No first week at Rowland Hall is complete without Convocation.

Established in 2009 and held on the first Friday after classes begin, Convocation is considered the official kick-off of the school year. The celebration brings together students in grades 1–12, faculty, staff, and members of the wider Rowland Hall community.

“Convocation is one of my favorite traditions because it is the only time when the students from Lower School through seniors come together with parents, caregivers, and alumni,” said Director of Community Engagement and Impact Ryan Hoglund, who helps plan the event.

This year’s event felt especially celebratory. Focusing on the theme One Campus, One Community and set against the backdrop of the nearly complete Richard R. Steiner Campus, which will open on December 2, the event centered on Rowland Hall’s soon-to-be-united campus.

Along with remarks by Head of School Mick Gee, the event featured speeches by alum Ben Kanter ’20, senior Chloe Vezina, eighth grader Alison Y., and fifth grader Emmett R. Speakers reflected on the One Campus, One Community theme and this monumental moment in Rowland Hall’s 159-year history.

Reflections by students across grade levels have become an important part of Convocation in recent years, allowing all students in attendance to feel represented. Ryan also sees the longtime tradition of bringing a member of the alumni community back to campus to speak as an important reminder of the outcome of a Rowland Hall education. Their stories offer a glimpse of both where life has taken them and of the people they’ve become along the way.

Convocation is a joyous and reflective kick-off to the school year.—Ryan Hoglund, director of community engagement and impact

“Ben’s reminder that each of us chooses how we build the community we want in a new space really resonated with me,” said Ryan. “There's something powerful about watching our graduates come back and offer wisdom earned in the years since they left us. I always hope the youngest kids in the audience are quietly picturing themselves up there one day—as the alum, the student speaker, the student body president.”

For Ryan, who’s not only a staff member but a parent, this year’s event was especially poignant. In a moment familiar to many Rowland Hall parents, Ryan was able to see just how far his own child has come as he watched her take part in the beloved Convocation tradition of seniors high-fiving first graders

“This was my 18th Convocation, and watching my senior daughter deliver high-fives to first graders, when she did the high-five as a first grader herself, was an over-the-moon full-circle moment for me,” he said. “Convocation is a joyous and reflective kick-off to the school year.”

We invite you to read this year’s Convocation speeches, or you can watch the event recording.