As the year draws to a close, we in the dorms are finding ways to celebrate our year together and preparing to say goodbye to our seniors. On Saturday, we had a fun day planned by the Prefects. We began the day with a fried chicken and waffle brunch. Later that afternoon, we had a pool party and barbecue. In the evening, we played field games and then enjoyed a Chipotle dinner. After dinner, we had an ice cream sundae bar and then played laser tag on the field. We finished the evening with a movie in Mercedes. It was a great day! “It helped us really value our time with the seniors because it made it all seem real that they’ll be gone next year. It was really fun and it meant a lot to all of us because we spent the whole day hanging out together.” - Aarya ’24.
Upper School Faculty and former Resident Faculty Kathy Hagee took some of our students out for a special dinner to celebrate a hard but great year: “Five seniors went and four juniors and we celebrated the seniors while honoring everyone's journey. We shared gratitudes and laughed a lot. We went to BJ's Restaurant. For me, it was so wonderful to have that time with those students…all of whom I’ve taught and some to whom I was their dorm mom for many months. It was a great night.” - Kathy Hagee
We were proud to see so many of our boarding students honored at the Athletic Awards Ceremony as well as at our academic Awards Ceremony. Zofia ’22 and Alex ’22 received the St. Francis Xavier Award for achievement in music and Gael ’22 received the Bishnu Maya Dhungana Award for his contribution to the Boarding Program. Congratulations to those who received department awards, and to all of our students for their hard work and achievements this year!
We congratulate all of our sports teams for completing their seasons. Congratulations on an incredible year for the San Domenico Panthers! Last Friday, our many dancers and artists were featured in Ignite: Upper School Spring Dance Concert. It was an uplifting and memorable performance and it was wonderful to see our students on stage after missing this performance for the last three years. Many of our boarding students also performed in the Virtuoso Program’s Spring Orchestra da Camera Concert this week. We continue to be in awe of their talent and dedication.’
As we move to the final weeks of school, it is time for our students to start packing up their rooms and preparing to leave campus. We have a system in the dorms that allows students to donate items they do not wish to keep. We encourage early packing and for students who live nearby to take things home each weekend, to lessen their work at the end. While all of our San Domenico students have to manage the stress of semester summative assessments and other end-of-the-year events, our boarding students have to manage all of that AND completely pack up and clean out their rooms. We encourage our students to do a little bit each day so that they do not feel overwhelmed at the end. We have boxes and packing supplies and are here to help in any way we can.
Thankfully we have a three-day weekend to focus on packing, preparing for semester summative assessments, and saving some time for a trip off campus or a dip in the pool. It’s all about finding balance!