CA’s 100 birthday is fast approaching! The Centennial Planning and Advisory Team is developing an entire year of Centennial Celebrations, which will begin this coming spring. 

As we have explored ways to commemorate a century’s worth of love of learning, to honor the ethos of our school, and to joyfully chart a course for CA’s second century, we know that there can’t be one fitting CA centennial experience for everyone. A single event would fall short. Rather, a growing team of faculty, staff, students, and alumnae/i advisors are planning a collection of events, experiences, and resources that can offer authentic points of connection for every member of our extended community. 

CA’s Centennial Celebrations will kick off on April 22, 2022—100 years to the day of the school’s founding. Programming and activities will unfold over the course of a year, culminating in a large campus gathering at Reunion Weekend in June 2023. It is fitting that our commemorations will conclude at the end of the 2022–23 academic year, which will mark a full 100 years since the school truly came to life: 100 years of students, teachers, families, and alumnae/i working together.

This is a special moment to explore CA’s history and traditions, shine a light on campus life today, promote our mission and our vision, and affirm why CA matters in the world. 

No matter what way you choose to participate, we hope the Centennial will offer a chance to engage with people and ideas that bring meaning and value to your life. After all, that is the beauty of being part of this community. We look forward to sharing the experience with you.

Warmly,

Karen McAlmon ’75
President, Alumnae/i Association

Stay Connected:

Make sure CA can reach you so you’ll be informed about centennial plans! Update your contact information here.

Share Your Story

We couldn’t celebrate our Centennial without sharing CA’s stories—past, present, and future. Lucille Stott, a writer, editor, and former CA faculty member and administrator, has been diligently at work on a commemorative centennial book to capture in narrative and images the character and spirit of our school throughout its first 10 decades. In addition to the book, there will be stories from every era in other formats ranging from videos and slideshows to podcasts and including an exhibition of Concord Academy artifacts that tell our history.

We hope your story will be part of our celebration.

What keepsakes have you kept, and what tales do those objects tell?

What songs were on your high school soundtrack?

How did you experience CA fostering individuality as well as community?

What did you carry with you into the world from your CA experience?

Here are a few ways you can participate today:

• Send us a note with a story or memory you’d like to share.
• Record a video recollection of your time at CA.
• Let us know if you have a photo or memento of your time at CA that you’d be willing to lend.

Share your CA memories by emailing centennial_project@concordacademy.org. 

There is also still time to share your hopes for CA’s Centennial! The ideas and inspiration of many have already helped us plan for this momentous celebration, helping us focus on the types of events and interactions that our community most wants. Yours still can.

Centennial Planning and Advisory Team*

*As of August 2021

Faculty and Staff Planning Committee

Michael Bennett
Performing Arts Department Head

Peter Boskey ’08
Visual arts faculty member, Assistant Director of College Counseling, Community and Equity team member

Justin Bull P’25
Interim Dean of Faculty

Renee Coburn
Assistant to the Student Life Office

Betsy Day
Assistant Director of Communications and Advancement Initiatives

Merrill Genoa
Annual Fund and Alumnae/i Programs Officer

Max Hall
Science faculty member

Sue Johnson P’20
Director of Athletics

Martha Kennedy
Library Director, archivist

Don Kingman
Director of Campus Planning and Construction

Heidi Koelz
Senior Associate Director of Communications

Melody Komyerov ’89, P’25
Director of Marketing and Communications

Wenjun Kuai
Mandarin teacher, house faculty

Rob Munro
Dean of Academic Program and Equity

Alice Roebuck P’25
Director of Advancement and Engagement (co-chair)

Hilary Rouse
Director of Engagement

Katie Wells
Director of Head’s Initiatives and Campus Events (co-chair)

Sarah Yeh P’24
Interim Head of School

Centennial Stories

The Centennial Logo: CA’s House of Stories

The Elizabeth B. Hall Chapel is the heart of Concord Academy. We sometimes refer to it as our “house of stories.” Having no religious significance, this secular building is familiar to decades of students as the place where a singular CA rite of passage takes place: the chapel talk. It’s the place where we come together as a community to listen to every senior who wishes to speak.

The outline of the Elizabeth B. Hall Chapel was chosen as a unifying symbol for generations of Concord Academy alumnae/i. While we recognize that graduates from before the mid-1950s did not directly experience the Chapel, the spirit of listening and learning from one another that animates this special space on campus is a touchpoint for us all.

This March 1954 Yankee magazine advertisement beckoned Elizabeth Hall to New Hampshire to see what would become CA’s Chapel. Now the Chapel is the place where we are regularly moved by listening to CA’s students.