Carrollwood Day School students and faculty visit the UK for the Round Square conference.

On September 15th, six CDS Round Square student delegates and two faculty chaperones boarded a plane in Tampa, FL with the UK as their destination. After being accepted as a Round Square Candidate School in the Spring of 2022, Head of School, Sara Rubinstein started an internal application process to find a Round Square representative. After receiving several faculty applications, upper school computer science teacher, Brad Hayes was chosen as the Round Square Representative. Then it was on to the student representative selection. Through essays and interviews, upper school students were narrowed down to six delegates to attend the 2022 conference in the UK.

CDS sent these excited representatives across the pond to the Round Square International Conference 2022. Along with more than 1500 delegates from 50 countries around the world, our CDS students and faculty will start with three days touring the South of England, stopping at Stonehenge, Bath, the Cotswolds, and then head to Oxford University, followed by homestays with families of Latymer Upper School on the banks of the River Thames in Hammersmith in Long. 

Starting Monday the 19th our delegates, Brooke B., Jago S., Samantha H., Hayden B., Sophie V., and Suma A., along with our faculty representatives, will be spending time hearing from keynote speakers on topics related to this year's theme, "Take Less: Be More," which will lead to workshop discussions in groups of mixed nationality, to build international understanding and a spirit of cooperation.

Carrollwood Day School was accepted as a Round Square Candidate School in the Spring of 2022, becoming part of a vibrant, international network of 230 schools in 50 countries across six continents that connect and collaborate to offer experiences that develop global understanding. As a member of Round Square, CDS is now part of a unique network of schools that promotes six shared IDEALS of global citizenship: International Understanding, Democracy, Environmental Awareness, Adventure, Leadership, and Service. CDS is the 21st Round Square school in the United States and is one of only 3 RS schools in Florida. 

Over the past several months, since acceptance into this exceptional organization, CDS has been working on the infrastructure to support the CDS Round Square program. The program has been rolled out in the upper school and will expand over the next year to engage middle school and lower school. 

CDS is excited to hear all about their experience upon their return and the beginning of this amazing partnership.