Families cheered as students from Prekindergarten through Grade 5 processed into the North Field Tent on June 5 for the Lower School Moving Up Ceremony, a celebration of student growth, resilience, and the connections made throughout the year.

“Today we come together to celebrate a major milestone, the transition to Middle School for our fifth-grade students, and the accomplishment of all our lower school students who have completed another year of learning and growth,” said Head of School Carol Maoz in her opening remarks.

Head of Lower School Sandy Lizaire-Duff offered a warm welcome to families and heartfelt thanks to parents, faculty, and staff for their support during the year before addressing the students.

“The grit, resilience, compassion, empathy, and all of the skills that you gained as a learner are something to be proud of,” she said. “This wonderful, complicated world of ours needs exactly who you are becoming.”

Students shone brightly throughout the event, with each grade performing a song before processing across the stage, waving goodbye to their current teacher and hello to the teachers in their rising grade. Class speakers from Grade 3, Grade 4, and Grade 5 reflected on their lower school journeys and the lessons and friendships that have shaped them. 

At the event's culmination, Grade 5 students were called individually to walk across the stage, where they were presented with a certificate by Lizaire-Duff before shaking hands with Interim Head of Middle School Christine D’Alessandro, marking their official transition to Middle School. As applause filled the air, the lower school student body encircled the audience and sang “Teaching Peace,” reinforcing the school’s values of kindness, inclusion, and respect, bringing the 2025-26 academic year officially to a close.

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