Boarding school life falls into a fairly steady rhythm, and the summer is no exception. We spend the month of May working through AP exams, prom-vitation season, the Middle School moving up ceremony, and finals. There is a constant climbing energy the entire school can feel as the calendar of days turn over in anticipation of our final two late-May celebrations: Commencement and Reunion.

This year, 86 more Shattuck-St. Mary’s students attained the status of graduate and SSM alum. Our 2024-25 graduating class is comprised of driven, talented, and engaged individuals from around the world, and we could not be more proud to have them representing us as they move forward into the future. As we stand in the receiving line to shake their hands and give them hugs one last time, we know many of them will be back more times than they can imagine.

Just ask our attendees at Reunion, who rearrange their schedules and drag their significant others to the quiet town of Faribault for an opportunity to spend time with their classmates from years gone by. For a chance to walk through the halls, point out names on the award boards, and thumb through the yearbooks on display. It is all this and more that keeps our alums returning to campus–and we love hosting them and hearing their stories.

But then it is all over, and so is May. And that means it is June. The dust doesn’t even settle on Reunion and our first group of campers arrive. Then, like a well-oiled machine, our summer programs’ crew turn over campers each week through the first week of August. Well over a thousand campers will attend one of our summer programs–and these campers, like our students during the school year, come from all over the world.

As all these beginnings and endings are taking place, we have a fiscal year to conclude, plans for the next year already underway; we have educators completing incredible terms of service, interviewees aspiring to teach at “Hogwarts” as soon as they drive through the Arch.

Now June is nearly at its end as well, and while we are hosting camps, we are also working to conclude our rebranding work, considering the role AI plays in our students’ futures, finalizing our transition to semesters, considering space utilization and efficiencies on our three campuses, and working with our donor body to increase funding to better the student and faculty experience. In just a few days it will be July, and we begin the cycle anew filled with excitement, energy, and anticipation that continue to build until our students return and we ring in another school year.

After 167 years, we are getting pretty good at this. Here’s to 167 more!