Primary School Celebrates Third-Grade Students at Closing Exercises
Friday, June 6, marked the Primary School’s Closing Exercises for MKA’s youngest Cougars. Families, faculty and staff, and friends gathered in a lively ceremony to reflect on a successful 2024-2025 school year and look ahead as third-grade students transition to the Middle School.
Interim Head of Primary School, Gretchen Ievers, spoke to students about the strengths each brings to their unique class. From super helpers to quiet thinkers, she emphasizes that they have “built bridges, not just with Legos, but with kindness and teamwork…You’ve shown us that when one person succeeds, the whole class succeeds.”
Head of School Nigel D. Furlonge also addressed the class, acknowledging how bittersweet milestones can be. Referencing the children’s book Where Do Balloons Go? by Jamie Lee Curtis, he noted how the book reminded him of the current class whose curious minds and thoughtful questions allowed them to stretch their imaginations. “Like the balloons, you are adventurous. You are resilient. You are courageous,” he said. In closing, Mr. Furlonge recognized the significant role teachers and family members played in the journeys of each student and then shared his hopes for them as they rise on to new adventures.
Congratulations to all rising fourth graders—and to the Brookside community—for a year marked by curiosity, creativity, resilience, and, above all, unity. To view more photos from the Third Grade Closing Exercises visit www.mka.org/photogalleries.
