Fifth Graders Become Middle Schoolers

The fifth grade class was promoted to the Middle School on June 13, 2024. In his opening remarks, Head of Lower School David Lowell shared some of the advice, hopes, and commitments that fifth graders had shared during the final Chapel of the year. These included:

Your Advice

• “You will need courage because when you make a mistake you need courage to move on.”
• “Always act with kindness because kindness always come back to you.”
• “Each of us is part of something bigger than ourselves. Each of us impacts how our community works and feels.”

Your Hopes

• “To always share your contagious smile with everyone around you.”
• “To be kind, grateful, respectful, and brave.”
• “To take action and build a community that is thriving.”

Your Commitments

• “I will pause when I am feeling competitive and make sure my words and actions are respectful to everyone.”
• “I will take the time to notice goodness and beautiful actions around me, and give more compliments.”
• “I will always try to be the best friend I can possibly be.”

Lowell encouraged the students to follow the advice they had given, and to stay true to the commitments they’d made. “To follow your advice, to realize the hopes you shared, to stay true to the commitments you make, you need to remember, in the words of the author E.M. Forster, to Only Connect—with yourself, with each other, and with your community. That is my hope for you, that you continue to connect with yourself, each other, new classmates and teammates, new teachers and subjects and new insights and understandings of yourself. For it is through these connections that you will find the support to follow your advice, realize your hopes and keep your commitments and pursue your dreams.”

Please note: Your division head’s office will share a link to all photos captured at this ceremony in an email to families later this month.