Against a backdrop of brick facades and leafy trees dancing in the breeze, the entire Friends Academy community gathered Thursday morning on the Quad for its annual Convocation and a special ceremony to induct Alfred (Rik) F. Dugan III as the 26th Head of School.
Going beyond the here and now, the event featured an historical bent as Friends Academy kicked off its year-long 150th anniversary celebration.
“The world has changed quite a bit since 1876,” Mr. Dugan said. “In the same year that Gideon Frost founded Friends Academy, Alexander Graham Bell patented the telephone. Not the iPhone — the telephone. And there were no cars yet driving on Duck Pond Road.”
How times have changed from even just a few decades ago.
Jen Newitt, who chairs the Upper School science department and serves as an assistant principal, has been a teacher at Friends Academy for 41 years and worked for eight heads of school. She (pictured below) recalled her first Convocation in September 1985, saying, “We had no cell phone policy because nobody had cell phones yet. We had no computers, and the internet wasn’t something we could even imagine. We wrote on blackboards with chalk, typed tests on typewriters, and wrote report card comments by hand.”
Back then, a maintenance shed and barn stood where students now sat for Convocation. The Dolan Center and Kumar Wang Library didn’t exist. And the rhythm of student life was very different. There was no advisory program; no Community Groups; no peace vigils; no sustainability or diversity committees; and only a handful of clubs.
“Over these 41 years, I have seen immense change,” Mrs. Newitt said. “But the key message I want to impart today is that so many of those transformational changes started with the impassioned ideas of single individuals. So, my charge to you — our students, my colleagues, trustees, and of course our new Head of School — is simple: You are the next chapter of this story. What is your vision for the future of Friends Academy? It is time for you, for us, to add our own unforgettable sentences and paragraphs to the story of our next 150 years.”
How fitting given the theme of the 2026-27 academic year.
“We will lift up the theme of Stewarding our Story,” said Camille Simone Edwards, the director of student affairs at Friends Academy (pictured above, top right). “For 150 years, our Quaker school has been shaped by the people who have learned, taught, questioned, reflected, and cared here. Each generation of community members has added something to who we’ve become — whether they did it quietly or boldly, this is the story we have inherited. Together, we can steward our story.
“To steward something is to care for it with great intention,” added Ms. Simone Edwards. “It is to recognize that what we hold does not fully belong to us; it has been entrusted to us. This year is not only about honoring 150 years. It is about living in a way that is worthy of what we’ve been given and being responsible for what comes next. We are invited to hold this year with care, curiosity, and courage as we uplift the promise of a Quaker education.”
The world has changed, but the calling for Friends Academy remains the same as ever.
“Our mission is timeless and timely,” Mr. Dugan said. “In an era of complex and dynamic change in the world, we meet this moment with energy and optimism, with an open heart and an open mind, and we root ourselves in solid ground to create an environment where students can become the best version of themselves.”
His message resonated with students in the Lower School, the Middle School, and the Upper School. “Wherever you go in life, you will lead with an ethical and moral compass to lift the world around you,” he told them. “You will be caring and compassionate. You will be kind and seek to uplift others. I hear your voices and I see your choices. I see you do this already.”
In that spirit, the microphone was handed to a few students to share their thoughts and help set a tone for the upcoming school year.
“As we return to campus, one wish I have for everyone this year is that we never become afraid to try something new or to discover a side of ourselves we didn’t know existed,” said senior Holly Marcell (pictured below, bottom right). “I hope we can give ourselves permission to be curious, take risks, and to be more than just one thing, because some of the most meaningful parts of who we become come from things we never expected to try.”
“One thing that makes our community special is that we can look to our left or right and recognize not just a familiar face, but a person we know by name,” said Sydney Wang (pictured above, top left), a senior who has been at Friends since kindergarten. “I am happy to be back on campus because it means returning to the people and traditions that have made Friends Academy feel like home for all these years.
“When I reflect on the theme of Stewarding our Story,” she added, “I think about preserving our past while ensuring a meaningful future. Something I challenge everyone to think about as they reflect on the theme is to consider how you want your own story to be remembered, how you can help others tell theirs, and how we can preserve the stories that have too often gone unheard. One wish I have for everyone in our community is that we do not become so focused on reaching the next chapter that we forget to appreciate the one we are living in right now.”
Photos by Alvin Caal / Friends Academy