About
Health and Wellness
The Foundation of Health and Wellness at RE
Healthy decision-making and wellness are essential to academic and personal success, and Ransom Everglades is committed to creating an environment that emphasizes wellbeing and supports the health and wellness of its students. RE provides students with tools and resources to lead active, healthy, responsible and safe lives. From the peer-to-peer Health Information Project (HIP) to Wellness Wednesdays to a variety of programs and presenters, Ransom Everglades prioritizes the health and welfare of its students.
Recent Special Events on Campus
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Ninth graders return from Everglades trips with Outward Bound
Read MoreRE's ninth graders have completed their annual treks to the Everglades, the five-day, four-night adventures with Outward Bound that are a 40-year tradition at RE. Departing in three waves, ninth graders traveled in January to the Ten Thousand Islands National Wildlife Refuge, where they set off from different locations in small groups, tasked with finding their way back to base camp. They used compasses and maps to navigate canoes through mangrove tunnels, stormy weather and high winds. RE physical education teacher Tim McAllister oversaw the adventures, and ensured that students prepared during their PE classes.
Photo Gallery -
Noted author tells RE parents how to resist 'achievement culture'
Read MoreRE parents heard tips and advice from award-winning journalist Jennifer Breheny Wallace, who covers parent issues and authored Never Enough: When Achievement Culture Becomes Toxic – and What We Can Do About It, during a live virtual event at the Posner Lecture Hall in the Fernandez STEM Center on Jan. 24. In the talk, Wallace offered strategies for managing the increasing challenges of parenting in a hyper-competitive era. A component of RE's community-wide health and wellness curriculum, the interactive event attracted several dozen parents.
Watch the event here. -
RE students practice an attitude of gratitude
In honor of Kindness Week at the upper school, educator and certified life coach Peter Viola spoke to students about gratitude, respect, integrity, never-quit and discipline – what he described as G.R.I.N.D. – during an assembly on Nov. 28. The presentation, arranged by Director of Counseling Isis Perez-Gonzalez, represented one part of Ransom Everglades' health and wellness curriculum. A former National Endowment for the Humanities scholar, Viola holds bachelor's and master's degrees from Columbia University.Read More -
Substance abuse specialist speaks to students
Ransom Everglades upper school students learned about how drugs and alcohol affect the developing brain and the dangers they face when using addictive substances during a frank presentation by recovery specialist Ann M. Moreno, co-founder of R & A Therapeutic Partners. Moreno shared information about the chemistry of the brain, details about the effects of commonly abused drugs, and heartbreaking stories about the consequences of substance use by young people during an assembly on Nov. 7.Read More -
RE students, parents learn about healthy relationships and consent
Ransom Everglades upper school students learned tools for developing healthy relationships and keeping those around them safe from sexual assault during a highly interactive and engaging presentation at the Lewis Family Auditorium on Oct. 25. Led by The Center for Respect President Mike Domitrz, the program urged students to make decisions that showed respect for themselves and others, and it focused on four core topics: intervening, supporting survivors, asking for consent and accepting the answer.Read More -
Juniors and seniors launch the Health Information Project at RE
More than 50 Ransom Everglades juniors and seniors opened a series of peer-to-peer meetings with RE ninth graders on Oct. 5, fanning out to classrooms on the upper school campus to deliver important information on health and wellness. The student leaders, known as Peer Health Educators, trained for the leadership roles under the direction of the Health Information Project (HIP), a Miami-based health education organization founded in 2009 by Risa Berrin '98 that is in its eighth year at RE.Read More -
NFL player talks mental health with RE upper schoolers
Former National Football League player Jon Beason gave RE upper school students tips on striving for success and managing mental health during a May 9 assembly at the Lewis Family Auditorium. Beason, who was a first-round draft pick out of the University of Miami in 2007, answered questions on the auditorium stage posed by Michael Kaye '24, an officer on the Student Wellness Board and Council who arranged for Beason's visit to RE. Beason encouraged students to commit, prepare and do extra to achieve their dreams.Read More -
Therapy dogs pay a visit to RE
Ransom Everglades upper school students enjoyed engaging with lovable certified therapy dogs midway through the AP examination period. Students thronged to the school's wellness tents during the mid-day break on June 8 to meet the friendly dogs from Heel 2 Heal, a South Florida non-profit agency. Grace Burke '24, the vice president of the Student Wellness Board and Council, arranged for the visit as a means of providing students a respite from the rigors of exams. Students petted, hugged and photographed the dogs.Read More -
Ninth graders enjoy annual Everglades Experience
RE's ninth graders have returned from five-day, four-night treks through the Ten Thousand Islands as part of the annual Everglades Experience. Departing in four waves from January to early March of 2023, the students paddled canoes through the Ten Thousand Islands National Wildlife Refuge, relying on compasses and peers traveling with them to find their way from various locations to base camp. They faced difficult paddles through mangrove tunnels, spent nights sleeping on "boarded-up" canoes, endured rain and wind, and enjoyed opportunities to watch the sun rise. Photo GalleryRead More -
Bestselling authors advise RE parents
Mixing humor, anecdotes, scientific data and experience from years of working with children, clinical neuropsychologist William Stixrud and tutoring specialist Ned Johnson – co-authors of the best-selling book The Self-Driven Child – shared with Ransom Everglades parents the science and sense of giving adolescents more control over their lives.Read More
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Health and Wellness Initiatives at RE
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Peer to Peer
The Health Information Project (HIP) is a year-long, student-led, peer-to-peer health education program on the upper school campus. Juniors and seniors trained as Peer Health Educators help freshmen navigate topics including mental health; reproductive health; alcohol, tobacco and other drugs; relationships; nutrition, exercise and obesity. -
Substance Abuse Prevention
Ransom Everglades partners with prevention specialists to ensure its students and faculty receive substance use, abuse and prevention education and information. Other invited guests also address these topics during assemblies throughout the year. -
Physical Education
Ransom Everglades considers physical education a core component of health and wellness. Middle school students participate in activities that build muscular strength, endurance, flexibility, cardiovascular health and balance. RE freshmen benefit from sailing, canoeing, kayaking and swimming. Older students may choose advanced electives in bay studies and more. -
Issues & Ethics
Issues and Ethics represents a fundamental theme in Ransom Everglades' seven-year curriculum. It is introduced as part of the middle school physical education curriculum and later explored by upper school students during weekly assemblies and advisory or classroom discussions. -
Internet Safety Programs
Internet safety experts advise our students and families on how to use the web and social media safely and responsibly. After the presentations, students and their parents gather in their advisory groups for further conversations and to encourage families to commit to personalized family "contracts" governing internet use. -
Nutrition
Ransom Everglades, which offers students mid-morning snacks and hot, healthy lunches provided by SAGE dining, partnered with chef Andrew Benson, a founding member of New York City’s Childhood Nutrition Collaborative, to ensure nutritious, varied and tasty options for student dining. SAGE uses fresh, wholesome, from-scratch food from seasonal, locally sourced ingredients to provide a range of daily offerings that accommodate various dietary needs and food allergies.
Health and Wellness Programming
List of 7 items.
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Sixth Grade
- Physical Education 6
- Issues and Ethics
- Internet safety and digital citizenship
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Seventh Grade
- Physical Education 7
- Issues and Ethics
- Internet safety and digital citizenship
- Class-building exercises
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Eighth Grade
- Physical Education 8
- Issues and Ethics
- Leadership Workshop
- Inward Bound (day of self-reflection, personal growth, bonding)
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Ninth Grade
- Physical Education 9 (bay studies, sailing, swimming, fitness)
- Everglades Experience (excursion with Outward Bound into the Everglades)
- Health Information Project (peer-to-peer counseling and health curriculum led by RE juniors and seniors)
- Substance abuse information
- Wellness Wednesdays
- Access to therapy dogs during monthly visits
- Sexual assault and consent seminar
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Tenth Grade
- Physical education course or meet junior varsity/varsity sport participation requirement
- Substance abuse information
- Wellness Wednesdays
- Access to therapy dogs during monthly visits
- Sexual assault and consent seminar
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Eleventh Grade
- Physical education course or meet junior varsity/varsity sport participation requirement
- Health Information Project (some juniors serve as peer-to-peer counselors for the ninth-grade class)
- Substance abuse information
- Wellness Wednesdays
- Access to therapy dogs during monthly visits
- Sexual assault and consent seminar
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Twelfth Grade
- Physical education course or meet junior varsity/varsity sport participation requirement
- Substance abuse information
- Wellness Wednesdays
- Access to therapy dogs during monthly visits
- Sexual assault and consent seminar
- Anti-hazing seminar
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Lampen Family Wellness Center
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About Health and Wellness at RE
List of 3 items.
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Student Wellness Board and Council
The Student Wellness Board and Council provides peer-to-peer wellness activities for the student body throughout the year and self-care programs on Wellness Wednesdays. -
Wellness Staff
Students have access to counselors and nurses on both campuses. Director of Counseling Isis Perez-Gonzalez oversees the development counseling department and Director of Student Health Services Marie Gregorio coordinates medical care. -
Wellness Center and Garden
The Lampen Family Wellness Center and adjacent Class of 2019 Wellness Garden (a gift from that class) offer indoor and outdoor spaces for self-care, rest, relaxation and contemplation.
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
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. 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.