Featured News

“Life is a journey, and it’s really important to explore your interests,” said Dr. Helen Suh ’21 during her 2021 Davidson Lecture. “There are so many paths and ways to be happy.” This was just some of the sage advice the environmental epidemiologist offered on April 14 to Concord Academy students, faculty, and staff. The following evening, she addressed parents and alumnae/i, discussing her research on air pollution and how she has responded to the pandemic in her work and sharing her career path after graduating from CA.

We are excited to announce the hiring of Grant Hightower as CA’s new director of community and equity as of July 1, 2021. Grant comes to us as a seasoned diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice (DEIJ) activist, practitioner, and consultant. Most recently, Grant has served as the director of METCO programs at the Reading Public School District. As the director of community and equity at CA, Grant will report to and work closely with the dean of academic program and equity, assisting our community in realizing a central tenet of the school’s mission, “striving for equity.”

On February 24, Concord Academy welcomed representatives from the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights to speak with students about their work advocating and organizing for democracy, justice, inclusion, and opportunity for all people in the United States. The event took place thanks to the coordinated efforts of 9th grade class student leaders, who modeled coalition building in initiating this all-school assembly, coordinating with affinity groups and the Community and Equity Office to create and host this opportunity for school-wide learning and reflection. Affinity groups have also been engaging the CA community in Black History Month initiatives throughout the month.

CA’s 2021 Centennial Hall Fellow, entrepreneur, author, and public speaker Mallika Chopra ’89, spoke about her personal journey and her experience teaching meditation and speaking about living with intention, balance, and purpose. As part of the Centennial Hall Fellow series, she shared a brief meditative practice — a simple yet powerful tool for charting a course according to our deepest desires and values.

Each year, Concord Academy celebrates Martin Luther King Jr. Day with a day of engagement rather than a day off. This year, CA honored Dr. King’s legacy in new ways. The program, held on January 27, featured not one guest but seven, and the format was, for the first time, virtual. The day’s theme, “Infinite Hope Imagining Black Futures,” took inspiration from a line from a 1968 address of Dr. King’s: “We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.” A panel discussion, several workshops — including one by CA alumna Daysha Veronica ’10 — and a Q&A and keynote reading by celebrated poet Danez Smith asked the CA community to focus through a specific lens: imagining what a liberated future that uplifts and centers Black people, communities, and culture looks like.

When Sarah Yeh P’24, Ph.D., assumed the role of Concord Academy’s interim head of school on November 2, she put her experience as assistant head, dean of faculty, and passionate teacher in service of this school, to which she is deeply committed.

Robert Munro, Concord Academy’s new dean of academic program and equity, is tasked with envisioning how equity, sustainability, and social justice can be woven into the fabric of CA’s rigorous academics; building institutional capacity among leadership, faculty, and staff around diversity, equity, and inclusion; and inspiring a community already engaged in this work to delve deeper. Read this Q&A to learn how Munro is approaching his charge to help CA evolve in accordance with its mission.

In its first virtual Family Week, Concord Academy welcomed parents connecting from near and far to experience a bit of what it’s like to be a CA student this year. Families joined classes, attended a Community and Equity Office presentation and a special Veterans Day program, and were treated to a presentation of some exceptional student performances — works in progress in music, dance, and theater.

On Saturday, September 5, the Student Life Office welcomed more than 70 new CA students to campus in person for Orientation. We hope our new students felt the warmth and excitement the CA community offers. Welcome, new CA community members!

On September 1, 2020, the Concord Academy community gathered not in the Elizabeth B. Hall Chapel but on a videoconference from homes near and far. While the virtual setting marked the start of a school year unlike any other, the themes of this year’s Convocation were familiar. Speakers, including Laura Twichell ’01, Fay Lampert Shutzer ’65, and Zahaan Khalid ’21, called for mutual commitments to listen closely and see one another fully, even and especially in online spaces.