Endings and Beginnings

These last days are packed with traditions, rituals, celebrations, and recognitions: athletic teams, speech and debate, and robotics all had their end of year ceremonies. We wrapped up two unforgettable productions: our spring play, Elektra, and our first spring music concert under the incredible leadership of our new Music Director Amanda McFadden. We heard six intelligent and compelling concentration presentations (which you can read a bit more about below), an  evening that provided a powerful demonstration of the intrinsically motivated learning and service-minded nature of our students. We’ve heard our final senior speech, had our last exploratory classes, and we are busily writing tributes that acknowledge each of our graduates.

There’s not a moment that goes by that we are not keenly aware that we’re enjoying our last days on campus with our seniors, who were just inducted into the Alumni Association yesterday. Maybe they’ve had a bit of help from the unseasonably cool weather, but this class, more than any other class in recent history, is demonstrating their commitment to finishing well, with nary a trace of senioritis (ok, maybe a smidge!)  It’s a joy to see how settled and satisfied they are with their hard work, and it’s moving to see how they are celebrating the collaborative journey that they’ve taken together as a class.

Above all, I think they are very pleased with their plans for next year. At our school, we don’t name class valedictorians or saluditorians, instead seeking to celebrate the unique  accomplishments of all of our students. We deliberately work to create a cooperative culture of excellence, which drives the kind of self-motivated accomplishment I reference above. That said, we want to acknowledge all of the hard-work and self-searching that has gone into each of our graduate’s plans for next year.

Below is the list of colleges and gap year plans for the class of 2019.