King School is pleased to announce Julie Sheetz ’03 as this year’s Commencement keynote speaker. 

Julie Sheetz currently serves as the Chief of Staff for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs in the Office of the Secretary of Defense. In this role, Sheetz oversees an organization of nearly 100 people that provides the Secretary of Defense with policy recommendations and advice spanning the management of the United States’ treaty alliances and partnerships in the Indo-Pacific region. 

The Upper School Science Fair was back in the gymnasium this year after a two-year pause. Upper school students in Honors Biology, Honors Chemistry, Honors Physics, and the ASPIRE program participated in two sessions held on May 12 to present their research to peers, faculty, family, and special guests. 

“I love mentoring science fair projects for beginning students. Their excitement for trying new things is always refreshing. My favorite moments are when they shift from fear and nervousness about doing something new to excited and confident after they get results and realize it’s not that hard, and then they’ve learned a new skill,” said Director of Science Research Victoria Schulman. 

Award-winning authors Veera Hiranandani, Sheela Chari, and Sayantani DasGupta have a few things in common – their Indian heritage, their love of writing, and motherhood. The authors have known each other for over 10 years and have developed a special friendship that offers advice, encouragement, and support in their accomplished careers as Indian-American authors. “It was enlightening to see how their diverse identities have influenced their writing as authors. With this event, we are continuing to provide experiences that seek to educate, engage, and empower students with new perspectives,” said Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Dr. Clyde Beverly III, who organized the event on May 11 in partnership with the Indian Cultural Center (ICC) in celebration of Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month. 

Middle school thespians followed the Yellow Brick Road to the Performing Arts Center for a musical performance of “The Wizard of Oz.” In the classic tale, a tornado whisks away Dorothy and her dog, Toto, to the magical land of Oz.

While the pair are traveling towards Emerald City to meet the Wizard, they also meet a scarecrow that needs a brain, a tin man missing a heart, and a cowardly lion who wants courage. The Wizard asks the group to bring him the broom of the Wicked Witch of the West to earn his help, so they set out on a perilous journey where each learns that there is no place like home.

King’s annual Grandparents and Special Friends Day celebration returned to campus this year with joy, smiles, and hugs as guests joined their children in the bustling classrooms of the Lower School for a day of engaging activities and learning. Head of School Carol Maoz opened the celebration with gratitude for the support that grandparents and special friends add to the community. 

“Today, we celebrate the connections between the generations. All of us at King have a tremendous appreciation for our community and the partnership we form with our families as we all work together to help our students learn and grow. That includes you – grandparents and special friends,” said Maoz as she kicked off the event. 

Culminating a year of self-discovery and exploration in the arts, the senior art students presented their capstone projects at the Art Colloquium, an annual arts seminar hosted in the Performing Arts Center at King School. The presentations are a result of the school’s O.P.E.N project experience: Original, Personal, Experiential, and Novel. Each year, seniors are encouraged to explore different mediums of art and create projects that are a personal expression of their interests or experiences to present to their classmates at the colloquium.

The students typically begin their projects with one idea, but the idea develops into new concepts or multiple projects as the year progresses. Jamie Munno ’22 likened the experience to the growth of a flower.

A crowd of lower school students looked up in awe as a bottle rocket launched to near ceiling height at the Lower School Science Fair. Using a pressure pump, Ella Mendez ’29 and Ella McKee ’29 hypothesized that the more air pressure they added into a soda bottle, the higher the bottle will rocket upwards. The students learned that there were other variables that impact the height of the bottle such as its angle at launch and the force of gravity. The fair, which took place on April 28, presented new innovative ideas from the fifth grade class.

April 22, marks the annual Day of Silence, led by the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), to raise awareness about the discrimination and harassment LGBTQ+ students face in schools. The Day of Silence has been held each year in April since 1996.

King School observed the day as a Day of Action with optional student-led initiatives to celebrate and support members of the LGBTQ+ community. The Gender and Sexuality Awareness (GSA) Club in King’s Upper School organized a gathering to mark the occasion. Students also participated by wearing pronouns pins, rainbow stickers, and colorful clothing. “Here at King, part of our values is that individuals are able to be seen as their authentic selves,” said Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Dr.Clyde Beverly III.