Welcoming the 2026-2027 School Year!

Happy New Year, everyone!

For this Head of School, the beginning of a new school year has always been a rite of passage—a joyous new beginning marked by the palpable buzz that fills both campuses when our students, families, faculty, and staff return.

Over the past few days, I have watched some of our youngest students hold tightly to a parent’s hand—or knee—as they contemplated the broad expanse of the playground before them. One bright-eyed kindergartner widened his eyes when I asked whether he had seen his picture above his backpack hook. Without a word, he led his dad away in a determined march to find the place where he would “dock” on his first day of school.

Our returning students needed far less encouragement. Some broke into a sprint the moment they spotted friends on the Apollo, leaving parents standing in the wake of their sneaker dust. Our fifth graders are already gathering in pods on the  5th/6th quad at the Middle School, looking like middle schoolers and entirely at home—which, of course, they now are.

At yesterday’s parent coffee, I spoke with the mother of a now-eighth grader who has been at Keys for nine years. Already, she is looking ahead to graduation—imagining the faculty speech written just for her son and our entire community singing “The Circle Game,” the final rite of passage we share as our graduates prepare to leave Keys. “The seasons, they go round and round,” we sing, and from where she now stands, I imagine those words feel especially poignant.

But today, we are at the beginning of the circle. The pictures are newly placed above the backpack hooks, the sneakers are still clean, and an entire school year awaits. Soon enough, we will be celebrating graduation and wondering where the time went.

So, let’s savor ALL of it—the nervous first steps, the joyful reunions, the friendships and community taking shape, and every inch our children grow this year.

Happy New Year, everyone! Here’s to another joyful turn around the seasons together.

With appreciation,
Heather