Atrium's Third Eighth Grade Class Graduates

On June 7, seventeen Atrium students graduated from eighth grade. "These graduates are exceptional–they are kind, hard-working, and innovative thinkers,” said Marshall Carter, Atrium’s Head of School. “Whether they came to Atrium as seventh graders, or have been here since kindergarten, they've come together as a class and have been great leaders for Atrium. We look forward to hearing about their successes and adventures in high school and beyond–we're so proud and pleased to call them Atrium graduates."

The night before graduation, eighth graders and their families came together for a final class dinner at Casa de Pedro, before attending their Reflection Ceremony. During the Reflection Ceremony, Middle School teachers present reflections on each student in the class. The ceremony is a moving event that demonstrates how well each student at Atrium is known. From the reflection in rhyme to the final reflection ending in a song sung by all the Middle School teachers, each was insightful and loving–a touching testament to the students, their teachers, and the relationships they have developed at Atrium.

This year’s commencement speaker was Rabbi Shoshana Friedman ’95, rabbi at Temple Sinai in Brookline. In Atrium tradition, the commencement speaker is a graduate of the school. Rabbi Friedman began by telling students, “Atrium is alive inside of me every day–through my music, spirituality, sense of justice and devotion to the environment, service to something bigger than myself, my curiosity, and sense of myself as a life-long learner and teacher. I credit Atrium with empowering me to be a change-maker in the world.”

She continued, “In relationship to other people, working in small and large groups, we can each be in service to particular parts of the world, using the gifts we can best offer. We can’t change the world. We can do something better. We can live as gracefully as possible amidst the messiness of being human, and out of that grace we can serve others.”

Students from Atrium’s eighth grade will be attending a variety of public and independent schools in the area: Cambridge School of Weston, Chapel Hill Chauncy Hall, Commonwealth School, Concord Academy, Gann Academy, and The Governor’s Academy, in addition to Cambridge Rindge and Latin School, Newton North High School, and Lincoln-Sudbury High School. Previous eighth grade classes have attended those schools as well as Meridian Academy, Arlington High School, and Watertown High School.