2019 High School Commencement

Surrounded by family, friends, and teachers, our fifteen seniors graduated on Saturday, June 8 in our heartfelt and tradition-filled ceremony.

Congratulations to the class of 2019!

Kaden Bergeron, Anna Churchill, Annabelle Creech, Charlotte Fecteau, Samuel Gauthier, Oona Gourlay, Mia Guidry, Brittan Higgins, Amelia Kerin, Katje Kroncke-Wisdom, Dylan Marcinkowski, Sophia Pedriani, Cooper Strong, Andy Xiao, and Ranpo Zhao.

The ceremony began with a humor-filled welcome by two members of the rising senior class. Commencement speaker Garrett Kimberly, who teaches math and drama, offered inspired words of wisdom.

I like to tell my students that every main lesson contains, no matter how hidden or cryptic, a secret to living a good life. You probably think that you’ve had your last main lesson. If you’re healthy teenagers, this thought should bring you some relief—-if we’ve been any good at our jobs, it should bring you some regret. But you’re wrong. You haven’t had your last main lesson, not even close. You still have a thousand main lessons remaining. College, travel, family, aging—these are some of the main lessons that await you. Your future is nothing but main lessons—and each will hold, no matter how cryptic or hidden, a secret of a full life—one filled with suffering and joy, clarity and confusion, regret and gratitude.

This morning, I’d like to talk about one of the ways you’ve been prepared to take up these remaining lessons. I’d like to talk about context and seeing one another as completely as possible.

Continue reading here.

— Garrett Kimberly, Math & Drama Teacher and Commencement Speaker

Anna Churchill, Mia Guidry, and Sophia Pedriani gave their class’s Senior Address, filled with memorable experiences and lighthearted stories. They described overcoming challenges, learning to understand their own strength, expanding their comfort zones, and forming an incredible bond along the way. From navigating NYC to rafting in Ecuador, the class has grown and experienced the cycle of giving and receiving, and the students feel that they have a true sense of themselves as they step into their next adventures. 

The students then accepted their diplomas from their class sponsor and teacher Emily Fuchs, who gave a warm and insightful acknowledgment of each member of the class. Teacher Tyler Macdonald gave them a rose and turned their sash. Each year, the graduates of the school embroider their names on these sashes, and in turning their sash each member of the class joins the ranks of alumni.

Songs and poetry arranged and performed by the seniors were woven throughout the ceremony as their last artistic presentations to the community. The song “Rivers and Roads” by the Head and the Heart was accompanied by student guitarist Brit Higgins.

“Through attending the graduation, I felt like I got to know each of the students and got a strong sense of the depth of learning and powerful relationships that were formed throughout the class’s time together,” one attendee observed. 

The students walked off the stage with confidence, compassion, and wisdom that will serve them wherever they go next.

This class was accepted to 54 different colleges and universities including American University, Brandeis University, Clark University, Connecticut College, Cornell College, Franklin and Marshall College, Lawrence University, Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Mount Holyoke College, New York University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Rutgers University, Skidmore College, Union College, University of the Arts London, University of California-Santa Clara and USC – Irvine, University of Michigan – Ann Arbor, University of Rochester, University of Vermont, University of Washington, College of Wooster and Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

Congratulations, Class of 2019!

Thank you to Susanne Ryan and Elizabeth Emmett for the photos.