Graduates understand precisely what they mean when they say, “That’s so CA!” So I was not surprised when, in answer to my questions, alumnae/i would often say something like this: ‘I don’t know exactly how to answer that one. But let me tell you a story.’”...

On the morning of August 29, the Elizabeth B. Hall Chapel was filled with a new kind of energy. Concord Academy’s 402 students, along with faculty and staff, gathered to begin the school’s 100th academic year—and to begin CA’s second century together.

Concord Academy is pleased to welcome several new members of the faculty and staff for the 2022–23 academic year. Please help us welcome these new teachers, coaches, and other members of CA’s adult community.

On June 3, Concord Academy honored the class of 2022 in the Academy Garden, celebrating the accomplishments and promise of the newest members of CA’s alumnae/i community. A damp morning didn’t subdue the spirits of the 102 members of CA’s 98th graduating class. And in her Commencement address, Trelane Clark ’92, P’22 advised them to embrace gratitude, grace, and greatness.

As the 2022 Centennial Hall Fellow, Rashaun Mitchell ’96, a dancer, choreographer, educator, and mentor, shared his artistry and life story at Concord Academy this spring. “I’m not
working with narrative; I’m not working with music,” he said at a dance demonstration at CA. “We’re really trying to understand what is happening in the body when we’re dancing and how we can expose the mechanics of the creation.”

On May 5, CA English teacher Nick Hiebert shared how he had benefited from holding the Katherine Carton Hammer ’68 Endowed Faculty Chair over the past three years. The support, Hiebert said, gave him time and space “to realize how much I am made, sustained, and inspired by other people.”

On April 22 and 23, the CA community united in honor of Concord Academy’s 100th birthday. On this historic occasion, the Centennial Days of Service and Sustainability involved listening, learning, and taking action. The celebration extended beyond campus to include alumnae/i, parents, and friends of the school. Together over these two days, CA community members made a difference for others, and for our planet, in support of the commitment in CA’s mission to build a more just and sustainable future.

History teacher Ed Rafferty addressed the CA community during the “100 Years of Sustainability” assembly with a talk titled “Tales Along a Crooked Road: Place, Home, and Humility in Environmental History.”

Concord Academy’s sustainability plan is among the first of its kind from independent schools in the Northeast. When it was released in the spring of 2019, little did the world know that within a year a pandemic would upend life around the globe. While CA pivoted, progress toward the targets that had been outlined nevertheless continued. The plan outlines four major areas of focus for CA: institutional staffing support, reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, shifts to more sustainable dining and reducing food waste, and increasing the environmental sustainability of campus operations.

Concord Academy Students in Action (CASA) is one of CA’s longest-running clubs, part of a longstanding tradition of community service passed on by previous generations, including an active CASA precursor, Volunteers in Action. This year, the co-heads of CASA—Christina Crowley ’23, Maggie Myslik ’22, Zoe Perlis ’22, and Nirantheri Vithiananthan ’22—approached their efforts with a fresh focus: providing meaningful service with a focus on ensuring that they are helping people in the ways they need to be helped.