeff Philbrick, Headmaster The highlight of today was our international church experience. We joined our friends at Iglesia Argentina for their regular Sunday service, stepping into a beautiful expression of the global Church. For some, this may feel familiar—but for others, it was something entirely new: a bilingual gathering where cultures came together for a few sacred hours to pray, study Scripture, and share in fellowship. Even without a shared spoken language, the u

By Susan Sicard, Faculty On Saturday, we split into two groups. Eight students went to the Museum of the Bible where we saw wonderful exhibits about ancient Canaan, Israel in Christ’s day, and how we got the Bible of today. We were also able to see a special exhibit about the Dead Sea Scrolls. We saw manuscripts from the first century that confirmed the truthfulness of the Bibles we use in class every day. After leaving, we had the opportunity to listen to and share the Gospe

Our team had a lovely day exploring Washington DC today. It was full of special moments. We took the metro to the National Archives and then walked to the Washington Monument. From there we headed to the Holocaust Museum. This was a very somber experience for all. As hard as it was for everyone it was also very valuable to remember and learn about what happened not all that long ago. Part of the museum experience is each person who enters is given a passport of a person who

By Jeff Philbrick, Headmaster Today was our fun and touring day. On the road at the ripe and ready time of 6 am, Roland and Alexis took us down the coast towards the notorious national park~ the Santa Anna Volcano. A packed breakfast in the vans, a quick stop for potty and a coffee, and we were on the trail by 9:30 in the morning. Our local guides took us up the well worn trail to the upper cone of the volcano. Similar to climbing one of the smaller mountains in New Hampshire

By Jeff Philbrick, Headmaster Another hot, humid and event-filled day in El Salvador. Today was our third day at Casa Manna, and it’s almost like we’re getting used to the 90° heat! Now having spent several hours at the ministry, and getting to know the people, relationships are beginning to form and we’re able to more clearly see what God is doing through this church. Similar to Thursday, today was all about plentiful children’s ministry, and significant progress on the buil

By Jeff Philbrick, Headmaster The Lord brought us to another great day today. We were up early, had a nice breakfast, and we’re on the road by 7:30. Today at Casa Manna, it was more of the construction projects, and also many wonderful experiences with the children. Work on the project continues to show progress, amidst the very high temperature and humidity. Today we erected the stair platform, which will be outside the building, and the children will enter through an upper

By Susan Sicard, Faculty This was our third day serving with the Little Lights Ministry. Our day began hearing from one of the center leaders about their life experience with the ministry. She has been involved with Little Lights since she was seven years old. Her testimony is an example of the faithfulness of Mr. Steve and Ms. Mary, founders of Little Lights, over the past 30 years. Our team was able to assist with a deep clean of the Hopkins Center before the afternoon Hom

By Kathy Carlson, Director of Admissions What Makes JRHS Unique At JRHS, we offer more than just classes—we provide an education designed to fulfill our mission: raising the next generation of strong leaders for Jesus Christ. Our four-fold approach integrates meaningful academics, skill-building Project-Based Learning, and comprehensive spiritual development, all within a vibrant Christian community. We challenge students to grow in knowledge, wisdom, skills, and faith, equip

Wednesday was our second day learning and serving with Little Lights Ministry. In the morning, we learned about their College and Career program. This program works with families to create a post high school plan for each child. Right now there are 100 students in the program, ranging from upper elementary school through college. This may seem like a wide range, but we learned that students in Washington DC have the ability to apply to different schools through a lottery syst

The Washington, DC team had a full day yesterday of learning and serving with Little Lights Ministry. The team met with the director of the program, who shared about the challenge of race in America. This was done from a biblical perspective, reminding us that all of us are made in the image of God. We also learned a little bit about the ways in which the housing crisis is affecting lower income residents of Washington, DC. Little Lights Ministry was created to help children

By Ellie Hyvonen, Faculty The team had an easy and enjoyable passage from America to El Salvador. We left Boston Logan at 5 PM, Eastern Standard Time, and about 5 1/2 hours later arrived in San Salvador at 8:30 PM local time. Streetside, we met our missionaries, Ronald and Alexis. Our first obvious experience was stepping out into high heat and humidity outside the airport! After loading our bags into the open back truck, of course, a rain storm rolled through! So our first a

The Washington DC team assembled and left for the 500 mile journey early Monday morning. The team was blessed with great traveling weather and few traffic issues. We arrived after ten hours of traveling. As shared by freshman Julia, “The hours were encased in fun, fellowship, and food. These three ‘F’s made the time fly by, but I am so glad to have arrived. I am also glad to have had the chance to help make tonight's dinner.” Sophomore Elisa had this to share, “Our van ride w