Graduation

We said good-bye to the seven members of SK's Class of 2016 in June.

Graduating students present or perform something at graduation. This year, Margaret & Karenna, with help from Kaeli & Lee, did an encore performance of their Founding Framers scene from our fall play, A Sort of Complete History of the United States of America (Abridged).

Lee offered advice for the returning SK students, pointing out, among other things, that teachers are allowed to make mistakes too, and that they deserved the benefit of the doubt from their students too.

Nik and Kaeli both gave impassioned, hilarious and tender speeches about their classmates and teachers.

Ada privately shared plans to add a corn snake to our menagerie of SK animals.

And Matthew tinkered with his valedictory soliloquy from the end of The Tempest to commemorate his departure from our particular island. It was a beautiful gesture of love and a poignant good-bye.

As is our tradition, the students each collected unique diplomas, each one featuring a different piece of artwork from a younger Summers-Knoll student. These diplomas are on display, framed and hung at the meeting point between the middle school commons and the atrium.

Each year, Joanna writes a poem for each graduate. Somehow, she managed a sonnet for each this year. She did this in honor of a sonnet the 7-8s wrote for her. As a last word on the 2015-2016 school year, here is that poem, our fondest of farewells for the great Joanna Hastings in her final year as Head of Summers-Knoll.

OUR DIANA

A SONNET by the 7-8s

The head of SK is named Joanna

She’s the best head of school we could ask for

She is pretty and strong like Diana

She will always be part of our school’s core

She likes to lead us through one hen two ducks

We all can recite it, even today

We know that her life is now in some flux

But she’ll still be home in hearts at SK

We hope that you like the sonnet we wrote

The 7-8s made this poem for you

We're trying to help you leave on the right note

We will all miss you that's certainly true

We all are very sad that you will leave

And we thank you for what we will achieve