Academics
Holzman Center of Applied Ethics
An Ethical Foundation
The Holzman Center of Applied Ethics empowers students to engage in ethical decision-making and to act with honor, excellence and integrity at RE and beyond.
The center contributes to the academic curriculum and advisory program while also offering a variety of programming to ensure that Ransom Everglades students enter the world understanding the importance of ethical behavior in all endeavors, and the consequences to individuals and societies when integrity and honor are sacrificed. The many opportunities for students through the Holzman Center of Applied Ethics include an annual speakers' series, roundtable discussions, elective courses in applied ethics, travel and research opportunities with our partner Students Shoulder-to-Shoulder.
In the tradition of school founders Paul C. Ransom and Marie and Edward Swenson, the center reflects the belief that ethics and morality must be taught and reinforced so that principled decision-making becomes a way of life. The center, launched in 2021 under founding director John A. King Jr., occupies the historic Ransom Cottage on the upper school campus. The idea and seed funding for the center came from Steve Holzman P’21; attorney John O’Sullivan P’14 ’21 offered additional support.
The center contributes to the academic curriculum and advisory program while also offering a variety of programming to ensure that Ransom Everglades students enter the world understanding the importance of ethical behavior in all endeavors, and the consequences to individuals and societies when integrity and honor are sacrificed. The many opportunities for students through the Holzman Center of Applied Ethics include an annual speakers' series, roundtable discussions, elective courses in applied ethics, travel and research opportunities with our partner Students Shoulder-to-Shoulder.
John A. King Jr., Holzman Center of Applied Ethics Director
“We want students to be able to identify ethical dilemmas, and be equipped to work through those dilemmas. Doing the ‘right’ thing requires that students see beyond themselves, recognize their obligation to others and use their experience and knowledge to make ethical, moral decisions.”
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Human rights advocate talks ethics with upper school students
Human rights advocate Mike Ishii discussed human solidarity and ethical responsibility with Ransom Everglades students on March 12, sharing his family's story of displacement to a Japanese American internment camp after World War II. Ishii addressed upper school students during an assembly at the Lewis Family Auditorium before participating in a "Speaking of Ethics" roundtable at the Ransom Cottage, hosted by The Holzman Center of Applied Ethics in partnership with the Japanese Culture Club.Read More -
Ethics bowl team debuts with finalist trophy
Ransom Everglades' inaugural ethics bowl team earned a finalist trophy at the Tampa Bay Regional High School Ethics Bowl on February 7, barely missing the championship round in the team's first competition. Team members Harper Harris '29, Julianne Gallagher '26, Matilda Barrack '27, Isla Dua '27, Luisa Duarte '27, Thomas Numa '27 and Nico Torres '27 wrestled with and discussed various case studies that raised moral and political issues. They were led by Chief of Innovation & Strategic Programming John A. King Jr., also the director of RE's Holzman Center of Applied Ethics.Read More -
Prominent banker talks about financial industry ethics with students
Ransom Everglades students explored ethical decision making in banking, real estate and lending during a special assembly and roundtable discussion with prominent banker Lance Drummond. The latest speaker in the Holzman Center of Applied Ethics Speaker Series at RE, Drummond answered questions from students and Holzman Center Director John A. King, Jr., who joined him on the Lewis Family Auditorium stage for the opening assembly with upper school students.Read More -
Award-winning financial journalist advises on ethics in business and journalism
Financial reporter and bestselling author David Faber addressed upper school students on the topic of ethics in business and journalism as part of the Holzman Center of Applied Ethics Speaker Series. Holzman Center Director John A. King Jr. interviewed Faber from the Lewis Family Auditorium stage before turning the questions over to students. Faber's April 7 visit to RE took place at the height of tariff anxiety and market volatility, providing fodder for pointed questions and follow ups.Read More -
Students examine ethical leadership to open the second semester
Ransom Everglades started the new year with a discussion of ethical leadership featuring three students – Sophia Linfield '26, Ana Gonzalez '26 and Alexandra Russoniello '26 – who are pursuing Applied Ethical Leadership certificates from Students Shoulder-to-Shoulder, a partner organization to RE and RE's Holzman Center of Applied Ethics. During the January 7 assembly, the students told their upper school peers that the foundation of ethical leadership consisted of trust, empathy and justice. They also shared insights from their respective independent research projects on restorative justice (Linfield), gentrification in west Coconut Grove (Gonzalez), and leadership during the Haitian revolution (Russoniello).Read More -
RE's Medical Ethics Roundtable series opens at Holzman Center of Applied Ethics
Ransom Everglades opened its 2024-25 Medical Ethics Roundtable series at the Holzman Center of Applied Ethics on September 26. Dr. Ken Zide, an RE parent and local physician, served as facilitator, leading a group of students and faculty in a discussion of the ethics of providing life-saving care to a person whose medical beliefs do not condone such treatment.Read More -
Students Shoulder-to-Shoulder: Developing Ethical Leaders
With RE’s partner organization Students Shoulder-to-Shoulder, nine Ransom Everglades students and one faculty member traveled across the globe this summer to engage in learning service, develop an appreciation for new cultures and geographies, and reflect on what it means to be an ethical leader. Under the auspices of the Holzman Center of Applied Ethics, RE began the partnership with Students Shoulder-to-Shoulder two years ago, seeking field experiences for RE students specifically designed to focus on ethical leadership while offering an immersion in “learning service” rather than “service learning.”Read More -
Students share final projects from Applied Ethics: STEM class
Students in Ransom Everglades' Applied Ethics: STEM class shared original research posters that explored a variety of current ethical challenges in STEM fields during the 2024 Ethics Gallery Walk on April 29. The students in the class taught by faculty member Jenny Carson '03 delved into topics ranging from artificial intelligence to gene editing to cyberbullying.Read More -
Former compliance officer talks ethics with upper school students
Core values taught in high school can influence ethical behavior down the line, according to the latest speaker in RE’s Holzman Center of Applied Ethics Speaker Series. Josephine Linden, the former chief compliance officer at Goldman Sachs who is now chair of the board of Lands’ End, told upper school students on Feb. 6 that what she learned during her school days at the Kambala school for girls in New South Wales, Australia, guides her even now.Read More -
'A Day of Ethics' at Ransom Everglades
A Day of Ethics at Ransom Everglades began with an Ethics Gallery Walk during the mid-day break and continued after lunch with the third installment of the Holzman Center of Applied Ethics Speaker Series for 2023-24, featuring entrepreneurs and Cuban immigrants Miguel Fernandez and Armando Codina. The back-to-back ethics events on Dec. 12 lived up to the founding vision for the school's Holzman center, which was created in 2021 to be a resource designed to empower students to engage in ethical decision-making and to act with honor, excellence and integrity.Read More -
Holzman speaker Lapointe urges students to 'do the right thing'
The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida Markenzy Lapointe described the ethical decisions he faced during his growing-up years after arriving to Miami from Haiti as a teenager who spoke no English. He loved the hard-working families in his new hometown, and admired the grit of his single mother, who raised five children despite never making more than $16,000 per year. But the challenges were significant.Read More -
Judge Ruiz '98 talks ethics with upper schoolers
Federal judge Rudy Ruiz ’98 returned to his high school alma mater to address judicial and legal ethics as the opening speaker in the 2023-24 Holzman Center of Applied Ethics Speaker Series at the Lewis Family Auditorium on Oct. 19. Ruiz, in his fifth year as a United States District Judge for the Southern District of Florida, discussed a range of legal topics, emphasizing to students that despite the current political climate, the virtues of respect, humility, and civility remain integral for society and institutions to flourish.Read More -
Ethics roundtable series debuts at RE upper school
Ransom Everglades students and faculty gathered for a lunchtime roundtable on Oct. 13 with Dr. Kenneth M. Zide, a cardiac electrophysiologist, for the first in a series of medical ethics discussions in 2023-24. The roundtable, moderated by Associate Head of School John A. King Jr., provided a platform for thoughtful analyses of several issues at the intersection of medicine, healthcare and profit. Zide and the students reviewed case studies involving Theranos, Turing and Johnson & Johnson.Read More -
Student leaders discuss academic integrity
Ransom Everglades student leaders addressed their peers on the issues of academic integrity and ethical decision-making during an upper school assembly on Sept. 19 at the Lewis Family Auditorium. Members of the RE Honor and Disciplinary Committee and Holzman Center of Applied Ethics Advisory Council explained the school's Honor Code and recent changes to the Student Handbook, advising their fellow students to know the rules and lean on peers, faculty members and advisors when they need help making sound ethical decisions.Read More -
Rudy Ruiz '98 to open Holzman Center of Applied Ethics Speaker Series
Ransom Everglades announced that federal judge Rudy Ruiz ’98 will kick off the 2023-24 Holzman Center of Applied Ethics Speakers Series by addressing upper school students during assembly on Oct. 19. Ruiz was confirmed as United States District Judge for the Southern District of Florida in 2019 after serving as a judge in the Eleventh Judicial Circuit of Florida and starting his career in the Miami-Dade County Attorney’s Office.Read More -
Gymnastics coach at RE: 'Success is what lasts beyond the win'
Legendary UCLA gymnastics coach Valorie Kondos Field encouraged RE upper school students. She challenged them, questioned them, called on them, listened to them. And, clearly, she inspired them; after her motivational address during assembly on March 30, she received a rousing standing ovation. A featured speaker in the Holzman Center of Applied Ethics Speaker Series, Kondos Field also met over lunch with upper school coaches in the Pagoda to share coaching strategies.Read More -
Ethics philosopher addresses RE community
New York University Philosophy Professor Kwame Anthony Appiah addressed "Ethics in Theory and Practice" during a special assembly with RE students on Feb. 16 and "What is College For?" in an evening event with RE parents; both talks were part of the school's Holzman Center of Applied Ethics Speaker Series. Appiah, also The New York Times ethics columnist, explored what it means to live well and the value of a liberal arts education.Read More -
Next week at the Holzman Center: A special evening with The New York Times’ ‘Ethicist’
The Holzman Center of Applied Ethics welcomes The New York Times’ “The Ethicist” columnist, Kwame Anthony Appiah, for an evening discussion open to parents, alumni, grandparents and other members of the RE community at 7 p.m., February 16, at the Posner Lecture Hall in the Fernandez STEM Center. A New York University philosophy and law professor, Appiah will address the topic of "A Liberal Education and an Ethical Life," examining the connection between inquiry-based learning in a liberal arts curriculum and the practice of ethical living and leadership.Read More -
Holzman Center speaker on the power of persuasion
Kathleen Sullivan, a highly regarded lawyer and law professor, offered students lessons on ethics and the power of persuasion during an assembly on December 13 as part of the school’s Holzman Center of Applied Ethics Distinguished Speaker Series. The former professor of law at Harvard and Stanford Law School Dean reflected on her career in law, her experience arguing eleven cases before the Supreme Court, and the importance of building a “portfolio of arguments” that speaks to an audience of varied decision-makers.Read More -
Former NFL coach discusses ethical leadership
Former National Football League coach Marc Trestman offered Ransom Everglades students advice on ethical leadership during an April 26 visit that was part of the school’s Holzman Center of Applied Ethics Distinguished Speaker Series. The longtime coach who now teaches about leadership at the University of Miami School of Law urged students to focus on process rather than outcomes, and people’s needs rather than their adulation.Read More
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Middle School
2045 South Bayshore Drive, Coconut Grove, FL 33133Phone: 305 250 6850
Upper School
3575 Main Highway, Coconut Grove, FL 33133Phone: 305 460 8800
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Founded in 1903, Ransom Everglades School is a coeducational, college preparatory day school for grades 6 - 12 located on two campuses in Coconut Grove, Florida. It is rated the top private school in Miami and among the 10 private schools in North America. Ransom Everglades School produces graduates who "believe that they are in the world not so much for what they can get out of it as for what they can put into it." The school provides rigorous college preparation that promotes the student's sense of identity, community, personal integrity and values for a productive and satisfying life, and prepares the student to lead and to contribute to society.
Ransom Everglades School®, The RE Way®, RE Pathways® and Bowden Fellowships in the Humanities™ are trademarks of Ransom Everglades School.
Ransom Everglades School®, The RE Way®, RE Pathways® and Bowden Fellowships in the Humanities™ are trademarks of Ransom Everglades School.