During the first full week of school, on August 23, Newman gathered on Lupin Field to kick off the school year with our annual Opening Assembly. More than 1,000 students in grades Pre-K to 12 and over 200 faculty dressed in green and white and converged at midfield to hear a welcome from student leadership and Head of School Dale M. Smith. As in years past, the group assembled for a picture, but this year was different. Following carefully marked boundaries on the field, the campus community was arranged to form an enormous Newman N, green in the middle and white on the edges. It was a monumental effort, and also a metaphor for how each individual is part of the whole, and all together we are Newman.
Following the photo, the Band members made their way to the stands to officially open the meeting with a song, and the cheerleaders entertained the crowd with a few cheers. Next, Head of School Dale M. Smith addressed the crowd to formally ring in the new school year, to welcome students to school, and to remark on the significance of gathering as a group each year. He then introduced senior Margot Roussel ’20, Chair of the Executive Committee, to address the community. Margot spoke about the goals of the Executive Committee this year, which are inclusion, service, and spirit.