Welcome back to CA! Wherever you were, we hope you had a fun, relaxing, and safe summer. Below, please find links to letters which offer introductions and schedules that will help you prepare for the 2017-18 school year.

The Concord Academy Science Department cordially invites you to the first annual Summer Science Research Poster Presentations on Tuesday, September 19, 2017 at 5:30pm in LABS 314.

Concord Academy provides final reports for your children electronically on the school’s Student Information Portal. These spring semester reports will be available through the Portal starting on Monday, June 19.

The skies were bright on June 2 for Concord Academy’s 95th Commencement exercise. The class of 2017 and their families listened to many words of reflection, celebration, and encouragement, while the values of the community took pride of place in the Commencement address from Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey. The message was clear: The future is bright in the hands of this generation.

For her senior project, Nina He ’17 painted acrylic-on-canvas portraits of each of the 97 members of the class of 2017. She has donated them to Concord Academy. Watch her at work in this video.

A complete change of pace on campus gives teachers four days to explore new approaches to pedagogy, and students a chance to have a lot of fun stepping outside their comfort zones. The week is a chance to model “sandbox thinking”: the kind of joyful experimentation young children engage in on the playground.

On April 20, an extended Community and Equity assembly was moderated by student leaders Mary Craig ’17 and Kunaal Verma ’17, who posed questions from the Student Council and affinity groups, followed by an open Q&A. On stage were detectives Lanita Cullinane ’91, from the Boston Police Department, and Vittoria Incandela, from the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office Investigative Bureau in Chicago. They opened up for the entire body of students, faculty, and staff — about the realities of law enforcement officers’ day-to-day lives, the threats they face, and the difference they can make in the communities they serve and protect.

A schedule of activities and details for Baccalaureate on Thursday, June ,1 and Commencement on Friday, June 2, is included within this article. Note that Baccalaureate begins at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, after a reception and dinner. Students will be given three tickets for family members to attend this service, as the Chapel must accommodate not only guests, but also seniors, faculty, and staff.

Please note that Commencement begins promptly on Friday at 10:00 a.m. A reception with light refreshments will follow immediately after the ceremony. The festivities conclude at about 1:00 p.m. Seniors may invite as many guests as they would like to Commencement. A ticket is not required for the ceremony. Formal Commencement invitations will be distributed to your children in April. Each senior will receive five invitations to distribute but may request extras if needed.

Beginning shortly, advisors will work with students to review the credits they have earned and to plan long-term programs that will satisfy both graduation requirements and individual academic interests. Our goal in offering a wide-as-you-can-dream curriculum is to provide each student with courses of depth and breadth. By choosing from these courses, and not taking all of them, they can both specialize and explore within a reasonable course load. We have emphasized to students that it is important for them to consult with you as well. Course request forms are due to the Academic Office by Wednesday, May 3, at 3:15 p.m.