Class of 2006 Graduates


In his commencement address, Mr. Kevin Rames spoke fondly of the Class of 2006 of which his son is a member and many of whom he has known since they were three years old: “You band of misfits, you frustrating, brilliant, confusing, struggling, creative, strange and wonderful cabal, you sources of awe who were loved at times, hated at times and feared at times, but always nurtured and respected as persons in your own right. From nursery school to senior year have become, to the pleasure of most, to the amazement of many and to the chagrin of a very few, the single greatest class of scholars and athletes that the Country Day School has ever produced. It is not only me that says so, although I most assuredly do say so, Harvard says so…Princeton says so…Columbia says so…Cornell says so…Dartmouth says so…Brown says so… Stanford says so…Penn says so… MIT says so…ninety-eight acceptances to seventy-six excellent universities say so, sixty-six scholarships totaling in excess of four and a half million dollars says so and all of us…every single one of us…we say so.”


The class Valedictorian who will be attending Stanford University in the fall, with a GPA of 3.99, stated, “It is easy to get bold when one is sure of being loved. An enormous debt of gratitude to our parents and teachers. If the Class of 2006 is thriving and brimming over with confidence and enthusiasm, it is because of you! If we are filled with daring and dreams, if we trust ourselves, if we have deepened our thinking, if we feel energized and inspired to strive after higher levels of intellectual, personal and social growth, it is because you have not ceased loving and nurturing us. In addition to embracing us thoughtfully and enthusiastically, the Country Day School family has nourished our energy, curiosity, creativity and dedication to important causes. Teachers, you have taught us that learning never occurs in a vacuum, any more than life does, but is rather a very committed and ongoing social undertaking, a reciprocal and co-subjective activity where learners share knowledge, interests and skills. Your deep caring, ardor, and commitment have shown us that everything is possible, and that the impossible only takes longer.”


“I’ve had an amazing high school experience and an amazing senior year”, says our Salutatorian who will be attending Princeton next fall, “but through all the good times there was always the thought in the back of my head telling me that this is my last first day of school, my last Orange & White Day, my last third Tuesday in April with this class. While we’re all so excited to be graduating and moving one step closer to the real world, it’s a bittersweet end because we have to say goodbye to each other. And it’s a very hard goodbye. I want to take this chance to thank my classmates for making our class what it is -- the closest class, the coolest class, at Country Day.”

The Sadler Faculty Award, a new award given by exiting Headmaster, Jim Sadler, and his wife Kitty, was presented to Middle School Science Teacher, Kate Baker, and Lower School Science Teacher, Caren Martin. These two women are admired by students, parents and their fellow faculty for excellence in all that they do for our school.