Larry Griffin, Head of School. Larry recently announced changes to Recognition Night
(formerly known as Awards Night) in a letter to the Shore community.
It is my honor to announce the creation of a new tradition that brings all of our eighth and ninth grade students, their parents, and their teachers together for an evening of sharing reflections, celebrating accomplishments, and honoring friendship. When our eighth and ninth grade students walk out of our new Celebration Dinner, they will carry with them a lifetime of memories. As many of these young women and men prepare to graduate, others will prepare to accept the mantle of leadership at Shore.
Celebration Dinner, a formal gathering, will focus on celebrating the best of times spent together. The evening will highlight the depth and importance of the connection between teacher and student. Many of these relationships have been forged over ten or eleven years. We rarely have an opportunity to pause and reflect on what we have accomplished together and to contemplate the possibilities that lie before us. A select few teachers will address the gathering with messages of appreciation for accomplishment and share their vision for the power of effort, scholarship, and character. A retrospective slide show will allow us to momentarily relive the best of times together. This evening will be dedicated to securing memories of growth, happiness, and community.
Graduation week will kick off with the culminating activities of the interdisciplinary study of NYC for the eighth grade and the final coherent theme on sailing for our ninth grade seniors. Academic recognition for students who have achieved Honors and High Honors in the spring term, and for those with consistent honors achievement throughout the current year, will be one of the highlights of our last Upper School assembly. The last hour of the school year will be in jubilant celebration at an “All Shore Field Day” joining children, faculty, and staff from Readiness through Grade Nine. The entire eighth grade will gather for their class pool party on Sunday evening; the ninth grade beach party will follow on Monday at dusk. Celebration Dinner, exclusively for all eighth and ninth grade students and parents, will occur the night before Graduation, less than twenty- four hours before we focus on the accomplishments and contributions of each graduate at our closing ceremonies on Wednesday.
When we look back on our Shore years, we want the final week of school and the tradition of Celebration Dinner to be amongst our strongest and most meaningful memories.
With Shore pride,
Lawrence A. Griffin
Head of School
