Rye Country Day students, families, faculty, staff, and community partners gathered to celebrate the community engagement work of students at the Public Purpose Community Dinner on Wednesday, May 17. 

Director of Public Purpose Rebecca Drago opened her remarks at the hallmark event, encouraging the audience to consider the meaning of public purpose at home, at school, and in the broader community.

The Middle School String Chamber Ensemble performed for the audience.

Head of School Randall Dunn congratulated the students on their projects and emphasized the importance of upholding the Rye Country Day motto, Not for Self, But for Service.


A group of third-grade students delivered the keynote address, which was all  about their partnership with Arc Westchester. The students reflected on learning about people with differences and the community relationships they built with individuals during their visit and afterwards as pen pals!

After the remarks concluded, attendees walked through the halls of the RCDS Middle and Upper School buildings where students hosted poster tables about their projects. The numerous initiatives on display and the student leaders’ enthusiastic engagement with table visitors constituted a moving showcase of Rye Country Day’s commitment to social impact work.



“The annual Public Purpose Community Dinner is a joyful celebration of change-making. Seeing so many projects on display makes me reflect on the many needs in our world and the inspiring ways our students are doing their part to be agents of positive change. I’m grateful for and proud of all the meaningful work these students have done!”
—Rebecca Drago, Director of Public Purpose

Featured Projects and Partnerships: 

• Children of Bellevue: STEAM
• Climate Education for Local Students at the Greenwich Audubon
• Creating Book Clubs with Students at the Graham Windham Center
• Coral Restoration Foundation
• DREAM Club
• Generation Impact
• Grassroots Groceries
• Homes Around the World 
• Identity, Society, and Change
• Little Free Library
• Meals on Main Street
• Meals on Wheels
• Our New Way Garden 
• RCDS Coding for a Cause
• Soul Ryeders
• Soul Ryeders: The Book
• The Anti-Defamation League
• The Adult SET Program 
• The Edenwald School
• The Humane Society of Westchester
• The Public Purpose Student Leadership Board 
• The Rye Nature Center
• The SCOPE Program 
• The SET Program
• The SiSTEM Program
• Third Grade Visit with Arc Westchester
• Triple R Club - Fourth Grade Sustainability
• Westhab
• World Food Program & the Free Rice Initiative